Easy Chicken Cobb Salad with the best homemade Cobb Salad Dressing! This protein-packed salad is a meal in itself loaded with crisp lettuce, juicy tomatoes, chicken, bacon, boiled eggs, creamy avocado and crumbled blue cheese.
You will want the easy Balsamic Vinaigrette on all of your salads. Watch the video tutorial below and you will be craving it.
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What is a Cobb Salad?
The original Cobb Salad was developed by Bob Cobb in 1937 for his Brown Derby Restaurant in Los Angeles. It has become a famous American dish and is similar to a Chef’s Salad. It starts with a bed of green lettuce with rows of ingredients arranged over the top just like we did in our Salmon Cobb Salad, and it is served with a vinaigrette.
Cobb Salad Ingredients:
We love using cooked Chicken Breast from our Juicy Instant Pot Whole Chicken but a store-bought rotisserie chicken works great to save time and the only thing you have to cook is the bacon and hard-boiled eggs. This is one super satisfying salad. Since it has so much protein, you can eat it as a main course or as a side salad.
Can I Substitute the Blue Cheese?
The cheese of choice for the original Cobb Salad is blue cheese. We used a gorgonzola blue cheese but a Roquefort or other blue cheese would work as well. If you aren’t a fan of blue cheese, a crumbled feta would work here also.
What is the Best Cobb Salad Dressing?
A vinaigrette is the classic dressing for Cobb Salad. We use a homemade balsamic vinaigrette here. If you wanted to substitute the dressing, our Avocado Ranch or Jalapeno Ranch would work well. If using a creamy ranch-based dressing, I would recommend using feta cheese instead of blue cheese.
Can I Make Cobb Salad Ahead?
You can make the salad and the dressing 2-3 hours ahead of your dinner. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Keep the salad and dressing separate until ready to serve. Here are some make-ahead tips:
- Dressing – make this in a mason jar so you can shake it well just before serving in case it separates. Serve it right out of the mason jar.
- Lettuce can be rinsed and dried ahead (a salad Spinner works best), then refrigerate until ready to use.
- Avocado should be sliced shortly before serving since avocado tends to discolor when it comes in contact with air.
- Chicken Breast can be pre-cooked and chilled (or use meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken to save time).
- Bacon can be browned ahead. Drain on paper towels and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Eggs can be made several days in advance. Cook hard-boiled eggs and refrigerate until ready to use.
This Chicken Cobb Salad is easy to assemble but sure looks stunning when served. Everything about this salad is good! This homemade version blows the Chick Fil a Cobb Salad and Cheesecake Factory’s salad out of the water.
More Top-Rated Salad Recipes:
- Caesar Salad with Homemade Dressing
- Avocado Chicken Salad – our #1 Salad Recipe
- Beet Salad with arugula and goat cheese
- Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad – wildly popular
- Avocado Corn Salad – vibrant and beautiful
- Chickpea Salad – protein-packed
Watch the Cobb Salad Video Tutorial:
I hope this Chicken Cobb Salad recipe becomes a new favorite salad for you. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our Youtube Channel and make sure to click the bell icon so you can be the first to know when we post a new video.
Cobb Salad with the Best Cobb Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Chicken Cobb Salad Ingredients:
- 6 oz bacon, (6 slices) chopped and browned
- 1 medium head romaine lettuce, 5 cups chopped, rinsed and dried
- 2 cooked chicken breasts, from a cooked chicken
- 2 hard-boiled eggs
- 1 large avocado, sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled (or feta cheese)
- 2 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped
Cobb Salad Dressing:
- 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove, pressed or finely minced
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Sautee chopped bacon on a skillet until browned and crisp (5 min), then transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to cool. Cook 2 hard-boiled eggs then peel and quarter.
- Chop, rinse and spin dry romaine lettuce and arrange on a platter. Arrange remaining salad ingredients (chicken, eggs, avocado, tomatoes, onion, blue cheese, and bacon) in rows over salad then sprinkle the finely chopped parsley over the salad.
- Transfer dressing ingredients to a mason jar and shake like crazy. Drizzle over salad just before serving or let guests add their own dressing to taste.
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Amazing!! What size platter would I need? I have a few different sizes in my kitchen.
Hi Joanie! I’m not sure what size the platter was that I used here.
Thank you so much for all your easy to make recipes. Breathtaking yummy recipes.
Hi Natasha, I have made several of your recipes and love them all! I plan to make this salad and the dressing for company. One question about the salad dressing – is there anything I can substitute instead of the Dijon mustard to give it the right consistency? Thank you!
Hi Diane, we prefer it with dijon but you can try regular or honey mustard. Honey mustard will make it a tad sweeter. Mustard has a milder flavor, but either will work and you can add or adjust the seasoning to your liking. I hope this helps.
Love this salad and dressing! Have been making consistently since I learned about it. Everyone raves about the salad dressing! So tasty and without the “bad stuff” that’s found in store bought.
So glad to hear that!
Hi, I was just wondering if I could possibly reuse ranch and is there another type of cheese I could use I don’t care for blue cheese or feta. Would you be so kind as to maybe suggest another type of cheese thank you you are so bubbly in your videos such a sweet disposition that’s always great.
Hi Denise. Yes, you can use ranch if you’d like. Any cheese can be substituted. We prefer to use crumbly cheeses but you can use whatever cheese you like.
Such a delicious salad. Hubby who doesnt really like to eat salads for dinner said he loved this one several times! Thank you for sharing awesome recipes!
That’s wonderful! We sure do love loaded salads like this one!
This looks delicious. How many adults will this feed as a main course?
Hi Robert. This likely would serve 2 as a main dish.
Thank you for such refreshing salads !! Always tasty goodies.
You’re welcome, Russell. I’m glad you’re enjoying them.
I’ve been looking for your recipe for a homemade salad dressing that has honey in it I thought this was it for the cobb salad but its not it seems like it had apple cyder vinegar in it but I’m not sure. Do you know which one I’m talking about we ate it all summer a couple years ago
Hi Jennifer, Have you tried our Homemade Italian Dressing? We have a note in the recipe that says: “If you are looking for a natural alternative, you can substitute the sugar for 1 tsp honey.” I hope this helps!
I made the egg roll recipe it was out of this world …thank u again for sharing the recipe
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Cynthia!
I would personally add alil heavy cream to the balsamic to make it a creamy version. I just might do that.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Christine! I hope you love this recipe!
Really like the Cobb salad and dressing. I make individual sized salads to bring for lunch at work.
I made a larger batch of the dressing so I can just use a little each day.
Does the dressing require refrigeration? I refrigerated it as I was only using a little each day and the consistency was like mud. Once it sits out for a while it becomes more liquified so I was wondering if it needed to be refrigerated at all?
That’s a great idea to make lunch portions to-go! The dressing will do fine in the fridge for a few days.
It’s the olive oil.. once refrigerated it solidifies.. try canola oil if you want to make a larger batch.
I made this salad today for a girls getaway tomorrow. Poor thing. 😥😉 It never stood a chance. I must admit I ate pretty much the entire salad minus a lot of the chicken and bacon. My husband only likes the meats and dressing. I’m okay with that. Thanks for this delicious work of art.
I have just seen this picture of your salad on a facebook group called Cooking and Baking with the claim that a 16yr old boy made it. It’s the second time that I have seen one of your pictures on there with claims that a young person made it. A couple of posters have commented that it is on your site. I don’t know why people do this. Keep up the good work, your recipes and videos are superb.
Oh no, thank you for the heads up. Would you be able to email us the details of this post?
Hi Natasha, I see that the comment from Susan above was posted 10th November 2022 also your reply on the same date. Now, today I’ve also seen it on Facebook, so thought I’d give you another heads-up. Actually, because I saw it on FB and thought it such a beautiful looking salad that’s what drew me to check you out, so the FB posting was a blessing in disguise for me, but not so mush for you. Anyway, I’m definitely going to check out MORE on your site, thank you for sharing all your beautiful recipes and I’ll keep my eyes open for you.
Damn, mighty delicious and super easy! Tip for the eggs: 4 mins in the Instant Pot yields delish hard boiled eggs and SUPREMELY easy to peel!
Thank you for sharing, Dana! 🙂
Thank you for this fabulous recipe and especially the picture. I studied and did my best to copy it for a beautiful presentation.
You’re welcome, Deb! Thank you for trying my recipe. I’m glad you loved it.
I can’t wait to make this salad. Where do you get your salad serving bowls? I love this oval one and also the round one. What size are they? Thanks so much for all the yummy recipes!
Hi Joan! Thank you for that compliment! I hope you make the recipe soon, I look forward to your feedback! You can find our favorite kitchen tools in our Amazon Affiliate Shop HERE.
Delicious! Made this for a ladies lunch and it was a big hit. The salad dressing is very tasty. Thanks for sharing it.
I’m so happy it was a hit, Annette! Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
I had this salad at a friend’s home last week. It was delicious and I fully intend to make it myself soon. So good!