Cobb salad

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Cobb salad
Cobb salad.jpg
Place of origin
United States
Main ingredients
Salad greens (iceberg lettuce, watercress, endive, Romaine lettuce), tomatoes, bacon, chicken breast, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, chives, Roquefort cheese, red-wine vinaigrette
Cookbook:Cobb salad  Cobb salad

The Cobb salad is a main-dish American garden salad made from chopped salad greens (iceberg lettuce, watercress, endives, and Romaine lettuce), tomato, crisp bacon, boiled, grilled or roasted (but not fried) chicken breast, hard-boiled egg, avocado, chives, Roquefort cheese, and red-wine vinaigrette. Black olives are also often included.[1] One way to remember the components is to use the mnemonic EAT COBB: Egg, Avocado, Tomato, Chicken, Onion, Bacon, Blue cheese.[2]


Various stories of how the salad was invented exist. One says that it came about in the 1930s at the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant, where it became a signature dish. It is named for the restaurant's owner, Robert Howard Cobb.[1] Stories vary as to whether the salad was invented by Cobb or by his chef, Chuck Wilson. The legend is that Cobb had not eaten until near midnight, and so he mixed together leftovers he found in the kitchen, along with some bacon cooked by the line cook, and tossed it with their French dressing.[3] This version of the story (dated to 1937) is retold in the television comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm (season 2, episode 3), when Larry David searches for evidence to prove that another character, Cliff Cobb, has falsely claimed that his grandfather invented the salad.

Another version of the creation is that Robert Kreis, executive chef at the restaurant, created the salad in 1929 (the year the Brown Derby's Hollywood location opened) and named it in honor of Robert Cobb.[4] The same source confirms that 1937 was the reported date of the version noted above, with Cobb making the salad.


  1. ^ a b Zeldes, Leah A. (2010-03-24). "Eat this! Cobb salad, a classic use for avocados and bacon". Dining Chicago. Chicago's Restaurant & Entertainment Guide, Inc. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  2. ^ Ruby, Jeff (2010-07-27). "4 Questions for the Grill on the Alley Waiter Manfred Wangard". Retrieved 2013-08-29. 
  3. ^ Monaghan, Gail (June 25, 2011). "Screen Siren Cobb Salad". The Wall Street Journal. p. D5. 
  4. ^ Schechter, Molly (May 23, 2012). "Salad sensation celebrates 75 years". Sarasota Observer.