California Cobb Salad with Bacon Croutons and Basil Vinaigrette
This California Cobb Salad with bacon croutons is our take on a classic and regional favorite. It has all the ingredients you’re used to seeing in a Cobb salad, like chicken, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, blue cheese, avocado, and green onions. Plus, a few new ones of our own, like a tangy basil vinaigrette and crunchy bacon flavored croutons.
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 Romaine lettuce heads chopped
- 2 cups rotisserie chicken chopped (can also use other cooked chicken)
- 6 strips bacon
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 4 hard boiled eggs quartered
- ½ cup gorgonzola cheese crumbled (can also use other blue cheese)
- 1 avocado sliced
- 4 green onions diced
- 2 cups cubed day-old bread like baguette or ciabatta
- 2 to 3 tbsp rendered bacon fat or olive oil
Basil Vinaigrette
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp spicy brown mustard
- 1 cup fresh basil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp Cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the bacon in a cold frying pan and turn the heat on to medium. Cook for about 8 to 12 minutes for thick cut bacon, flipping over every couple of minutes. (Note: if using thin cut bacon, it’ll take less time to cook.)6 strips bacon
- Remove the bacon from the frying pan and place onto a paper towel lined plate. Set aside the rendered bacon fat to use on the bacon croutons later. Once the bacon has cooled, roughly chop it.
- Toss the cubed bread in the rendered bacon fat (or olive oil, if using instead), then arrange on a baking sheet. Bake the croutons for about 10 to 12 min or until desired crispness.2 cups cubed day-old bread, 2 to 3 tbsp rendered bacon fat or olive oil
- Add the olive oil, lemon juice, honey, mustard, basil, salt, and pepper to a high sided container. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. You can also use a standard blender instead.⅓ cup olive oil, ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, 2 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp spicy brown mustard, 1 cup fresh basil, 1/2 tsp salt, ¼ tsp Cracked black pepper
- Assemble the salad with lettuce, rotisserie chicken, chopped bacon, tomatoes, eggs, gorgonzola cheese, avocado, green onions, and croutons. Toss with the dressing when ready to serve.2 Romaine lettuce heads, 2 cups rotisserie chicken, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 4 hard boiled eggs, ½ cup gorgonzola cheese, 1 avocado, 4 green onions
Notes
- Use rotisserie chicken to keep things easy. Store-bought rotisserie chicken because it's easy and saves a ton of time and effort. If you have leftover cooked chicken, that would work too.
- Cut everything into even, bite-sized pieces. This helps make sure you get a little bit of everything in each bite.
- Save the bacon fat for the croutons. This is what gives them bacon flavor. If you’re using turkey bacon, use olive oil instead because turkey bacon is too lean to give off any rendered fat.
- Use day-old bread for the croutons if you can. Slightly stale bread gets nice and crisp while soaking up the bacon fat. If all you have is fresh bread, it’ll still work fine but it may not get quite as crisp.