The Classic Cobb Salad

A Cobb Salad is a fantastic light and easy summer meal. This Cobb Salad recipe is full of healthy fats, protein and veggies to keep you full and satisfied without heating up the kitchen!

When done right, salads rank very high on my list of favorite foods.  In fact, several of my favorite restaurants are my favorites because of a salad on their menu. (The Santa Fe Salad from the Cheesecake Factory, Cheddar’s Grilled Chicken Pecan Salad, the Parmesan Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad from Z-Tejas and of course I can’t leave out Jason’s Deli, even though it may be the free ice cream that keeps this one on the list instead of the salad…)

The sad part is, we rarely have a babysitter and all of these restaurants are a bit out of the way for us.  (Plus the salad from the Cheesecake Factory is now up to almost $15. Ouch!)  So, it’s up to me to create yummy salads at home and by using premium dressings and toppings.  My kiddos usually enjoy them too.

Thanks to the ease of hard cooked eggs in the pressure cooker, I almost always have hard-boiled eggs on hand (they make a great snack and my kids love them.)  

Chopped up, boiled eggs are a fantastic addition to almost any salad, plus they add protein and other good for you nutrients.  I had some leftover thickly sliced ham from the deli leftover and a bunch of cherry tomatoes, so I was inspired to make a Cobb Salad for dinner this week.

What’s the Difference Between a Cobb Salad and a Chef Salad?

To tell the truth, I wasn’t sure what to call this salad. Was is a Cobb Salad or a Chef Salad, and is there even a difference between the two? Turns out, there is.  (I Googled it…)

A Chef Salad and Cobb Salad both have lettuce, cheese and meats such as bacon, chicken breast, and ham, plus hard boiled eggs.  But a Cobb salad usually has a mixture of lettuces, and also has avocado and tomatoes.  –  Learn something new every day!

If you decide to make a Cobb Salad, you can find prepackaged, cubed deli meat in the lunch meat section or you could also have your deli counter guy cut a super thick slice of your favorite deli meat and cube it yourself. Easy Peasy!

The Delicious Trick I Use to Get my Kids to Eat Salad

My kids love chips and guacamole, but trying to get them to eat a plain avocado or a salad is a bit more difficult.  The trick I used to get my kids to eat the this salad was to completely mash up the avocado and mix it into the salad.  The avocado will coat the lettuce and other ingredients. Add a bit of salt and pepper. It tastes fabulous and they’ll never know.  

I also do this with my own salad (I gave myself a bit more avocado) and didn’t even need to use additional dressing.  It’s so good!  (Do you love avocado and boiled eggs on yoro salad too?  Check out my favorite spinach salad recipe here.)

Cobb Salad Ingredients

Want to make this cobb salad recipe?  Add these ingredients to your shopping list:

• Mixture of iceberg and romaine lettuce
• Cubed ham and/or turkey
• Bacon
• Colby Jack cheese
• Tomatoes
• Carrots
• Hard Boiled Eggs
• Avocado

How to Make a Cobb Salad

Ok, it’s super easy and I almost feel silly typing it out, but I’ve learned if I didn’t people would leave comments like  “where’s the recipe” or something similar.  (I have a baked chili cheese dog post where I explained how amazing it was to put your hot dogs in a baking dish, cover with a can of chili and shredded cheese, and bake at 425 till the cheese was melted. I finally had to go back and edit the post to include a printable recipe card.)

So to make the Cobb Salad, its as easy as adding a couple of handfuls of lettuce to a salad bowl and adding ham and/or turkey, bacon, chese, tomatoes, carrots, boiled eggs, avocado and anything else you like.  (like crispy french fried onions, yum!)  

I like to present the salad on the table before tossing everything together and serve the dressing on the side. (Especially with kids, if they see all the goodies in the salad, it is easier to get them to eat it)

The beauty of this recipe is you can basically add your favorite salad toppings and choose how much you want of each item depending on what you have on hand, your preferences and size of salad you want to make.

What Dressing is Best on a Classic Cobb Salad

That’s a tough one to answer…  These classic cobb salad ingredients really are complemented best by what you like.  Ranch, honey mustard, maybe something with a kick like a homemade ranch with a bit of jalapeno. It’s really up to you!

The Classic Cobb Salad:

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