Cobb Salad Bar

Have you tried to get the family to eat more salad but never seem to get enough of the crunchy goodness in your diet? Or perhaps, you have kids like mine whose food vocabulary does not include the word “salad”. Well, with today’s easy recipe idea and tip, salad eating could become a possibility in your household.

Family Cobb Salad Bar

A few years ago, I was happily eating a big bowl of salad for lunch when my daughter approached me and said: “Mom, the whole idea that a salad has to have green stuff is ridiculous. I mean, I like a lot of the things in this big bowl, but I don’t like the green stuff!”

You know what? She was right. She already liked most of the things I was putting in the salad bowl, just not the leafy greens. Enjoying salads without lettuce became a great way for us to eat more veggies!

While the idea of a “salad bar” isn’t new, the idea to create a build-your-own salad bar at home was, at least, it was for us. It had to be Cobb salad: it’s one of my favorite salads; so much so that I have turned it into a pizza, and even a Cobb Salad dip that you can bring to parties or enjoy with some extra veggies!

What to Put on a Cobb Salad Bar

You can assemble your own salad bar with classic Cobb salad ingredients, but honestly, the sky is the limit. Grab veggies, protein, cheese, eggs, and those leftovers you have around, and make this recipe yours! Here are tasty things to put on your salad bar:

• Greens (lettuce, spinach, cabbage, kale, etc).
• Ham
• Cooked bacon
• Shredded cheese
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Avocado
• Cherry tomatoes
• Ranch dressing
• Olives
• Shredded chicken
• Canned salmon or tuna
• Sliced or shredded carrot
• Chickpeas
• Sliced red onion
• Cucumber slices
• Corn kernels

How to Assemble a Cobb Salad

Check your fridge and pantry, grab some bowls, and you’ll have this Cobb salad bar ready to serve in no time! Check it out:

1. Prep the ingredients
   Chop the greens, slice the veggies, and cut any other ingredients into bite-size pieces.
2. Assemble
   Place the ingredients in individual bowls so everyone can build their salads with their favorites. My kids know I have one rule: you must choose 3 items from the selection, with cheese being considered a 4th option.
3. Serve
   Don’t forget the dressing! Drizzle it over the salad and enjoy!

As you can see in the video below, you can make this Cobb salad bar as simple or complicated as you want; always changing up the salad theme and toppings for the night.

Best Dressings for a Cobb Salad Bar

I always have homemade dressings in the fridge, so I grab one or two and bring them to the table. My favorites? This Cobb Salad Bar pairs deliciously well with Ranch dressing and with this Classic Dressing for Cobb Salad.

Other tasty ideas are blue cheese dressing, Greek yogurt ranch, or this simple Balsamic Vinaigrette. Delish!