Cobb Salad Recipe

A white square plate filled with colorful Cobb Salad made with chicken, eggs, avocados, tomatoes, and bacon.

5 from 1 vote

The original Cobb Salad became famous in Los Angeles at the Brown Derby restaurant served with French Dressing loaded with chopped tomato, cubed chicken, crumbled bacon, diced avocado, chopped eggs, and topped with Roquefort cheese. Now you can make this famous iconic salad at home exactly how it was made back in the day in the golden age of Hollywood, California.

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Total Time1 30

Course: Salads & Dressing

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Brown Derby Cobb Salad, Cobb Salad, Special French Dressing

Servings:

Calories: 488kcal

Author: Lisa Hatfield

Equipment

Ingredients

Special French Dressing

¼ cup water
¼ cup red wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon sugar
1 ½ teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¾ teaspoon dry mustard
½ clove garlic minced
¼ cup olive oil
¾ cup vegetable oil

Cobb Salad

½ head iceberg lettuce
½ bunch watercress
1 small bunch curly endive
½ head Romaine
2 tablespoons chives minced
2 medium tomatoes diced
1 chicken breast boneless, cooked, diced, skinless
6 strips bacon cooked and diced
1 avocado diced
3 hard boiled eggs diced
½ cup Roquefor cheese crumbled

Instructions

Mix French Dressing: In a small bowl whisk water, vinegar, sugar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, Worcestershire, dry mustard, garlic, olive oil, and vegetable oil. Store in the fridge chilled, makes about 1 ½ cups. Shake or stir well before using.
Roast Split Chicken Breasts (these have bones and that adds flavor!): Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper for easy cleanup. Place 4 split chicken breasts on the sheet pan, season well with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat oven to 400 degrees, and roast chicken breast 30-35 minutes until cooked to 165 internal temperature. Let chicken rest until cool enough to handle, remove skin and bones (freeze for chicken stock), and cut into large diced pieces. Alternatively, you can poach or roast skinless chicken breasts.
Make Hardboiled Eggs: And roughly chop. The method I like the best is to "steam boil" eggs. Add water to a large pan with a lid, bring the water to a boil, and set a steamer basket in the water. Carefully add eggs on steamer basket, cover and let steam at high heat for 12 minutes. Remove eggs to ice bath for 15 minutes, roll crack and the peels on a board, they slip RIGHT OFF! I love making eggs this way.
Make Crumbled Bacon: Cook strips of bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Or buy precooked bacon and cook it in the microwave. Chop bacon on a cutting board into small ½" pieces.
Prep Veggies: Finely mince chives, and chop tomatoes, and remove the watery seeds, they don't have any flavor anyway!
Chop iceberg, romaine, endive lettuce, and watercress using a knife on a cutting board.
Slice avocado into cubes, hold the avocado half in a towel when cutting.
Assemble Cobb Salad
Mix together the chopped iceberg, romaine, endive, and watercress, place into the bottom of a large square or rectangle dish or individual salad bowls. Sprinkle finely diced chives on top of the salad mix.
Arrange Toppings in long side-by-side strips across the green salad place; diced tomatoes, diced chicken, crumbled bacon, diced avocado, and chopped eggs.
Sprinkle all over with crumbled Roquefort cheese and more chives.
Pour dressing all over at serving time.

Video

Notes

Cobb Salad Top Tips

Prepare all your ingredients and chill them; boiled eggs, diced chicken, and tomatoes.
Make the bacon close to serving so it stays crisp. Or make it and crumble it into a small airtight container in the fridge.
Cut the avocado last, as discolors fast so it looks pretty on your salad.
Watercress was available at my grocery store, but if you could leave it out or substitute arugula or chicory (Frisee lettuce).
For the chicken, you can poach, roast, broil, grill, or bake the chicken or even use a rotisserie chicken from the store. You can also sub cubed cooked turkey.
Be sure to whisk or shake the dressing if stored in a container before pouring it onto the salad, it will separate a bit and that's ok.
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, 6-8 minutes, drain on a paper-towel-lined plate, or buy precooked bacon, and it's ready in minutes in the microwave.

Nutrition