Cobb Salad Recipe with Pasta

Enjoy this Cobb salad recipe with pasta instead of lettuce – a fresh twist on a classic! Chicken, bacon, cheddar, and veggies mix with pasta and dressing for a simple, filling meal or side dish.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I need a meal that’s easy to throw together. Especially on a busy night. Or when I need to use up odds and ends in the refrigerator. Or when it’s hot out and I don’t want to cook anything.

Sometimes I make Our Favorite Beans and Rice Recipe ahead of time in the Instant Pot or make Slow Cooker Chicken to be used in Bacon Chicken Caesar Wraps.

But occasionally, I want an all-in-one type of recipe where I can toss it all in a bowl, put on a lid, shake it up, and call dinner done.

Enter this Cobb pasta salad. It’s all your favorites from a traditional Cobb salad but with pasta instead of lettuce!

Classic Cobb salad is one of my favorite salads and it’s usually what I order if we’re at a sandwich shop.

But at home, sometimes making a salad for dinner means someone comes back to the kitchen a couple of hours later looking for a snack.

So, I thought, why not take one of my favorite salads and swap the pasta for lettuce?

My whole family raved at how good it was, and no one came back looking for snacks after dinner. Mission accomplished!

WHAT IS A COBB SALAD?

What is a Cobb salad exactly? It’s a salad created by a man named Robert Howard Cobb, a restaurant owner who threw it together after realizing he hadn’t eaten all day and needed to find some food based on what was left in his restaurant kitchen.

A typical Cobb salad includes some sort of greens, tomatoes, bacon, chicken, hard-boiled eggs, and avocado, along with cheese and dressing. But just like the original Cobb salad came from finding bits and pieces of what was left in the kitchen, you can make your pasta Cobb salad recipe from whatever bits and pieces you have left in your kitchen!

EASY PASTA COBB SALAD RECIPE

Obviously, I like this pasta cobb salad recipe because my family eats it, but I also like it for other reasons:

• It’s super easy. Literally, throw it all in a large bowl and toss and you’re done. It’s a clean-out-the-fridge type of meal.
• Versatile. I’m giving you the traditional Cobb toppings but use whatever you happen to have!
• It’s very friendly to substitutions. Nearly every topping can be substituted for a different variation. Turkey for chicken, green olives for black, Colby jack for cheddar… really, you can’t go wrong.
• Cheap. This entire meal will set you back roughly $5, which for a family of four is pretty darn good!
• Perfect for warm weather. When you don’t want to turn on the oven or cook anything, California Cobb pasta salad is the answer.
• It’s a great side dish or potluck option too!

EASY PASTA COBB SALAD INGREDIENTS

These cobb salad ingredients are easy to find and taste delicious!

• Pasta
• Bacon
• Shredded chicken
• Diced tomato
• Sliced olives
• Cubed cheddar cheese
• Avocado
• Homemade ranch dressing

No iceberg lettuce or Romaine is needed here! I like to add some hard boiled eggs and red onions when I have them too!

Let’s talk about what is in a Cobb salad with pasta.

PASTA

You need 12-16oz of your favorite pasta. I used einkorn rotini, but the type of pasta you use doesn’t matter so much. Use whatever you have, or whatever works for your dietary needs, and cook it al dente, which is slightly undercooked, then give it a rinse in cold water.

The exception is gluten-free pasta – cook that beyond al dente, until it is soft and tender. Gluten-free pasta tends to get hard and crunchy as leftovers if you only cook it al dente, and you don’t want that in your pasta salad!

If you have a few containers or bags of leftover pasta in the pantry, this is a great way to use them up so they don’t end up in the trash can! Just make sure you cook them separately, since different sizes of pasta call for different cooking times.

CHICKEN

This cobb pasta salad calls for leftover chicken:

• From the grill (that you’ve marinated in one of these delicious chicken marinades)
• Chicken you pulled from Instant Pot Whole Chicken
• Slow Cooker Chicken
• Oven Roasted Whole Chicken from Sunday dinner
• Even a store-bought rotisserie chicken
• Sheet Pan Skinless Chicken Breast is super quick too
• And you can even cook a Frozen Chicken Breast in the Instant Pot

You can also use turkey instead of chicken. I don’t know if you have any leftover turkey hidden in your freezer from Christmas or Thanksgiving, but if so, pull it out and use it up!

TOMATOES

I used cherry tomatoes because that’s what I had, but again, use whatever tomatoes you want. Grape tomatoes are easy since you only need to cut them in half, or skip cutting altogether! Sun-dried tomatoes would add great flavor and are an option for cold weather.

During summer, big wedges of garden-fresh tomatoes would be delicious!

OLIVES

Pre-sliced olives cost twice as much as buying whole olives, so save yourself money and buy whole olives and slice them yourself. It’s easy with a serrated knife (like this one). Heck, you don’t even have to slice them if you don’t want to – halved olives work just as well.

We like the flavor of black olives but for the sake of not throwing away food and using what you have, green olives (stuffed or not) and kalamata olives will work too. Remember that the flavor will change just slightly, but it shouldn’t be too noticeable.

CHEESE

I buy cheese in big blocks from Costco because it’s WAY more affordable than buying pre-shredded or even pre-cubed cheese.

If cheddar isn’t your thing, use whatever suits your fancy… Colby jack, Monterey jack, mozzarella cheese, pepper jack… they’d all be good! Even crumbled blue cheese!

Note: Using a cheese with a stronger flavor means getting away with using less. It’s one of the tips I recommend for saving money on cheese!

AVOCADO

Avocado is optional in this Cobb salad recipe, but it’s required FOR ME because I love it so much.

If you have picky eaters who don’t like avocado, you can serve it on the side OR slice it for presentation and remove it to give to those who enjoy it.

BACON

I took the easy route and cooked my thick-cut bacon in the oven, but you can pan-fry it to get it nice and crispy if you want. If you do cook bacon, keep the grease – it’s an easy way to save money on food.

COBB SALAD DRESSING

I used Homemade Ranch Dressing for my Cobb salad, but blue cheese dressing would work well here too!

Can you imagine adding a bit of Copycat Frank’s Hot Sauce to the dressing too? Use blue cheese instead of cheddar and you’ll have a BUFFALO cobb pasta salad! Yum!

A simple vinaigrette would be tasty too! Simply mix red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, and black pepper in a jar.

HOW TO MAKE COBB SALAD WITH PASTA

Step 1. This recipe doesn’t come together until everything is cooked, so make sure you’re starting with cooked pasta, cooked bacon, and cooked chicken.

Step 2. When those are ready, combine all the ingredients, except the dressing, in a large salad bowl.

Step 3. Add ¼ cup of your Cobb salad dressing of choice and toss to thoroughly mix. Add additional dressing if desired and serve immediately OR chill in the fridge for several hours.

Store leftover Cobb pasta salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

TO SERVE PASTA COBB SALAD

Although this hearty cobb pasta salad can easily be a main dish all on its own, I like to serve it with raw vegetables and dressing (the same dressing you use on the pasta salad!) or fresh fruit. The whole point is to keep dinner EASY, so don’t think too hard about what to serve with it!

HOW TO MAKE THIS COBB SALAD RECIPE WORK FOR YOU

I recommend putting this cobb salad recipe on your meal plan in the “leftover” slot… as in, this is what you make when you know you’ll have leftovers in the fridge that need to get used up.

Here are a few meals that I’d consider putting on the meal plan the same week so that your extra toppings don’t go to waste, and you can maximize your time in the kitchen:

• Chicken Bacon Caesar Salad Wraps (uses bacon and chicken)
• Buffalo Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad (uses bacon, chicken, and ranch dressing)
• Savory Pasta with Onions, Bacon, and Greens (uses bacon)
• Homemade Veggie Pizza (uses olives and tomatoes)
• Avocado Chocolate Mousse (uses avocado)
• Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili (can use tomato, olives, cheese, and avocado as toppings)
• Our Favorite Rice and Beans Dinner (can use tomato, olives, cheese, and avocado as toppings)

COBB SALAD RECIPE FAQS

MORE DELICIOUS PASTA SALAD IDEAS

• Greek Pasta Salad
• Master Pasta Salad Recipe
• Italian Pasta Salad
• Spring Vegetable Pasta Salad