The Only Basic Cobb Salad Recipe You'll Ever Need

Come summer all we really want for dinner is a big pile crunchy, cold, refreshing salad. Unfortunately many salads are wimpy affairs, hardly filling enough to be dinner without something heartier alongside.

Not true of the Cobb salad though. With layers of chicken, bacon, cheese, eggs, and avocado, this quintessentially American salad is easily a full meal by itself. And yet it's also packed with healthy veggies like tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumbers.

Best part: if you are working with precooked chicken and bacon, you don't even need to turn on the stove to make it! Pretty cool, right?

What makes it a Cobb salad?

You might think a Cobb salad would have to have corn in it, but that's not the case. In fact, the name has nothing to do with corn cobs.

Cobb salad is named after Robert Cobb, who owned the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood, California, where the Cobb salad was first invented, in the 1930s.

Though the recipe has been adapted and changed over the years, essential elements still include lettuce, chicken, blue cheese, tomato, bacon, and boiled eggs.

What kind of lettuce do you use in a Cobb salad?

According to legend, iceberg, watercress, chicory, and romaine lettuce were all combined in the original salad. Most modern recipes now call for either romaine or iceberg. We like romaine, as it keeps crunchy, has a mild, not bitter flavor, but offers a bit more body than iceberg. However, you should feel free to use your favorite lettuce — or a mix!

How do you cut romaine for a Cobb salad?

When making a salad, like the Cobb salad, cut the ingredients small enough to fit in someone's mouth. It's an important step that is often forgotten, but it can make a big difference in the taste of a salad. 

For this reason, we recommend quartering the eggs instead of merely halving them. We recommend halving the cherry tomatoes (which also keeps them from bursting when punctured by a fork). And we recommend chopping the romaine into inch-wide strips. When everything is cut to a similar size, it's easier to fill a fork with a variety of ingredients. 

What's the best salad dressing for a Cobb Salad?

Some salads are practically defined by their dressing. A Caesar salad wouldn't be the same if made with ranch dressing, for instance. But that's not true with a Cobb salad. There is no Cobb salad dressing.

You can find recipes for Cobb salad that call for blue cheese, balsamic vinaigrette, or nearly any other kind of dressing there is.

The original Cobb salad was made with French dressing. It was a much more popular dressing in the early 20th century! We find the salad tastes best when dressed simply, to allow the flavor of the ingredients to shine through. For that reason, we've included a recipe for a simple red wine vinaigrette. 

Don't care for vinaigrette? Feel free to substitute your favorite homemade or bottled dressing instead!

Have you made this recipe? Tell us what you think in the comments below!