Serve this healthy Chipotle Chicken Cobb Salad with Peaches, Avocado and Bacon at any summer party! It's a Cobb salad with Sweet Peach Dressing that makes a complete dinner.

Chipotle Chicken Cobb Salad with peaches, avocado, bacon and tomatoes! It's a summer party salad that makes a complete dinner for a warm night.
I make this often for summer dinners and it's always a hit. The combination of flavours is amazing! Spicy chipotle chicken, sweet peaches, salty crisp bacon bits, summer tomatoes and mild creamy avocado slices balance it all. It's my newest favourite chicken dinner salad.
But that's not all! Tossed with an amazing creamy sweet peach salad dressing, this is a dinner salad to remember (and one to make again and again.)
Peach and chipotle flavours are absolutely delicious together. Every summer, I make this Easy Peach Chipotle Glazed Chicken and this Avocado Grilled Peach and Chipotle Shrimp Salad, two of our favourite meals with peaches and chipotle.
One of the best things about serving a Cobb Salad to your friends or family is that they can choose what they like and avoid what they don't! Not a fan of bacon? No problem. Don't like tomatoes? No worries.
As written, this recipe will serve four people. For a crowd-sized Cobb salad, the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled. Use a large platter, add extra greens and pile on the other ingredients!
Ready to make this Cobb salad? Here's what you'll need:
Ingredients
- chicken thighs: 8 meaty thighs. You can use chicken breasts, if you'd prefer. I find that it's hard to overcook chicken thighs on the grill, while chicken breasts can quickly become overdone, dry and chewy.
- a simple marinade: using ground chipotle pepper, olive oil, lemon and lime zest and lemon juice
- bacon: nitrate-free, hormone free.
- cherry tomatoes: or other tomatoes, sliced. I used a variety of different cherry tomatoes.
- peaches: I used white peaches, but yellow peaches would be equally as delicious and often have even more flavour. Choose firm peaches. If they're too soft, they won't hold their shape on the grill. There's no need to peel them. Leaving the peel on helps them to keep their shape when they're grilled. You'll need two peaches for the salad and half of another peach to make the dressing. (Peaches are on the Dirty Dozen list, so choose organic if you can.)
- avocados: two
- lettuce: or mixed greens
- more lemon, olive oil and honey: for the Sweet Peach Salad Dressing
Instructions
- First, combine the dressing ingredients in a blender or small food processor until very smooth. Set aside to allow flavours to blend. (Honestly, you're going to love this dressing so much, you might want to double the recipe for another salad later in the week!)
- Next, combine the Chipotle Chicken marinade ingredients. Add to the chicken thighs in a marinating container or ziplock bag, massage to coat all the chicken pieces. Refrigerate until ready to grill. You can marinate it for as little as 20 minutes or up to 8 hours.
- While the chicken is marinating, cook the bacon, drain, pat dry with paper towels, crumble or chop. * See recipe notes below for how to cook bacon in the oven and avoid the mess of stove-top cooking.
- Grill the chicken until it is no longer pink inside and has reached an internal temperature of at least 165°F. Watch carefully to prevent scorching or burning. Remove from heat and slice.
- While the chicken is cooking, grill the peaches (if desired.) They won't take long to develop grill marks. Turn with tongs and grill on the other side, then remove from the heat while still firm.
- And finally, arrange the Cobb Salad on a large platter. Start with a bed of lettuce or mixed greens. Add chicken, cherry tomatoes, grilled (or fresh) peaches, avocado and bacon. Drizzle with Sweet Peach Salad Dressing.
If you're at all like me, you like feeling super organized when you're planning to have friends for dinner? This Chipotle Chicken Cobb Salad recipe lets you make much of it ahead of time.
Dressing for Cobb Salad
This Sweet Peach Dressing makes the flavours in this healthy chicken Cobb salad sing! For more ideas for ways to use this amazing dressing, see my recipe for Sweet Peach Salad Dressing.
If you prefer something different, however, try this Everyday Honey Citrus Salad Dressing. A simple balsamic dressing would be tasty, too.
Advance preparation
Wash and dry the salad greens, wrap in paper towel and then in plastic and refrigerate.
Make the Sweet Peach Salad Dressing and store in a jar in the fridge.
Combine the Chipotle Marinade ingredients. You can even marinate the chicken up to eight hours in advance if you'd like.
Storage
Store any leftover salad tightly covered in the fridge, and store the dressing separately. Leftover chicken Cobb salad makes a great lunch!
Chipotle Chicken Cobb Salad with Peaches
Ingredients
Chipotle Chicken Marinade
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, extra virgin
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated
- 1 teaspoon lime zest, finely grated
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Cobb Salad
- 6 cups lettuce or mixed greens
- 8 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
- 4 slices bacon, nitrate-free
- 2 large peaches, sliced into ⅛ths
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 2 medium avocados, pitted, peeled and sliced
Sweet Peach Salad Dressing
- ½ large peach, very ripe
- ¼ cup olive oil, extra virgin
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice, or champagne vinegar
- 2 teaspoon honey, or more if you like a sweeter dressing
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Combine the Sweet Peach Salad Dressing ingredients in a blender or small food processor until very smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more honey or salt as desired. Set aside to allow flavours to blend.
- Combine the Chipotle Chicken marinade ingredients. Add to chicken thighs in a ziplock bag, massage to coat all the chicken pieces. Refrigerate until ready to grill.
- While the chicken is marinating, cook the bacon, drain, pat dry with paper towels, crumble or chop.
- Grill the chicken until no longer pink inside and it has reached an internal temperature of at least 165°F. Remove from heat and slice.
- While the chicken is cooking, grill the peaches if desired. They won't take long to develop grill marks. Turn with tongs and grill on the other side, then remove from the heat while still firm.
- Arrange Cobb Salad on a large platter. Start with a bed of lettuce or mixed greens. Add chicken, cherry tomatoes, grilled (or fresh) peaches, avocado and bacon. Serve, then drizzle with Sweet Peach Salad Dressing.
Video
Notes
How to cook bacon in the oven without making a mess
- Heat oven to 400°F.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place a cooling rack on top of the paper.
- Lay bacon strips on the rack.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then use tongs to turn strips over and continue baking until they’ve reached the desired crispness.
- Remove from oven, drain on paper towel. Discard parchment paper.
Mila
Thanks for a great recipe. I've made it twice now and the kids love being able to pick what they like and make their own bowl. Love the flavors in this recipe.
Elaine
Agreed! It's great to give kids choices and let them be "in charge" of choosing healthy foods.
Terri
I love that this recipe is flexible and you can pick and choose what you like!!
Sabrina
This is THE perfect dish for a summer lunch or dinner. I love the bright and fresh dressing and all the wholesome ingredients. Summer perfection!
Flavour & Savour
Thanks Sabrina! We're loving all the fresh peaches available now!
Matt- Total Feasts
I love a cobb salad, but this is different to any cobb I've ever had! I love it!
Colleen
I agree with you, Elaine, about chicken thighs and also, we only do bacon in the oven, saves the kitchen! What a fabulous salad. The peaches are here now, so can't wait to make this!
Kristen
I love the twist of adding in seasonal peaches to this Cobb salad. What a sweet addition!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
If this doesn't SCREAM summer, I don't know what does! Seriously, Elaine, you've outdone yourself with this flavour packed beautiful salad. This is what I want for dinner tonight!! Pinned 🙂
Jeff the Chef
What a fantastic looking salad! I love the combination of ingredients, especially the peach and avocado.
Flavour & Savour
Thanks Jeff! It's a keeper!