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This grilled steak salad is a hearty side dish or main course salad that is great for lunches, picnics, as well as meal prep. It’s packed with flavor, juicy and tender, and high in protein.
Table of Contents
Every summer, I crave fresh and wholesome meals, but the thought of turning on the oven is not appealing. That’s when I make my classic steak salad. It’s been one of my family’s favorite hearty and filling salads, which we enjoy quite regularly. It’s also great for backyard barbecues, patio dinners, or when I need to meal prep something healthy and satisfying.
I love how juicy tomatoes and tangy feta cheese complement the tender and juicy steak. The dressing has just the right balance of flavor so as not to detract from the other ingredients. It’s seriously the perfect meal for summer.
Recipe Highlights
- Healthy: The steak provides protein, along with tons of fresh veggies and healthy fats from the dressing and cheese.
- Quick and easy: This salad takes less than 15 minutes to make from prep to plate. It’s even faster with leftover steak.
- It’s easy to customize: Use whichever veggies you have on hand, change up the dressing, or use a different cut of steak. You really can’t mess this up.
★★★★★ REVIEW
“This is my absolute favorite steak salad recipe EVER. It’s so juicy and tender.” – Miranda
Key Ingredients
This isn’t the full ingredient list for my easy steak salad, but just a few notes I wanted to highlight about some of the key components:
- Steak. I prefer grilled sirloin steaks, as they’re lean, cook quickly, and don’t need much marinating time. You can also use flank steak or skirt steak.
- Homemade marinade. My special combo of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and Dijon mustard. I’ve also made this very salad with an easy 3 ingredient steak marinade.
- Salad vegetables. I’m using cherry tomatoes, sliced red onion, and sliced radishes, but you can use whichever vegetables you like!
- Blue cheese. Crumbled. Only a little is needed to add a punch of flavor throughout.
- Olive oil and balsamic vinegar. For the steak salad dressing.
How to make steak salad
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Step 1- Whisk the marinade ingredients. Pour over the seasoned steaks.
Step 2- Grill the steaks on high heat for 5-6 minutes per side.
Step 3- Rest the steaks for 5 minutes. Slice against the grain.
Step 4- Toss together tomatoes, radishes, red onions, and greens in a large shallow bowl, and arrange sliced steak on top. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and serve.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Always use a meat thermometer. It’s my #1 tip for perfectly cooked steaks. I like to remove my steaks from the grill once they reach 140- 145°F, which is medium-rare and best for a steak salad. If you’d like it cooked longer, aim for 150°F for medium and 165°F for well done. Remember, the steak continues to cook as it rests.
- Make this your own. Don’t like the veggies I use in mine? That’s fine. Add some corn, black beans, cucumber, or bell peppers. Want another cheese? This salad is SO good with feta cheese or finely grated parmesan cheese.
- Use another dressing. I purposely use balsamic vinegar because it lets the steak shine. We’ve also got some crumbled blue cheese, which packs in flavor. You can use any oil-based dressing you like, or even omit it altogether. As said earlier, it’s good without it.
- Enjoy this cold. Cold steak IS delicious, so feel free to use leftover steak instead of making it fresh.
Storage instructions
To store. I don’t recommend storing the assembled salad as it will wilt, BUT you can store steak leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
To make ahead. Keep the greens and vegetables washed and separated. You can also marinate the steak up to 24 hours in advance. Bring the steak to room temperature 30 minutes before grilling, then assemble the salad as it cooks.
Steak Salad Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 4 sirloin steaks 4-6 ounces each, See notes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Djion mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
For the salad
- 2 cups Mixed greens
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 small red onion sliced
- 1 radish finely sliced
- 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbled
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and Dijon mustard.
- Season the steaks with salt and pepper, then drizzle the marinade over each one.
- Preheat a grill to medium-high heat or alternatively, add oil to a large skillet. Once hot, cook the steaks for 4 minutes on each side until they reach an internal temperature of 140F for rare, 150F for medium, or 160F for well done.
- Let the steaks rest for 5 minutes before slicing against the grain.
- Assemble the salad by tossing together the mixed greens, tomatoes, red onion, and radishes. Add the sliced steak on top of the salad, sprinkle some blue cheese, and dress with olive oil and balsamic.
Notes
Nutrition
This salad was so good ! I used sirloin steak & I marinated it for several hours. The cheese topped it off perfectly!
YES! How good is the blue cheese addition 🙂
Steak as a salad? Wow very creativs. Really sounds tasty.
I make this steak salad all the time during the warmer months- it’s SO good!
How good is it!
This is my absolute favorite steak salad recipe EVER. it’s so juicy and tender.
thanks, Miranda!