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Cafe Zupas California Protein Cobb Salad

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A delicious, filling, healthy, protein-packed Copycat Recipe of Cafe Zupas California Protein Cobb Salad. Packed with vegetables, chicken, and topped with a sweet and tangy herb vinaigrette!

A white bowl filled with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, hard boiled eggs, avocado, bacon, and chicken to make a Cobb salad.

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Below you will find tips, tricks and helpful hints for making this recipe including step by step instructions with pictures. If you would like to go directly to the recipe, scroll down to the recipe card.

Why I Love this Salad

My husband discovered this little gem at Cafe Zupas a couple of years ago and introduced it to me.

I LOVE this salad. I CRAVE this salad. It is so filling, healthy and delicious. It is totally packed with protein and the Herb Vinaigrette is the perfect blend of sweet and tangy.

This salad is HEAVEN in a bowl!

To avoid going broke from going out to lunch and dinner at Cafe Zupas every day to consume this beautiful piece of work, I decided that I needed to come up with a recipe to make it at home.

Herb Vinaigrette Dressing

The key is the dressing.

Although you have a choice between Ranch dressing and Herb Vinaigrette dressing at the restaurant, I definitely recommend the herb vinaigrette because it is so wonderfully addicting.

After a little trial and error with the dressing, I believe that I have come up with an almost exact replica of Cafe Zupas California Protein Cobb Salad.

The only thing this salad is lacking, is someone to whip it up for you and do the dishes when you’re finished. But that’s what husbands and kids are for, right?

A white bowl with edamame, lettuce, bacon, tomatoes, feta cheese, avocado, black olives, chicken, and hard boiled eggs to make a Cobb salad.

 

Ingredients for California Protein Cobb Salad

Herb Vinaigrette Dressing

  • 6 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
  • 1 Teaspoon Garlic, minced
  • 1 Tablespoon Fresh Parsley
  • 1 Tablespoon Fresh Basil or Cilantro
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper
  • 3 Tablespoons Sugar

Protein Cobb Salad

  • 1 Head Romaine Lettuce
  • 2 Hard Boiled Eggs, peeled and chopped
  • 1/4 Cup Bacon Pieces
  • 1/4 Cup Edamame, shelled
  • 1/2 Cup Grape Tomatoes, halved
  • 1/4 Cup Black Olives, sliced
  • 1/4 Cup Feta Cheese, crumbled
  • 1 Avocado mashed
  • 1-2 cups cooked chicken, diced

How to Make California Protein Cobb Salad

[1] Begin by adding all of the herb vinaigrette salad dressing ingredients to your blender and blend.

[2] I bought a Magic Bullet a few years ago and I LOVE it! It gets used at least 2-3 times a day for everything from protein shakes to this yummy dressing!

I love that it comes with multiple cups and blades. Its has a TON of power and is perfect for so many jobs. If you don’t already have a good blender, I definitely recommend the Magic Bullet!

Fresh herbs next to a jar of homemade Herb Vinaigrette to make a Cobb salad.

Prepare the Salad

Chop the lettuce into bite-sized pieces. For me, I like to cut my lettuce into small pieces, almost like a chopped salad.

I hate having to eat giant pieces of lettuce or feeling like I have to use a knife to cut my salad!

Slice the hard boiled eggs, grape tomatoes and black olives.

Slice open an avocado and remove the pit. Scoop out the flesh and smash it to guacamole consistency.

To prepare your chicken, you can grill, bake, or use an Instant Pot.

Another option would be to use pre-cooked chicken from the freezer section at your grocery store or a rotisserie chicken. 

Next, you can begin to assemble the salad. Place the lettuce and your desired amount of vinaigrette in a large bowl with a lid. Shake to toss the salad and coat the lettuce with the dressing.

Place the coated lettuce into two bowls. Add all of the toppings on top of the lettuce. Serve this salad with these delicious Honey Buttermilk Biscuits  or Sweet Moist Cornbread and your meal will be complete!

A delicious, filling, healthy, protein-packed Copycat Recipe of Cafe Zupas California Protein Cobb Salad. Packed with vegetables and topped with a sweet and tangy herb vinaigrette!

Make sure you pin Cafe Zupas California Protein Cobb Salad Copycat Recipe so that whenever your craving for this salad comes, you can quickly find this recipe. I’m warning you, its addicting!

Other Salads You Will Love:

A copycat Zupas California Protein Cobb Salad with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, hard boiled eggs, avocado, and feta cheese.

Cafe Zupas California Protein Cobb Salad Copycat Recipe

Yield: 4
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Passive Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

A delicious, filling, healthy, protein-packed Copycat Recipe of Cafe Zupas California Protein Cobb Salad. Packed with vegetables and topped with a sweet and tangy herb vinaigrette!

Ingredients

Herb Vinaigrette Dressing

  • 6 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
  • 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
  • 1 Teaspoon Garlic, minced
  • 1 Tablespoon Fresh Parsley
  • 1 Tablespoon Fresh Basil or Cilantro
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper
  • 3 Tablespoons Sugar

Cobb Salad

  • 1 Head Romaine Lettuce, chopped
  • 2 Hard Boiled Eggs, peeled and sliced
  • 1/4 cup Bacon Pieces
  • 1/4 cup Edamame, shelled
  • 1/2 cup Grape Tomatoes, halved
  • 1/4 cup Black Olives, sliced
  • 1/4 cup Feta Cheese, crumbled
  • 1 Avocado, mashed
  • 1-2 Cups Cooked Chicken, diced or shredded

Instructions

  1. Prepare the Herb Vinaigrette by placing all of the ingredients in a blender and blend.
  2. Chop the lettuce, peel and slice the hard boiled eggs, slice the grape tomatoes in half and slice the black olives.
  3. Slice open the avocado and remove the pit. Smash the avocado to guacamole consistency.
  4. Cook your chicken on the grill, pan, oven, slow cooker or instant pot. Dice or shred the chicken.
  5. Assemble the salad by placing the lettuce and dressing in a large bowl and cover. Shake to toss.
  6. Top the salad with chicken, eggs, bacon, edamame, grape tomatoes, black olives, feta and avocado. Enjoy!

Notes

This salad can be made quickly by using pre-sliced olives, frozen edamame, pre-crumbled feta cheese and packaged bacon pieces, and pre cooked chicken.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 Salad
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 652Total Fat: 52gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 38gCholesterol: 170mgSodium: 697mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 8gSugar: 13gProtein: 27g

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Lindsey

Wednesday 14th of July 2021

How long will this dressing stay good in the fridge?

Mindy

Thursday 22nd of July 2021

3-5 Days :)

Tracy

Tuesday 25th of September 2018

OMG! I stumbled across this restaurant yesterday for the first time, while I was in an area of the city that I don't frequent that often. I ordered this salad to go. When I returned home and ate my salad...oh my goodness, was it good! I immediately started googling if there was a Zupas location near my area. As I sit here eating this salad for the second day in a row, I realized I may be developing an expensive problem. Thankfully, I found your recipe. Will be trying this asap. YUM!

mindymoser

Sunday 14th of October 2018

I'm glad I'm not the only one that is obsessed with it! I just had it yesterday ;)

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