This is genuinely one of the best steak salads I’ve had in a very long time! Our recipe features perfectly marinated steak, fresh veggies, and a thick, creamy homemade dressing that rivals the best dressings served at top steakhouses.
This steak salad is seriously so delicious! Everything is made from scratch: the marinade, the dressing, and a simple yet flavorful corn, tomato, and red onion salsa. It genuinely rivals some of the best salads I’ve ever had.
If you’re looking for other delicious and satisfying dinner salad recipes, check out my Italian chopped salad, my best Greek salad, chicken caprese salad, or this balsamic strawberry salad.
Key Ingredients
- Veggies: Feel free to use your favorite vegetables, but I recommend a combination of romaine lettuce, radicchio (for a bit of bitterness), red onion, radish, corn, and cherry tomatoes.
- Blue Cheese: I love the combination of steak and blue cheese, so I always crumble some into my salad.
- Steak: You can use any steak you like, but I prefer thicker cuts, which are easier to cook to my preferred doneness. Flank steak, strip steak, flat iron, sirloin, or New York strip are all excellent choices.
- Steak Marinade: You’ll use a reverse marinade for the steak in this salad, which means we season the steak with salt and pepper and cook it first, then pour the marinade over it after it’s off the heat. Our go-to marinade combines balsamic vinegar, olive oil, rosemary, Dijon mustard, garlic, a little sugar, and soy sauce (it’s delicious!). If you prefer, season your steak with our steak seasoning and grill it, or use another marinade like this umami-packed steak marinade before cooking.
- Salad Dressing: Everything in this salad is homemade, including the dressing. I blend a hard-boiled egg with garlic, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, oil, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, honey, and salt. The dressing is thick and creamy and rivals the dressings you get at top steakhouses.
How to Make the Best Steak Salad
This really is one of the best steak salads we’ve had in a long time. You’ll start by cooking the steak. We’re using a reverse marinade, so season your steak with salt and pepper and cook it to your liking (grill, pan-sear, or broil). I prefer pan-searing in a heavy-bottomed pan then finishing it in the oven until it reaches my preferred doneness (check the recipe for specific temperatures).
Once cooked, transfer the steak to a plate or baking sheet and pour the marinade over it. Let the steak rest and soak up those delicious flavors while you prepare the rest of the salad.
Next, cook an ear of corn using your preferred method (grill, roast, or sauté). If you’re using a pan, cut the kernels off the cob and sauté them in the same pan you used for the steak. Then, make a quick “salsa” by combining the corn, tomatoes, red onion, rice vinegar, olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Let it sit and marinate while you prepare the other ingredients.
Now, make the dressing. I use a blender, and it takes just 2 minutes. Once the dressing is ready, toss it with the lettuce and radicchio in a large bowl. Finally, assemble your salad by scattering the corn salsa over the greens, adding the radish and blue cheese, and topping it off with slices of your perfectly cooked steak.
Seriously Good Steak Salad
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
We all love this incredible steak salad recipe. Richard came up with it, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it ever since. It’s genuinely one of the best salads I’ve had in a very long time.
I pan-sear my steak for this salad, so I’ve included pan-searing instructions below, but you can cook your steak however you like (pan-sear, grill, or broil). The important thing is that when your steak is cooked to your preferred doneness, you allow it to rest with our reverse marinade, which infuses the steak with an outrageous amount of flavor!
You Will Need
For the Steak2 pounds (450g) steak of choice seasoned well with salt and pepper
5 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic finely grated on a microplane
1/4 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
For the Salad1 ear of corn
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
Half a small red onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 small head radicchio, cored and chopped into large pieces
1 romaine heart, chopped into large pieces
2 radishes, thinly sliced
3 ounces (85g) blue cheese, crumbled
For the Salad Dressing1 large hard-boiled egg
1 clove garlic, peeled
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup (118ml) light-flavored oil like avocado or safflower
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
Directions
- Prepare the Steak
1Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
2Make the marinade in a small bowl by whisking the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, rosemary, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, grated garlic, and honey.
3Heat a heavy-bottomed, oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add a tablespoon of high-heat cooking oil (like avocado oil).
4Add the steaks to the pan and cook, without moving them, until a golden crust forms, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the steak and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. If your steak is thick, sear the edges for about 30 seconds.
5Transfer the skillet with the steak to the oven and cook for 3 to 7 minutes, depending on the thickness of your steak and your desired doneness (temperatures below).
6Remove the steak from the oven and transfer it to a plate. Spoon the marinade over the steak and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes while you prepare the rest of the salad.
- Prepare the Salad
1Cut the kernels off the ear of corn and add them to the same skillet used to cook the steak. Place the skillet over medium heat and cook until the kernels are heated through and lightly browned. (If you grilled or broiled the steak, use the same method for the corn.)
2Transfer the corn kernels to a medium bowl. Add the cherry tomatoes, red onion, olive oil, and rice wine vinegar. Stir to combine and set aside to marinate.
3Make the salad dressing. Combine the hard-boiled egg, minced garlic, lemon juice, oil, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, honey, soy sauce, and salt in a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy.
4In a large bowl, combine the chopped romaine lettuce and radicchio. Drizzle the dressing over the salad greens and toss well to coat. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
5Add the corn salsa mixture, sliced radishes, and crumbled blue cheese to the salad.
6Slice the steak against the grain, arrange the slices on the salad, or serve them on the side with individual portions of salad. Spoon any leftover juices and marinade from the steak over the top.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Rare: Remove the steaks from the heat at 125°F (52°C).
- Medium: Remove the steaks at 145°F (63°C).
- Medium-well: Remove the steaks at 150°F (66°C).
- Well done: Remove the steaks at 160°F (71°C).
- Egg: Here’s my recipe for how to hard boil eggs.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
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I made this recipe for dinner with 1 inch thick petite sirloin steak. This reverse marinade was frankly, uexpectedly incredibly delicious! For the steak, I used a hot cast iron pan and cooked it 4 minutes on each side and omitted the additional step of placing it in the oven.
What else is nice about this recipe is that you can customize your salad ingredients too. For example, I used iceberg lettuce and radicchio. I will be making this again!!!
We are thrilled to hear that you loved it 🙂
This is awesome!!! I love the dressing, used walnut oil which was on hand. I must admit I used some leftover lamb instead of the steak(Baharat flavor) sliced thin. Also used some BBQd left-over corn. Can’t wait to try your original steak for the salad. Thanks for the helpful temperature hints on how do cook/fry/BBQ the steak! Thanks again for your “Inspired Taste”. From Germany!
This recipe lives up to its name, it is seriously good! I served it last night to guests for dinner and EVERYONE loved it. My husband cooked 2 tenderloins and a sirloin steak on the grill. Very nice meat, all were thick cuts. They crusted very nicely on the outside. The corn was “grilled” directly on my gas cooktop inside, so I did not need to dirty a pan. I highly recommend the addition of radicchio as well as the radishes, it does make for a great flavor blend with the romaine. (Did you know that radishes belong to the same botanical family as broccoli? They are very good for you) I did personalize the cheese as not everyone is a blue cheese fan (some did feta and some did no cheese at all), and in all instances it was great! On serving, one can also adjust the ratios: I had a little bit of steak with lots of salad, and the men had much more meat, but they still enjoyed the salad. You know they say that one should never try a new recipe for the first time when hospting guests? – but this worked out great! I will make it again, and I may also use the components of the recipe (dressing, marinade, salad fixings) independently too. They were that good! This is a fabulous summer dinner, which is plant forward and very satisfying both in flavor and satiating. Recommend!
I’m glad you were able to adapt based on what you had on hand. Thanks for sharing, Alex!
Very good recipe and so simple.
So glad you enjoyed it Valarie!
I love steak salads. I also make a Pittsburgh salad as I grew up in Pittsburgh PA. A Pittsburgh salad is where you put french fries on it. It is really good. Love your recipes.
I don’t think we have ever tried a salad with French fries on top. We will have to try one 🙂