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    Home > Blog > Salads > Southwest Style Cobb Salad

    Southwest Style Cobb Salad

    by Teri Lyn Fisher · Published: Mar 31, 2025

    Jump to Recipe
    We love this version of a Southwest Cobb Salad! It's loaded with all the yummy bits, has basic structure of a delicious cobb salad, but ramped up to give it southwest style vibes! Our cilantro-ranch dressing is super addictive and pairs perfectly with this entree salad!
    A Southwest style cobb salad recipe in a big bowl.

    Our Southwestern Cobb Salad is loaded with bold flavors, crunchy textures, and tons of fresh and flavorful ingredients for a salad that’s as mouthwatering as it is filling. We love how hearty and protein-rich traditional Cobb salads are, and this one is no different. Topped with sweet and smoky honey chipotle chicken, black beans, hard-boiled eggs, crispy bacon, and queso fresco, you can easily serve this salad as a satisfying main course.

    If you’re looking for dinner-quality salads like this one, you’ll love our BBQ Chicken Salad and Loaded Salmon Salad, too!

    To top it all off, we added fresh cilantro and lime to our homemade ranch for a creamy, cool dressing to bring it all together. Everything for this Southwest-style cobb salad comes together for a restaurant-quality salad at home that’s easy to meal prep for an easy weekday lunch or weeknight dinner.

    What Does Southwest Style Mean (pertaining to food)?

    Recipes that have a Southwest style pick up elements of Mexican, Native American, and ranch-style cuisines that are popular in the Southwestern United States, like Texas, Arizona, and southern California.

    Blending all of these flavors and ingredients creates a unique style of cooking that’s bold, smoky, and often spicy, featuring staples like corn, beans, chili peppers, avocado, cilantro, and lime.

    How to Make Our Southwest Style Cobb Salad

    Chipotle Chicken Ingredients

    Ingredients to make the chipotle chicken for the southwest cobb salad.

    Chipotle Chicken Process

    1. Pour honey and chipotle in adobe into a small mixing bowl. Whisk together.
    2. Add chicken and toss together until chicken is completely and evenly coated.
    Honey mixed with chipotles in adobo.
    Chicken tossed with chipotles in adobo and honey.

    Cilantro Ranch Ingredients

    Cilantro ranch ingredients on a kitchen counter.

    Cilantro Ranch Process

    1. In a blender, combine dressing cilantro and lime juice. Blend until smooth.
    Cilantro ranch dressing mixed up in a blender.

    Salad Ingredients

    Southwest style cobb salad ingredients.

    Assembly Process

    1. Combine romaine and 2/3 dressing into a large salad bowl and toss together until evenly coated.
    2. Top romaine with piles of the remaining ingredients.
    Romaine lettuce chopped in a bowl.
    Southwest style cobb salad ingredients laid out on a bed of lettuce.
    1. Drizzle with remaining dressing and finish with black pepper.
    2. Toss together and serve.
    Southwest style cobb salad drizzled with a cilantro ranch dressing.
    Southwest style cobb salad mixed together in a bowl.

    Lettuce Washing Tips

    To easily wash lettuce for this Cobb salad (and any other chopped salad), follow these simple steps:

    • Chop lettuce into bite-sized pieces with a clean knife and cutting board.
    • Add the chopped lettuce to a bowl of cold water and let the leaves soak for a few minutes, gently agitating them with your hand to loosen any dirt or particles on the leaves.
    • If you have a salad spinner, add chopped lettuce leaves to the spinner basket and let cold water run over them to remove any debris. Then, spin the leaves until most of the water has been removed.
    • Without a salad spinner, add the leaves to a strainer, run under cold water for a few minutes, then let most of the water run off. Gently dry with a clean cloth or paper towel until mostly dry.

    Mix-In Variations

    • For the chicken: Instead of the honey chipotle chicken, use any seasoned chicken breast or swap chicken with carne asada or grilled skirt steak.
    • Cheese: Instead of queso fresca, use cojita, shredded pepperjack for a spicy kick, or colby for a milder flavor.
    • Veggies: The combinations of veggies you can add to this Southwest salad are endless. Try diced bell peppers, jalapenos, red onion (fresh or pickled), small broccoli florets, diced carrots, or roasted sweet potatoes.
    • Dressing: We love the fresh, cool flavor and creaminess the cilantro lime ranch adds to this salad, but you can use store-bought cilantro lime ranch or a salsa ranch as well.
    • Crunchy toppings: Fritos are our favorite topping as they add the perfect crunch and salty flavor. You can swap them for crushed tortilla chips, crunchy tortilla strips, or add toasted and salted pumpkin seeds.
    Southwest style cobb salad in a big bowl.

    Prep and Make Ahead Instructions

    To eat Southwestern Cobb Salads on a busy weeknight, or to prep them for a filling and easy work lunch, you can do a lot of the prep work ahead of time.

    Prepping the Produce and Add-Ins

    Store all prepped produce and add-ins in separate containers if prepped beforehand, then just add to the salad before serving.

    • Cook whole corn and cut the kernels from the cob ahead of time. They’ll stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
    • Chop and wash lettuce up to 3 days ahead of time. Store washed lettuce in an airtight container or bag with a paper towel to soak up any excess moisture.
    • Wash and slice cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, and green onions up to three days ahead of time and store in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator.
    • Make the bacon up to four days ahead of time. Cook it until crispy, then store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container. For longer storage, you can cook and freeze bacon for up to a month.
    • Hard-boil eggs and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

    Make the Dressing Ahead

    The homemade ranch stays fresh in the refrigerator for up to seven days, so it’s easy to make this well before putting your salad together. Once you blend in the fresh cilantro and lime juice, it should stay good for a few days in the refrigerator.

    Meal Prep the Chipotle Chicken

    The chicken and the chipotle honey sauce can both be made ahead of time, or combined and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. For an easy and delicious way to cook your chicken, try our air fryer chicken breast method!

    How to Store Leftovers

    If you’re expecting leftovers, you can store everything separately as listed in the meal prep instructions above. To keep the leftover salad crisp and fresh, it’s best to store the lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, corn, and green onions separate from the juicy tomatoes, dressing, chicken, and extra ingredients like the Fritos, bacon, and hard-boiled eggs.

    Toss a paper towel in an air-tight container with the salad and veggies, and keep each of the other ingredients in their own container in the refrigerator.

    Tips for Packing Our Southwest Style Cobb Salad To-Go!

    This salad is perfect for packing on the go, taking to work, or prepping as a mason jar salad! To keep everything fresh, you’ll want to add the ingredients to a jar or container in layers.

    • Dressing on the bottom
    • Then hearty ingredients like chicken, corn, beans, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes
    • Cheese and eggs can go in the middle layer
    • Add lettuce, cilantro, and green onions on top so they stay away from the high-moisture ingredients at the bottom.
    • Keep Fritos and bacon in separate containers, adding them right before eating, and slice your avocado just before as well.
    Southwest cobb salad mixed and served into bowls.

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    A Southwest style cobb salad recipe in a big bowl.

    Southwest Cobb Salad

    5 from 4 votes
    PRINT RECIPE Pin Recipe
    We love this version of a Southwest Cobb Salad! It's loaded with all the yummy bits, has basic structure of a delicious cobb salad, but ramped up to give it southwest style vibes! Our cilantro-ranch dressing is super addictive and pairs perfectly with this entree salad!
    RECIPE BY Teri & Jenny
    Prep Time: 20 minutes mins
    Cook Time: 5 minutes mins
    Total Time: 25 minutes mins
    Servings: 6

      INGREDIENTS  

    chipotle-honey chicken

    • 3 tablespoons honey
    • 3 tablespoons minced chipotles in adobe sauce
    • 1 pound cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts cubed into ½ inch pieces (about 2-2 1/2 chicken breasts)

    dressing

    • 1 recipe homemade ranch dressing
    • 1/2 bunch cilantro
    • 1 lime, juiced

    salad

    • 2 hearts of romaine, chopped into 1 inch pieces
    • 16 cherry tomatoes halved
    • 1 cup sweet corn kernels (from 2 ears of corn)
    • 2 thinly sliced Persian cucumbers
    • 4 thinly sliced radishes
    • 1 cubed avocado
    • 3 cubed hard boiled eggs
    • 4 strips cooked bacon cut into ½-inch pieces
    • 1 1/2 cups Fritos
    • 1 cup crumbled queso fresco
    • ¾ cup canned black beans drained and rinsed
    • 2 thinly sliced green onions
    • cracked black pepper to taste

      INSTRUCTIONS  

    chicken

    • Pour honey and chipotle in adobe into a small mixing bowl.
    • Whisk together.
    • Add chicken and toss together until chicken is completely and evenly coated.

    dressing

    • In a blender, combine dressing cilantro and lime juice. Blend until smooth.

    salad assembly

    • Combine romaine and 2/3 dressing into a large salad bowl and toss together until evenly coated.
    • Top romaine with piles of the remaining ingredients.
    • Drizzle with remaining dressing and finish with black pepper.
    • Toss together and serve.

      NOTES  

    Lettuce Washing Tips
    To easily wash lettuce for this Cobb salad (and any other chopped salad), follow these simple steps:
    • Chop lettuce into bite-sized pieces with a clean knife and cutting board.
    • Add the chopped lettuce to a bowl of cold water and let the leaves soak for a few minutes, gently agitating them with your hand to loosen any dirt or particles on the leaves.
    • If you have a salad spinner, add chopped lettuce leaves to the spinner basket and let cold water run over them to remove any debris. Then, spin the leaves until most of the water has been removed.
    • Without a salad spinner, add the leaves to a strainer, run under cold water for a few minutes, then let most of the water run off. Gently dry with a clean cloth or paper towel until mostly dry.
    Calories: 588kcal Carbohydrates: 43g Protein: 31g Fat: 34g Saturated Fat: 9g Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g Monounsaturated Fat: 11g Trans Fat: 0.3g Cholesterol: 178mg Sodium: 1141mg Potassium: 981mg Fiber: 8g Sugar: 16g Vitamin A: 4568IU Vitamin C: 23mg Calcium: 244mg Iron: 3mg
    CUISINE: American
    KEYWORD: entree salad, southwest cobb
    COURSE: dinner, lunch, Main Course, Salad

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    March 31, 2025 / 15 Comments

    About Teri Lyn Fisher

    Teri Lyn Fisher is half of Spoon Fork Bacon. She is also a food and cosmetics photographer. She is a big fan of hot dogs. #sfbTERI

    Previous Post: < Previous Post Egg Salad Sandwich Recipe
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    Reader Interactions

    March 31, 2025 / 15 Comments

    Comments

      5 from 4 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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    1. Jennifer

      April 01, 2025 at 6:18 pm

      5 stars
      So yummy!! I was short on time so I used a rotisserie chicken instead, shredded it and then added the adobo and honey. A+

      Reply
      • Jenny Park

        April 07, 2025 at 12:21 pm

        So happy you enjoyed this – I love this salad! (and love using rotisserie chicken from the store too, such a time saver!!)

        Reply
    2. Julie S

      September 01, 2017 at 7:20 am

      Wow! Made this for dinner last night. The dressing was delish and perfect with the rest of the indredients. Everyone loved it. Thanks!

      Reply
      • Jenny Park

        September 01, 2017 at 5:07 pm

        So glad you enjoyed it!!

        Reply
    3. tina

      May 04, 2016 at 3:08 pm

      I think I could eat a bucket full of this beautiful salad and cilantro ranch is my very favorite dressing. I’m starving and in need of this right now….quick, off to the store!

      Reply
      • Teri Lyn Fisher

        May 04, 2016 at 4:17 pm

        :) This is also my new favorite dressing! So glad you like it too!

        Reply
    4. Adrena Modz

      April 27, 2016 at 6:29 pm

      Made the dressing, very easy and tasty!
      Look forward to using if for my summer salad dressing.

      Reply
    5. Julie

      April 26, 2016 at 6:45 am

      Looks gorgeous! Love that dressing. This will be a great dinner salad this summer

      Reply
    6. Nadia

      April 26, 2016 at 4:53 am

      Do you think it is necessary to add milk to the dressing? I am worried it will cause the dressing to go bad in a few days. I buy raw, unpasteurized milk here at the local market.

      Reply
      • Jenny Park

        April 27, 2016 at 7:33 pm

        I add the milk for texture bc without it the dressing is rather thick (which is still okay!), and I like to drizzle my dressing onto my salad as I’m tossing everything together…that being said you can make it without for sure, but it’ll just be thicker! :)

        Reply
    7. Roxana

      April 25, 2016 at 3:46 pm

      Your dressing is so beautiful! What a great combination of flavors!

      Reply
    8. Allison Ferraro

      April 25, 2016 at 3:13 pm

      Big, hearty salads make awesome take-to-work lunches, and this one looks incredible. Thanks for the recipe!

      xx Allison

      Reply
    9. Jude

      April 25, 2016 at 10:01 am

      This looks incredibly delicious! It’s on my ‘to make’ list!!

      Reply
    10. Libby

      April 25, 2016 at 8:58 am

      Oh hai! These are all my most favorite things!

      Reply
      • Jenny Park

        April 25, 2016 at 11:48 am

        ☺️☺️????????

        Reply

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    Southwest style cobb salad in a big bowl.
    Up close on a southwest style cobb salad.
    Southwest style cobb salad in a big bowl.
    Southwest cobb salad mixed and served into bowls.

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