California Cobb Pasta Salad

This California Cobb Pasta Salad combines so many of my favorites: avocado, bacon, blue cheese, and pasta! And it’s a flavorful salad that’s perfect for summer entertaining.

California Cobb Pasta Salad:

You guys, I’m freaking out! The temperature here has gotten up in the 70s or 80s every day this week. Could it finally be spring!? I think so. Let’s celebrate with this California Cobb Pasta Salad.

As you may know, I love me a good pasta salad recipe. Over the years, I’ve shared several here on the blog. (You can find them all here.) To kick off the 2018 spring and summer season, I thought it’d fun to share another.

How to Make California Cobb Pasta Salad:

One of the things I love about this particular pasta salad is that the dressing is so light and fresh. As much as I enjoy creamy mayonnaise-based pasta salads, sometimes they can feel a tad heavy.

Made with only extra virgin olive oil and white balsamic vinegar, the dressing on this salad has great flavor without the heaviness.

I don’t know about you, but I’m also a huge fan of a cobb salad, so turning that into a pasta salad was guaranteed to be a winning combination.

The avocado is especially wonderful in this.

One quick tip: Add the avocado just before serving. As you probably know, avocado can brown rather quickly. So go ahead and mix all of this up; then toss in the avocado right before serving.

And if you need another quick tip, be sure to check out my secret for cooking bacon. I used that technique for the bacon in this recipe. I didn’t use as much brown sugar, but the sweet bacon definitely adds to this pasta salad!

And For More Pasta Salad Recipes, Check Out These:

• The BEST Macaroni Salad
• Really Good Pasta Salad
• Ramen Noodle Salad
• Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad
• BLT Macaroni Salad

I sure hope you love this California Cobb Pasta Salad recipe as much as I do. Give it a try this summer and let me know what you think!

California Cobb Pasta Salad:

California Cobb Pasta Salad

This California Cobb Pasta Salad combines so many of my favorites: avocado, bacon, blue cheese, and pasta! And it's a flavorful salad that's perfect for summer entertaining.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 16

Calories: 344kcal

Ingredients

• 1 pound Campanella pasta cooked and cooled
• 12 ounces bacon cooked and chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
• 3 cups chopped romaine
• 1 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese
• 2 avocados peeled, pitted, and chopped
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3-4 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• In a large bowl, add the cooked pasta, bacon, tomatoes, chopped romaine, and crumbled blue cheese.
• In a small bowl, toss the chopped avocado with the lemon juice*.
• Add the avocado to the pasta mixture. Drizzle with olive oil and white balsamic vinegar. Toss lightly to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

Because avocado will eventually start to brown, I recommend chopping the avocado and adding it to the pasta salad just before serving. 

Nutrition

Calories: 344kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 323mg | Potassium: 305mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 954IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 1mg