Cobb Salad Recipe (Fast & Easy!)

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This Cobb salad recipe has always been one of my favorite meals, both at home and at restaurants. It’s flavor packed, nutrient dense, satisfying, and so delicious. With just a few simple ingredients like lettuce, crispy bacon, chunks of tender chicken, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, and tomatoes — all topped off with a creamy Cobb salad dressing — you’ll be ready to serve up this classic main dish in no time!

What Is A Cobb Salad?

Cobb salad is a popular green salad topped with chicken, bacon, hard boiled eggs, avocado, tomatoes, Roquefort cheese, chives, and a Cobb salad dressing (often ranch, blue cheese, balsamic vinaigrette, or honey mustard). It was invented by Robert Cobb, owner of the Brown Derby Restaurant in Hollywood.

Why You’ll Love This Cobb Salad Recipe

Wide variety of textures: crisp lettuce, sweet tomatoes, tender chicken, and crispy bacon
Easy Cobb salad dressing
Ready in just 10 minutes if you have some staples on hand
Simple, basic ingredients you probably have on-hand
Makes an easy, healthy lunch or dinner

I originally created this recipe for my Easy Keto Cookbook, but it’s the perfect healthy meal for anyone, even if you don’t have any dietary restrictions. Cobb salad ingredients are super basic and found at any grocery store (much like chef salad!).

Cobb Salad Ingredients

This section explains how to choose the best cobb salad ingredients, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.

For The Salad:

There are many ways to make a classic Cobb salad, but here is what I put in mine:

Greens – For this recipe for Cobb salad, I used a combination of romaine lettuce and watercress. Arugula, spinach, kale, iceberg lettuce, and mixed greens are all great options that can be found in most grocery stores.
Cooked Bacon – I highly recommend baking bacon in the oven, which lets you make a big batch quickly and very consistently. You can also make bacon in the air fryer or microwave, too. Drain on paper towels and then chop or crumble to use in the salad. If you want a healthier bacon alternative, try air fryer turkey bacon. To save time making this recipe, use store-bought bacon bits.
Cooked Chicken Breast – You can slice baked chicken breasts, make Instant Pot shredded chicken, or even cut the meat from baked chicken drumsticks or your leftover rotisserie chicken.
Grape Tomatoes – Slice them in half. You could substitute cherry tomatoes, diced tomatoes, or even sun-dried tomatoes instead of grape tomatoes.
Avocados – You can slice them or dice them. Gently press the top to test ripeness — if it yields slightly, it’s ready to eat.
Hard Boiled Eggs – Make hard-boiled eggs ahead of time. You can use my perfect boiled eggs method or even hard-boil eggs in the oven. Let them cool completely in cold water, then peel and slice or dice them. If you like your yolks more runny, you can make soft boiled eggs instead.
Roquefort Cheese – You can substitute crumbled Roquefort cheese with other types of blue cheese such as Gorgonzola, Stilton, or Maytag Blue. If you’re not a blue cheese fan, you can omit it, or try feta cheese or goat cheese.
Chives – Feel free to swap in other herbs and aromatics, such as parsley, green onions, shallots, red onion, or tarragon.
Sea Salt & Black Pepper – To taste.

VARIATION: Add crunch!

If you like a little crunch, add a handful of walnuts, pecans, or sunflower seeds.

Cobb Salad Dressing Options:

Wondering what the best dressing for Cobb salad is? Traditionally, Cobb salad recipes call for a vinaigrette dressing, but here in Minnesota, it’s usually served with ranch dressing! Choose whatever you like best. Here are a few options:

Ranch Dressing – This homemade ranch dressing takes just 5 minutes and is good on basically everything. I think it’s key for this salad. It’s pictured in the photos in this post. Store-bought also works.
Green Goddess Dressing – Fresh, herby, and ready in a flash.
Honey Mustard – Choose your favorite brand, or use sugar-free honey mustard, which is my favorite dressing ever.
Blue Cheese Dressing – Make this in just 5 minutes with 5 ingredients. So much better than store-bought dressing.
Thousand Island Dressing – Just 6 ingredients to make this dressing. Try it on burgers, too.
Creamy Balsamic Dressing – If you’re interested in a more traditional dressing, this is a great one. Delicious on so many salads.
Ceasar Dressing – This super creamy dressing can be made in just 5 minutes. Plus, it’s good on everything – not just salad.

Cobb salad recipe ingredients measured out in bowls.

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How To Make A Cobb Salad

This section shows how to make cobb salad, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.

Mix the salad. In a large bowl, combine romaine lettuce, watercress, bacon, chicken, tomatoes, avocado, hard boiled eggs, Roquefort cheese, and chives.
Prep the dressing. If making your own dressing, whisk the Cobb salad dressing ingredients together in a bowl. (I made ranch dressing.)

Greens, veggies, chicken, bacon, cheese, and eggs layered in a bowl.

Toss together. Drizzle dressing over salad and toss to combine – you can do this right in the bowl, or transfer to individual serving bowls first, before drizzling. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cobb salad with dressing drizzled on top.

Storage Instructions

Store: Keep undressed salad components separately in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Avoid slicing avocado until just before serving, so it doesn’t brown.
Meal prep: All the ingredients can be cooked and/or prepped ahead of time so when it comes time to eat, you can throw this salad together in minutes. In particular, I recommend making hard boiled eggs, bacon, chicken, and dressing ahead of time.

Two bowls of Cobb salad with fork, dressing, and herbs.

More Easy Meal Salad Recipes

If you like this salad, you might like some of these other healthy salad recipes:

Recommended Tools

Salad Chopper – This helpful tool gets the job done quickly, just like when you get salads from restaurants.
Egg Slicer – Easily cut hard boiled eggs — dices, slices, or cuts into wedges.
Avocado Saver – If you don’t use up all your avocado at once, this will keep the rest from browning. The only method that really works!