Salmon Cobb Salad is a modern spin on the classic American Cobb salad. We swapped chicken for salmon which pairs so well with the cilantro lime dressing. This cobb salad recipe is fresh, healthy, and gets RAVE REVIEWS!
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Salmon Cobb Salad Recipe:
Everything about this Salmon Cobb Salad is good, particularly that my children love it. This was the first lettuce salad that my 3-year old agreed to eat and she asked for more! It is definitely a feel-good, protein packed salad loaded with crisp lettuce, sweet corn, avocados, ripe cherry tomatoes and perfectly cooked eggs. It has a similar flavor profile to our popular chicken avocado salad. It is also gluten free and paleo diet friendly.
What is a Cobb Salad?
The classic Cobb salad is classic American salad. It is typically made with chicken, tomato, bacon, boiled eggs, avocado, chives and roquefort cheese, all layered in strips over a bed of mixed greens and served with red wine vinaigrette.
There are several stories circulating about the origin of the Cobb salad but the the most popular is that it was invented by Robert Howard Cobb (a restaurant owner during the Hollywood era). As the story goes, he hadn’t eaten until nearly midnight when he threw together leftovers from the kitchen with French dressing and this iconic salad was born.
I just love it when recipes are created following cravings on a hungry stomach. One of my all-time favorite salads was dreamed up that way driving home from a long night-shift when I was working as a telemetry nurse.
Ingredients for Cobb Salad:
- Use pan wild-caught salmon whenever you can get your hands on it. Read more about the differences between wild caught and farm raised salmon here.
- Fresh corn on the cob generally has the sweetest and best flavor, but when it is not in season, feel free to substitute with frozen (cooked according to package instructions) or well-drained canned corn.
- Any size, shape or color of tomatoes will work in this recipe.
Watch Natasha Make Salmon Cobb Salad:
We found that pan seared salmon it is the quickest and easiest way to prepare salmon for a salad. It is the method you will see in the video, but grilled salmon, or even baked salmon would work just as well. If you have leftover salmon from lunch, make this salad for dinner and you will be your own “Robert Howard Cobb!” (see story above).
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Salmon Cobb Salad Recipe:
Ingredients
Ingredients for Pan Seared Salmon:
- 1 lb salmon, boneless, skinless (preferably wild-caught)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Ingredients for Cobb Salad:
- 1 large head of romaine lettuce, chopped, rinsed and spun dry
- 2 ears of corn, cooked, shucked and cut off the cob
- 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered
- 1 large avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
- 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
Ingredients for Cilantro Lime Dressing:
- 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice, from 1 to 2 limes
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 2 Tbsp dill, chopped
- 1 large garlic clove, pressed or finely minced
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Season salmon generously with salt and pepper. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot add salmon, top-side down and cook until golden and crisp on the first side (4 minutes) then flip salmon and continue cooking another 4 minutes or until cooked through, depending on thickness of salmon. Transfer to a plate and cool to room temperature then flake salmon with forks into bite-sized pieces.
- Arrange romaine lettuce on a large platter or large shallow bowl.
- Arrange remaining salad ingredients in rows over the romaine lettuce; cooked corn kernels, sliced onion, quartered eggs, sliced avocado, and halved cherry tomatoes.
- Combine dressing ingredients in a measuring cup and stir to combine. Drizzle evenly over the salad just before serving.
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
Do you have any food stories of your own? Have you ever invented a recipe or made it better than the original by following your cravings? Let me know in a comment below :).
Excellent! Made certain to salt and pepper the salmon sufficiently. Easy to make. Def a repeat. Thanks!
So glad to hear that, Richard!
This delicious salad was a home run! We made it exactly as written and enjoyed every bite. It made enough salad for a couple meals for two people. Thank you, Natasha, for all the hard work you put into your recipes and your blog. We will make this again!!
Hi Aimee! I’m so glad it was enjoyed. Thank you for the wonderful review.
My husband and I love this salad so much! It so fresh and full of flavor. And that dressing is amazing. For lunch, sometimes, I like to throw together a little salad of lettuce, tomato, eggs, avocado…whatever I have and a Pouch of tuna with your Cilantro-Lime dressing! AMAZING!!
Sounds amazing! So glad you love the salad. 🙂
What can i substitute the cilantro with? We dont like raw cilantro
You are more than welcome to substitute with Roquefort dressing. We used the Cilantro Lime dressing to compliment the Salmon.
A spectacular salad, thank you! Our guests loved it, too. The only change I made, was to use the corn kernels raw. Off the cob, they’re sweet and crunchy. I doubled the delicious dressing and used about 2/3 of it.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Susan!
When your husband asks you every time you cook, is that from Natasha? It’s because you often cook Natasha’s excellent recipes. Hihihihhi! 😉 This salad was once again a favorite. Thank you! We love you Nathasha. 🙂
Aww, that’s so awesome, Christine! Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
Made this salad today for our first Iftar in our new home. It was definitely a hit!
Thank you for sharing! It’s a new family favorite!!!
You’re welcome, Monica. So good to hear that it was a huge hit!
My husband and I tried this recipe and it turned out amazing! All of the ingredients marry well together. The creamy avocado tastes great with the salmon, and the cilantro lime dressing is zingy, fresh, and delicious. We will definitely make this salad again. Thank you, Natasha.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
I was taught that a recipe is only a blue print and the final product is subject to the cook’s discretion.
So when I saw this appetizing salad, I just had to give it a try but tweak it to my tastes.
I cut the recipe in half and made the following changes for an awesome salad for lunch. (It was a bit much for one but not enough for two unless you are serving it as a side.)
1. substituted Steelhead trout for the salmon
2. seasoned the fish with
Old Bay Garlic and Herb Seasoning
Dried Basil
Dried Oregano
Dried Parsley
Garlic Powder (yes more garlic!)
3. baked the trout at 350° for 30 minutes instead of pan searing it
4. substituted quartered Campari tomatoes for cherry tomatoes
5. omitted red onion (only because I was out)
6. omitted corn (only because I was out)
5. added bleu cheese crumbles
6. additional salt and pepper to taste as needed
6. used Newman’s Own Light Balsamic Vinaigrette for the dressing
It really was good…and I can’t wait to make it again with the corn and red onion!
I probably won’t ever try the Cilantro Lime Dressing unless I’m out of the Newman’s Own Light Balsamic Vinaigrette. Thanks to my sister who got me hooked on it! And just to clarify, there is always at least one bottle in the pantry and one in the fridge.
That all sounds really good and thanks for the tip about Newman’s Balsamic. We love that brand, but haven’t tried that one.
I am in love with this salad!! I made it last week for our family and replaced the raw onions with caramelized onions, and oh, my – it was absolutely scrumptious! I’ve since been craving it, and have made myself “mini versions” of it for lunch everyday! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that, Olivia! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Natasha, do you think using canned salmon would taste just as good?
Hi Jennifer, that should work! One of our readers wrote they enjoyed this recipe with canned salmon but did prefer the fresh cooked salmon over that.
Natasha, what is the brand of the pan you use for this recipe?
Hi Noel. You can see the kitchen tools that I use here on my Amazon affiliate shop.
Hi Natasha, my name is Pam Warnick and my mother in law had a delicious recipe for Thanksgiving dinner with sweet and sour sauerkraut it has been a crowd pleaser every year and I would love to have you make it on your videos
Hello Pam, here are my only sauerkraut recipes.
Love your cooking,your recipes and your energy! Have a good ,relaxing time.Thank you!
Thank you for your compliments, Bella. We appreciate it!
Hello Natasha,
I love your enthusiasm for cooking and fabulous sense of humour whilst cooking. You are an inspiration to us all. Any new recipes please?
You’re so nice! Thank you for that wonderful compliment Florence! We post two new recipes a week! See the latest when you go to our blog page: natashaskitchen.com
Amazingly delicious 😋 made it tonight 👏❣️
Thanks for your excellent feedback!
Amazing! Very easy, satisfying, tasty and healthy. I love all your recipes and youR videos are such a pleasure to watch.
You’re so nice! Thank you for that wonderful review.