This grilled romaine cobb salad is a summer dream: charred romaine, fresh arugula, juicy grilled chicken, crispy bacon, hard-boiled eggs, creamy avocado, sweet cherry tomatoes, crisp radishes, tangy blue cheese, and fresh chives. It’s all tossed in a flavorful red wine vinaigrette. Perfect for a cookout, picnic, lazy weekend lunch, or light weeknight dinner!
grilled romaine cobb salad – the details
You’ll start by marinating the chicken really simply in olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and black pepper. I like to let it sit at room temperature for just about 30 minutes to infuse the flavor and also take the chill off before grilling.
While the chicken marinates, the bacon roasts in the oven until crisp. This is the perfect time to blend up the dressing, which is a combination of red wine vinegar, honey, shallot, spices, and olive oil.
Blended until creamy…it’s sweet, tangy, and slightly smoky.
You’ll grill the chicken over high heat to form nice char marks, and then lower the heat to finish cooking.
Grilling the romaine as well gives lots of extra smoky flavor to this cobb salad. Just a minute or so on each side so the lettuce develops a caramelization on each side and becomes tender. You don’t want to cook it too long or else it’ll wilt.
The rest of the salad comes together really simply by tossing everything in a big bowl – handfuls of arugula, hard-boiled eggs, creamy avocado, sweet cherry tomatoes, crisp radishes, and tangy blue cheese.
Along with the juicy chicken, salty bacon, charred romaine, and red wine vinaigrette…it is the most delicious combination of flavors and textures!
PrintGrilled Romaine Cobb Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette
a cobb salad with charred romaine, arugula, grilled chicken, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, cherry tomatoes, radishes, blue cheese, chives, and a red wine vinaigrette
servings: 4-6
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- kosher salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
- ¾ lb raw bacon
- 6 romaine hearts, halved lengthwise (keep the root intact)
- 4 large handfuls of arugula
- 6 hard-boiled eggs, roughly chopped
- 2 avocados, diced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 radishes, very thinly sliced
- 6 oz blue cheese, crumbled
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
for the vinaigrette…
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 medium shallot, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp dry mustard
- ½ tsp celery salt
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and preheat the grill over high heat. Coat the chicken with the olive oil and red wine vinegar. Season well with salt and black pepper. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, lay the bacon onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Roast for 25-30 minutes, or until the bacon is crisp. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.
- For the dressing, combine the red wine vinegar, honey, shallot, smoked paprika, dry mustard, celery salt, kosher salt, and olive oil in a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Place the chicken onto the grill and cook for about 2 minutes on each side until charred. Lower the heat to medium, cover the grill, and continue to cook the chicken for about 10-12 more minutes, or until cooked through (flip the chicken halfway through cooking).
- Meanwhile, drizzle the romaine hearts with olive oil and season with a pinch of salt. Grill the romaine for just about 1 minute per side until slightly charred.
- Transfer both the chicken, romaine, and bacon to a cutting board. Roughly chop.
- Add the chicken, romaine, arugula, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, tomatoes, radishes, blue cheese, and bacon to a large mixing bowl. Add the dressing little by little, gently tossing until the ingredients are well coated (reserve any extra dressing on the side).
- Plate the salad and garnish with the chives, plus more freshly cracked black pepper over top.
