California Cobb Salad gives the classic salad a west coast spin with the addition of crisp cucumber, sweet strawberries, and creamy avocado.
Modern travel never ceases to amaze me. A few days ago I was sipping mocktails at Mundaka and gazing at The Lone Cyprus on the iconic 17 Mile Drive along the Pacific coastline.
Today I was stopping to smell the lilacs on a walk around the neighborhood. What a world!
California Cobb Salad
You can take the girl out of California, but you can’t take the California out of the girl and despite the fact that I’m home sweet home, I seemed to have left my taste buds out west.
Case in point, the gorgeous, fresh, and filling California Cobb Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette recipe I’ve been devouring since returning home!
After three days of eating salads with the Dole folks, you’d think I’d had enough for one week, but it actually inspired me to get even more creative with my greens and give them a California spin.
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Pin ItTypically, Cobb Salad contains a mixture of meats, cheeses, and vegetables layered over crisp salad greens. To give it a west coast spin I also added cool and breezy ingredients like crisp cucumber, sweet strawberries, and creamy avocado.
Drizzled with a homemade Tarragon Vinaigrette, this is the best combo of crispy, creamy, sweet, savory – not to mention super filling. This isn’t a boring side salad – this is a MEAL!
How to Make a California Cobb Salad
Start by preparing 4 hard boiled eggs. Want to know how to get perfect hard boiled eggs every time? Add eggs to a saucepan then fill with cool water 1″ above the tops.
Bring the water to a boil, remove the pan from the heat, then place a lid on top and let them sit for 11 minutes for large eggs.
Drain then submerge in cold water and use right away, or peel then stash in the fridge.
Perfect every time!
Next, get to chopping the fresh ingredients for the salad including 1 cup each tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries and 1 avocado.
When the eggs have cooled, chop them up, then also cook/chop 1/2lb chicken breasts and 1/2lb bacon.
Finally, the greens. I like Cobb Salads made with hearty lettuces that stand up to the weight of the toppings, so I use Dole’s Italian Blend which combines crispy romaine lettuce with hearty radicchio to act as the bed for the flavorful ingredients on top.
Ready, set, assemble!
Top the crispy lettuce base with lanes of ingredients then drizzle with an easy Tarragon Vinaigrette. This savory, herby vinaigrette is fantastic with all the other fresh ingredients.
Between the California avocados and sweet strawberries, salty bacon and juicy tomatoes, each bite of this salad is a flavor-packed experience. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 10 oz mixed greens
- 1 chicken breast, ~1/2lb, cooked and chopped
- 1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 4 hard boiled eggs, diced
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped cucumber
- 1 cup chopped strawberries
- 1 avocado, diced
For the Tarragon Vinaigrette:
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoon raspberry blush vinegar, or red wine vinegar
- 10-12 tarragon leaves, torn
- 1 small shallot, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- salt and pepper
- 6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Directions
For the Tarragon Vinaigrette:
- Combine all ingredients except olive oil in a food processor or blender. Slowly stream in olive oil while processing until smooth. Taste then adjust salt and pepper if necessary then refrigerate for at least a couple of hours and up to 3 days to let the flavors meld.
For the Salad:
- Divide lettuce between four plates then divide toppings between plates. Drizzle with Tarragon Vinaigrette then serve.
Notes
- Estimated nutritional information includes the entire vinaigrette recipe.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Such beautiful photos! As well as another great looking recipe, thanks for sharing :)
so pretty!! Loving this!!
I’ve been craving salads this week….had a strawberry/chicken/goat cheese/candied pecan on Tuesday, tonight was a chicken/cashew w/sesame asian dressing. Your salad looks soooo yummy; thinking it will be a must have this weekend.
Gorgeous lilac bushes!
all of your salads looks so amazing. but i have to ask, HOW do you eat it? do you drizzle the dressing over the top right away? or do you mix it up first, then dressing? or do you pick at all the toppings first?
i just look at that salad and i don’t want to even touch it because it’s so pretty!!
I pour it into a giant stainless steel bowl!
You should visit us at Honey Creek Resort in Albia, Iowa. The Chef makes an amazing IOWA Cobb Salad!
I cannot wait to try this dressing. It sounds awesome and SO perfect for Summertime salads!
Omg this looks amazing!! I’m always looking for new salad inspiration that is filling enough to be a meal. Pinning and making ASAP! :)
Hey – this salad looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it. As a California girl from the Avocado Capital of the World, I LOVE anything with avo!
Your pictures from Monterey were incredible – what an amazing trip!
Hey – this salad looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it. As a California girl from the Avocado Capital of the World, I LOVE anything with avo!
Your pictures from Monterey were incredible!
OMG get outta my head – I suggested cobb salad for dinner for us tonight! Last night, after dinner, clearly I think about food too much.
Your version looks delish – I’m going the clean-out-your-fridge route ;)
My favorite lilac bush is at my mom’s house. It burned to the ground years ago when the neighbors’ house caught fire but it came back!
Lucky you! I looked for tarragon everywhere the other weekend and couldn’t find any! Finally substitued sage. Sauce turned out great with the sage but I will have to go looking for tarragon again.
That is so awesome that you have this new blog and just in time to stay home with the lil baby!! Congrats! I am sure it’s more fun traveling as opposed to the 10 hour work days. One request ….don’t make us wait weeks..months or even days to see a few pics of the bundle of joy when he arrives!!!