Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad Recipe (2024)

This Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad is made even more magical by the beautiful rainbow pattern! Not only will your kids oohh and aahh over how beautiful it is, but they will actually get excited about eating it! I have to admit, it is one of my favorite salads to make for friends and family too! Be sure to check out my more traditional Delux Cobb Salad. (I love this salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing too!)

Chicken Cobb Salad

One of my favorite meals in the world is a Cobb Salad. It has a little of everything; meat (usually chicken), greens/vegetables. This particular version of a Cobb Salad has all of thatas well as somefruit and bacon!

Cobb Salads are usually loaded with greens, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, bacon, chicken, avocado,and cheese.A truly traditional Cobb Salad uses 4 different kinds of lettuce; watercress, endives, iceberg,and romaine.My cobb salad is made with a salad mix. To keep me (and maybe you) from buying several different types of greens that may never be used again, I used a head of lettuce.

Cobb Salad Ingredients

I will name them in Rainbow order, but feel free to assemble this salad in whichever way you are most comfortable with!

• Tomato– I love a Roma with this salad because there are fewer seeds, but I have also used beefeater chopped fine and cherry tomatoes. If you are not following the rainbow theme, feel free to use the flavorful yellow, orange, and purple tomatoes too!
• Bacon– This is a staple in a cobb salad and I can see why. Crispy, salty, and a perfect compliment to all those fabulous vegetables. I highly recommend making bacon instead of buying bacon bits.
• Carrots– freshly shredded carrots are a great pop of color not to mention awesome texture in a salad. I used standard carrots, but you could use any variety of colors like red, yellow, white, or purple. We LOVE purple carrots in a cobb salad, they always seem to be the most flavorful!
• Yellow Peppers – Great texture and sweet addition to this salad. If you don’t like the mild heat of yellow pepper, feel free to use hard-boiled eggs instead!
• Corn– I used canned corn in this salad and while it’s amazing I have to share my secret way to make this salad OVER THE TOP amazing. Roasting the corn on a sheet pan with a little oil for about 10 minutes. It’s a game-changer. You can even use the pan that the bacon was cooked on!
• Avocado – What is there to be said? If you don’t like avocado feel free to omit it, but I can’t imagine a cobb salad without it. A ripe avocado will be more firm and easier to slice.
• Blueberries– This just might be the most controversial part of this salad and yes, you can leave them out. But I beg you to try this salad as-is at least once!
• Purple Cabbage– A great substitution for cabbage would be purple onions, but who doesn’t like purple cabbage in a salad?
• Grilled Chicken– This is one of those salads that is amazing all year long because you can grill chicken outside, on your stovetop, or even bake chicken. I went pretty basic with salt and pepper, but feel free to season it to your tastes. Remember the dressing will add a big flavor punch too!

Cobb Salad Variations

You could make create:

• A taco-inspired Cobb Salad by adding taco seasoned grilled chicken, black beans, corn, and tortilla strips.
• A Mediterranean Cobb Salad by adding roasted red peppers, artichokes, chickpeas, pancetta, and Italian-flavored chicken.
• A Thai Cobb Salad by adding ginger-flavored chicken, pickled vegetables like carrots and cucumber, fresh red peppers, and avocados.
• Finally, you can change up your Cobb salad simply by using your favorite dressing!

The recipe is for a quick assembly, but do feel free to customize in a way that is most pleasing to you! There are endless varieties, but I really do love this one as is. And even though it would no longer technically be a cobb salad, I love a breaded chicken strip on this salad too!

Of course, if you want to really have fun with your food, put it all in a jar! Not only is this beautiful, but convenient. (You may want to chop your ingredients a bit finer.) Place it all in a jar then head out for a picnic with your family! I love that this is also a great meal-prep option and that you can assemble it ahead of time.