Chicken Cobb Salad

Our Chicken Cobb Salad recipe is a delicious combination of chicken, turkey bacon, hard boiled eggs, avocado, red onion, cherry tomatoes, and Gorgonzola cheese all tossed with our delicious Buttermilk Dressing.

We love everything about this Chicken Cobb Salad. It’s loaded with flavor (the dressing makes it extra special) and it’s super quick and easy to make any night of the week.

This recipe for chicken Cobb salad is our riff on the Cobb salad served at a local golf club. We love to sit outside to look at the beautiful landscaping while we enjoy our salads. I’ve asked the chef for the recipe for their buttermilk dressing, only to receive a hard “NOPE”. So fine then… we’ve recreated it with our own buttermilk dressing and we think it’s just as good as theirs!

Cobb salads are typically served in a shallow bowl or platter with the ingredients strategically arranged in rows, but we opted to serve this salad in a bowl without all that fuss. 

Chicken Cobb Salad Ingredients You’ll Need

• Lettuce. We use Romaine lettuce but you could use Boston leaf (butter leaf) or mixed greens if you like.
• Chicken.  We use pan seared chicken, but you could use boiled, grilled or store bought rotisserie chicken.
• Hard Boiled Eggs. Hard boiled eggs are a classic ingredient in Cobb salads.
• Turkey Bacon. We like to use uncured turkey bacon rather than pork bacon. If you fry turkey bacon in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, it’ll get nice and crispy like pork bacon.
• Cheese. We use gorgonzola cheese which is a creamy and mellow flavored Italian blue cheese. 
• Tomatoes. We use cherry tomatoes for this salad, but you can use chopped Roma tomatoes instead if you like.
• Avocado. Slices of avocado adds flavor and a delicious creaminess to this salad.
• Red Onion. We add a little red onion to this salad for a pop of flavor. To mellow the onion flavor, just soak the slices of onion in a small bowl filled with water for about 20 minutes. Be sure to pat the onion sliced dry before adding them to the salad.
• Dressing. We use our buttermilk dressing for this salad. Which makes this salad SO good!  

Find printable recipe card with the measurements and instructions below.

Variations

• Dressing. Use a different dressing like a classic Cobb salad dressing, or our Everyday Creamy Vinaigrette, Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette,  Champagne Vinaigrette, Citrus Vinaigrette, Red Wine Vinaigrette or Homemade Ranch Dressing. Or check out all of our Salad Dressing Recipes. We have over 60 homemade dressings for you to choose from.
• Cheese. If you’re not a fan of Gorgonzola, use Feta, Goat, or grated Cheddar, Jack cheese, or Pepper Jack cheese instead of the Gorgonzola. Or omit the cheese altogether.
• Croutons. If you want to add a little crunch to the salad, toss in some homemade Herbed Croutons or our Parmesan Croutons. 

How To Make Cobb Salad

1. Make Dressing. Add the ingredients to a wide mouth mason jar and use an immersion blender (stick blender) to blend the ingredients, or add everything to a blender and blend for a few seconds until smooth. You can also add everything to a bowl and whisk them together.
2. Cook Chicken. We cook the chicken on the stovetop in a skillet, but you can grill it or use a store-bought Rotisserie chicken if you’re short on time.
3. Fry Turkey Bacon. Cook the turkey bacon in a little olive oil until its crispy and can be crumbled into the salad.
4. Hard Boil Eggs. Boil the eggs and then peel and cut them in half (or chop them) to add to the salad.
5. Assemble Salad. Add the chopped lettuce, chopped chicken, hard boiled eggs, crumbled bacon, chopped tomatoes, onion and avocado slices to a bowl. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and sprinkle gorgonzola cheese over the top.
6. Season. Season with salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste. Sprinkle fresh snipped chives for garnish if you like.

Tips For Making The Best Cobb Salad

• When making this Chicken Cobb Salad, we always start off by making the dressing first so it can chill in the refrigerator while we prepare the rest of the ingredients.
• Make sure to cook the turkey bacon until it’s on the crispy side.
• Store the salad and dressing separately in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve. 
• Store the salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days if it has not been tossed with dressing.  If it has been tossed with dressing, it will only be appetizing for about 1 day (maybe). 
• Store the dressing in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If properly stored, it should last up to 5 days. Give in a good stir before using leftovers.

Why We Love This Salad

• Fresh and Flavorful. We love a good Cobb Salad and our Buttermilk Dressing makes it extra special.
• Quick and Easy.We pull this salad together in about 20 minutes by using just a few simple ingredients.
• Meal Salad. Cobb Salad has always been one of our favorite meal salads to make. We love to serve it with Garlic Bread and an Arnold Palmer (sweet tea)!

More Salad Recipes

• Chicken Mediterranean Salad
• Crispy Chicken Salad
• BLT Salad
• Turkey Cobb Salad
• Chicken Avocado Tomato Salad
• Spring Mix Salad
• Romaine Salad
• Kale Caesar Salad 
• Simple Kale Salad
• Italian Chopped Salad
• Garden Salad

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Yield: 4 servings

Chicken Cobb Salad

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Our Chicken Cobb Salad recipe is a delicious combination of grilled chicken, turkey bacon, hard boiled eggs, avocado, red onion, cherry tomatoes and Gorgonzola cheese all toss in our delicious Buttermilk Dressing.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 strips of turkey bacon, chopped and cooked
• 2 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless), pan seared
• 4 cups Romaine lettuce, chopped (about 2 heads)
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced in half
• 2 Haas avocados, peeled and sliced
• 1/3 cup Gorgonzola cheese
• 1/4 cup red onion, peeled and sliced

For the Buttermilk Dressing

• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Instructions

For The Buttermilk Dressing

1. Add the mayonnaise, milk, buttermilk, sour cream, apple cider vinegar, Parmesan cheese, garlic salt and pepper to a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. 
2. You can also whisk the ingredients together in a bowl using a wire whisk, wooden spoon or a fork if you don't want to use a blender.
3. Refrigerate up to 1 hour before serving so the dressing is nice and chilled and the flavors have a chance to blend together.
4. Store the dressing in a mason jar or an airtight container in the refrigerator. If properly stored, the dressing should last up to 5 days.

For The Turkey Bacon

1. Heat 3-4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat and add 4 slices to the pan at a time.
2. Cook 1-2 minutes on each side, turning once or twice until browned on both sides and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels.
3. As the bacon cools, it will become more crispy so you'll be able to crumble the pieces into the salad

For The Hard Boiled Eggs

1. Fill a large pot with cool water and add eggs. The water should cover them by an inch or more.
2. Boil eggs for 8-10 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
3. Drain the pot and refill with cold water.  Let eggs sit in cold water for another 2-3 minute before removing the outer shell.

For The Pan Seared Chicken

1. Use a cast iron skillet (if possible) or a stove-top grill pan.
2. Pound chicken breast between parchment paper to about 1-inch thick.
3. Season chicken with onion powder and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
5. Add the chicken and cook 4 to 5 minutes on each side until no longer pink on the inside.
6. Let rest 5-10 minutes then chop into bite-size pieces.

Assemble Salad

1. Divide the chopped lettuce to individual bowls. Also divide the chopped chicken, crumbled bacon, hard boiled eggs, onion and sliced avocado on top of the lettuce in each individual bowl. Spoon dressing over the top of the salad and sprinkle the gorgonzola cheese over the top of the dressing.
2. Season with freshly ground black pepper and snipped chives.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 820Total Fat: 66gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 46gCholesterol: 301mgSodium: 1104mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 9gSugar: 7gProtein: 39g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations. See full disclaimer on About page.