If you’ve ever been to the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel, you know it’s all about the McCarthy Chopped Salad. It’s incredible. Knife skills on display! But if you’re not really wanting to drop $40 on a salad… here’s how to make it at home.
I haven’t been to the Beverly Hills Hotel in approx 2 years! I used to go every now and then for a meeting and without fail, the entire table would order the McCarthy Cobb. It’s many things rolled into one salad and I didn’t think it would live up to the hype until the first time I tried it. Spoiler alert: it’s delish. Cubes of cheddar, chicken, beets, avocado, lettuce… you name it. And wildly customizable. If you dislike something in it, no problem. They’ll make an adjustment for you. The knife skills alone are exceptional. The only thing that stings is the price – but if you’re going to lunch with someone else footing the bill, by all means, you must try it.
All that said… it’s also wildly easy to make this flavor mashup at home! Below you’ll find my version of the McCarthy Chopped Salad. Note – the original has chopped hard boiled egg in it… but if you’ve been around What’s Gaby Cooking for a while, you know that’s a hard no for me!
McCarthy Chopped Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 2 cups romaine chopped
- 1/2 cup grilled chicken diced
- 1/4 cup baby cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/2 cup red beets diced (totally allowed to buy them pre-roasted at TJ’s, Whole Foods etc)
- 1/2 cup cucumbers diced
- 1/2 cup chickpeas
- 1/4 cup bacon diced
- 1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese diced
- 1 avocado diced
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
For the Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic roasted
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Salad:
- Chop everything, make it into a pretty salad, and serve.
For the Dressing:
- For the dressing, whisk everything together to combine, breaking up the roasted clove of garlic so it's evenly incorporated.
Do you think pickled beets would be good in the salad?? Or is that weird lol, I often have my mom’s homemade ones in my fridge
would be delish
This looks to be the perfect dinner salad!!
Gaby, Did you mean a head of roasted garlic or one single clove?
1 clove!! Like 1 clove from a head of roasted garlic
I made this tonight for dinner. I messed up roasting the garlic for the dressing so next time I’ll do it properly, however all of the flavours tasted so good together! This will def go in rotation. Especially in the summer when it’s too hot to cook!
Loved this salad so much. The dressing is light and fresh- just perfect. Thank you Gaby