Skip takeout—this Panera Green Goddess Salad is fresher, healthier, and honestly better. Loaded with crisp romaine, juicy chicken, bacon, avocado, and a bright, herby dressing made with real ingredients. Naturally low-carb and perfect for meal prep. Stick around—once you try this version, you won’t miss Panera’s.
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Why You Should Make this Panera Green Goddess Salad
Confession: I am obsessed with Panera’s Green Goddess Salad with Chicken. It’s my default order—I love everything about it! The crunchy romaine, the juicy chicken, that creamy, herby Green Goddess dressing… it’s fresh, delicious and totally satisfying.
I’ve always been a fan of Panera’s salads—menu staples like the Fuji Apple Salad and Greek Salad are long-time favorites. But then this one came along!
Panera’s has a few preservatives in their ingredient list. So, I decided to try and recreate it using real food ingredients—and honestly? It’s better.
The Panera Bread closest to my house is closed (sigh). So, I did what any food blogger would do—I figured out how to make it at home. Now I can make this fresh, flavorful salad whenever I want—no menu required—and so can you.
Why you’ll love this Green Goddess Chicken Salad
- Tastes Just Like (or Better Than) Panera – The homemade dressing is the real star here—packed with fresh herbs, garlic, and a hint of lemon juice.
- Easy – I’ll show you how to prep ahead, so it’s perfect for meal prep or a quick, healthy lunch.
- Naturally Keto & Low-Carb – Swap out the pickled red onions for regular sliced red onions, and this salad is low-carb! It is similar to this delicious California roll salad.
Green Goddess Chicken Salad ingredients
- Chicken: You’ll need a couple of chicken breasts for four salads. Leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken also works great!
- Seasoning: Season the chicken with sea salt, ground black pepper, and an Italian seasoning blend.
- Hard-boiled eggs: Boiled eggs peeled and cut into wedges are essential to Cobb salad. See how to make perfect hard-boiled eggs!
- Bacon: I like frying up some Applewood smoked bacon– YUM! To make it easier, you can use bacon bits.
- Greens: I like to blend spring salad mix and romaine lettuce like the Panera version. Try arugula, red leaf lettuce, kale, watercress, spinach, green cabbage…you get the idea. Use your favorite lettuce blend.
- Veggies: Add cherry tomatoes and freshly sliced fresh avocado. Try cucumbers, green onions and grape tomatoes
- Pickled red onions: Make your cobb salad just like the Panera version by including pickled red onions, either from the store or try my homemade Panera pickled red onions. Thinly sliced red onions work too, see tip below.
- Blue cheese: Sharp and tangy blue cheese crumbles perfectly contrast the creamy and savory ingredients. But try other cheeses too, like feta cheese, goat cheese or leave the cheese off altogether.
- Green Goddess Dressing Ingredients: Mayonnaise, plain Greek yogurt, fresh basil leaves, small shallot, pesto, white wine vinegar (or rice vinegar), honey and Dijon mustard. You can add parsley, dill, tarragon, chives or your favorite fresh herbs.
Get the full recipe in the recipe card below.
Recommended Tools
- Consider the Ninja Foodi XL for a versatile appliance that can grill indoors (virtually smoke-free), air fry, and more.
- Instant Pot – Making hard-boiled eggs a breeze!
- Meat Thermometer – I love this rechargeable one!
How to Make Copycat Panera Green Goddess Salad
Step 1 – Mix the Panera Green Goddess Dressing
First, blend the Panera Green Goddess dressing ingredients. Place the mayonnaise, yogurt, basil, shallot, pesto, vinegar, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper in a blender. Pulse until ingredients are nice and smooth, and refrigerate the dressing until ready to use. Check out my detailed post on how to make this creamy Green Goddess dressing.
Step 2 – Grill the Chicken
Next, brush the chicken with olive oil and season it with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
Then, heat the grill or a grill pan to medium-high heat. If you’re using a grill, you want it at 400° F (204°C).
Place the chicken breasts on the grill, close the lid, and cook for 5-6 minutes. Then, flip the chicken and cook for another 5-6 minutes, remove breasts to a cutting board, resting for 10 minutes before slicing. The internal temperature should be 165°F (74°C).
Step 3 – Assemble the Panera Cobb Salad
While the grilled chicken is resting, it’s the perfect time to assemble the salads quickly. Arrange each bowl or plate with lettuce, bacon, tomato, eggs, pickled red onion, avocado, and cheese.
Slice the chicken and add it to the salad. Finally, drizzle the Panera green goddess salad with dressing and serve right away – ENJOY!
Panera Cobb Salad Tips
- No blender? Use a food processor or finely dice or grate the shallots and finely chop the basil. Then, whisk everything together in a bowl. Or add it all to a mason jar and shake vigorously.
- Cook the whole package of bacon in the oven and refrigerate or freeze the extra for another time, like for breakfast the following morning, sandwiches for lunch, or other salads throughout the week.
- Wait to add the dressing just before serving, or the ingredients may become soggy and less crisp.
- Prep ingredients beforehand by chopping the veggies and herbs.
- Use freshly grilled chicken breast for the best flavor. Rotisserie works in a pinch, but warm, juicy chicken straight off the pan is at the next level. Try my Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Breasts (leave off the BBQ sauce) or Sous Vide Chicken Breast as great meal prep options.
- Make the dressing ahead of time! Letting it chill for a few hours makes the flavors even better.
- Don’t skimp on the toppings – That mix of Panera pickled onions, crispy bacon, and creamy avocado is what makes this salad so good!
- Soak sliced onions in ice water for 10 minutes to remove some of the bite most people don’t like. I place mine in a sieve in a bowl of ice water, making it easy to remove and drain them when ready to use.
Hard-Boiled Egg Success Tips
- Allow eggs to come to room temperature for 15-30 minutes before boiling.
- Eggs that are 1-2 weeks old are ideal for cooking rather than fresh off-the-farm eggs.
- Hard boil your eggs in the Instant Pot (see how to below).
- When boiling eggs, adding a splash of vinegar and a pinch of salt to the water can help congeal any leaking egg white in case of cracking, minimizing loss.
- Steamed Hard-Boiled Eggs – Place eggs in a single layer on a steamer basket, inside a saucepan, set over 1 inch of rapidly boiling water, cover, and steam over medium-high heat; 6 minutes soft-boiled, 10 minutes for medium-boiled (bright, jammy yolk) and 12-15 minutes fully cooked hard-boiled egg. Times may vary based on altitude.
How to Hard Boil Eggs in the Instant Pot
Perfectly cooked, easy-to-peel eggs every time!
- Add Water: Pour 1 cup of water into the Instant Pot.
- Place the Eggs – Put a trivet or steamer basket inside and arrange the eggs in a single layer.
- Set the Time: Seal the lid and set it to Manual (High Pressure) for 5 minutes. Adding 1-3 minutes for high altitudes (3200 feet +)
- Natural Release: Let the pressure naturally release for 5 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure.
- Ice Bath: Transfer eggs to an ice water bath for 5 minutes to stop cooking.
- Peel & Enjoy: Tap, roll, and peel easily under running water!
If you’re a fan of classic Cobb salads, try my Hearty Cobb Salad recipe with olives, artichoke hearts, creamy dressing, and all the essential Cobb salad ingredients.
I think you will also love my Steakhouse Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing or this Italian Chopped Salad with Zesty Italian Dressing. Or, for something extra unique, check out this Blackberry Grilled Chicken Salad with irresistibly crisp fried goat cheese.
Variations & Substitutions
- Use a Different Cheese: Try Feta, Roquefort, goat cheese, or gorgonzola. If those are still too strong for your taste, just use your favorite! Cheddar, Colby, Monterey Jack, or any cheese you prefer – or no cheese at all.
- Change the Meat: You can substitute the chicken breast with a different cut of meat, like rotisserie chicken or chicken thighs. You can use warm, just-grilled chicken or cold leftover cooked chicken. Shrimp, steak, or salmon also taste great in a Cobb salad.
- Low Carb or Keto Green Goddess Salad: To make this salad fit a keto diet and reduce its carb content, replace the pickled red onions with fresh sliced red onions. It’s an easy switch!
- Gluten-Free Cobb Salad: This green goddess salad recipe is naturally gluten-free if you check the ingredients. It’s also easily made nut-free when you use a nut-free pesto recipe.
Storing Green Goddess Chicken Salad
Make Ahead Green Goddess Cobb Salad – To make the green goddess Cobb salad ahead of time, prep all your ingredients except for the avocado. Either keep prepped ingredients in separate containers or plate individual salads, covering them tightly with plastic wrap and adding the avocado and creamy green dressing just before serving.
Refrigerate Leftovers – It’s best to keep the ingredients separate if you expect leftovers. However, if all the salad components are already tossed together, they should keep in the refrigerator for 1-2 days as long as the avocado and dressing are left out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Chicken, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, avocado, and blue cheese are classic Cobb salad ingredients. It’s usually served on a blend of lettuces, including romaine.
For easy and hassle-free bacon cooking, I prefer using the oven. Preheat to 400°F (200°C), line a baking sheet with foil, and lay bacon on it. Bake for 10-20 minutes until crispy. Microwave heating is faster but oven-baked bacon has a superior texture and flavor.
Use an Instant Pot for perfect hard-boiled eggs! Add 1 cup water and eggs on a rack. Cook for 5-8 minutes on high pressure (9-10 minutes for altitudes above 5000 feet), release pressure, and put the eggs in an ice water bath. After 5 minutes, remove the eggs, peel them, and use them within 3 days or store them unpeeled in the fridge for up to 7 days.
For best results on a stovetop, put the room temp eggs in cold water, covering eggs by about ½-1 inch, heat to a boil, then cover and turn the burner off. Let it stand for 15 minutes. Then, drain the eggs, and put them in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking immediately. For high altitudes, you may need to let them sit a few minutes longer.
What to serve with this Green Goddess Panera Salad
Chicken Cobb salad with green goddess dressing can be a complete meal. But you can also make a Panera You-Pick-Two deal by pairing the salad with a sandwich, soup, or another side dish. Try my Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Creamy Chicken Poblano, 10 Vegetable Soup or Autumn Squash Soup. Browse all my soups! And don’t forget the bread, try my basic sourdough bread.
More Panera-Inspired Recipes
- Panera Orange Glazed Scone – Read the reviews!! So good!
- Autumn Squash Soup Copycat Recipe – Silky smooth, easy to make!
- Cinnamon Chip Scones – A favorite in our house!
- This spot-on Panera Pumpkin Muffin is tops!
- Summer Corn Chowder
- Thai Chicken Soup
I hope you loved this Panera Chicken Cobb Salad — if you did, would you share your creation on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest? And be sure to comment below!
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Equipment
Ingredients
Green Goddess Dressing
- ¼ cup mayonnaise I like using a heart healthy brand, like Chosen Foods Avocado Mayo
- ½ cup Greek Yogurt plain, I used whole fat
- ¾ cup basil leaves packed, rinsed and patted dry
- 1 tablespoon shallot minced
- 1 tablespoon pesto homemade or storebought
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- ½ tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Pinch of kosher sat and black pepper
Chicken Cobb Salad
- 2 medium chicken breasts boneless, skinless (may use rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 4 large hard-boiled eggs sliced into 4 wedges each
- 8 slices bacon cooked, drained and chopped into pieces
- 6 cups lettuce I used a blend of Romaine and Spring Mix, rough chopped, use your favorite
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes diced, or use grape tomatoes
- 1 avocado sliced or diced
- ½ cup pickled red onions or just sliced red onions*
- ½ cup blue cheese crumbles this is optional, use your favorite cheese
Instructions
Make Green Goddess Dressing
- Place mayonnaise, yogurt, basil, shallot, pesto, vinegar, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper in a blender. Blend until smooth. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to use.¼ cup mayonnaise, ½ cup Greek Yogurt, ¾ cup basil leaves, 1 tablespoon shallot, 1 tablespoon pesto, 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, ½ tablespoon honey, ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard, Pinch of kosher sat and black pepper
Grill Chicken & Cook Hard Boiled Eggs
- Brush the chicken with oil and season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Heat the grill or a grill pan to medium-high. If using a grill, you want it at 400° F (204°C).Place the chicken breasts on the grill, close the lid, and cook for 5-6 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook for 6 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165°F (74°C). Remove chicken to a cutting board, allowing it to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.2 medium chicken breasts, 2 teaspoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- See notes for easy ways to hard-boil eggs if not using store bought.4 large hard-boiled eggs
Assemble Green Goddess Salads
- While the chicken is resting, assemble the salads. Arrange each bowl or plate with lettuce, bacon, tomato, eggs, onion, avocado, and cheese.Slice the chicken and add that to the salad. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of dressing and enjoy immediately.8 slices bacon, 6 cups lettuce, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 1 avocado, ½ cup pickled red onions, ½ cup blue cheese crumbles
Notes
- You can make the dressing without a blender. Finely dice or grate the shallots, and finely chop the basil. Then whisk everything together in a bowl. Or add it all to a mason jar and shake vigorously.
- You can find pickled red onions in the grocery store deli area or make your own.
- Use Feta, Roquefort, goat, or gorgonzola, Cheddar, Colby, or Monterey Jack, any cheese you love will work with this recipe.
- Substitute rotisserie chicken for a shortcut or a different cut of meat. Chicken thighs are a very tender option. You can use warm, just grilled chicken or cold-cooked chicken.
- To make ahead of time, prep all your ingredients, except the avocado, but keep them in separate containers. Assemble just before serving and add the avocado. Avocado will discolor quickly when it comes in contact with air, so it should be added just before serving.
- I cook a whole package of bacon in the oven and reserve the extra for another use, such as breakfast, sandwiches, or additional salads. Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil, then place the bacon side-by-side on the tray. Bake 10-20 minutes until desired crispness.
- I love my Instant Pot for making hard-boiled eggs. Place 1 cup of COLD water in a 6-quart instant pot. Add eggs in a single layer to egg rack or trivet. Place lid on the pressure cooker and set it for 5 minutes on high pressure for cook time. Perform natural pressure release for 5 minutes. Then do a quick release and carefully remove eggs with a spoon from Instant Pot and place in an ice water bath. Let eggs sit in iced water for 5 minutes. Remove eggs from the water bath. Store in the fridge for up to 7 days unpeeled or peel, and use within 3 days.
- For best results on a stovetop, put cold eggs in cold water, bring to a boil, then cover and turn the burner off. Let stand for 15 minutes. Drain the eggs, and put them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking immediately.
Nutrition
Jocelyn
Hi again, why so much sodium in this recipe? Does that include the bacon? I omitted the bacon from my own salad so hopefully not as much sodium!
Hi Jocelyn — I just reviewed the recipe and made a few changes, but it’s still showing on the higher side. As with any recipe, some of these nutritional calculators aren’t perfect, as it appears is the case with this one, so I would always recommend you run things through your own nutritional calculator. Hope that helps!
Jocelyn
I spend so much at Panera Bread eating this salad that I figured I needed to learn how to make it at home. I thought I had pesto but I didn’t do I just added all of the basil and it still turned out GREAT! Definitely a dupe recipe. Tastes just like it. Only downside was the prep time to prep each individual item. I made the dressing the morning of so it would have time to chill and hard boiled the eggs the day before so they could chill. Cooked the chicken and bacon just before and also chopped all the veggies….I served it “salad bar” style so my family could pick and choose. I can’t wait for leftovers today. I will be making this on repeat!
Yes, it does take a little planning, but once you have everything ready, it comes together quickly Thank you so much for your kind comment; so glad you loved it!
Carrie Robinson
This is one of my favorite salads to order from Panera! 🙂 I can’t wait to try this recipe at home.
Thank you so much, Carrie!
Cynthia | What A Girl Eats
Delicious salad dressing and perfect for meal prep for the week! Chicken is great for extra protein!
Thank you so much!
nancy
wow this green goddess salad with chicken just hits the spot. So flavourful and healthy at the same time
So glad you loved it!
Hayley Dhanecha
We really enjoyed this green godedess salad, I think it’s much better than panera! So fresh and delicious.
I agree, Hayley!