This Whole30 and gluten-free Green Goddess Cobb Salad—a Panera Bread copycat recipe—is the healthy and satisfying entrée salad of your dreams! 

An overhead shot of a paleo and Whole30 Green Goddess Cobb Salad Panera copycat.

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A healthy copycat Panera Bread Green Goddess Cobb Salad recipe!

If you’re looking for a hearty salad that tastes as good as it looks, make my version of Panera’s Green Goddess Salad! Packed with chicken breast, colorful vegetables, tangy pickled onions, and drizzled with a vibrant green herbaceous dressing, this dish will be one that you’ll put on repeat!

I’m not a Panera Bread regular, but while traveling recently in an area where it was one of my only dining options, I decided to check out its offerings online. After scrolling through the Panera app, the Green Goddess Cobb Salad with Chicken description immediately caught my eye:

Chicken raised without antibiotics, arugula, romaine, baby kale, and red leaf blend, grape tomatoes and pickled red onions tossed in a freshly made Green Goddess dressing and topped with fresh avocado, Applewood smoked bacon and cage-free hard boiled egg.

Sounds like a pretty good choice from a fast-casual chain, right? However, when I clicked on the See All Ingredients button below the description and read the detailed ingredients, I spotted a bunch of components I don’t cook with at home—including rice starch, dextrose, sugar, canola oil, and dairy.

Although I didn’t order the salad that day, I was inspired to create a copycat recipe where the flavors are even better than Panera’s version and consist of nothing but nourishing, real food ingredients! Plus, my recipe happens to be gluten free, paleo, Whole30, and keto friendly!

Tips for the best Green Goddess Cobb Salad

  • Prep the ingredients ahead of time! If you already have the dressing, pickled onions, cooked chicken, and crispy bacon in your fridge, this salad can be assembled in just minutes!
  • Don’t add the salad dressing until you’re ready to eat! No one likes a soggy salad, so dress the salad right when you serve it!
  • Feel free to change out the protein and veggies! I make variations of this salad with whatever leftover cooked protein or veggies I have in my refrigerator. I especially love it with cooked salmon, shrimp, and steak!

Ingredients

An overhead shot of the raw ingredients to make Green Goddess Cobb Salad, a Panera copycat recipe.
  • Green Goddess Salad Dressing: If you haven’t whipped up my vibrant green dressing yet, what are you waiting for? This dairy-free marvel is made with avocado, fresh herbs (fresh basil, chives, and parsley), olive oil, tahini, and lemon juice—and you can blitz it in a blender in minutes!
  • Romaine lettuce: I know Panera uses a salad blend that includes romaine, arugula, kale, and red leaf lettuce, but I prefer to keep it simple with just romaine lettuce. If you like spicy greens, add some watercress or a radicchio blend!
  • Cooked bacon bits: If you’re doing a Whole30, make sure you buy compatible, sugar-free bacon. Also, I like to make my crispy bacon in the microwave or in the oven.
  • Hass avocados: Our family loves fresh avocado, so I allot half an avocado per person. Add or subtract per your taste.
  • Cooked chicken breast: To keep things quick and simple, I use leftover Air Fryer Whole Chicken for this recipe. Yes, you can definitely use a store-bought rotisserie chicken!
  • Cherry or red grape tomatoes
  • Hard-boiled eggs: I love to cook my eggs in the Instant Pot so they’re easy to peel, but feel free to make them on the stovetop.
  • Quick-Pickled Red Onions: Pickled onions are the perfect acidic counterpoint to the avocado and bacon in this hearty salad. You should always have a jar of them in the fridge so make it already!
  • Diamond Crystal kosher salt or sea salt
  • Freshly cracked black pepper

How to make a copycat Panera’s Green Goddess Salad

Grab your jar of Green Goddess Salad Dressing. If you haven’t blitzed up a jar yet, follow my easy and delicious recipe instructions here.

An overhead shot of a jar of Whole30 and vegan Green Goddess Dressing.

Place the chopped romaine leaves on the bottom of a large salad bowl.

Using red tongs to place chopped romaine lettuce in a shallow salad serving bowl.

Top the lettuce with the salad ingredients in individual rows.

Placing halved hard boiled eggs on a Cobb salad.

Season the salad with salt and pepper.

An Asian woman is grinding fresh black pepper on top of a Green Goddess Cobb Salad,

Drizzle on the Green Goddess Dressing and toss well to combine. Serve immediately!

An Asian woman in a blue apron is spooning Green Goddess dressing on a homemade Cobb Salad.

Make-ahead instructions

You can assemble the ingredients for the undressed and unseasoned salad (without the avocado) in a sealed container in the fridge for up to four days. When you’re ready to eat, season with salt and pepper, add freshly cut-up avocado, and toss with the salad dressing!

More healthy and hearty salad recipes

Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2022).

PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD

Panera Green Goddess Cobb Salad Copycat Recipe (Whole30, Gluten Free)

5 from 8 votes
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Servings 4
Author Michelle Tam
An overhead shot of a paleo and Whole30 Green Goddess Cobb Salad Panera copycat.
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This Whole30, keto, and gluten free Green Goddess Cobb Salad, a Panera Bread copycat recipe, is the healthy and satisfying entree salad of your dreams! 

Ingredients  

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Instructions 

  • Grab or make a jar of Green Goddess Dressing. Measure out a half cup of it.
  • Place the chopped romaine leaves on the bottom of a large salad bowl.
  • Top the lettuce with the salad ingredients (bacon, avocado, chicken, tomatoes, eggs, and pickled onions) in individual rows to make things pretty!
  • Season the salad with salt and pepper. Serve with the Green Goddess Dressing!

Video

Notes

Make-ahead instructions
You can assemble the ingredients for the undressed and unseasoned salad (without the avocado) in a sealed container in the fridge for up to four days. When you are ready to eat it, season with salt and pepper, add freshly cut-up avocado, and toss with the salad dressing!

Nutrition

Calories: 697kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 53g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 28g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 293mg | Sodium: 525mg | Potassium: 1029mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1492IU | Vitamin C: 23mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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About Michelle Tam

Hello! My name is Michelle Tam, and I love to eat. I think about food all the time. It borders on obsession. I’ve always loved the sights and smells of the kitchen. My mother was (and is) an excellent cook, and as a kid, I was her little shadow as she prepared supper each night. From her, I gained a deep, abiding love for magically transforming pantry items into mouth-watering family meals.

Read More About Me

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4 Comments

  2. Question!?!
    I want to try your version of this cobb salad & was wondering if the nutrition facts for the salad of 1 serving, if that is INCLUDING the nutrition facts of the green goddess dressing? or is that just the lettuce & toppings & I have to include the macros for the dressing separately?
    thank you so much!

    Reply