This make-ahead steak salad recipe brings you a delicious and convenient choice for a single-person meal. 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 pantry ingredients. It’s also a smart way to stay on the healthy side without having to spend so much effort cooking.
This time, in addition to greens and vegetables, we now have steak in the game. 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 make a wise choice.
One serving of this steak salad provides you 216 calories, most of which came from the steak. You need only one portion of it to stay full until the next big meal without craving for unhealthy snacks.
What Is the Best Steak Cut for Salad?
In our honest opinion, the suitable steak cut to add to this steak salad should satisfy these requirements: 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 of all. Ribeye, rump, fillet steak,… whichever steak cut that suits your taste would 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 will wrap it up a 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. However, rest assured that either sauteing or grilling is acceptable for steak salad— it’ll be delicious either way.
2. Avocado
Not only is steak salad healthy and tasty, it also has 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 avocado.
Another bright and colorful veggie salad that looks pretty similar to this steak salad (minus the steak) is Greek salad. Here’s one interesting fact we found: you’ll only need a few tweaks of ingredients to transform one into another!
3. Arugula
The robust arugula in the veggie mix is to balance the pungency of the mustard-based dressing. Together with the juicy slices of pan-seared sirloin, it wraps up a harmonious and fulfilling keto salad to snack on.
4. Cheese
To put a beautiful ending to this salad, feta cheese, red onion, and romaine lettuce are added on top.
Feta cheese is in to lend a nice touch of peppery and slightly salty flavor to this steak salad. Together, they 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 a steak salad in the below section.
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 salt, ground black pepper, oregano, and thyme. No need to let it rest.
Step 3: Sear the steak
Sear garlic with 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, 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 (see images).
Step 6: Assemble
Assemble the steak slices on a dish together with 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. As the pan is crazily hot, put the sirloin steak in, 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 is juicy on the inside.
On the other hand, you also need to turn the steak on the grill every minute or so. By doing so, the steak will be able to cook evenly, reducing the risk of a partially overcooked steak.
Last but not least, you should always slice the steak against the grains rather than perpendicularly. For sirloin steak, we recommend cutting it into bite-sized cubes or very thin strips (proposedly 1/4 inch in thickness).
How Long Does Steak Last?
Steak salad can last up to 3 days if put to 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 serve, whisk the dressing well before drizzle it over the salad.
Can You Freeze Steak Salad?
As steak salad is an ideal choice for meal prepping throughout the week, of course you can freeze it for later use. If stored properly, it can even last to 2 months in the freezer!
Steak Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz sirloin
- 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 the avocado, green apple, and red apple into thin slices.
- Marinate the sirloin steak with salt, ground black pepper, oregano, and thyme. No need to let it rest.
- Sear garlic with 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 and let it cook for 1 more minute.
- Remove the beef from heat.
- Make the dressing: Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, and 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.
- Drizzle the dressing all over the salad. Toss to coat.
- Serve and enjoy.
Nutrition
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