Southwest Cobb Wedge Salad

A salad can be the perfect meal or appetizer for a light summer dinner. This Southwest cobb wedge salad makes use of the seasonal hatch chiles and fresh corn. This easy to make salad is a blend of many wonderful flavors commonly used in the Southwest part of the country.

When I first made this salad I told a friend that I because low key addicted to it. I wanted to make it every day because the combination of flavors was just right for summer. With the use of hatch chiles in the dressing to the pan roasted corn you just cannot go wrong with this salad. For those that are adverse to cilantro the salad dressing can use avocado instead of cilantro. 

In this recipe

There are some great flavors in this salad. The pan roasted corn will give a light sweetness and a subtle smokey notes as well. Instead of pan roasting you can roast corn on a grill as well for an even richer flavor. A bit of cotija cheese will add a nice little bit of saltiness. Since hatch chiles are only available for a small amount of time during the summer they add a small amount of heat to the dish along with the depth of flavor that comes from being roasted. 

Ingredients for Southwest cobb wedge
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Pan roasting corn

There is a section in my Pan Roasted Corn Salad with Bacon where talk about how to remove whole kernels from an ear of corn. As it is a little more time intensive and the corn is not the sole focus of this recipe you can choose to pull whole kernels out or just cut them off of the cob. This recipe also works well with frozen corn as well. If using frozen corn allow it to defrost in a colander first. This will help reduce cooking time and also allow the corn to get a nice char. 

Prepared ingredients before making a salad
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Make sure the bacon is crispy

With this salad you will want to make sure that you use nice large chunks of bacon instead of smaller ones. This will give a nice texture to the salad. One of the reasons that you want it crispy to begin with is that once the dressing and tomatoes come into contact with the bacon it will begin to soften. Plus it will give the salad a little bit of a bite and crunch. 

Four Southwest cobb wedges on a white platter
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Can I make some substitutions?

Of course you can. As stated before if you don’t like the taste of cilantro you can remove that and add some avocado. Here are a few other suggestions for substitutions or additions.

  • Add additional roasted hatch chiles to the salad as a topping. 
  • Add a jalapeno to the salad dressing. 
  • Swap feta cheese for the cotija cheese.
  • Add 2 diced boiled eggs
  • Add some pumpkin seeds or walnuts. 
A white platter with Southwest cobb wedges topped with dressing
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Looking for other salad recipes?

Southwest cobb wedge on a white platter
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Southwest Cobb Wedge Salad

Sean
A wedge salad topped with bacon, cotija cheese, roasted corn, and avocado topped with a hatch chile lime dressing.
5 from 12 votes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Appetizer, Salad
Cuisine American
Servings 4 quarter wedges
Calories 704 kcal

Equipment

  • Sauté pan
  • Sheet pan
  • Knife
  • Food processor or blender
  • Mixing Bowl

Ingredients
 
 

Southwest cobb wedge

  • 1 head iceberg lettuce cut into quarters
  • 1 avocado pit removed, diced
  • ½ lb bacon large dice
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
  • 1 cup fresh corn about 2 ears kernels removed, or frozen
  • ½ cup cotija cheese crumbled/grated
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

Hatch Chile Lime Dressing

  • 1 hatch chile
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • ½ cup cilantro
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup lime juice
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper

Instructions
 

Roasting the hatch chile

  • Preheat the over to broil, grill, or gas mark 10.
  • Place the hatch chile on a sheet pan and place it as close to the heating element as possible without it touching it. Cook until the side facing the element has turned black and rotate. Continue to rotate until all sides of the pepper are blackened. Remove from the oven and turn off the oven.
  • Once the pepper is cool enough to handle remove the burned skin and the stem.

Pan roasting the corn

  • Heat your sauté on medium high heat. Add the tablespoon of olive oil and corn. Cook until the corn starts to brown on the sides stirring occasionally.
  • One it is fragrant, about 6-8 minutes, remove from the pan and place in a bowl.

Cooking the bacon

  • In the same sauté pan as you used to cook the corn, on medium high heat, add the large diced bacon and cook until crispy. This will vary in time based on the thickness of the bacon and the amount of fat in the bacon. It can take from 5-10 minutes to cook.

Making the dressing

  • In a food processor or blender add the lime juice, garlic, hatch chile, honey and cilantro. Pulse until all of the ingredients have mixed and start to form a paste. With the food processor or blender on slowly pour in the olive oil.

Assembling the salad

  • Place the wedge of lettuce on the plate and add the tomatoes, bacon, cotija cheese, avocados and roasted corn.
  • Drizzle the dressing over the salad. You might not use all of the dressing. It can be stored in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

Serving: 1quarter wedgeCalories: 704kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 13gFat: 65gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 38gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 809mgPotassium: 597mgFiber: 5gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 573IUVitamin C: 24mgCalcium: 115mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition Disclaimer*
Keyword Cobb, Hatch Chile, Southwest, Wedge
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Southwest cobb wedge pinterest pin
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13 thoughts on “Southwest Cobb Wedge Salad”

  1. What a delicious classic! We eat salads multiple times per week so I’m always on the hunt for new ideas and variations; I love the idea of combining the wedge presentation with Southwestern flavors!

  2. 5 stars
    This salad looks and sounds so delicious and refreshing! A great option for a quick lunch! Thanks for the recipe share!

  3. 5 stars
    This Southwest Cobb Wedge Salad is such a wonderful twist on a classic. This salad was the star of the show on steak night. That Hatch Chile Lime Dressing is to die for , I wanted to lick my plate lol.

  4. 5 stars
    I made this to go along with dinner tonight and it was so good! We normally have plain cobb salad so this was a real treat. The wedge made for great presentation too.

  5. 5 stars
    The dressing on this salad is incredible. It went perfect with the salad toppings. This is now my new favorite salad. I highly recommend.

  6. 5 stars
    I don’t buy iceberg lettuce very often but it sure makes a pretty salad presentation when you cut it like this. I served it last weekend when my sister was visiting and we all loved this cobb salad flavour update.

  7. 5 stars
    I love all of the fresh ingredients in this salad wedge and the southwest twist! Going to add this to out dinner rotation, thank you for the recipe! It’s so refreshing, easy, and packed with flavor!

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