Homer Simpson once told Lisa, “You don’t win friends with salad.” I disagree—especially when it’s a Tex-Mex Cobb Salad. This vibrant salad is the kind of dish that brings people together.
After our household battled a long, family-wide bout of illness, I finally felt like cooking again and used up vegetables that had been patiently waiting in the fridge. The result was this Tex-Mex Cobb Salad, and it felt like a small miracle.
This salad starts with a bed of romaine and is piled with diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper, black beans, roasted corn, shredded carnitas, green onions, hard boiled eggs, cilantro, olives, lime wedges, avocado, and pepper-jack or habanero cheddar. The combination is colorful, satisfying, and full of contrasting textures and flavors.
One small, slightly guilty secret: crunchy Fritos used like croutons made the whole thing irresistible to my still-recovering family. They’re optional, but they add a fun salty crunch.
Tex Mex Cobb Salad
This is an easy, assembly-style salad rather than a cooked entrée. The key is chopping everything into similarly sized pieces so each bite includes a variety of ingredients. That mix of textures and flavors is the joy of a Cobb salad.
There’s no classic salad dressing included because I prefer this salad without one. The eggs, beans, avocado, cheese, and a squeeze of lime add enough creaminess and brightness that it almost dresses itself. If you want a creamy option, mix 2 parts sour cream or plain yogurt with 1 part salsa and drizzle lightly—try the salad plain first and add dressing if you feel it needs it.
Always serve lime wedges with each portion so diners can add fresh citrus. The lime really makes the flavors pop.
For the carnitas or pulled pork, store-bought pulled pork works fine, or you can use your favorite slow-cooker recipe. This salad makes about six side salads, four fair-sized main-plate salads, or two very generous entrée portions plus a couple of smaller servings.
Use these to make a Tex-Mex Cobb Salad:
- Chef’s knife
- Cutting board
- Cast-iron or heavy skillet (for roasting corn)
- Large platter for serving
If you like main-dish salads, other favorites include Bo Luc Lac (Vietnamese Shaking Beef Salad), Cheeseburger Salad, Greek Salad, Pizza Salad, Spicy Southwestern Chicken Salad (great for meal prep), and Blackened Salmon Caesar Salad.
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Love this Tex-Mex Cobb Salad? Try these other Tex-Mex recipes!
- Easy Tex Mex Lasagna
- One Pot Tex Mex Pasta Toss
- Tex Mex Rice Bowls
- Spicy Taco Seasoning
- Tex Mex Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Tex Mex Chicken Meal Prep Bowls
- Grilled Corn Dog Salad with Beer Mustard Dressing
Tex Mex Cobb Salad
Ingredients
- 1 fresh ear of corn — kernels cut from the cob, or 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
- 1 heart of romaine lettuce — cored and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 hard boiled eggs — peeled and thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup cooked black beans — canned or homemade, drained and rinsed
- 3/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes or chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 of an English cucumber — cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 1/2 of a red bell pepper — cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 1/3 cup kalamata or black olives — drained
- 1 cup leftover carnitas or pulled pork
- 2 green onions — root ends trimmed, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup small cubes habanero cheddar or pepper jack (about 4 ounces)
- 1 avocado — cut into cubes and sprinkled with lime juice to prevent browning
- 1 fresh lime — cut into wedges
Optional, but tasty:
- Fritos, used as crunchy croutons
Instructions
- Place a cast-iron or heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat until very hot. Add the corn and a generous pinch of salt, stirring occasionally. Let the corn dry-fry for about three minutes, until fragrant with some golden brown spots. Transfer to a plate to cool.
- On a large serving platter, arrange the romaine. Layer the remaining ingredients in stripes across the lettuce in this order: cilantro leaves, hard boiled egg slices, black beans, tomatoes, cucumber cubes, red bell pepper, olives, carnitas or pulled pork, and thinly sliced green onions. Place the avocado and cheese cubes along the sides perpendicular to the other stripes. Scatter lime wedges over the salad and serve. If desired, top with Fritos for crunch.
Nutrition
Carbohydrates: 23 g
Protein: 21 g
Fat: 18 g
Saturated Fat: 5 g
Cholesterol: 129 mg
Sodium: 304 mg
Potassium: 880 mg
Fiber: 8 g
Sugar: 4 g
Vitamin A: 3680 IU
Vitamin C: 40.7 mg
Calcium: 133 mg
Iron: 2.6 mg
Nutritional information is an estimate. Calculate nutrition using the actual ingredients you use with your preferred nutrition tool.
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Originally published April 16, 2015. Updated with nutrition information and improved notes April 2018.