Cobb salads are often labeled unhealthy because of the oversized restaurant ones. This healthy Cobb salad recipe with chicken is a great low carb meal for one or two people.
There’s one salad that often makes the list of the most unhealthy salads. However, this delicious salad is a low carb favorite of mine.
I think the bad press is because so many restaurants make the salad with humongous portion sizes. So the fat and calories skyrocket which mainstream considers bad.
I do agree somewhat with the calories, but a low carb high fat diet is something that’s always helped me lose weight. Because the size of the salad at most restaurants is so large, I usually take at least half the salad home to eat later.
Here is a healthy Cobb salad recipe with chicken that I like to make at home. I don’t typically make chicken specifically for the salad, but use leftover grilled or pan-fried chicken breasts.
When I cook a skinless chicken breast, I always butterfly it by slicing it in half in the middle. This makes it thinner so it cooks more evenly and faster.
If I try to grill a whole breast, the chicken will often turn brown on the outside but stays pink on the inside because it is rather thick. A half chicken breast is a good serving portion for a salad or meal.
How to make a healthy Cobb Salad
To be sure I don’t overdue the cheese, I like to weigh out the correct portion size on a food scale. (photo 1) One ounce of blue cheese is actually a good amount.
If you’d like to cut the calories, you could use only half the amount of cheese or 0.5 ounce. It’s not a big difference as half an ounce of blue cheese has about 50 calories with only 0.3g carbohydrate. I only worry about calories if I am trying to lose weight.
If you are in a weight loss phase of low carb, it’s good to keep a stash of hard boiled eggs in the refrigerator. I have an egg cooker that I love for making hard boiled eggs.
An egg cooker makes perfectly hard, medium or soft boiled eggs as well as poached eggs. Some people like to chop their eggs for a salad, but I like to use an egg slicer. (photo 2)
When making this healthy Cobb salad recipe, I like to prep the topping first and put them on a plate. (photo 3) Then I start assembling the salad.
To make the salad, all you do is place your lettuce into a large bowl, then top with sliced grilled chicken, sliced hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, avocadoes, and bacon. (photos 4-9) My favorite way to serve the salad is with optional low carb keto blue cheese dressing.
The best way to cook bacon for the salad
Who doesn’t love bacon? Especially if you are on a low carb diet. I prefer thick cut bacon slices as I find them easiest to separate and cook.
My current method for cooking bacon is to lay the slices out on jelly roll pans lined with aluminum foil. Then put them in the oven and turn it on at a temperature of 400°F.
I don’t even preheat the oven. It takes about 25 minutes for the bacon to crisp up and the foil lining makes clean up a breeze. Baking bacon in the oven is the easiest way to get crispy bacon!
Finding the best avocadoes
Avocado is a “must have” ingredient for this healthy Cobb salad recipe. Recently, I’ve had problems buying avocados with brown spots inside that I have to cut out. As I was searching the web for a way to pick out perfect avocados, I stumbled upon this article from Northwest Edible Life on how to avoid buying bad ones.
Most people see avocados as a vegetable, but they are really a fruit. And there are so many benefits of avocado oil which is a healthy fat found in the fruit. Plus, avocados are packed with nutrition!
Printable healthy Cobb salad recipe
Enjoy this easy and delicious salad! If you give it a try, we’d love to know how it worked out for you in the comments below.
Chicken Cobb Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups organic romaine lettuce or spring mix
- 1/2 chicken breast cooked and sliced
- 2 slices no sugar bacon cooked crisp and chopped
- 1 hard boiled egg sliced or chopped
- 1 ounce blue cheese crumbled
- 1/2 avocado chopped
- 4 grape tomatoes optional, adds 5 calories and 1g carb
- 2 tablespoons blue cheese dressing optional
Instructions
- Place spring mix greens in a large bowl or on a plate.
- Top with sliced chicken, bacon, hard boiled egg, blue cheese and avocado.
- Add grape tomatoes and blue cheese dressing if desired.
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Notes
504 calories, 30.3g fat, 808mg sodium, 10.2g carbs, 4.9g fiber, 5.3g net carbs, 47.1g protein Plain without tomatoes:
499 calories, 30.3g fat, 808mg sodium, 9.2g carbs, 4.9g fiber, 4.3g net carbs, 47.1g protein With tomatoes and 2 Tablespoons Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing:
572 calories, 36.5g fat, 996mg sodium, 11.1g carbs, 4.9g fiber, 6.2g net carbs, 49.3g protein With 2 Tablespoons Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing (no tomatoes):
567 calories, 36.5g fat, 996mg sodium, 10.1g carbs, 4.9g fiber, 6.2g net carbs, 49.3g protein
Nutrition
Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
About Lisa
Lisa has been creating low carb recipes for herself and sharing them with others since 2010. She loves to experiment in the kitchen and find new ways to create low sugar foods that taste like high carb favorites! Her recipes have been featured on popular magazine sites including Fitness, Shape, Country Living, Women's Health, and Men's Health. Lisa lives in Southeastern Connecticut. Connect with her and Low Carb Yum at:
Emily Kemp says
This has got to be one of my favourite salads ever!
HazelP. says
That is a gorgeous salad Lisa. I adore salads with protein (and lots of fat), and this recipe will be going into my low-carb recipe binder. Thanks a bunch.
Lisa says
It’s one of my favorite salads.