Campers Cobb Salad Recipe
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This Cobb salad recipe for campers is one of the best make-ahead camping dinners! With a little prep at home, you’ll have a no-cook camping meal that’s ready in minutes and absolutely delicious. Let’s dive into the recipe!
What is a Cobb Salad?
A Cobb Salad is an American salad that’s served as a main course and is typically made with lettuce, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, chives, turkey breast, and blue cheese.
The ingredients are laid out in rows and the salad is served with a red wine vinegarette salad dressing.
There’s a lot of room for substitutions when it comes to the Cobb salad. For example, if you don’t like blue cheese, you can easily substitute it for shredded cheddar cheese.
As you’ll see in my recipe below, I prefer to use chicken instead of turkey. While the ingredients are simple, it really does make one delicious salad that I find myself craving during the hot summer months.
That’s when I got the idea to make a Cobb salad while camping…
What makes this a ‘Campers’ Cobb Salad?
It was July with temps reaching 100°F and I was planning my meals for a camping trip.
I knew that I wasn’t going to want to eat a hot meal or cook over the campfire, so I thought a Cobb salad would be easy, no cook, and very filling.
Nick is not a big fan of vegetables, so if I was going to convince him to eat a salad as a meal, it needed to be high in protein. With eggs, chicken, and bacon, the Cobb Salad was perfect!
The best part? With a little preparation and planning at home (more on this below), this dinner only takes a few minutes to assemble at camp.
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Basic Cobb Salad Ingredients:
- rotisserie chicken
- bacon
- hard-boiled eggs
- avocado
- chives
- crumbled blue cheese
- lettuce
- tomato
- red wine vinaigrette
Make Ahead Options for this Cobb Salad
The at-home preparation is what makes this the perfect no-cook meal for campers!
Here’s what you’ll need to prepare at home:
Cook the Bacon – You can cook the bacon however you like at home, just make sure it’s nice and crispy! Once it’s cooked and cooled, store it in an airtight container in the cooler.
Dice the Rotisserie Chicken – I love to use a rotisserie chicken because not only is it very flavorful, but it’s also already cooked and all you need to do is dice it and set some aside for the salad. Depending on how many people you’re feeding, you probably won’t need an entire chicken.
Cook the Eggs – Hard-boiled eggs are a classic Cobb salad ingredient, and again, I cook the eggs at home, let them cool, and store them in the cooler.
Clean and Shred the Lettuce – Lastly, I like to clean and shred the lettuce so it’s ready to go. I store it in a large Stasher bag in the cooler. Make sure the lettuce isn’t directly on top of the ice so that it doesn’t freeze.
Cobb Salad Dressing – You can use a store-bought or homemade salad dressing. Traditionally, a red wine vinegarette is used, but I won’t tell anyone if you want to use something different!
Just keep in mind that the salad already has a lot going on with the eggs, bacon, cheese, and avocado, so a lighter vinegar dressing goes really well.
How to Serve this Cobb Salad at Camp
Since this salad is loaded with delicious toppings, you’ll need a large bowl to fit everything.
When I’m making this salad for me and Nick, I serve it in a large bowl, mix it all up, and we both eat out of that bowl. This makes camping cleanup really easy!
If you’re making this for more than two people, consider at least a few smaller bowls or a couple of large ones.
See me prep and assemble this Cobb Salad at camp in the video below:
Campers Cobb Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced cooked chicken (I prefer to use a rotisserie chicken)
- 4 bacon strips (cooked)
- 2 hard boiled eggs
- 1 large head of romaine lettuce (cleaned and chopped)
- 1/2 large avocado
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
- 2 tbsp chives (finely chopped)
- 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
- red wine vinaigrette (store-bought or homemade)
Instructions
Make at Home
- Dice the cooked chicken and store it in an airtight container in the cooler.
- Cook the bacon. Let it cool and then chop it into smaller pieces and store it in an airtight container in the cooler.
- Cook the hard-boiled eggs. Let them cool in cold water and then store them in an airtight container in the cooler. I prefer to leave the shells on so that I can peel and slice them at camp to keep them fresh.
- Clean the lettuce and chop it into thin strips. Store it in an airtight container in the cooler away from direct ice where it might freeze.
- Pack all the other ingredients.
At Camp
- Begin by filling a large bowl with the lettuce.
- Prepare the rest of the ingredients – cut the avocado into cubes, slice the cherry tomatoes, finely chop the chives, and slice the hard-boiled eggs.
- Assemble all the toppings on the lettuce in neat rows. Top with the salad dressing and give everything a good mix. Serve and enjoy!
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