This grilled chicken Cobb salad is packed with all the goodies! Perfectly seasoned grilled chicken, crispy bacon, sliced eggs and avocado plus an easy and delicious honey dijon dressing that’s ready in under a minute! This Cobb salad makes a healthy, hearty, low carb meal that’s gluten free, paleo, dairy free and a family favorite!
I recently realized that I had no recent recipes for a good classic chicken Cobb salad. Terrible!
This is definitely one of my favorite classic salads because even without the cheese, it’s super filling and seriously tasty!
I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go with a honey dijon or ranch dressing for this, so I polled Instagram. It was an even 50/50 split, so I had to follow my heart and go honey dijon.
I love both, but I feel like I have lots of ranch dressings and dips on my site already and a good, easy, “whip it up in a minute” honey dijon just felt so right! That said, if you’re ranch-4-life you can always use the ranch from my turkey meatloaf, or this cilantro ranch, or this peppercorn ranch.
I have lots of ranch variations so simply type “ranch” into the search bar and take your pick!
What You Need to Make Chicken Cobb Salad
Simple ingredients equal the best salads! Here’s what you’ll need to prepare this chicken Cobb salad and honey dijon dressing:
- raw honey
- dijon mustard
- fresh lemon juice or white vinegar
- avocado oil
- boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Sea salt + black pepper
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- chopped romaine, kale, or other greens, or a mix
- cherry tomatoes
- red onion
- medium cucumber
- avocado
- cooked bacon
- hard boiled eggs
How to Make a Paleo Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad
Have your bacon cooked and eggs hard-boiled and peeled before beginning. See the recipe notes (in the recipe box) for my methods for the bacon and eggs.
Start with the dressing. You can either whisk the dressing together in a bowl, streaming in the oil slowly until well combined, or use an immersion blender. If using the blender, place all ingredients in a tall jar and blend until well combined. I like to use an immersion blender for a thicker, smoother dressing. Once done, set aside or refrigerate to use later.
Next, grill the chicken. Combine the salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder in a small bowl and season the chicken all over. Heat your grill (or a grill pan) to medium/med-high heat and brush with the oil. Once sizzling hot, add chicken and grill about 5 minutes per side or until just cooked through. The internal temperature of the chicken should reach 165°F. Remove to a cutting board and set aside.
In a large serving bowl, layer the salad greens with the tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, avocado, cooked and crumbled bacon, and sliced hardboiled eggs. Thinly slice the grilled chicken and layer into the salad as desired. Drizzle the dressing over the top and toss, or serve it on the side.
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
When I cook a larger amount of bacon (6 slices and up) I like to use the oven to make things easier on myself! Once you start cooking bacon in the oven it’s a hard habit to quit since it requires no work and is much neater than frying it in a skillet!
First, preheat your oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. I usually double line my baking sheet for easier cleanup.
Place the bacon on the parchment in a single layer, no overlapping. Bake for about 20 minutes or until desired doneness is attained.
If my bacon is thicker, it might take up to 25 minutes and thinner bacon often cooks in about 18 minutes. Drain on paper towels before chopping or crumbling.
How to Make this Chicken Cobb Salad Low Carb and Whole30 Compliant
Swapping out the honey dijon dressing for ranch is the easiest way to make this recipe low carb! See any of my ranch dressing recommendations above.
If you want to stick with the honey dijon, you still have options! For Whole30, replace the honey with date paste (dates pureed with water).
For low carb and keto, sub in a liquid sweetener like monk fruit syrup. You maybe have to play around with the amount depending on the sweetness level of the sweetener you use.
I hope you’re ready for a simple, classic and super delicious salad that everyone is sure to love! Even my picky eaters (AKA husband and son) are happy with this salad! Grab your bacon and eggs and let’s go – it’s time for Cobb salad!
Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad with Honey Dijon {Paleo}
Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad with Honey Dijon {Paleo, Whole30 Option}
Ingredients
Dressing:
- 3 Tbsp raw honey melted (if solid)
- 1/4 cup dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice or white vinegar
- 1/4 cup avocado oil
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Salad:
- 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts about 1 1/2 lbs
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil for the grill or pan
- 8 cups chopped romaine kale, or other greens, or a mix
- 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 med cucumber peeled and sliced
- 1 large avocado thinly sliced
- 8 slices bacon cooked until crisp, and chopped or crumbled*
- 6 hard boiled eggs sliced**
Instructions
Dressing:
-
You can either whisk the dressing together in a bowl, streaming in the oil slowly until well combined, or use an immersion blender. If using the blender, place all ingredients in a tall jar and blend until well combined. I like to use an immersion blender for a thicker, smoother dressing. Once done, set aside or refrigerate to use later.
Salad:
-
Combine the salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder in a small bowl and season the chicken all over. Heat your grill (or a grill pan) to medium/med-high heat and brush with the oil. Once sizzling hot, add chicken and grill about 5 minutes per side or until just cooked through. Internal temperature of the chicken should reach 165°F. Remove to a cutting board and set aside.
-
In a large serving bowl, layer the salad greens with the tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, avocado, cooked and crumbled bacon, and sliced hardboiled eggs. Thinly slice the grilled chicken and layer into the salad as desired. Drizzle the dressing over the top and toss, or serve it on the side. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Notes:
*I like to cook larger amounts of bacon in the oven to save time (and my clothing!) Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the bacon on the parchment and bake for about 20 minutes or until desired doneness is attained. Drain on paper towels before chopping or crumbling.
**My egg boiling method: place eggs in a large saucepan and cover with cold water about an inch above the eggs. Bring to a rolling boil, then turn off the heat and cover the pan. Let the eggs steam this way for 10 minutes, then run under cold water. Peel and slice as usual.
***Link to an alternative dressing - paleo and Whole30 ranch dressing.
Nutrition
Shop Products and Ingredients:
Want More Paleo Main-Dish Salad Recipes? Try One of These!
Shrimp Cobb Salad with Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette
Kale Salad with Chicken, Caramelized Onions and Hot Bacon Dressing
Crispy Chicken Salad with Honey Mustard
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Is this a gluten free salad?
This was so good… I mean, sooooo good. We may or may not have licked the plate ?
Made this tonight for lunch for the week. Man it looks so good! The honey mustard dressing is amazing!
The honey mustard dressing was awesome! Even my husband thought so and he can be picky.
Every time I pick a salad recipe for dinner I get a big sigh from my boyfriend. But he wanted more of this one! He said it was probably the best salad he ever had. He hates ranch so I’m happy to finally find a paleo salad recipe without it. And cooking the bacon in the oven was a life saver. Thank you, it’s delicious!
Such a wonderful salad. This might just be my new favorite salad dressing. And so easy!
Tried this recipe last night with my sister. We both loved it.
The dressing was amazing and was the star of the dish.
Made the Grilled chicken Cobb salad – winner! My picky eater husband loved it!
This salad was amazing!!!
That dressing was unbelievable
Will definitely be on repeat this summer
The dressing alone is killer! The salad was great. Thank you!
This recipe is AMAZING! I recently started living the paleo lifestyle to treat my body well and give it the love and nutrients it needs and this recipe blew my mind! It’s so delicious!! If it wasn’t so huge, I could’ve eaten the whole bowl myself! 😋😂 I don’t know how you came up with the dressing but it’s delicious! A+ , will definitely be making it again!!
This salad is one of the best things I’ve had, and I’m not much of a salad eater! The dressing was to die for, and everything went together so well. I made it for Super Bowl Sunday for my family and everybody devoured it, no matter what kind of diet they normally eat. This is truly a winner and I am already craving it again!!
So so soooooo good!!!!!!!!!! I love store bought honey mustard dressing and this homemade version was just as delicious.
This was absolutely delicious!!! I will definitely make this again
Fantastic dressing and salad. Also love the Mandarin Orange Salad recipe on this site as well. Thank you!
Hi! This salad was AMAZING. How do you store the left over dressing and how long does it keep? Thank you!
DELICIOUS! I am not a salad person but I LOVED this.
Can avocado oil be substituted with olive oil?
FYI, you need a comma in your ingredients after romaine. Otherwise you will have people like my husband looking all over for romaine kale! Lol
I made this for my family last night and everyone loved it! I was anticipating a large amount of leftovers, as there are only 3 people in my family, but we ate all of it. I can’t wait to make this again. It is definitely a new family favorite. Thank you!
Thank you
I did..just make this! I have no Grill, but I managed with the chicken.. Fabulous taste!! I loved the spices rubbed on the chicken. I will…do this again.
This was a great salad for someone following clean eating. Delicious
Best salad we’ve ever had. Hands down
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Loved it! Used olive oil in the dressing because I didn’t have avocado. Halved the salad recipe because it’s just me, but made the full recipe for the dressing to keep in the fridge. Thank you!
Will this recipe work with Olive Oil in place of Avocado Oil?
I thought Paleo had no processed foods/products in it… bacon is processed.
YES!!!!! what the heck
BACON IS NOT PALEO
how can you identify this as a Paelo Recipe
Bacon is not considered paleo-friendly because it is high in nitrates, salt, and other unhealthy chemicals. Bacon is also not a natural meat,
The website stops scrolling after a few seconds so I had to revisit the site over and over again to see the full recipe. It would be great if this were fixed.
I like to use an immersion blender for a thicker, smoother dressing.