The famous Cobb salad is a type of garden salad known for its meticulously arranged stripes of various ingredients. It is a delicious, albeit somewhat old fashioned salad with a rainbow of colors that works as a shared starter or a main dish.

With its origins rooted in 1930s Los Angeles, this salad boasts a vibrant medley of colors, textures, and flavors, challenging the notion that salads are simply for the health-conscious. A classic cobb salad has lettuce of course, but also bacon, avocado, cheese, and plenty of more tasty ingredients. And what better way to fuse all of these tasty ingredients? Why a tangy and fresh dressing of course!
In this article I’m going to give you my recipe for a basic vinaigrette, but you can pair a Cobb salad with any dressing you prefer, from an umami packed miso salad dressing to a tart and fruity blackcurrant dressing!
What Is A Cobb Salad?
A Cobb salad is an American garden salad likely invented in the 1930s at the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood. The owner at the time was Robert Howard Cobb and it is said that he invented it late at night by mixing together a bunch of leftovers from the line and tossing it in some French dressing. It was so good he started serving it in the restaurant, where the signature presentation we know today was set.
There are traditionally seven toppings plus romaine lettuce and dressing, but you can get creative and substitute things as you see fit when you make this salad at home.
How To Make A Classic Cobb Salad

One of the best things about a cobb salad is the preparation. I know, it is a lot of prep and knife work, but I find that extremely relaxing. The only thing you need to actually cook are some hard boiled eggs, but for the really lazy many grocery stores already sell them shelled in bags.
Ingredients (4 people)
1 head Lettuce – Traditionally the Cobb used romaine lettuce but you can use any leafy green you prefer. I use a mix of iceberg and curly endive since romaine is often out of stock due to recalls.
4 Hard Boiled Eggs – I do one hard boiled egg per person, cut into quarters
500 grams Cherry Tomatoes (about a pound) – Cut into quarters
2 large Avocado – Diced
1 Smoked Chicken Breast – Cubed
150 grams Blue Cheese – Crumbled. Traditionally roquefort was used, but I use Gorgonzola often since I likely have it on hand. However roquefort is an amazing cheese; I particularly recommend the Papillon brand.
Chives – You can also use green or spring onion. No real measurement here, just eyeball a row as you plate depending on your plate size.
Dressing – To taste
Vinaigrette Ingredients
250 ml Olive Oil (1 cup) – As this recipe is uncooked you should use the best quality olive oil you can find.
60 ml Red Wine Vinegar (1/4 cup)
2 tbsp French Whole Grain Mustard – You can use any mustard you prefer, but I like whole grain
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Salt
Black Pepper – Freshly cracked, to taste.
Instructions

You can make the dressing for the cobb salad far in advance, or after making the salad. That’s the great thing about dressings, they tend to hold very well – especially once you learn about the science behind salad dressing stabilizers!
After boiling the eggs all you really need to do is prep the ingredients. That means crumbling cheese, quartering tomatoes and eggs, dicing avocado and chicken breast, and of course chopping the lettuce.
It sounds like a lot of work, but it can be quite therapeutic if you are trying to improve your knife skills.

To make the vinaigrette just add all of the ingredients to a bowl and whisk to combine. You can also add them directly to your jar and shake to combine so go for whatever is easiest.

After making the salad just spoon over as much vinaigrette as you would like and enjoy!

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Cobb Salad
Ingredients
- 1 head Lettuce Traditionally the Cobb used romaine lettuce but you can use any leafy green you prefer. I use a mix of iceberg and curly endive since romaine is often out of stock due to recalls.
- 4 Hard Boiled Eggs I do one hard boiled egg per person cut into quarters
- 500 grams Cherry Tomatoes about a pound – Cut into quarters
- 2 large Avocado Diced
- 1 Smoked Chicken Breast Cubed
- 150 grams Blue Cheese Crumbled. Traditionally roquefort was used but I use Gorgonzola often since I likely have it on hand. However roquefort is an amazing cheese; I particularly recommend the Papillon brand.
- Chives You can also use green or spring onion. No real measurement here just eyeball a row as you plate depending on your plate size.
- Dressing To taste
Vinaigrette Ingredients
- 250 ml Olive Oil 1 cup – As this recipe is uncooked you should use the best quality olive oil you can find.
- 60 ml Red Wine Vinegar 1/4 cup
- 2 tbsp French Whole Grain Mustard You can use any mustard you prefer but I like whole grain
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- Black Pepper Freshly cracked, to taste.
Instructions
- Begin by prepping all the individual ingredients. Boil the eggs, chop the lettuce, quarter the tomatoes, dice the avocado and chicken, chop the chives, and crumble the blue cheese.1 head Lettuce, 4 Hard Boiled Eggs, 500 grams Cherry Tomatoes, 2 large Avocado, 1 Smoked Chicken Breast, 150 grams Blue Cheese, Chives, Dressing
- Lay down your lettuce in a bowl and lay each topping ingredient in strips upon the bed of lettuce.
- Make the dressing by whisking or shaking all the ingredients together. Pour over salad as desired.250 ml Olive Oil, 60 ml Red Wine Vinegar, 2 tbsp French Whole Grain Mustard, 1 tsp Garlic Powder, 1 tsp Oregano, Black Pepper, 1/2 tsp Salt

Tasty but used store bought dressing as I don’t like vinaigrette.