Cobb Salad with an Herb Vinaigrette (2024)

1What makes a Cobb salad a Cobb salad?

Cobb Salad is a main-dish American garden salad typically containing lettuce, veggies, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, cheese, chicken, and either a vinaigrette or a bleu cheese dressing.

Nowadays there are hundreds of variations on this salad including the one I’m sharing today. This one has a few unique ingredients and the most flavor-packed herby vinaigrette.

2What is the difference between a Cobb Salad and a Chef's Salad?

The two are very similar as they both have lettuce, cheese, and meats (typically bacon, chicken breasts, and/or ham), and hard-boiled eggs. However, a Cobb salad usually also has avocados and tomatoes.

More history on the differences between the two salads can be found here.

3What does Cobb stand for?

It’s believed that the origins of this salad came from Hollywood, CA in 1937 from the Brown Derby. Chef Robert Cobb threw a bunch of leftover ingredients together with a French dressing and that night the “Cobb Salad” was born.

4Are Cobb Salads healthy?

It all depends on what is on the salad!

The version I’m sharing today is certainly a healthier version of a Cobb Salad. One of the biggest determining factors on the healthiness of this salad is the dressing used.

A full-fat blue cheese dressing will add a lot of fat and calories while an olive-oil-based vinaigrette is a much lighter option with better-for-you fats.

Not all fats are equal — if you’re using olive oil you’re getting MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids). MUFAS are considered healthy dietary fat (and important in a balanced diet). If you replace saturated and trans fat (typically present in a blue cheese dressing) with MUFAS you can gain many health benefits.

5What is the dressing on a Cobb Salad?

As mentioned above, there are practically endless varieties of dressings that can be paired with a Cobb Salad.

In this particular recipe, I’m sharing a tangy herb olive-oil-based vinaigrette that is one of the best dressings I’ve ever tasted! It’s loaded with fresh herbs, olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, Dijon mustard, a little sugar (to balance acidity), and of course, some salt and pepper.

While homemade dressings may seem intimidating, this one whips together so quickly — we just combine everything in a small blender!

6How can I copycat the Chick-Fil-A Cobb Salad?

The Chick-fil-A Salad is topped with their famous nuggets (sliced) on top of Romaine lettuce and baby greens, shredded red cabbage and carrots, roasted corn kernels, a cheese blend including Cheddar and Monterey jack, crumbled bacon, diced eggs, grape tomatoes, and charred crispy red bell peppers. You can choose the dressing for this salad — typical recommendations are either the fat-free honey mustard dressing or their avocado-lime-ranch dressing.

My Cobb Salad recipe is pretty different from the Chick-Fil-A salad, but it’s easy to make a copycat using my recipe’s general guidelines for ingredient amounts and the ingredients I’ve listed above. You can then purchase either the honey mustard or avocado lime ranch dressing at the store or make your own.

Here’s my similar recipe to Chick-Fil-A’s avocado-lime-ranch dressing:

Ingredients:

• 1 lime (juiced and zested)
• 2 tablespoons prepared ranch seasoning mix (dry mix)
• 1/2 to 1 full teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tomatillo, husk removed and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 of a 1 large bunch of cilantro
• 1/2 of 1 jalapeño (seeds removed for milder dressing and left for spicier dressing)
• 1/2 cup full-fat mayo
• 1/2 cup fat-free buttermilk

Instructions

1. Zest and juice 1 lime. Add the juice and zest to the blender along with the prepared ranch seasoning mix, minced garlic, chopped tomatillo, and cilantro (Just cut off the large stems, but the rest is fine).
2. Add 1/2 a jalapeño (a full one for more kick) and the mayo.
3. Add some seasoned salt and pepper to taste (I use probably 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper).
4. Blend until completely smooth. Taste and adjust to personal preference (more lime, more garlic, salt/pepper).
5. Blend in the buttermilk and serve over the salad!

7Can I add chicken to your Cobb Salad Recipe?

Yes! In fact, we typically add some grilled chicken to this salad!

Here’s how to do that: Take about 1/3 of the dressing recipe and pour it in a large plastic bag. Add a few thinly sliced chicken breasts, to the bag, and store in the fridge. Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes up to 4 hours. Any longer than 4 hours and the acid from the dressing will start to dry out the chicken.

When you’re ready to eat, drain off and discard the marinade, grill the chicken, and serve it (slightly cooled) on this salad.

Using the dressing to marinate the chicken results in some seriously flavorful chicken!

Print Recipe

Servings 4 large servings

Chelsea Lords

Calories 444kcal

Cost $9.25

Herb Vinaigrette Dressing (See Note 1)

• ▢ 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ▢ 1 clove garlic
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro OR fresh basil
• ▢ 2-1/2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
• ▢ 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ Fine sea salt and black pepper

Optional Grilled Chicken Addition (See Instruction #1)

• ▢ 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
• ▢ 1/3 of the dressing recipe

Salad

• ▢ 8 cups mixed green lettuce (we use 50/50 blend spinach and spring mix leaves)
• ▢ 2-3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and diced or sliced
• ▢ 1/3 cup crumbled center-cut bacon (~6-7 slices)
• ▢ 1/3 cup frozen shelled edamame, or sweet peas
• ▢ 2/3 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• ▢ 1 large avocado, diced
• ▢ 1/2 cup corn (fresh corn you've grilled, or fire-roasted canned corn, or thawed frozen corn)
• ▢ 1/2 cup goat or feta cheese (goat is our favorite)
• ▢ Optional: 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

US - Metric

Note 1: I've included the option to add some grilled chicken to this salad. If you want to add grilled chicken, make the entire dressing recipe and use 1/3 of the dressing to add to the grilled chicken. If you don't want the chicken, you can halve the dressing recipe (or make it all and store in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 week).

Note 2: Place eggs in a large saucepan/pot. Cover them with cold water by 1 inch. Cover pan with a lid and bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water has reached a boil, set the timer for 6 – 7 minutes and continue to boil over medium-high heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a large bowl with ice cold water and let them cool for a couple of minutes. (Or place under cold running water). Peel the eggs and chop or slice for this salad.

Note 3: To grill corn on the cob,I have detailed directions in thisElotepost. I generally use 1 ear sweet corn and grill it on an indoor grill pan for this recipe. Let it cool, cut off the cob and add it in.

Note 4: This salad doesn’t sit very well with the dressing, avocado, cheese, and eggs mixed into it. If you aren't planning to eat the entire salad at one sitting, combine salad, toppings, and dressing for only what you’ll be eating at this time. If you keep the dressing and toppings separate, this salad can store in the fridge for up to 3 days (with the exception of the avocado). The avocado browns and takes on an odd texture, so I add half the avocado one day and place the other half in a plastic bag (squeeze some lemon or olive oil on the exposed side) in the fridge until I’m ready to prepare another serving.

Nutrition information doesn't include optional grilled chicken and 1/3 cup dressing set aside for it.