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Classic Cobb Salad

Classic Cobb Salad

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Prepare the dressing: Place all of the ingredients into a medium-sized bowl. Whisk vigorously to emulsify. Transfer to a container until use.
  2. Cook the bacon: Preheat oven to 450°F. Place bacon onto a wire rack sitting on a foil-lined baking sheet. Transfer to oven and bake until crispy, about 15-20 minutes. Pat bacon with paper towel to remove excess fat, then roughly chop and set aside.
  3. Cook the chicken: Preheat barbecue to 500°F. Divide chicken breasts in half horizontally, then season with salt and pepper. Transfer to grill and cook for 5 minutes before turning and cooking for an additional 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove from grill and cool before chopping into thin strips.
  4. Assemble the salad: Tear or cut the lettuces into bite-sized pieces. Wash thoroughly, spin and dry either on clean dish towels or paper towels. Place lettuces into a large squat bowl or serving platter. Add each ingredient in sections across the surface of the lettuce, creating a sort of striped design. Arrange in an attractive pattern by alternating colours. Once all of the ingredients have been added, sprinkle with chives. Serve immediately with dressing, salt and pepper on the side.
  5. Serve immediately with dressing, salt and pepper on the side.
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Classic Cobb Salad

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Romaine and curly leaf lettuces topped with grilled chicken, avocado, tomato, egg, crispy bacon and crumbled blue cheese…

  • clock icon
    40 MIN
  • 4 SERVINGS
Classic Cobb Salad

Present our CLASSIC COBB SALAD tableside, letting guests serve themselves and dress the salad to their liking.

This recipe for a CLASSIC COBB SALAD is famous for a good reason: it gets top marks for presentation, flavour and versatility. Read on and find out why this spectacular salad needs to make an appearance on your table in the very near future.

We know this post will be popular, so best to PIN the recipe to a favourite salad board on Pinterest. We further suggest you SHARE the recipe with friends – they’re bound to love it as much as you will.

A plate of the Cobb Salad served for lunch

The creation of this salad has a bit of movie magic about it, as it was named after Robert Howard Cobb, owner of Hollywood’s famous Brown Derby Restaurant – head HERE to read the Wiki article about it. I love the way they call it a main-dish American garden salad. Remember that when you make it at home, this salad can work for brunch, lunch and dinner plans.

Here are a few helpful things to keep in mind when you prepare it:

Ingredients for a Classic Cobb Salad

CLASSIC COMBINATION

We decided to stick with the plan and crafted our salad using the ingredients considered to be staples in a classic Cobb. Although you can add more, we think this salad tastes best when made with romaine and curly green lettuces, along with grilled chicken, tomatoes, avocado, bacon, hard-boiled egg, chives and crumbled blue cheese.

Halved cherry tomatoes

TOMATOES

We found that cherry or grape tomatoes work best for this recipe, the sweeter the better. When shopping, keep your eyes peeled for the rich, gorgeous colours of heirloom varieties.

Crispy bacon chopped for the salad

BACON

Oven-roasting the bacon will ensure the rashers get extra crispy. After that, chop the bacon, but not too finely. Larger bits of bacon add both a bit of texture and pops of flavour.

Sliced hard boiled eggs

HARD-BOILED EGG

Lately I’ve been cooking off and keeping hard-boiled eggs in the fridge. They make for a quick breakfast served with toast or can be chopped up quickly for an egg salad. In this case, we’re pulling out an egg slicer to get uniform slices which look so perfect when the salad goes from bowl to plate.

Avocados peeled and slices

AVOCADO

Fingers crossed your avocados are perfectly ripened when you go to make this. We’re looking for that slightly soft, pale green flesh that easily comes away from the skin and stone. Leave the avocado preparation as one of the final steps before assembling the salad to prevent the slices from browning.

Crumbled Blue Cheese

BLUE CHEESE

There are lots of blue cheeses on the market, so if you can, try to pick up a good one. Head to a specialty cheese store or speak with one of the experts at your favourite grocery store for a recommendation. We suggest looking for a firm blue with a nutty, almost smoky smell. It’ll be easier to crumble and has a pleasing flavour.

Mustard Vinaigrette

DRESSING

There are lots of dressing options for a CLASSIC COBB SALAD, although purists insist that the dressing be made with red wine vinegar. We’re good with that! You can make the dressing featured in this VIDEO, our MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE, or try our ITALIAN DRESSING, which is a bit more herby with garlic notes.

Portion of the Cobb Salad packaged up for a take-to-work lunch!

SERVICE PLEASE!

Although the above photo might not look like much, it will hopefully remind you of the versatility of this CLASSIC COBB SALAD. Because it’s dressed at table, it’s a wonderful traveller. You can portion it out into a takeaway container, doing the same with a small quantity of the dressing. Then simply take it with you to work and enjoy it for lunch.

The Cobb Salad served in pits bread as a sandwich

Another serving option is to portion a little bit of everything into an opened pita to create a healthy sandwich / salad. I love serving them as a quick and casual luncheon option, and guests love them too. 

Make your own CLASSIC COBB SALAD, you won’t be disappointed!

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Classic Cobb Salad

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Classic Cobb Salad

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Ingredients

  • For the salad:
  • ½ head curly leaf lettuce
  • ½ head romaine lettuce
  • 2 boneless chicken breasts
  • 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
  • 8 rashers of bacon
  • 4 eggs, hard boiled - peeled and sliced
  • 2 avocados, peeled and sliced
  • ½ cup blue cheese, crumbled
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
  • For the dressing:
  • 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon mustard
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Directions

  1. Prepare the dressing: Place all of the ingredients into a medium-sized bowl. Whisk vigorously to emulsify. Transfer to a container until use.
  2. Cook the bacon: Preheat oven to 450°F. Place bacon onto a wire rack sitting on a foil-lined baking sheet. Transfer to oven and bake until crispy, about 15-20 minutes. Pat bacon with paper towel to remove excess fat, then roughly chop and set aside.
  3. Cook the chicken: Preheat barbecue to 500°F. Divide chicken breasts in half horizontally, then season with salt and pepper. Transfer to grill and cook for 5 minutes before turning and cooking for an additional 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove from grill and cool before chopping into thin strips.
  4. Assemble the salad: Tear or cut the lettuces into bite-sized pieces. Wash thoroughly, spin and dry either on clean dish towels or paper towels. Place lettuces into a large squat bowl or serving platter. Add each ingredient in sections across the surface of the lettuce, creating a sort of striped design. Arrange in an attractive pattern by alternating colours. Once all of the ingredients have been added, sprinkle with chives. Serve immediately with dressing, salt and pepper on the side.
  5. Serve immediately with dressing, salt and pepper on the side.

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