This make-ahead steak salad recipe brings you a delicious and convenient choice when planning meals for one. While the tangy homemade dressing helps bring everything together, the veggie mix matches perfectly with the tender, savory steak.
Is Steak Salad Healthy?
People love salads for their flexibility— especially when they’re trying to get the best use out of simple and basic ingredients. It’s also a smart way to stay healthy without having to spend so much effort cooking.
This time around, in addition to greens and vegetables, we now have steak in the mix. And of course, just like most green salads, this steak salad is a powerhouse of health-beneficial nutrients.
If you’re trying to make economical dishes with satisfying flavors, this steak salad could be a solid choice for you.
One serving of this steak salad provides 216 calories, most of which come from the steak. You need only one portion of it to stay full until the next big meal without craving snacks.
Let’s take a look at what goes into it.
What Is the Best Steak Cut for Salad?
In our honest opinion, the suitable steak cut for this salad should be juicy, lean, tender, and affordable.
That’s the reason why we believe sirloin steak is the choice to make. It has no bones and little fat, therefore, a quick rub is enough to help bring out its best flavor.
Of course, we’re not saying sirloin is the only choice. Ribeye, rump, fillet steak… whichever steak cut you prefer will still do the salad justice.
Steak Salad Ingredients
In today’s steak salad recipe, you’ll find a good mix of fruits, vegetables, cheese, and a variety of lettuce. Finally, an irresistible dressing to complement the juicy steak wraps up light and comforting dish.
1. Sirloin Steak
As sirloin steak has little fat, it’s a wonderful choice for high heat cooking methods on the stovetop. Either sauteing or grilling are acceptable for steak salad— it’s sure to be delicious either way.
2. Avocado
Not only is steak salad healthy and tasty, but it also creates a fabulous and colorful display. Aside from the grilled steak, fresh green apples, and red onion rings, you’ll also have the creamy and buttery green avocado.
Another bright and colorful veggie salad that looks pretty similar to this steak salad (minus the steak) is Greek salad. While we were making this recipe we realized that you only need a few small ingredient adjustments to transform one into the other!
3. Arugula
The robust arugula in the veggie mix helps to balance the pungency of the mustard-based dressing. Together with the juicy slices of pan-seared sirloin, it creates a harmonious and fulfilling keto-friendly salad to snack on.
4. Cheese
To finish this salad off beautifully, feta cheese, red onion, and romaine lettuce are added on top.
Feta cheese is there to lend a nice touch of creamy, sharp, and slightly salty flavor to this steak salad. Together, these elements create a harmony of earthy flavors and piquancy.
Steak Salad Dressing
In this steak salad recipe, all you need for the dressing is olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, and apple cider vinegar. When accompanying the creamy avocado and crunchy green apples, the dressing ties everything together to give you a pleasing mouthful.
Check out how we throw together a steak salad in the section below.
How to Make Steak Salad
Step 1: Prep the fruits
Chop the avocado, green apple, and red apple into thin slices.
Step 2: Marinate the steak
Marinate the sirloin steak with spices. No need to let it rest.
Step 3: Sear the steak
Sauté garlic with butter on a cast-iron pan over high heat, add the sirloin steak in, cook on the first side for 2 minutes, and the second side for 1 minute.
Step 4: Make the dressing
In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, and apple cider vinegar. Set aside.
Step 5: Slice the steak
As the sirloin steak cools down a bit, slice it into thin slices.
Step 6: Assemble
On a plate, make a base of steak slices and the remaining ingredients: avocado, green apple, arugula, feta cheese, red onion, and romaine lettuce.
Step 7: Drizzle the dressing
Drizzle the dressing all over the salad. Toss to coat.
Step 8: Serve and enjoy
Tips
It’s important to keep the following points in mind when prepping the steak— for the sake of a satisfying steak salad.
First, let the steak cool down to room temperature at least one hour prior to cooking. This allows you to char the steak quickly on super high heat later.
If the steak hasn’t been defrosted properly, the heat from the grill won’t penetrate all the way through the steak cut. The middle of it, in this case, will still be rare.
In actuality, you should only cook the sirloin to medium-rare or medium only. If the sirloin is well-done, chances are that it will get a bit chewy.
To create juicy medium-rare steak, we suggest you heat your pan/griddle/barbecue first. Once the pan is incredibly hot, add the sirloin steak, and char it real quick on both sides.
By doing that, the sirloin steak can caramelize and become as tender as a filet mignon. You’ll get a surprisingly appealing steak with beautiful charred marks on the outside but still juicy on the inside.
On the other hand, you also need to turn the steak on the grill every minute or so. This allows the steak to cook evenly, reducing the risk of a partially overcooked steak.
Last but not least, you should always slice the steak against the grain rather than perpendicularly. For sirloin steak, we recommend cutting it into bite-sized cubes or very thin strips (about 1/4 inch in thickness).
How Long Does Steak Last?
Steak salad can last up to 3 days if put into an airtight container and stored in the fridge.
Additionally, it can also be made ahead— all you need to do is store the raw steak, the vegetables, and the dressing separately. When ready to serve, whisk the dressing well before drizzling it over the salad.
Can You Freeze Steak Salad?
We wouldn’t recommend it. As steak salad is an ideal choice for meal prepping throughout the week, of course, you can freeze it for later use.
For more delicious salad, check out our best healthy salad roundup.
Steak Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz sirloin steak
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp fresh thyme
- 1/2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp garlic 1 clove
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp mustard
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 6 oz avocado 1 medium
- 1/2 oz green apple 1/2 medium
- 1/2 oz red apple 1/2 medium
- 4 oz arugula
- 1 oz feta cheese crumbled
- 4 oz red onion chopped
- 4 oz romaine lettuce
Instructions
- Chop 6 oz avocado, 1/2 oz green apple, and 1/2 oz red apple into thin slices.
- Marinate 8 oz sirloin steak with 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground black pepper, 1/2 tsp oregano, and 1/2 tsp fresh thyme. No need to let it rest.
- Sear 1 tsp garlic with 1/2 tbsp butter on a cast-iron pan over high heat.
- Wait until the pan is sizzling hot and add the sirloin steak in. Let it cook on the first side for 2 minutes.
- Turn the steak over and let it cook for 1 more minute.
- Remove the steak from the heat.
- Make the dressing: Whisk together 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp mustard, and 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar. Set aside.
- Slice the sirloin into thin slices.
- Assemble the beef on a dish together with the remaining ingredients: avocado, green apple, arugula, feta cheese, red onion, and romaine lettuce. As the salad will be tossed, there’s no need to put in any particular order
- Drizzle the dressing all over the salad. Toss to coat.
- Serve and enjoy.
Nutrition
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