My chicken Cobb salad with chipotle ranch dressing and grilled pineapple is a fun adaptation of the American classic that is dairy-free and paleo-friendly. It’s a satiating, hearty salad that’s bursting with flavours and colours. Perfect as the main meal or bring it as a potluck dish to a picnic, barbecue or dinner party. 

Why Is it Called A Cobb Salad? 

If you’ve never tried a Cobb salad or you have but wondered who invented it, the story goes that it is named after a fella called Robert Howard Cobb, who owned a restaurant Brown Derby in Hollywood, CA in 1937.

One night, Mr. Cobb decided to throw a bunch of leftover ingredients together for a late-night meal. Tossed in some French dressing, the Cobb salad was born. Since then, it has become a very popular salad with many variations, often served in a layered fashion on a big platter. 

Cobb Salad Ingredients

The traditional Cobb salad is made with chopped salad greens such as iceberg, watercress, endives and romaine lettuce, tomato, crispy fried bacon, cooked chicken breast, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, chives or scallions, blue cheese and a red-wine vinaigrette. 

There are many types of Cobb salad recipes calling for a variety of leafy greens and using different cheeses besides Roquefort blue. The dressings also vary depending on the recipe twist or the cook’s cultural influences. 

With my Whole30 and paleo cobb salad, I’ve decided to go with a little Tex Mex twist by seasoning the chicken with a special blend of spices, and adding some caramelised grilled pineapple (it pairs so well with bacon and poultry) and a delicious, creamy chipotle ranch dressing. I left out the cheese to keep it dairy-free but you’re welcome to add some blue or Cheddar if you wish. 

You will find step-by-step photos for this salad below the recipe card.

More Hearty Salad Recipes

Full Recipe For Chicken Cobb Salad

Find the full list of ingredients, instructions and extra cooking notes below. If you have questions or cook this recipe, please let me know in the comments and make sure to rate this recipe so it’s easy for others to find.

Try This Next Garlic Shrimp and Tomatoes with Parmesan Orzo Recipe

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Description

This delicious and healthy chicken Cobb salad with chipotle ranch dressing and sweet grilled pineapple is hearty and satiating, making it perfect as the main meal. It’s dairy-free, gluten-free, paleo-friendly and is full of colours and flavours.

• If using eggs in this salad, pop them in a pot of boiling water and cook for 7 minutes for hard-boiled (with a slightly jammy yolk). Once done, strain and place the eggs in cold water for a couple of minutes. Set aside.
• Cut the chicken breasts into three pieces (cut the thicker part into two thinner pieces and cut off the tenderloin). Place on a cutting board or a plate and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and cumin. Massage spices into the meat on both sides and set aside.
• Heat a large frying pan with a couple of tablespoons of oil (macadamia, avocado, coconut or olive oil) over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chicken pieces and cook for 5 minutes on each side. The thicker pieces might need 6-7 minutes, or you might even need to cut them a little thinner. Once cooked, allow the meat to rest for a few minutes before slicing into bite-size pieces.
• While chicken is cooking, prepare the pineapple. Peel off the skin and remove any brown bits. Cut through the middle into quarters and then cut each quarter into 5-7mm slices. Heat another frying pan with a little oil over medium-high heat. Add pineapple slices and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until charred. Remove to a bowl.
• The final bit of cooking is bacon. Pan-fry until crispy, pat excess oil onto some paper towel and dice into chunky cubes or strips. Set aside.
• Whisk all chipotle ranch dressing ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
• Now that our cooked ingredients and the ranch dressing are ready, prepare the fresh salad ingredients such as lettuce, cherry tomatoes, peppers, onions and avocado. Peel and cut the eggs into quarters or halves. If making this salad ahead of time, you can pre-cook the protein and pineapple and keep those in the fridge overnight.
• Let’s build the salad. Start with a bed of lettuce and place sliced chicken in four separate piles. Arrange the sliced peppers all over. Place the remaining ingredients in small piles evenly around the chicken: grilled pineapple, bacon, diced avocado, eggs, cherry tomatoes and sliced red onion. You can also arrange it in strips on a longer platter, which is a very classic way to build a cobb salad; each food is placed on its strip.
• By the way, you can also mix it all in a large bowl.

Notes

If making this salad ahead of time, you can pre-cook the protein and pineapple and keep those in the fridge overnight.

For the dressing, you can use chipotle peppers from a can such as these or chopped chipotle puree like this. Smoked paprika works well as well.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1/4 of the salad
• Calories: 529
• Sugar: 6.2 g
• Sodium: 991.6 mg
• Fat: 32.7 g
• Saturated Fat: 7.9 g
• Carbohydrates: 16.5 g
• Fiber: 7.1 g
• Protein: 42.3 g
• Cholesterol: 138.6 mg

Keywords: Salad, Tex Mex, Cobb Salad, Chicken, Chipotle, Ranch, Pineapple, Paleo, Whole30

How To Make Chicken Cobb Salad (Photos)

Here are some step-by-step photos to guide you through the recipe below. 

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Garlic Shrimp and Tomatoes with Parmesan Orzo Recipe

Shrimp laced with buttery garlic and thyme and a burst tomato sauce served on a creamy Parmesan orzo.

Juicy, succulent shrimp laced with garlic, butter, and thyme, tucked into a silky burst tomato sauce, and piled high on creamy, luscious Parmesan orzo. WHAT A DREAMBOAT DINNER. I love this recipe!

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How To Make This Garlic Shrimp and Tomatoes (with Pictures)

Step 1: Blister and Smash the Tomatoes

Get the tomatoes hot and blistery; then give ’em a gentle smash with the back of a spoon or a small plate. It’s… very fun.

Step 2: Cook the Shrimp

Make a little clearing right in the center of the tomatoes where you can add your shrimp to cook for a couple of minutes. Salt it up!

Step 3: Get the Garlic and Butter Going In There

Throw in a bunch of freshly sliced garlic and a knob of butter. Stir it up a few times until it’s dreamy.

Step 4: Make a Creamy Orzo

Put a lid on the shrimp and make a quick creamy orzo – butter, Parmesan, cream, lemon, and salt.

Step 5: Put It All Together

Piping hot orzo goes on the plate first, and then we pull our shrimp and tomatoes back out to pile on top.

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Lindsay’s Notes

This recipe is in heavy rotation at the moment – and it never fails to make me feel like I’m eating at a fancy restaurant and/or generally have my life together. Is my laundry all over my table? Yes. Have I been using dry shampoo for the last 4 days? Yes. But am I also eating a kind of fancy and beautiful dinner? YES! Three cheers for doable “fancy” recipes. 10/10 recommend.

Creamy orzo with the twang of Parmesan, sweet burst tomatoes gently bubbled into a sauce, and a pile of jumbo, delicate, buttery, garlic-laced shrimp. Pass me a glass of wine and I am living my best life.

As far as family approval goes, Bjork and I love the whole big, beautiful thing – no thyme for him (a true crime and I don’t want to spend any more time talking about it), and lots of thyme, salt, and pepp for me. The girls are hit and miss with the shrimp and tomatoes, but you better believe they love the creamy Parmesan orzo which is, of course, just mac and cheese in disguise. They’ll usually eat a few of the fresh little tomatoes on the side, too. Winning for everybody!

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Description

Shrimp laced with buttery garlic and thyme and a burst tomato sauce served on a creamy Parmesan orzo.

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Garlic Shrimp and Tomatoes:

Creamy Orzo:

Popular Recipe Thai Chicken Drumsticks (Baked)

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1. Cook the Orzo: Cook according to package directions. Drain, toss with a bit of oil, and set aside.
2. Soften the Tomatoes: Add the tomatoes and olive oil to a pan over medium high heat so they can soften and get a bit blistered on the outside. I usually cover the pan to avoid extra splatters.
3. Smash the Tomatoes: Once they’re soft (5 minutes or so), give them a gentle smash with the back of a spoon or applying even pressure with a plate or similar flat object. You want the tomatoes to be partially burst / smashed so they release some juices.
4. Cook the Shrimp: Make a little clearing in the center of the tomatoes and add your shrimp right in; season them with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook for 2 minutes on each side.
5. Give it Some Flava-Flave: Add the garlic, butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the pan and stir to mix it all together. Let it get saucy and bubbly; then remove from heat and cover with a lid.
6. Make the orzo: Mix the orzo with butter, half and half, Parmesan, and lemon. Stir to combine; warm it up over the heat if necessary.
7. Pile it up: Serve immediately so the orzo doesn’t get too starchy and sticky! Pile it on a plate with a big scoop of steamy shrimp and tomatoes. Top with thyme. So good!

Notes

This amount usually makes enough for just Bjork and I to finish the shrimp, with plenty of orzo for us and the girls. If you wanted to serve 4 adults, I would use 2 pounds of shrimp!

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Saute
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: shrimp and orzo, orzo recipe, shrimp and tomatoes

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Frequently Asked Questions For Garlic Shrimp and Tomatoes

What can I use instead of shrimp?

Chicken would be delicious! I would probably pan-fry the chicken first, then take it out and set aside while you build your tomato sauce, then add the chicken back in at the end.

How long do the leftovers last?

You can definitely eat this meal as leftovers for 1, maybe 2 days after you make it, but it’s one of those meals that really shines when it’s made fresh.

Can you make this vegetarian / meatless?

Use zucchini in place of the shrimp! Or, similarly, this recipe is great.

How do you make this gluten-free and/or dairy-free?

Use gluten free orzo, dairy-free butter (or olive oil), and something else creamy in place of the half and half and Parmesan – a knob of dairy-free cream cheese would be good!

Another option would be to skip the creamy orzo and serve this with quinoa or another gluten-free, dairy-free option.

My Favorite Shrimp Recipes

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