Copycat Panera Green Goddess Chicken Cobb Salad
Looking for a healthy salad that isn’t boring? Try my copycat Panera green goddess salad recipe. This easy recipe uses simple greens, fresh ingredients, high protein chicken, and hard boiled eggs mixed with a creamy green goddess dressing to create the perfect cobb salad you have been craving! So if you are tired of bland salads with iceberg lettuce that you don’t enjoy, treat your taste buds to my copycat version of the Panera cobb salad with crunchy bits of bacon and fresh avocado. It’s perfect for lunch as a main dish or as a side dish. Either way, you will love this Panera bread copycat recipe! Full printable recipe card below.
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What is Panera Green Goddess Chicken Cobb Salad?
If you have never had the Panera Bread green goddess cobb salad you are definitely missing out! This high protein salad is full of fresh ingredients, grilled chicken, salty bacon, and mixed greens, all topped with creamy dressing. Normally I am a soup and sandwich gal, but this salad is full of herby flavor and doesn’t leave me hungry 30 minutes after I eat it!
Why I Love This Recipe
This salad is a great option when I am hungry but want a lighter, low carb option. It has tons of flavor and fills me up without all the bread from a sandwich. Bonus, it’s a no cook meal perfect for warmer weather days.
Ingredients
This copycat of Panera’s cobb salad is an easy lunch time plate full of fresh produce and it only takes 10 minutes to put together. Let me walk you through what salad components I used in my copycat version and where substitutions can be made.
Romaine Lettuce/Mixed Greens – Panera’s version of this salad uses their own salad blend of romaine and mixed greens. I used a 60/40 split between mixed greens and chopped romaine lettuce. You could also make this with a spring mix, spinach, or red leaf lettuce if you prefer.
Chicken – Chicken adds a bit of protein to this salad. I used store bought grilled chicken breast strips for convenience but you can use rotisserie chicken or pre-cooked skinless chicken breasts in cubes or strips.
Red Onion – The Panera Bread green goddess cobb salad actually uses pickled red onions. But I chose to use a regular red onion here because they are really good raw. Red onions are the best onion to use in raw applications and have a slightly spicy flavor to them. You could also use a white or yellow onion if that’s all you have but it will have the best flavor with a red onion. You could also use pickled onions if you have time to make them.
Hard Boiled Eggs – A traditional cobb salad usually uses at least one hard boiled egg to make a hearty salad. You are welcome to boil your own eggs but one thing I hate doing is peeling eggs. I rate it as one of the most frustrating kitchen tasks out there. So I don’t do it. I cheat and buy the pre-made hardboiled eggs. Yes, they are more expensive but for my sanity, I think it’s worth it. I found mine at Wal-Mart but I have seen them at Costco, Sam’s, and Kroger too. Either way, you will need a few hardboiled eggs for this recipe.
Grape Tomatoes – Tomatoes are always a great addition to a salad. They add acidity and freshness to a dish. I used grape tomatoes here because of how small they are but you could also use cherry tomatoes. I like mine sliced in half but they could also go in whole. If you don’t have these bite sized tomatoes, you can slice up some Roma tomatoes as a substitute.
Avocados – One of my favorite ways to add healthy fats to a dish is avocado! The perfect avocados are a bit soft but not super squishy. Hard avocados will take about a week to ripen at room temperature. Ripe avocados can be preserved in the fridge for about a week. So keep that in mind when choosing your avocados at the grocery store. If they are very brown or caved in when you cut into them, they are no longer good and should be tossed. Unless I am ripening my avocados, I store them in the fridge to make them last longer.
Bacon – Who doesn’t love some salty bacon! For this recipe I used store bought real bacon bits, but freshly cooked crispy bacon would also be really good here. Just chop it up into small bits before adding to the top of the salad.
Green Goddess Dressing – Green goddess dressing is a classic dressing said to have originated in San Francisco in the early 1920s at the Palace Hotel as a compliment to the play Green Goddess. It is a creamy dressing made with a variety of fresh herbs, and fresh produce like lemon juice, garlic, fresh basil leaves, as well as a dairy base like plain Greek yogurt, mayo, or sour cream. It is a delicious dressing with herby flavor. I used my own green goddess dressing recipe but you can use a store bought version or buy Panera’s green goddess dressing.
Optional Ingredients – While the Panera version of this salad doesn’t include any additional ingredients, you could definitely add a little bit of feta cheese, goat cheese, gorgonzola cheese, or blue cheese.
*NOTE this recipe is gluten free and approved for a keto diet if you use the same ingredients I did and if you use my homemade green goddess dressing, the Panera green goddess dressing or another keto/gluten free approved dressing. Â
* Note to my readers. I strive to bring home cooks reliable recipes you can count on. Every recipe on this site is tested and made by me personally in my own kitchen and given to my harshest recipe tester critics for invaluable feedback. This site does not review its own recipes or participate in paid reviews nor does it purchase recipes and photos from third parties. Photos are taken of each recipe and not artificially generated. All reviews are real trustworthy reviews and if you make a recipe and have feedback, please feel free to contact me.Â
Print
Copycat Panera Green Goddess Chicken Cobb Salad
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2-4 Servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Looking for a healthy salad that isn’t boring? Try my copycat Panera green goddess salad recipe. This easy recipe uses simple greens, fresh ingredients, high protein chicken, and hard boiled eggs mixed with a creamy green goddess dressing to create the perfect cobb salad you have been craving! So if you are tired of bland salads with iceberg lettuce that you don’t enjoy, treat your taste buds to my copycat version of the Panera cobb salad with crunchy bits of bacon and fresh avocado. It’s perfect for lunch as a main dish or as a side dish. Either way, you will love this Panera bread copycat recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 cups Romaine Lettuce chopped
- 3 cups Mixed Greens
- 8 oz Cooked Chicken Strips
- 1/4 cup Grape Tomatoes halved
- 1/2 cup Red Onion Sliced
- 1 Avocado sliced
- 2 Hard-boiled Eggs Sliced
- 2 tbsp Bacon pieces
- Green Goddess Salad Dressing (store bought or homemade)
Instructions
- Wash and halve tomatoes.
- Slice red onion, avocado, and hard boiled eggs.
- Wash and dry lettuce and mixed greens. Chop the romaine into bite size pieces. You want to make sure all the produce is dry before assembling the salad or it may be soggy.
- Toss romaine lettuce, mixed greens, chicken, onion, bacon, avocado, and tomatoes in a large bowl.
- Add as little or as much dressing as you like right before serving.
- Store undressed salad in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Notes
*NOTE this recipe is gluten free and approved for a keto diet if you use the same ingredients I did and if you use my creamy green goddess dressing, the Panera green goddess dressing or another keto/gluten free approved dressing.Â
- Prep Time: 10
- Category: Entree
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
Make Ahead Instructions and Storage
If you want to make this salad ahead of time I recommend cutting up the produce first and storing the tomatoes in a separate container. Store individual salads in the fridge in an airtight container without the dressing, tomato, or avocado for up to 4 days. Slice the avocado right before serving to prevent it from turning brown. Add the salad dressing just before serving.
When to Make Copycat Panera Green Goddess Salad
This super easy Panera copycat salad makes a great lunch for summer, a side salad, or a healthy option when you are watching your waistline. But if I am being honest, this is my favorite way to trick myself into eating more salad and veggies! It’s so tasty and filling you don’t even feel like it’s a salad. The best part is you can throw it together in just ten minutes. Trust me, you will love this low carb salad!
Looking for more easy copycat recipes? Try my copycat Kraft chipotle aioli, Chuy’s jalapeno dip, Panera strawberry poppyseed salad, Crumbl sugar cookies, or Macaroni Grill gourmet ketchup.
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