Cobb Salad with Easy Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette

Cobb Salad is a classic for a reason.

It's loaded with so much protein, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals. This filling salad is perfect for a meal-prepped lunch or dinner.

Beautiful rows of hard-boiled egg, crispy bacon, chopped chicken, creamy blue cheese, avocado with lime, cherry tomatoes, and red onion on top of a bed of romaine lettuce. Served with a drizzling of Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette. Tip: You can also serve this salad with your favorite blue cheese dressing or ranch.

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What Is a Cobb Salad?

Cobb salad is a garden salad that features a variety of meats, blue cheese, and vegetables such as tomatoes and avocado piled into neat rows. It's usually served as a main dish because of how filling it is.

There are many different variations you can do with a Cobb salad. Grill or roast the chicken. Swap out a vinaigrette like balsamic or red wine for a creamy dressing such as bleu cheese or ranch. Add in fresh herbs like chives or dill. You can even make a sweeter version of cobb salad by using strawberries instead of cherry tomatoes, adding in nuts like pecans, and serving with a honey mustard dressing, etc.

How To Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs:

This method cooks the eggs gently by simmering, resulting in eggs that don't have a green ring and are easy to peel. Results may vary depending on factors such as the size, age, and temperature of the eggs. I recommend using large eggs straight from the refrigerator that are fresh (1-2 weeks old).

• Place 6-12 eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Be sure that the eggs are completely submerged and covered by an extra inch or two of water. Note: The more eggs in the pan, the more water there should be covering them. Six or less eggs should be covered by at least an inch of water,7-12 eggs, at least two inches of water.
• Add in ½ teaspoon salt to the water to help prevent cracking and aid in peeling.
• Set the saucepan over high heat, uncovered. Bring to a rolling boil.
• Once boiling, turn off the heat and cover. Simmer the eggs for 10-12 minutes. If you like jammy eggs, you can boil a few minutes less. Tip: If you're cooking a large batch of eggs, you can remove one from the pan to test doneness.

• Strain the eggs or remove from pan with a slotted spoon. Place in an ice bath (a large bowl filled with cold water and ice). Allow them to cool several minutes, then peel or store in the refrigerator.

How To Make Cobb Salad:

Prep:

You can do the first four steps ahead of time to streamline the assembly of the salad.

• Hard boil the eggs. Peel, and allow to chill.

• Cook the bacon. Drain, and cut into bite-sized pieces. I prefer to bake my bacon so it's hands-free.

• Cook the chicken. Season with salt, pepper, and (optional) seasoned salt. You can either grill or bake it. I prefer to sear it in my grill pan on both sides, then finish it off in the oven. You can also marinate the chicken in a few tablespoons of the balsamic dressing and then cook it. This gives it more color and a touch more flavor. Allow to cool, refrigerate, then chop into bite-sized pieces.

To Make the Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette:

Combine all ingredients in a glass mason jar or large bowl; shake or whisk. Store the dressing in the refrigerator until ready to use. Tip: Sometimes olive oil will harden in the fridge. If this happens, set the dressing out at room temperature for 20-30 minutes and give it a good shake.

Assemble the Cobb Salad:

• Prep the vegetables: Chop lettuce. Slice cherry tomatoes. Slice avocado and drizzle with lime.

• On a large dinner plate; lay a bed of romaine lettuce. Top with rows of chopped chicken, chopped bacon, hard-boiled egg, blue cheese crumbles, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and red onion (optional). Drizzle with Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette, or your dressing of choice. Season with cracked black pepper.
• Serve.

Notes:

• You can also assemble this salad in meal prep containers. Simply leave the dressing off to the side in a separate container and cut the avocado at lunch time.

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