The Legendary Cobb Salad - A Simple Summer Supper

When are legendary salads born? The year—1926. The time—the wee hours of the morning. The place? Los Angeles, California. After a long day of working in his restaurant, the Brown Derby, Bob Cobb was desperate for nourishment. He raided the restaurant’s refrigerator and whipped up a doozy of a salad using leftovers. He shared this late-night treat with Sid Grauman of Grauman’s Chinese Theater.

Grauman was so taken with the “leftover” salad that he stopped by the Brown Derby for lunch the next day and ordered a “Cobb Salad”. From that moment on, the Brown Derby has served what they call “Our Famous Cobb Salad” with either chicken, turkey, or shrimp.

We love having Cobb Salad during the summer months. Following is my version of this legendary salad. I prefer seasoning my chicken breasts with Montreal® Steak Seasoning. I hate serving this salad with pocketed, unattractive hard-boiled eggs. I have struggled over the years to find a cooking method that makes hard-cooked eggs easy to peel. In the recipe I share the method I have found to be the most successful. This salad is best with avocados and tomatoes that are at their prime, so I include information on how to select the very best tomatoes and avocados and how to ripen them to perfection.

Since this salad got its start as leftovers, you can add anything you happen to have on hand and want to use up, like cucumbers, green onions, chopped red onion, or sliced radishes. And, just like the Brown Derby, you can use turkey, chicken, or shrimp as a protein. We are just as taken with this salad as Sid Grauman.

Cobb Salad a la Carol Ann

Serves 4

For Carol Ann’s Vinaigrette:

Makes less than 1 cup

½ cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon Worcestershire® sauce

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon minced garlic

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon large grind black pepper

In a blender, place vegetable and olive oils, red wine vinegar, water, lemon juice, Worcestershire® sauce, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper and process until well blended. Cover and chill until ready to toss salad.

For the salad:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and sliced into ½-inch slices or bite-size pieces

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Montreal® Steak Seasoning for sprinkling

1 pound bacon, fried crisp and crumbled

4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced or cut into bite-sized pieces

1 head red leaf lettuce, washed, dried, and torn into bite-size pieces

1 head romaine, washed, dried, and torn into bite-size pieces

2 tomatoes, chopped

or

16 to 20 cherry tomatoes, halved

2 avocadoes, peeled, cored, and sliced or cut into bite-size pieces

4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place chicken breasts in an oven-proof baking dish. Drizzle chicken breasts with olive oil to taste. Season to taste with Montreal® Steak Seasoning. Bake for 30 minutes, or until breasts are cooked through.

If you have a double oven, preheat the second oven to 400 degrees F. Place bacon in an oven-proof dish and bake for 20 minutes, turning bacon over after 10 minutes.

Fill a saucepan large enough to allow eggs room to breathe and with enough water to cover eggs by an inch. Place the saucepan over a high heat. Bring the water to a boil, lower the temperature to a rapid simmer, and lower the eggs into the water gently. Cook eggs about 12 minutes. Immediately plunge eggs into an ice bath and let sit for 12 minutes. Remove and peel.

To assemble salad:

Place red leaf and romaine lettuces on 4 plates. Arrange chicken, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, avocado, and blue cheese over greens. Serve with Carol Ann’s Vinaigrette on the side or your favorite store-bought dressing.

Tips on selecting avocados: If you want to use your avocado immediately, select one that yields to gentle pressure. If you are shopping ahead and plan to use the avocado in a few days, pick one that is firm to the touch. Pass up avocados that are bright green and feel rock-hard. They are difficult to ripen. Also, don’t buy this vegetable if it is sunken, shriveled, or feels mushy.

Tips on storing avocados: Avocados should be stored at room temperature until they are ready to eat. To speed up the ripening process, place them in a paper bag with an apple. Once ripe, avocados will keep up to 2 days in the refrigerator. If you only use half of an avocado, leave the pit in, brush the flesh with lemon juice, place it in a reusable or plastic bag or wrap it tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.

Tips on selecting tomatoes: Select firm and plump tomatoes that feel heavy for their size. Do not buy pale, spotted, or mushy specimens. Avoid tomatoes with blemishes or cracks. Color is the best indicator of quality. Pick brightly colored tomatoes. My father taught me to shop with my nose. Smell the stem end of the tomato. If it’s ripe, it will smell like a tomato. Ripe tomatoes should give slightly when pressed but not feel rock hard.

Tips on storing tomatoes: Tomatoes must be treated gently. Place only ripened tomatoes in the refrigerator. Cool temperatures slow the ripening process. To ripen, place tomatoes at room temperature stem side down. To hasten the ripening process, place tomatoes in a paper bag and keep at room temperature

Carol Ann

Carol Ann Kates is the award-winning author of cookbook, Secret Recipes from the Corner Market, and international Amazon best-selling and award-winning author of Grocery Shopping Secrets. She’s an expert in how to shop, select, and store produce for maximizing home cooking outcomes and minimizing time and money spent. As a former supermarket and deli operator, Carol Ann shares grocery-insider wisdom—the same expertise you used to receive when patronizing a mom-and-pop establishment. Contact her at CarolAnn@CarolAnnKates.com and explore her website, www.CarolAnnKates.com.

Copyright 2025 All Rights Reserved Carol Ann Kates