Incredible steak salad made with perfectly grilled New York strip steak, tons of veggies, avocado, goat cheese, and a yummy herby vinaigrette dressing!
Incredible Steak Salad Recipe
We are huge salad fans at Fit Foodie Finds, especially if they are jam-packed with toppings such as veggies, cheese, and homemade dressing. Our grilled chicken salad, for example, is a reader favorite!
This recipe for steak salad is something that we throw on the menu when we’re searching for leftover steak recipes. When in doubt, we always grill too much steak and have leftovers to eat for a couple of days after!
Today we’re talking all things steak salad. From what kind of steak to use, to the toppings, to the dressing, we’ll teach you how to make the best steak salad recipe EVER.
Steak Salad Details
Grilled Steak: every steak salad begins with a glorious cut of beef. In this recipe, we’re using our grilled steak as the meat.
Tons of Veggies: our motto when it comes to salads? Pack in the veggies!
Herby Dressing: you are going to love this light and bright herby dressing. It adds a nice depth of flavor and really pulls the entire salad together.
Healthy: you get your protein from the beef, multiple servings of veggies, plus healthy fats from the dressing.
Best Steak for Salad
We have been swooning over our Grilled New York Strip Steak and that’s what we used in this steak salad. It has the perfect amount of lean meat and fat and cooks so beautifully on the grill.
Our grilled steak recipe is a 3 step process:
- Marinate: marinate your New York Strip Steak is the most delicious steak marinade for 30 minutes.
- Grill: sear your steak on high at 500ºF for 2 minutes on each side. Then, lower the heat to 400ºF and continue grilling until the internal temperature reaches at least 140ºF for medium/rare.
- Rest: let your steak rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing.
Best
Grilled Steak
Grilling steak may seem intimidating, but in this post, we’ll teach you how to grill steak and make it perfectly juicy on the inside with a beautifully charred crust on the outside every time.
Other Steak Options
Flank Steak: this grilled flank steak is made with a simple marinade. First, it’s tenderized with a meat pounder and then grilled to medium/rare.
Sous Vide Steak: sous vide steak is a fool-proof way to cook a steak to a certain doneness. Finish it off in the grill or sear it on a cast-iron skillet.
Any other leftover steak: got leftover steak? This is one of the best leftover steak recipes because your steak is already cooked! Here are some cuts we recommend:
- Strip steak
- Flank steak
- Ribeye steak
- T-bone
- Sirloin
Should I serve my steak warm or cold?
When it comes to your steak temperature, it’s all preference. If you are using your steak hot off the grill, we suggest serving the steak warm. If you’re using leftover steak, cold steak is also delicious.
Our personal preference for salad with steak? HOT!
Ingredients for Steak Salad
Grilled Steak: you already know the star of this steak salad is grilled steak. If you have leftover steak from a restaurant or from any other cook method, feel free to use that too.
Steak Salad Dressing: the herby dressing on this salad is super delicious. We’re sharing how to make it below + giving alternate salad dressing options.
Romaine Lettuce: the base of your salad is romaine lettuce. It’s crunchy and fresh. Feel free to use any other salad green your heart desires.
Veggies: we’ve mentioned a few times that this steak salad recipe is packed with veggies. Here’s what you need:
- corn
- cherry tomatoes
- red onion
- cucumber
- avocado
Seeds: sunflower seeds add a nice crunch. You can also use pumpkin seeds or any slivered nut such as almonds.
Goat Cheese: every salad deserves some cheese! We used goat cheese because it’s light, creamy, and so yummy. Try this salad with feta cheese, instead.
Steak Salad Dressing
This herby vinaigrette dressing is similar to a chimichurri sauce, just simplified and with more oil. Here’s what you need:
- fresh parsley
- fresh cilantro
- green onions
- lemon juice
- minced garlic
- lemon zest
- apple cider vinegar
- olive oil
- salt
Do I have to use a food processor?
We’ve made this dressing with and without a food processor. The food processor does a nice job of really blending it all together, but it isn’t 100% necessary.
Instead, you can make sure to finely dice everything. You’ll end up with a much chunkier dressing, but it’s still delicious.
More dressing ideas
So many different kind of salad dressings would be delicious on this steak salad recipe. Here are some ideas:
How to Make Steak Salad (4 steps)
There are 4 parts to making the most perfect steak salad. Here’s a brief rundown below!
- Make Steak: begin by making your grilled steak. Marinate it, grill it, and let it rest. Then, slice it into thin slices.
- Make Steak Salad Dressing: while your steak is marinating, prepare the dressing. Place all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth.
- Prep Veggies: chop veggies to your liking.
- Assemble: place romaine lettuce on the bottom of 4 bowls and then evenly distribute veggies, steak, cheese, and seeds. Top each salad with the dressing.
Serving Suggestions
Steak salad not enough on it’s own? Here are some other delicious sides and drinks to go with your salad.
- Baked Potato in Foil: One of our favorites dinner sides is a baked potato in foil. Whether you’re hoping to make a grilled baked potato in foil or oven-baked potatoes in foil, we’ll teach you how to make a perfect baked potato every time!
- Oven Roasted Asparagus: Oven roasted asparagus is the best way to eat asparagus! It’s a healthy side dish recipe that’s cooked to perfection.
- Grilled Corn in Foil: Grilled corn on the cob is a summer staple! Get perfectly cooked corn every time with this easy Grilled Corn in Foil recipe. Enjoy!
- Smashed Red Potatoes: Need a delicious side for dinner tonight? These smashed red potatoes are flavorful, crispy, and perfect for every potato lover!
Storage
Planning to have leftover steak salad? We recommend holding off on dressing your salad and store everything separately until you’re ready to serve. This will prevent your salad from getting soggy. All ingredients will last up to 3 days in the fridge.
Steak Salad
Ingredients
Grilled Steak
- 1.33 lb. New York Strip Steak 2 2/3-lb. steaks*
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice ~half juicy lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
Steak Salad Dressing
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
- 2 green onions
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Steak Salad
- 7 oz. romaine lettuce chopped
- 1 large avocado sliced
- 4 English cucumbers sliced (~2 cups)
- 10 oz. cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/2 large red onion thinly sliced
- 1 cup corn
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 2 oz. goat cheese crumbles
Instructions
For the Steak
- Follow the directions in our our Grilled New York Strip Steak recipe to grill your steaks.
- Once your steaks are cooked to your liking, cut them into thin strips.
For the Salad
- While your steaks are marinating, prepare the salad. Place all the ingredients for the dressing into a food processor and process on high until smooth. If it seems a little too thick, option to add a few teaspoons of water. Set aside.
- Next, place the romaine lettuce, avocado, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red onion, and corn into a large bowl and toss everything together.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss again.
- Finally, top the salad with sliced steak, sunflower seeds, and goat cheese.
Tips & Notes
- Steak: we used leftover grilled New York strip steak for this recipe. You can also use 1.33 lbs. of pretty much any cooked steak.
- Serve steak warm or cold depending on your preference.
Watch It
Nutrition facts
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Photography: photos taken in this post are by Erin from The Wooden Skillet.
This recipe exceeded my expectations. The clear instructions and helpful substitutions made it easy to customize the dish to my liking. The end result was a restaurant-quality meal that I made in my own kitchen.
Thank You.