Grilled Steak Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

Why Cook When You Can Grill?

As much as we love our kitchens, they’re just about the last place you’ll find us in the summertime. Over the years, we’ve put blood, sweat, and tears into making our backyards every bit as livable as the inside of our homes. There’s nothing we love more than long, light-filled evenings outside, enjoying the company of friends and family over beautiful food. In light of that, we opt to cook dinner on the grill as often as possible. This warm steak and blue cheese salad recipe is simple, satisfying, and can be cooked entirely on the grill, so we get to stay outside and our kitchens stay clean—just the way we like it.

How To Make A Good Steak Salad:

Actually, this steak salad isn’t just good, it’s GREAT. Just like any meal, though, this steaky salad is only as good as it’s main ingredients. We tend to think of them as having three primary components:

• The steak: sliced thinly against the grain, with a perfect medium-rare sear, the steak is (obviously) the star of the show. Skirt steak or flank steak are our favorite cuts of steak to feature in a steak salad.
• The dressing: homemade blue cheese dressing is it for us when it comes to steak salad. It’s reminiscent of those retro-classic steak house salads, and we just love it.
• The salad part of the salad: in other words, all the crispy, crunchy, healthy vegetables that lighten up this steak dinner. Loads of crisp grilled romaine lettuce, juicy cherry tomatoes, creamy avocado, the bite of sliced onions and sweetness of bell peppers. It’s all about crunch, contrast, and the never-ending quest for the perfectly constructed bite.

How To Grill Skirt Steak:

We opted for skirt steak for this grilled steak salad, because this deliciously lean cut of beef cooks quickly on the grill, is usually inexpensive, and is full of flavor! Flank steak, hanger steak or flat iron steak also work well. Skirt steak is a long, thin, and fibrous cut of beef that can achieve a perfect crust on the outside and lovely medium rare on the inside when cooked properly.

Here’s how to grill skirt steak:

1. Get your grill nice and hot.
2. Pat the skirt steak dry and season well with salt and pepper. 

3. Lay it on the hot grill and keep a close eye on it. It'll need about four minutes per side. 

4. Remove the steak, cover with foil, and let rest for ten minutes to lock in all those dreamy juices. 

5. Slice the skirt steak thinly and against the grain for maximum tenderness.

What Dressing Is Good On Steak Salad?

Let’s be honest, there aren’t many dressing that wouldn’t be delicious atop a salad piled high with perfectly grilled steak. But, there’s just something about that steak and blue cheese combo that calls us back, every time, and so we top this steak salad with a killer homemade blue cheese dressing. If there’s ever a time to go for broke, it’s in the summertime, right?

How To Make Better-Than-Store-Bought Blue Cheese Dressing:

The best homemade blue cheese dressing comes together in mere minutes with just a few simple ingredients.

• Mayonnaise.
• Sour cream for a hit of fresh tanginess.
• Worcestershire
• White vinegar
• Fresh lemon juice.
• Fresh chives.
• Heavy cream.
• Blue cheese.

Tools You’ll Want to Make This Grilled Steak Salad Recipe:

• Foil.
• Tongs for flipping grilled veggies and meat.
• Sharp knife for thin slices.
• BBQ grill.

More Summer Salads to Love:

• Do you love the ideal of an entire meal cooked on the grill as much as we do? This smoky grilled salmon with avocado salad is simple, healthy, and bursting with big flavors. (Bonus: foil-wrapped salmon means zero clean up!)
• Our Asian chopped salad with hoisin marinated pork kababs is a company-worthy meal that keeps us outside and out of the kitchen.
• Our grilled romaine Caesar salad is a fun take on the traditional recipe is pleasant company next to any main its paired with.
• This crunchy and piquant radish salad with yogurt dill dressing and is a tasty way to incorporate garden produce into summer meal times.

How’d It Turn Out?

We love seeing how you’ve used and enjoyed our recipes, so if you make this grilled steak salad with blue cheese dressing snap a picture and post it to Instagram tagging @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!