Sriracha Ranch Chicken Cobb Salad

Cobb salads are the freaking best, aren’t they? They’re basically an excuse to throw together a bunch of leftovers on top of some salad greens, top with crumbled bacon, and a delicious dressing. And, um HELLO, how could you go wrong with that?!

A lot of the time when I go out to eat, I get salads. Most people think it’s because I “eat healthy”, but really it’s because I’m too freaking lazy to make salads with all those ingredients at home. Which is funny, because most people are the opposite. I’d rather spend my time cooking than chopping up a bagillion different raw vegetables, just to put them in a salad. Just sayin’.

But by far my favorite salad to get when I go out is a cobb salad, with the million different variations that are out there. As long as you don’t get too sketchy with the dressings when you’re eating out, a cobb salad is also a great choice if you’re eating out on the whole30! Just ask my Whole30 Restaurant Survival Guide.

Anyway. As you probably know, there are hundreds of different cobb salad variations out there. Ones with chicken, shrimp, steak, tuna, corn, carrots, beans, a BBQ cobb salad, a fall harvest cobb salad…the list goes on. I think they’re usually served with a bleu cheese dressing? Also, ew. 1) I’m a lactard and can’t eat dairy, so bleu cheese is out. But also 2) why would you want to eat that stinky, smelly cheese, which is literally made by growing mold on it!? WEIRD.

So I’m switching it up with a freaking delicious sriracha lime ranch dressing. Because…this RANCH you guys. It’s good on everything. My Buffalo-Bacon Roasted Cauliflower, roasted sweet potatoes and carrots, Smoky Pulled Pork, my Buffalo Chicken Bacon Ranch Skillet…the list goes on. And now this Cobb salad. I could drink the stuff, I swear. I won’t, but I could. It’s that good. Plus, bacon? Avocado? Need I say more?? Go make this salad already. Just do it.

Also, a note about the chicken here. You can use any kind of leftover chicken you want: grilled, baked lemon chicken, the chicken from my Buffalo Chicken Bacon Ranch Skillet with ranch seasoning on it, perfect roast chicken, spatchcocked chicken…the list goes on. You get it. Just slap some delicious chicken on here and you’re good to go. You could also totally substitute some Smoky BBQ Pulled Pork here and it would be just as (or maybe more) delicious!

Sriracha Ranch Cobb Salad

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

8 mins

Total time

13 mins

 

Dana: Real Food with Dana

Serves: 2 huge a** salads

Ingredients

For the salad

• 2 servings leftover chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• ½ cup chopped cherry or grape tomatoes
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped*
• ½ avocado, sliced
• 2 large slices bacon, chopped into bits
• 3-4 cups salad greens (I used spinach and arugula)

For the dressing

• ¼ cup paleo ranch dressing
• 2-3 Tbsp sriracha (depending on how spicy you like it!)
• 1 tsp lime juice

Directions

1. First, cook the bacon in a medium sized skillet for about 3-4 minutes per side, until crispy, but not burnt. Set aside to cool while you assemble the rest of the salad.
2. Make the dressing. Whisk together the paleo ranch dressing, sriracha, and lime juice in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Assemble the salad: top the salad greens with the chopped chicken, tomatoes, eggs, avocado slices, and bacon, then finish off with the sriracha ranch dressing.
4. Faceplant.

Notes

*Make sure you have hard-boiled eggs on hand! If you don't, do that ASAP, and make the rest of the salad while you wait for those eggs to boil.

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