Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad Recipe

Light and healthy, this grilled chicken Cobb salad is packed with yummy ingredients (bacon, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese!) with a homemade dressing that is simple and tasty!

I love a good main dish salad.

And I would say that many, many of our summer night meals consist of these types of salads.

Usually pretty quick and easy, these salads are filling enough for a main dish, but light and healthy enough to justify a big bowl of ice cream after dinner. Know what I mean?

I also happen to be a super fan of Cobb-type salads. I love the flavors. The variety. The add-in options (read: change it up a million different ways!). The pretty pockets of colorful ingredients.

So it’s not a huge surprise that this simple (but delicious) grilled chicken Cobb salad easily stole my salad-loving heart.

It’s fairly classic in Cobb ingredients: hard-boiled eggs (this is the only method I use to boil those little eggies), bacon (yum), juicy tomatoes, avocados (double yum), romaine lettuce, and blue cheese (don’t hate! it’s the best, but if you must, sub in Parmesan).

The chicken component, though, gets an extra dose of goodness by marinating quickly (or up to 8 hours) in a simple bath of buttermilk + garlic + salt and pepper.

Grilled, it is incredibly tender with the perfect amount of flavor for a salad that has a lot going on!

Drizzled with the super easy homemade white wine vinaigrette dressing and you have one terribly delicious salad.

You can make the presentation a tad fancier by serving the salad alongside (or slightly on top) of a piece of tender, juicy grilled chicken.

Or.

Simplify and chop up that chicken to toss in with the rest of the salad. There’s no wrong choice here.

As mentioned below in the “what to serve” section, to help my younger eaters get more excited about salad for dinner, I always serve main dish salads with a yummy bread.

These divine breadsticks are an easy choice. Drop biscuits would be wonderful, too. Pull apart Asiago bubble bread? Perfection.

But sometimes the easy route calls to me, and I grab refrigerated naan from Costco, lather the sides with garlic butter, and throw the bread on the grill with the chicken. Yuuuuuummmm!

Divine breadsticks
Fresh fruit

One Year Ago: Cuban Sandwiches {Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker}
Two Years Ago: Chicken Taco Salad {InstantPot, Slow Cooker, or Stovetop}
Three Years Ago: Baked Orange-Glazed Meatballs
Four Years Ago: Glazed Lemon Yogurt Sheet Cake
Five Years Ago: Sour Cream Lime Tart {Or Pie!}

Yield: 5-6 servings

Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad

Total Time:1 hour 15 mins (includes marinating time)

Prep Time:30 mins

Cook Time:15 mins

Ingredients:

• 6 thin-cut boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or 3 thick chicken breasts cut in half lengthwise to form thinner cutlets)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I use coarse, kosher salt)
• Pinch of black pepper (I use coarsely ground black pepper)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 3 medium hearts romaine lettuce, chopped
• 4-6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 4-6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped (I use this method for hard-boiling eggs)
• 1 cup chopped cherry or regular tomatoes
• 1-2 avocados, chopped
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (can sub Parmesan cheese)

Dressing:

• 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 4 tablespoons olive oil or neutral-flavored oil like grapeseed, avocado, canola, vegetable
• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise, light or regular (see note)
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Place the chicken in a shallow dish or gallon-size resealable bag. Whisk together the buttermilk, salt, pepper, and garlic. Pour the mixture over the chicken, coat well. Cover the dish or seal the bag and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours.
2. Preheat a grill to medium or medium-high and grill the chicken (discard remaining marinade) for 3-4 minutes per side, until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees.
3. Remove the chicken from the grill and tent with foil for 5-10 minutes before serving.
4. In a large bowl add the chopped lettuce. Top with bacon, chopped hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, avocados and blue cheese. Drizzle with about 2/3 of the dressing and toss lightly. Add more dressing to taste, if desired.
5. Serve the grilled chicken topped with the salad (or serve it alongside). You can also chop up the chicken and toss with the other salad ingredients.

Notes:

For those of you that might desire a mayo substitute, I haven’t tried one with this salad – the mayo acts as a binder and thickener – but you could try buttermilk or yogurt, maybe? I’m guessing red wine vinegar or even other vinegar flavors could be subbed for the white wine vinegar.

All images and text ©Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.

Recipe Source: adapted from April 2018 Food Network Magazine