Cobb salads are a staple in our house. I shamefully fell in love with them when I worked at Fridays many moons ago. Prior to that I had never even heard of a Cobb salad. A Friday’s Cobb salad is romaine, tomatoes, avocado, black olives, blue cheese, hard-boiled eggs, bacon and grilled chicken with your choice of dressing. I personally don’t like blue cheese and black olives so I’d always customize it. That’s how the Cobb Salad Bar was born.

Most families are full of people with different taste buds. One person hates onions, another doesn’t eat dairy, only mom likes fish, the list goes on. This Cobb Salad Bar eliminates making multiple versions for each person in the family. Simply layout the ingredients and let people pick what they like. With the leftovers, everyone can still pick what ingredients they like and pack them up for lunch the next day.

Cobb Salad Bar

Serve this salad and please even the pickiest eaters in your family!

Servings 6

Ingredients

1 head romaine, chopped and washed
1.5 cups grilled chicken, diced
1 large avocado, diced
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2.5-ounce bag bacon bits
4-6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
1 seedless cucumber, diced
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 packet ranch dressing mix
2/3 cup sour cream
2/3 cup mayo
2/3 cup milk
Bread or Rolls, to serve with

Instructions

In a mason jar, mix ranch mix, mayo, sour cream and milk until combined. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.
Chop romaine and rinse it under cold water. Dry with a salad spinner or by laying it on a clean kitchen towel. Once dry, place in a large.
Arrange salad toppings in bowls.
Serve romaine and toppings buffet style and let everyone build their own salad. Serve with a roll on the side.

Recipe Notes

*Additonal topping ideas: black olives & blue cheese

*If your family doesn’t like ranch dressing, serve with any dressing you like!

Kids Love it Too!

For kids, you might not make it into a salad but rather a “deconstructed Cobb” where you leave the ingredients separate on their plate and give them a little ranch to dip them into. My girls love doing that and my 4-year-old usually eats more veggies this way. Dip solves all problems!

Perfect Salad for a Crowd

This is truly a fan favorite whenever I served it. Everyone loves a Cobb Salad Bar. I’ve even served it for company before and received rave reviews. The best part is that you can do all the prep work ahead of time and it’s totally customizable for different crowd sizes.

If you want to cut the prep work even more, grab some chopped veggies from the grocery store. Using the bacon bits also cuts back on a lot of work but if you prefer fresh cooked bacon, feel free to substitute that! I will say though, the “homemade” ranch is not something to skip. It takes a few minutes to throw together and it really makes the salad special.

Great for Leftovers

It’s a great meal to plan when you’ll be grilling up chicken earlier in the week. Just grill a couple extra pieces and save them for this salad. We love using boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this salad but you can use whatever your family likes. Just don’t sauce it up, I find this salad is best with a seasoned but unsauced chicken. Unless you want to make my BBQ Chicken Salad Wraps, then sauce away!

Need Help Meal Planning?

Are you struggling with consistent meal planning? Grab my FREE Meal Planning Guide and you’ll receive my 7 Keys to Successful Meal Planning as well as some free printables to help you get your meal plan organized! This salad bar is a great example of what I preach for meal planning- utilize leftover, don’t cook every night and make delicious meals the whole family will love!

Consistent meal planning helps you save money and time. If you can set aside 30 minutes a week, use these ideas for getting work done with your kids around, you can meal plan consistently and stress less at dinner.

Taran Conwell

Taran is a self-proclaimed undomestic mom. She thrives as a stay-at-home-mom by consistently carving out time for herself and practicing realistic self-care. As a busy mom of 3, she knows that if mama ain’t happy, nobody’s happy! With a focus on how SAHMs can carve out time for themselves everyday, she teaches fellow SAHMs how they can do the same.