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Spring Cobb Salad

If the birds are busy building their nests and the blossoms have burst open on the trees, it’s a safe bet that this colorful, veggie-loaded spring Cobb salad is making its way to our dinner table.

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spring cobb salad with avocado, radish, asparagus and a honey dijon vinaigrette

Our Favorite Salad Recipe, All Dressed Up For Spring!

We took everything we love about Cobb salads—basically, the idea that they’re super hearty, and totally brimming with delicious things—and swapped some of the more classic Cobb salad ingredients for springtime counterparts. Cobb salad usually has avocado, tomatoes, blue cheese, chicken and a super creamy dressing—in our version, it’s a homemade buttermilk ranch. While we adore a Cobb salad, in the early days of spring, we also want to celebrate all of the produce that’s really good right now! And as we assembled all of that beautiful produce into a spring Cobb salad, we also felt like all that freshness and lightness demanded a lighter salad dressing! One that would enhance everything, but not risk overpowering these tender first vegetables of the growing season. The result? An absolute rainbow of a composed salad, that makes a stunning centerpiece for any meal—whether you’re celebrating or just having Tuesday dinner.

Olive oil, white balsamic, lemon juice, garlic, dijon, basil and mint
basil and mint dressing in a jar, basil and mint and garlic with a striped linen for a spin salad.

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What Makes This Cobb Salad Recipe a Spring Cobb?

In short, some carefully selected Cobb salad ingredient swaps! A pass through the springtime farmers market was all the inspiration we needed. Some things are the same—a big bed of lettuce, hard-cooked eggs, avocado—because it is still worthy of the name “Cobb” after all. But other than that, here are the most notable swaps:

  • Instead of chicken, ALL the spring veggies! Asparagus, snap peas and radishes.

  • Instead of blue cheese, fresh goat cheese!

  • Instead of bacon, pancetta! Not all that different, but a little step up.

  • Instead of a heavy, creamy dressing, a fresh, light, honey-Dijon vinaigrette.

purple and green asparagus wrapped in a linen.
eggs boiling in a pot of water

An Herby Honey-Dijon Vinaigrette, You Say?

Why yes we do say! We went a little nuts with this Cobb salad dressing recipe. Some people actually reach for a vinaigrette when dressing their classic Cobb salads, and while (as you know) we prefer ranch for a traditional Cobb, for this springtime salad recipe, we felt that something spritely was in order. Thanks to the goat cheese, pancetta, and eggs, the salad itself has enough heartiness to count as a good meal, and this light, herby dressing seems to just enhance and unify all of the elements. It really pulls the whole salad together, if you catch our drift. All you’ll do is blend this heavenly combination of ingredients together:

  • Olive oil

  • White balsamic

  • Lemon juice

  • Garlic clove

  • Dijon mustard

  • Basil

  • Mint

  • Honey

a large bowl of spring mix lettuce
pancetta on parchment paper on a cutting board.

How To Make A Perfect Springy Cobb Salad

Because the ingredients are cold, and many of them raw, a composed salad is the absolute ideal make-ahead dinner. When it’s time to eat, just assemble and serve! Here’s how to make this springy Cobb salad recipe:

  1. Make some hard-boiled eggs. They’ll keep in the fridge for up to seven days, so you can do this way ahead of time if you’d like!

  2. Whip up a batch of dressing! It can be made up to two weeks ahead of time, too.

  3. Fry the pancetta, then sauté the asparagus in the pancetta fat. After all, every dinner salad needs a little bit of indulgence to really satisfy!

  4. Prep all the other veggies. Rinse the snap peas, crumble the goat cheese, slice the radishes and so on.

  5. Assemble! Lay out a bed of lettuce, and top it with all of your gorgeous goodies and produce. Dress and serve.

the ingredients for spring cobb salad pancetta, goat cheese, sunflower seeds, asparagus avocado radish and hard boiled eggs.

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the ingredients for spring cobb salad pancetta, goat cheese, sunflower seeds, asparagus avocado radish and hard boiled eggs.
Spring cobb salad on a plater with pancetta, goat cheese, sunflower seeds, asparagus avocado radish and hard boiled eggs.

More Dinner Salad Recipes to Try

Spring cobb salad on a plater with pancetta, goat cheese, sunflower seeds, asparagus avocado radish and hard boiled eggs.
Spring cobb salad on a plater with pancetta, goat cheese, sunflower seeds, asparagus avocado radish and hard boiled eggs.

Springtime Has Sprung!

And along with it, so many of our favorite vegetables! We hope you adore this seasonal Cobb salad recipe as much as we do. When you make it, let us know! Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!

Spring Cobb Salad

  • Serves: 6
  • Prep Time:  25 min
  • Cook Time:  40 min
  • Calories: 714

Ingredients

Salad

  • 4-6 eggs
  • 4-6 oz pancetta, diced
  • 1/2-1lb asparagus, woody ends trimmed
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 6 oz spring lettuce mix
  • 1 avocado
  • 4 oz crumbled goat cheese
  • 4 watermelon radishes, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup sugar snap peas
  • 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, roasted, salted
  • 2 tbsp chives, minced

Dressing

  • 1 cup Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup white balsamic
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1/2 cup loose packed basil
  • 1/2 cup loosely packed mint
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method

  1. Blend all ingredients for the dressing in a blender until smooth. Store in an airtight container until ready to use. Keep in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.
  2. Cover the eggs with cool water by 1 inch. Slowly bring water to a boil over medium-high heat. When the water has reached a boil, cover with a tight fitting lid and remove the pan from the heat. Let sit 12 minutes. Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.
  3. In a medium sized pan, sauté the pancetta until crispy. Drain onto a paper towel lined plate, reserving 2 teaspoons of fat in the pan. Place the asparagus into the still hot pan of pancetta fat. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté until tender, roughly 5-10 minutes. Set aside. Crack and peel the hard boiled eggs, slice them and set aside.
  4. Spread the lettuce on a large platter. Top it in sections with the pancetta, asparagus, avocado, goat cheese, radishes, and peas. Sprinkle with chives and sunflower seeds. Serve alongside the herby dressing.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories714
  • Protein16 g
  • Carbohydrates17 g
  • Total Fat65 g
  • Dietary Fiber5 g
  • Cholesterol172 mg
  • sodium518 mg
  • Total Sugars7 g

Spring Cobb Salad

Questions & Reviews

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  • Jenn

    Such a delicious salad and most beautiful one I've made for sure. I tried to copy your photo as close as possible!

    Thank you Jenn, we are so glad you loved it!