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This copycat recipe for the popular Panera Green Goddess Salad recipe is super flavorful, fresh, and easy to make. A cobb salad loaded with pan-seared chicken, bacon, hard boiled eggs, crispy bacon, pickled onions, and drizzled with a creamy herb dressing.
Panera’s Cobb Salad is so fresh and tasty! Toss with my cream copycat Green Goddess Dressing and Pickled Red Onions, this spectacular meal is perfectly refreshing any time of the day.
Table of Contents
Why We Love This Recipe
- Meal-Sized Salad – This is one salad recipe that will NOT leave you hungry. It’s super filling!
- All the Texture – The key to a great salad is lots of texture and this salad has it all. Crispy bacon, creamy avocado, and crisp tomatoes.
- Copycat Recipe – We love being able to easily make a restaurant favorite recipe at home!
Ingredients For Panera Green Goddess Salad
Fresh and flavorful ingredients make up this Panera Green Goddess Salad recipe.
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts – You can also use leftover shredded chicken or even shred up a rotisserie chicken.
- Olive Oil, Salt, and Pepper – For cooking the chicken
- Spring Mix Lettuce – Feel free to use whatever type of salad you like.
- Pickled Red Onions – You might be able to find pickled onions in a jar at your local grocer, but they are super easy to make from scratch, too.
- Red Grape Tomatoes – Or cherry tomatoes.
- Bacon – 6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled. Nice, crispy bacon bits add the most insanely delicious crunch and savory, salty bite.
- Hard Boiled Eggs – Readily available in the dairy section, but also easy to make on the stovetop, in the air fryer, or in the instant pot.
- Fresh Avocado – Look for ripe avocados that are firm with a little give when you give them a gentle squeeze.
- Green Goddess Salad Dressing – Creamy, herby salad dressing made with fresh basil, sour cream, dijon mustard, and white wine vinegar all whisked together in a bowl or blended in a food processor. You can find the easy recipe here.
How To Make Green Goddess Salad
See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
You can make this Green Goddess Salad in under 30 minutes for a healthy yet filling dinner.
- Prep the Chicken – Pat the chicken breasts dry then lightly pound them so they are an even thickness. Cover them in plastic wrap or place in a ziptop plastic bag before pounding to contain the raw chicken juices.
- Cook Chicken – Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook in the hot skillet. Cook the chicken for 5-6 minutes before flipping and cooking for 4-5 minutes more. The chicken is cooked when the internal temp is 165℉. Set aside to cool.
- Assemble Salads – Divide the washed and dried lettuce among the 4 plates or meal-sized bowls. Slice up the chicken and add to the lettuce along with the remaining salad ingredients. Drizzle over the green goddess salad and serve immediately.
FAQs
A cobb salad typically has chopped chicken, tomatoes, bacon, hard boiled eggs, blue cheese, and is tossed with a vinaigrette. This Panera Bread copycat recipe has similar ingredients to a cobb salad but a different dressing.
Serving Suggestions
I love to serve the salad in individual meal-sized bowls for each person. Although you could make the entire salad in one giant salad bowl so everyone can serve themselves.
If you want an even more filling meal, this salad is great served with a side of bread or rolls – like these Quick Dinner Rolls or Homemade Garlic Breadsticks.
Variations
- Leftover Chicken or Rotisserie Chicken – You can also use leftover chicken and slice up a rotisserie chicken to save time.
- Grilled Chicken – Instead of cooking the chicken in a skillet on the stove, you can also grill them up for a little char and smoky flavor.
- Other Lettuces – Instead of spring mix, you can use another baby lettuce mix, a 50/50 spinach-lettuce blend, Romaine lettuce, arugula or other mixed greens.
- Other Ingredient Options – Feel free to customize the salad, adding some feta cheese, Parmesan or Romano cheese, or fresh herbs like parsley or tarragon.
Storage
For best results, I like to either store the salad ingredients separately or wait to add the dressing until right before serving. Always store fresh lettuce with a paper towel. It will collect moisture and help the lettuce remain fresher longer.
Pound Chicken Breasts – Pounding the chicken to an even thickness ensures even and easier cooking.
Wash and Dry Lettuce – For any salad, it’s always best to wash the lettuce, then make sure to dry it really well. This helps the dressing stick to the leaves better.
More Salad Recipes You’ll Love
- Lemon Orzo Salad
- Bacon Avocado Chicken Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
- Simple Cabbage Salad
- Caesar Salad Recipe
- 7 Layer Salad
- BBQ Chicken Salad
Green Goddess Cobb Salad with Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
Salad
- 10 cups spring mix lettuce about 14 ounces
- 1 cup pickled red onions
- 1 cup sliced grape tomatoes
- 6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 4 hard boiled eggs sliced
- 2 avocados sliced
- Green Goddess Dressing Bottled or homemade
Instructions
Chicken:
- Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Lightly pound chicken breasts between sheets of plastic (plastic wrap or a ziploc plastic bag) until they are even in thickness.
- Heat a tablespoon of olive in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper, then add to the hot skillet.
- Cook for 5-6 minutes without moving, then flip chicken and cook an additional 4-5 minutes or until cooked through to 165 degrees. Set aside on a plate to cool.
Salad
- Wash and dry lettuce. Divide into 4 meal sized bowls or on plates.
- Slice chicken and divide among the 4 salads, then top with pickled onions, sliced grape tomatoes, bacon, hard boiled egg slices and avocado.
- Drizzle green goddess dressing over each salad and serve immediately.
Hi! This sounds yummy. I’d like to try the dressing, but the link doesn’t seem to be working 🙁
Hi Cindy, Thanks for the head’s up. There was a snafu with the scheduling but it
s working now. Find it here: Panera Green Goddess Dressing