California Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad
This California Cobb Salad includes the traditional ingredients of grilled chicken, smoky bacon, avocado, and blue cheese with a touch of summer thrown in! You’ll love the addition of sweet strawberries and a tangy lemon vinaigrette to brighten up this classic main dish salad!
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase one of the products via the product link, I’ll receive a small commission.
A cobb salad has always been one of my go-to salads. I’m sure it has something to do with the bacon and avocado. I mean, how can you go wrong with those two ingredients?!
For this salad, I took most of the traditional Cobb Salad ingredients….chicken, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, and blue cheese then added in a few unique ones ….. kale mix, strawberries, and lemon vinaigrette. You can certainly customize those or add even more toppings if you like.
Growing up in California we always had access to some of the most incredible produce, some of which I loved and others well, not so much. But strawberries…..they have always been one of my favorites and at this time of year I could just eat them all day long. I love adding them to salads for a bright, fresh taste.
This post may contain sales affiliate links. Please see my full Disclosure Policy for details.
[feast_advanced_jump_to]
Recipe Ingredients + Substitutions
The full list of ingredients and quantities can be found in the recipe card below.
- Chicken breast: Boneless, skinless chicken breast is my preference for salads.
- Strawberries: Try to use the freshest strawberries you can find. I don’t recommend using frozen in this recipe.
- Blue cheese: Crumbled blue cheese gives the salad a nice tangy flavor.
- Eggs: You can hard boil them yourself or purchase them pre-boiled. You could also use crumbled eggs from a grocery store salad bar if you like.
- Avocado: The avocado gives you a nice creamy balance to the other flavors in this salad.
- Lemon: Juice + zest.
- Coffee-Rubbed Bacon: My new favorite when it comes to bacon is the coffee-rubbed bacon from the Whole Foods meat counter. If you have a Whole Foods near you I’d highly recommend checking it out. Not only is it delicious but you can purchase it by the slice so you don’t have to find an excuse to use up a whole package of bacon! Regular bacon also works for this recipe.
- Champagne Vinegar: I use this type of vinegar often in salad dressing and think it’s a good pantry staple. It’s similar to white wine vinegar, which can be used as a substitute, however, Champagne vinegar is a bit milder which is why I often use it in salad dressings.
- Salad greens: The recipe calls for kale, but you can substitute the greens of your choice.
- Agave: Agave tends to be a bit thinner in consistency than honey, which makes it slightly easier to incorporate into salad dressing. You can substitute honey.
- Spices: cracked pepper, sea salt, dried thyme
- Pantry staples: Olive oil, garlic clove, white wine vinegar, dijon mustard
Additional Notes from the Kitchen
This is a great salad for meal prep. See the tips below for the best way to add this to your weekly meal prep routine.
Classic Cobb Salad uses a dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, and shallots. I decided to spice this one up a bit for the warmer months by creating this luscious, creamy lemon dressing. It complements the chicken marinade nicely and goes well with the rest of the ingredients. It gives the salad a bright, tangy flavor.
Recommended Tools
Handheld Juicer – This is my favorite juicer! The design makes it really easy to extract the juice and it works for both lemons and limes.
Meat thermometer – When grilling I like to use probe style meat thermometer. Some grills now have them available as accessories but if yours does not, this one is a good choice.
How to make this recipe
This delicious summer salad is perfect for meal prep.
Step 1 | Marinate the chicken. Mix the oil, garlic, lemon juice and zest, pepper, mustard, thyme and salt in a small bowl. Pour over the chicken and let it marinate in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
Step 2 | Grill the chicken. Heat your grill up to about 400°F and grill the chicken for about 7 minutes per side, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. You want to get some nice dark grill marks on it!
Step 3 | Cook the bacon. How I cook bacon depends on the time of year…and time of day. If it’s not too hot out, cook it in a 425°F oven for about 20 minutes. Otherwise, you can do it on the grill with the chicken or in the microwave.
Step 4 | Make the dressing. Next, whip up the dressing by combining the lemon juice, vinegar, zest, garlic, mustard, agave, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small mason jar with a lid. Close the lid and shake well to combine everything.
Step 5 | Assemble the salad. Divide the kale or greens between two large salad bowls. Add some chicken, bacon, avocado, eggs, strawberries and blue cheese to each bowl. Drizzle each salad with some dressing and toss to coat.
Meal Prep Tips
Chicken + Dressing
You can make the chicken and the dressing ahead of time. Both will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Hard-boil the eggs
I also usually hard boil a couple of eggs in my instant pot at the beginning of the week. They are great in salads and you can always make an egg salad if you don’t use them all for something else.
Salad Greens
I also often use a bagged chopped kale salad mix for the lettuce so it’s ready to go at any time.
Make it a Platter Salad
If you want to make this a little more elegant, maybe for a nice al fresco date night dinner, layer the ingredients on a platter like I did for the photos. Then drizzle the dressing over the top when you’re ready to serve. If you want to make an easy lunch salad, chop everything up into bite-sized pieces, toss together with the dressing in a large bowl and then serve.
Looking for more great summer salad options?
Summer is one of the best times for salad. Try some of these great options:
- Strawberry Chicken Salad with Baked Goat Cheese Rounds
- Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
- Honey Quinoa with Cherries + Cashews
- Chipotle Lime Grilled Steak Salad
Click here to subscribe to Urban Foodie Kitchen’s Newsletter for free and fresh recipes right to your inbox!
If you try this recipe, be sure to let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below.
You can also take a photo & tag @urbanfoodiekitchen on Instagram.
Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 8 – 10 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice about ½ a lemon
- ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
For the dressing:
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon agave
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground pepper
- ¼ cup olive oil
For the salad:
- 4 cups of chopped kale or other salad greens
- 2 slices thick-cut bacon cooked
- 1 avocado diced
- 2 eggs hard boiled
- ½ cup sliced strawberries
- ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
Instructions
-
Marinate the chicken. Mix the oil, garlic, lemon juice and zest, pepper, mustard, thyme and salt in a small bowl. Pour over the chicken and let it marinate in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
-
Grill the chicken. Preheat your grill to about 400°F. Place the chicken on the grill and grill for 7 minutes. Flip the chicken and grill for another 6 to 7 minutes or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Once the chicken is done remove it from the grill and let it rest for a few minutes.
-
Make the dressing. Add the lemon juice, vinegar, zest, garlic, mustard, agave, salt, and pepper to a small container with a lid. Close the lid and shake to combine. Add the olive oil and shake vigorously.
-
Assemble the salad. Divide the kale between two bowls. Top each with chicken, bacon, avocado, eggs, strawberries and blue cheese. Add the dressing and toss to coat.
This post was originally published in May 2017. It was updated in June 2024 with some new information and photos. No changes were made to the original recipe.
