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This Vegetarian Cobb Salad is a delicious way to eat more veggies. It’s loaded with filling protein and tossed with a flavorful red wine vinaigrette, and makes an easy packed lunch for the week!

vegetarian cobb salad with chickpeas on top

What is a Cobb Salad? It’s an American garden-style salad that is intended to serve as a main dish, typically topped with tomatoes, avocado, hard boiled eggs, bacon, and chicken.

Cobb salads are traditionally served with a red wine vinaigrette, but I also love this with Honey Dijon Dressing, if you’d like to try that, too.

vegetarian cobb salad overhead in large bowl

Why You’ll Love It

  • It’s filling. This is definitely a “meal sized” salad with protein from the hard boiled eggs, healthy fats from the avocado, and tons of fiber to help keep you feeling satisfied for hours.
  • You can make it ahead. This is one of my favorite salads to meal prep, because the components can be made in advance and stored in the fridge separately. When it’s time to eat, it will take less than 5 minutes to assemble!
  • It’s flexible. If you’d prefer a vegan cobb salad, simply leave off the eggs and cheese. You’ll still get plenty of protein when you add chickpeas on top!
  • It’s delicious. The red wine vinaigrette ties all of these components together, with a slightly different flavor and texture in each bite. You shouldn’t get bored while eating this salad!

You can use any type of lettuce you like as the base, but I typically use either spring mix, or chopped romaine for extra crunch.

How to Make a Cobb Salad

Ingredients You’ll Need

Directions

1. Prepare the components. Roast the mushroom bacon and hard boil the eggs, if you haven’t already. In a glass mason jar or bowl, combine the red wine vinegar, olive oil, mustard, maple syrup, salt, pepper, and oregano. Shake or whisk well to combine, then set it aside.

mushroom bacon and dressing in jar

2. Assemble the salad. Start with a base of lettuce, then pile on the hard boiled eggs, bacon, tomatoes, avocado, blue cheese, and chickpeas, if using.

chopped romaine and components added to bowl

3. Enjoy! Drizzle the dressing over the salad, and enjoy right away.

finished cobb salad with dressing on top and fork

You can store these components separately for up to 5 days in the fridge, so you can make this in advance if you’d like an easy packed lunch for the week.

Tip: If you’re going to use chickpeas as part of a make-ahead meal, I recommend NOT roasting them, as the texture isn’t as nice when they are stored in the fridge.

Helpful Variations

  • Make it dairy-free. Leave off the cheese and this salad is dairy-free.
  • Make it vegan. Omit the eggs and cheese. The red wine vinaigrette is already vegan, and so are the mushroom bacon and chickpeas!
  • Make it properly combined. Omit the chickpeas and avocado for a properly combined animal protein meal, or omit the eggs and cheese for a starch meal.

vegetarian cobb salad at an angle in bowl

More Salad Recipes

If you need more salad ideas, try one of these other favorites!

vegetarian cobb salad with chickpeas on top

Vegetarian Cobb Salad

5 from 7 votes
This Cobb Salad recipe is hearty enough to be served as a main course, with a flavorful red wine vinaigrette. It's perfect for packed lunches during the week!
prep15 mins total15 mins
Servings:2

Ingredients
 
 

Red Wine Vinaigrette

  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt + pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Cobb Salad

  • 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce (or mixed greens)
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes , sliced in half
  • 1 avocado , sliced
  • 3 hard boiled eggs , peeled and sliced
  • 1/4 cup mushroom bacon
  • 1 cup roasted chickpeas (optional)
  • 1/4 cup crumbled gorgonozla (optional)

Instructions

  • To prepare the red wine vinaigrette, combine the vinegar, olive oil, mustard, maple syrup, salt, pepper, and oregano in a small jar or bowl. Whisk well to combine, then set it aside. Prepare the other components, like mushroom bacon, eggs, and chickpeas, if you haven't already.
    mushroom bacon and dressing in jar
  • To assemble the salad, add the lettuce to two large serving bowls, then top with the cherry tomatoes, avocado, hard boiled eggs, mushroom bacon, roasted chickpeas, and cheese, if using.
    chopped romaine and components added to bowl
  • Drizzle the dressing over the top of each salad (you won't use it all-- start with 2 tablespoons per serving) then toss and enjoy it right away. You'll get a little bite of everything in each forkful! Store any leftover components in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. They are best stored separately, so the lettuce won't get soggy.
    finished cobb salad with dressing on top and fork

Video

Notes

Nutrition information is for roughly 1 portion of salad with 2 T of dressing. This is just an estimate and not a guarantee.

Nutrition

Calories: 448kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 23g | Cholesterol: 280mg | Sodium: 195mg | Potassium: 780mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 906IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 74mg | Iron: 2mg
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: vegetarian cobb salad

If you try this Veggie Cobb Salad, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it!


Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite type of salad?

Megan Gilmore leaning on her white countertop.

Megan Gilmore

Hi, I’m Megan. A former fast food junkie turned best-selling cookbook author. I create healthy recipes made with simple ingredients to make your life easier.

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Comments

  1. This recipe was delicious! Loved the mustard dressing! The mushroom bacon was unbelievable- crisped up it tastes like real bacon. Definitely doing this again- next week!

  2. Perfect summer salad! Subbed roasted beets and potatoes for the garbanzo beans and mushroom bacon. Dressing is sooo good!! Thank you 😘

  3. This salad is my new go-to for work. It is perfectly filling but not too much where I want to take a nap after eating it. Love the mushroom bacon! I used the honey mustard dressing recipe and now I make a new batch every week.

  4. 100 stars! I never thought I’d leave a comment on such a simple salad recipe, but OMG, I actually crave this salad daily now. I’ve had it every day for lunch this week and it is so satisfying and tasty, I seriously CANNOT get over it. The honey dijon dressing is insane. I’m obsessed. Thanks for creating a salad I actually look forward to eating!

  5. Mmm… The vegetarian cobb salad looks delicious! I cannot wait to try it.

    Is there a particular reason (besides perfect hard-boiled eggs) that you suggest steaming eggs rather than boiling them?