High Protein Cobb Salad (Printable)
A protein-packed American classic with grilled chicken, bacon, eggs, avocado and tangy blue cheese dressing.
# What You’ll Need:
→ Protein
01 - 2 large chicken breasts (about 10 oz), grilled and sliced
02 - 4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled
03 - 4 large eggs, hard-boiled and quartered
→ Vegetables
04 - 6 cups romaine lettuce (about 7 oz), chopped
05 - 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
06 - 1 large avocado, diced
07 - 1/2 cup cucumber, sliced
08 - 1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
→ Cheese
09 - 1/2 cup blue cheese (about 2 oz), crumbled
→ Dressing
10 - 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
11 - 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
12 - 1 tsp Dijon mustard
13 - 1 tsp honey
14 - Salt and black pepper to taste
# How To Make It:
01 - Grill or pan-sear the chicken breasts until fully cooked through, then slice them thinly. Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp and crumble into small pieces. Hard-boil the eggs for 10 minutes, cool under running water, peel, and quarter each egg.
02 - Wash and chop the romaine lettuce into bite-sized pieces. Halve the cherry tomatoes, dice the avocado, slice the cucumber, and cut the red onion into thin slices. Pat all vegetables dry.
03 - Spread the chopped romaine lettuce evenly across the bottom of a large serving platter or bowl to create a sturdy, even foundation.
04 - Neatly arrange the sliced chicken, crumbled bacon, quartered eggs, cherry tomatoes, diced avocado, cucumber, red onion, and crumbled blue cheese in distinct rows across the lettuce for a classic Cobb presentation.
05 - In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and honey. Whisk vigorously until the dressing is fully emulsified and creamy. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
06 - Drizzle the dressing evenly over the salad just before serving. Toss gently if desired, or serve each portion with dressing on the side. Serve immediately while the ingredients are fresh and crisp.
# Expert Tips:
01 -
- Forty three grams of protein per serving means you will actually stay full until bedtime, which is rare for a salad.
- Every single component can be prepped ahead, so dinnertime assembly takes about five minutes flat.
02 -
- Do not dress the salad more than fifteen minutes before eating or the lettuce will weep and collapse into a soggy pile.
- Resting the chicken for at least five minutes before slicing keeps every ounce of juice inside the meat where it belongs.
03 -
- Prep every topping separately and store in individual containers in the fridge for up to three days, turning weeknight dinners into a five minute assembly job.
- Warm the honey for ten seconds in the microwave before whisking into the dressing and it will emulsify twice as fast.