This high-protein Vegan Cobb Salad recipe is a hearty plant-based twist on the classic. It's packed with so many delicious flavors and textures. Best of all, it's super flexible with your own favorite veggies, beans, and dressing! (Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free.)
This fresh Vegan Cobb Salad is just as hearty, tasty, and protein-rich as the traditional version!
Classic Cobb salad is typically made with chicken, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, blue cheese, tomato, and onion. (Basically lots of very non-vegan ingredients!) But here we give it a delicious plant-based twist.
We swap in tender chickpeas for chicken, nut "bacon" crumbles, eggy tofu, and creamy avocado instead of cheese. It doesn't skip a beat with so many flavors and textures that come together for one amazing and immensely satisfying salad.
Best of all, you can customize it however you see fit because it's incredibly versatile. See the options below, or use this recipe as a framework to include your own favorite veggies, beans, herbs, or dressing. I'd love to hear what you come up with!
Ingredients for Vegan Cobb Salad
For this recipe, you'll assemble in a bowl:
- Romaine lettuce: I use one large head which is about 6-7 cups chopped. (Or use two small/medium heads.)
- Roma tomato: Or you can substitute grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes for a stronger, sweeter flavor.
- Red onion
- Avocado
- Chickpeas: You'll need about 1 cup cooked chickpeas for this recipe, but use more or less as desired. Most often I use canned chickpeas for convenience, but you can cook your own from scratch if you'd prefer.
- Eggy tofu: Instead of hard-boiled eggs, we'll make one batch of my delicious Eggy Tofu recipe. The taste and texture is reminiscent of real eggs, so I love including it in this salad for classic flavor and plant-based protein. (You can either prepare this on the stovetop or bake it in the oven - your choice!)
- Nut bacon crumbles: We'll bake some quick and savory "bacon" crumbles made with nuts, tamari, smoked paprika, and onion powder. (You can even include a small dash of liquid smoke if you like it extra smoky.) I use a combination of cashews, pecans, and walnuts but feel free to just use one or two of these. Or swap in coconut bacon, mushroom bacon, or tempeh bacon. Store-bought vegan bacon bits can work great too.
- Vinegar dressing: We'll whisk together a flavorful tangy dressing with simple ingredients like red wine vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, pure maple syrup, white miso, and Italian seasoning. It's so delicious and compliments this salad well!
Customizing
Vegetables: Change it up with your favorite veggies or what you have on hand. Toss in diced cucumber, carrot, sweet corn, roasted beets, green onion, artichokes, bell pepper, roasted bell pepper, olives, or even roasted vegetables. So many options!
Beans: Instead of chickpeas, include black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, white beans, or even these Smoky Roasted Chickpeas.
Make it "cheesy": Classic cobb salad often includes blue cheese. So you could add dairy-free blue cheese, vegan feta crumbles, or even a sprinkle of Vegan Parmesan Cheese. Or drizzle your salad with a dairy-free blue cheese dressing!
Other additions: Add cooked quinoa, fresh parsley, cilantro, basil, chives, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, or other nuts.
Dressing: I really enjoy the tangy vinegar dressing that's included below, but switch it up with your own favorite. Try a creamy Vegan Ranch Dressing or browse my 20+ Salad Dressing recipes for more inspiration.
Lower-Fat Options
- Omit the nut-based "bacon" bits, or replace them with a lower-fat alternative.
- Substitute the avocado with cucumber, carrots, beets, sweet corn, or other veggie of choice.
- Swap in oil-free Crispy Baked Tofu instead of the Eggy Tofu.
Serving
Neat rows or tossed: Classic Cobb salad is often arranged into neat rows in a large bowl. (See photos for reference.) But you can opt to toss it all together like a chopped salad if you prefer!
Salad bar style: If serving this meal to a crowd or family, you can set out all the ingredients on the counter like a salad bar. Then everyone can assemble their own bowls however they wish.
Storing
This is a great choice for meal prep or take-along lunches. Store the dressing, eggy tofu, nut bacon crumbles, and salad ingredients in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator. Then assemble when ready to enjoy. I find it keeps for about 3-4 days if stored separately. But if you dress your salad before storing, I find it keeps for about 1-2 days in the fridge before it gets soggy.
For more inspiration, also browse all vegan salad recipes.
Ultimate Vegan Cobb Salad
Ingredients
- 1 large head romaine*
- 2-3 roma tomatoes
- 1/2 cup red onion
- 1 large avocado
- 1 cup chickpeas, cooked
- 1 batch Eggy Tofu
For the vegan "bacon" bits:
- 1 cup nuts (cashews, pecans, or walnuts**)
- 1 Tbsp. tamari
- 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 1/2 tsp. pure maple syrup (optional)
For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp. white miso
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 2 Tbsp. water
Instructions
- Prepare the "bacon" bits: Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). In a small food processor, lightly pulse the nuts a couple times. (Leave them in bits, not too small or fine.) Then in a small bowl, add the nut crumbles with tamari, smoked paprika, onion powder, and maple syrup if using. Toss well to combine. (Feel free to add a tiny dash more tamari or even liquid smoke.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out the nut mixture. Bake for 7-8 minutes, stirring halfway through. (They're soft when they come out of the oven, and gradually harden.) Set aside to cool.
- Make the eggy tofu: Prepare the Eggy Tofu. (Use the stovetop method or oven method - your choice! I often place them in the oven after the "bacon" bits cook.)
- Make the dressing: Add all dressing ingredients to a small high-speed blender. (I use a Nutri-Bullet which works great.) Blend for about 20 seconds, then set aside.
- Prepare the veggies: Chop the romaine, dice the tomatoes, and thinly slice the red onion. Dice the avocado (pit and peel removed).
- Assemble it: Cobb salad is often laid out in neat rows (as shown in the photos), but you can toss it all together like a chopped salad if you prefer. Or set out all the ingredients like a salad bar and let everyone assemble their own bowls. Then finally, drizzle some dressing over the top.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving (Estimate)
Sodium content: This is omitted as I cannot provide an accurate number. I encourage you to calculate your own to provide a much more precise reading based on the exact ingredients, brands, and amounts you're using.
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Jennifer says
This is such a beautiful salad! In my pre-vegan days I used to love ordering Cobb Salad in a restaurant, so it's been almost 3 years since I've last had one. As soon as your post popped up I had to make it. We had this on Monday, and we both agreed that we'd be having it again. And those little baconuts, or nut bacon bits, were fantastic! Definitely worthy of being their own post! I made another batch of them yesterday and we put them on the vegan Caesar salad I made. So good! 😋 Thank you so much for this excellent recipe!
Kaitlin says
Fantastic, Jennifer! Thanks for giving it a try and glad you were able to get your Cobb salad fix after so long. I love how you called them baconuts! What a perfect compound word to describe them. I love it. Fun to hear you included them on your Caesar salad too! Thanks a lot for coming back to share your awesome feedback!