The ultimate American chopped salad with chicken, bacon, egg, avocado and blue cheese over romaine.
The Cobb salad is one of the great American restaurant salads — a visually dramatic, deeply satisfying arrangement of precisely chopped ingredients laid in parallel rows over crisp romaine lettuce: grilled chicken, crispy bacon, hard-boiled egg, creamy avocado, ripe tomato, crumbled blue cheese and sliced olives, finished with a red wine vinaigrette. It was created at the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood, California, in 1937 and became the defining salad of mid-century American dining. What sets the Cobb apart from ordinary salads is the discipline of preparation — every component is individually prepped and arranged in neat rows, so diners can see exactly what they're getting and choose their own combination with each forkful. The blue cheese dressing or red wine vinaigrette must be applied at the table, allowing diners to dress their portion as they prefer. This is a main-course salad that requires no apologies for being a salad — it is deeply satisfying, nutritionally complete, and beautiful on a large platter. It is perfect for entertaining because most components can be prepped ahead and the final assembly takes minutes. It represents American cuisine at its best: pragmatic, generous, unfussy and genuinely delicious.
Serves 4
Grill chicken, cook bacon, hard-boil eggs, dice avocado (toss with lemon juice to prevent browning), dice tomatoes. All components can be prepped up to 4 hours ahead and refrigerated.
Whisk red wine vinegar, Dijon, garlic, salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in olive oil until emulsified.
Spread chopped romaine on a large platter. Arrange all toppings in separate parallel rows: chicken, bacon, egg, avocado, tomato, blue cheese, olives.
The row arrangement is what makes a Cobb a Cobb. Each row should be clearly distinct in color and texture.
Drizzle vinaigrette over the salad just before serving. Alternatively, serve dressing on the side and let diners dress their own portions.
The row arrangement is visually striking and lets diners customize each forkful.
Season each component individually before arranging — bland chicken ruins the whole salad.
Toss avocado with lemon juice immediately after dicing to prevent browning.
Blue cheese dressing is the classic pairing; red wine vinaigrette is the lighter alternative.
Turkey Cobb: substitute grilled turkey for chicken.
Shrimp Cobb: grilled gulf shrimp in place of chicken with an avocado-lime dressing.
Vegan Cobb: replace animal proteins with chickpeas, smoked tofu, baked tempeh and cashew blue cheese.
Dress the salad just before serving. Prepped individual components keep refrigerated up to 2 days (except avocado, which should be cut fresh).
Robert Cobb, owner of the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood, created this salad in 1937 from whatever he could find in the refrigerator late at night for his friend Sid Grauman of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. He combined romaine, watercress, avocado, tomatoes, cold chicken, hard-boiled egg, chives, bacon and Roquefort cheese with French dressing. The salad appeared on the menu the next day and became a Hollywood legend.
Absolutely — the original Brown Derby version used French dressing. Red wine vinaigrette and blue cheese dressing are now equally traditional. Creamy ranch is also popular.
Traditional yes, but substitute feta or goat cheese if blue cheese is disliked. The sharpness of the cheese is important to the salad's flavor balance.
Toss diced avocado immediately in lemon or lime juice and keep refrigerated. Add it to the salad as close to serving time as possible.
Per serving (400g / 14.1 oz) · 4 servings total
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