This summer Cobb salad recipe uses corn, blueberries, zucchini, and tomatoes for a seasonal variation. Grilled chicken and corn make this perfect for a summer dinner, or use leftovers from a backyard cookout.
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Recipe
Ingredients
Cobb salad ingredients
- 6 ounces cooked chicken
- 3 ounces cooked bacon
- 2 hard boiled eggs
- 2 ounces cheese aged cheddar, goat cheese, or anything in between
- 6 cups romaine lettuce
- 6 ounces cherry tomatoes half a pint container
- 1 medium zucchini
- 1 corn cob
- ½ cup blueberries 3 ounces
Blueberry vinaigrette ingredients
- ½ cup blueberries
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make chicken, bacon, and hard boiled eggs now, or ahead of time. If firing up the grill, add the zucchini & corn too.6 ounces cooked chicken, 3 ounces cooked bacon, 2 hard boiled eggs
- Cook zucchini: First toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Then you can roast, pan fry, or grill the zucchini based on your preferred method of cooking today. If you grill, consider throwing the cobs of corn on as well. Otherwise, the corn is perfectly fine fresh & uncooked.1 medium zucchini
- Slice & dice ingredients: cut the lettuce into small pieces. Cut corn from the cob. Dice the other vegetables and bacon. Slice the chicken into strips (or dice). Cut the hard boiled eggs into quarters or eighths. Cut the cheese into cubes (if using a hard cheese).2 ounces cheese, 6 cups romaine lettuce, 6 ounces cherry tomatoes, 1 corn cob, ½ cup blueberries
- Make the dressing: combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth and adjust seasoning with salt & pepper as needed.½ cup blueberries, ¼ cup balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice, 2 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon honey, salt & pepper to taste
- Assemble the salad: cover plates with lettuce and drizzle with half the dressing. Then arrange remaining ingredients in rows. Top with remaining dressing. Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Origin
The Cobb salad was created by a late night riffling through a restaurant refrigerator. It then made it onto the restaurant's menu, the Brown Derby Restaurant in Los Angeles.
The spirit of the Cobb salad is to use what's on hand and what you're craving at the time. That said, there are some unifying ingredients found on nearly every salad variation: chicken, bacon, hard boiled eggs, and cheese, all arranged in neat rows.
The rest is up to us. This summer Cobb salad includes seasonal vegetables, like corn and zucchini, along with a blueberry vinaigrette. It takes a bit of time because you have to cook 3 different proteins, but those can all be made in advance if desired.
Nutrition
Cobb salads are designed to be an entire meal. They are loaded with protein so they are incredibly filling. The proteins can be easily customized to fit your nutritional goals. Here's a breakdown of the calories per serving.
| Ingredient | Protein | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken, 3 oz | 21g | 142 |
| Bacon, 1.5 oz | 15g | 199 |
| Hard boiled egg | 7g | 77 |
| Cheese, 1 oz | 6g | 115 |
| Vegetables | 5g | 95 |
| Blueberries, ¼ cup | 0.5g | 21 |
| Dressing | 0.5g | 205 |
| Total | 55g | 855 |
This salad contains 55 grams of protein, which is almost the entire daily value for a 165-pound person. The general guidelines are to consume 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of weight. As the Mayo Clinic suggests, then, a 165 pound person (75 kilograms) should eat 60 grams of protein per day.
The amount of protein varies by age and workout intensity. But the point here is that this salad contains a lot of protein. You can adjust the sources of protein to meet your nutritional goals.
For example, if you swapped 1 ounce of cheese for another ounce of chicken, you'd have about the same amount of protein, but cut out 68 calories.
It's also easy to accidentally add more protein to the salad, racking up the calories to over 1,000. Maybe that works for you, maybe it doesn't. Each strip of bacon is about 100 calories, a second hard boiled egg adds another 77.
Check out my Chinese chicken salad recipe with mandarin oranges for another protein-loaded dinner.
Plan ahead for a grilled summer Cobb salad
If you are grilling one night, you can cook a few extra things to save for the Cobb salad. Throw some extra chicken onto the grill along with some cobs of corn and zucchini. Store the extra ingredients in airtight containers in the fridge for a couple of days.
This salad is also a great excuse to use up leftover chicken and corn from a summer BBQ. If the chicken was pre-seasoned or glazed in BBQ sauce, it will still work. The blueberry dressing is sweet enough to work with those flavors.
Ingredients for a summer Cobb salad
The best part about Cobb salads (besides bacon) is their adaptability. If any salad deserves seasonal variations, it's this one thanks to the original conception resulting from a late-night refrigerator raid.
I encourage you to use any summer fruit and vegetables that you have in your garden, bought at the farmers market, or got on sale at the grocery store. If you have some seasonal favorites, you should definitely experiment with them.
I used cherry tomatoes and zucchini because my garden overflows with them in summer. Corn, another summer staple, pairs well with blueberries. They both add a subtle sweetness to the salad, countering the salty chicken, bacon, eggs, and cheese.
Corn
I love using fresh corn cut off the cob. There are two ways to use it in a cobb salad - choose one or use both for a depth of flavor.
Raw corn cut off the cob has a sweet, fresh flavor. Grilled corn has that nice smokey flavor. Both work great in the salad - it just depends on the flavor profile you're looking for.
To cut corn off the cob without making a mess - cut on its side, not vertical. I used to sheer kernels off the cob standing it straight up and down and corn scattered everywhere, bouncing off the counter onto the floor. I finally realized I could lay the cob on its side to cut off the kernels. It works perfectly without making a mess.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are one of the ingredients in a classic Cobb salad, so they are a nice carryover for a summer version.
Cherry tomatoes have the most reliable flavor compared to other tomatoes you can buy. I often gravitate towards them for salads, but any tomato will work out well.
Tomatoes also come in a variety of colors which actually have different flavor profiles. Yellow and orange tomatoes tend to taste brighter with citrus-acid undertones. Purple (sometimes called black or brown) tomatoes have a richer, earthier flavor without a forward acidic punch.
Zucchini & summer squash
Any variety of zucchini or summer squash will be great in a summer Cobb salad. Pick out a small to medium sized squash because it will have smaller seeds that won't need to be removed.
Larger zucchini and summer squash will need the seeds removed. To do that, cut the squash in half (the long way) so you have two 'boats.' Use a spoon and scoop the seeds out.
Leave the skin on the squash - there's no need to peel them. In fact, the peel contains a lot of the nutrients.
Blueberries & other summer fruit
I wanted to use blueberries because they pair really well with corn (it's a thing!). They are sweet, tart, and don't steal the spotlight.
That said, there are a bunch of other good options. Sweet cherries and strawberries would be my next suggestions. Peaches or nectarines could work as well, especially paired with a creamier cheese like a goat cheese or feta. If you choose nectarines, you don't have to peel them either.
Lastly, watermelon is another viable option. You could add in some cucumber, a classic combination. Feta cheese pairs well with both of these as well.
Cheese
The original Cobb salad had Roquefort cheese, but cheddar is a very common variation. Pretty much any cheese is acceptable in this type of salad - even restaurants are pretty liberal with the rules here.
Hard cheese are typically cut into tiny cubes in a Cobb salad, rather than shredded (like in a Chef salad). Cheddar, jack, swiss or any unique flavor like a nettle or mustard gouda are fair game.
Soft cheese options are crumbled onto the salad. Blue cheese, feta, and goat cheese are all quite common. You could also try a flavored goat cheese or a soft cheese rolled in herbs or nuts.
What makes a Cobb salad?
The cobb salad was invented from a late-night restaurant refrigerator raid. The spirit of the salad uses whatever you have on hand, making it perfect for seasonal variations.
However, there are several ingredients that unify cobb salads, distinguishing them from other types of salads. They are loaded with several types protein, including all of the following:
- Bacon
- Chicken
- Cheese
- Hard boiled eggs
The rest of the ingredients can be cobbled together. (No, that isn't how it got it's name, instead it is named after the owner of the restaurant that invented the salad).
The other unique feature of a cobb salad is that the ingredients are arranged in rows, rather than mixed together. So whatever produce you choose to use on your salad, arrange them neatly.
More Cobb salad variations
- Original Cobb salad, recipe courtesy of the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant
- Southwest Cobb salad with honey-mustard ranch dressing by Mel's Kitchen Cafe
- Vegetarian Cobb salad replaces the chicken and bacon with chickpeas, from Oh My Veggies
Other summer recipes
Enjoying summer fruits & vegetables? Find a new favorite recipe that celebrates the season.
- Caprese asparagus salad with tomatoes & balsamic
- Parmesan roasted asparagus
- Blueberry cucumber salad with feta cheese
- Shortcut eggs Benedict with asparagus
Carrie says
What a fun Cobb salad
Veronica T says
I have fun making it - glad you enjoyed it.