Our Best Steak Salad Recipe
This easy Thai Beef Salad gets a dunk in a gingery umami marinade, before a quick grill over high heat. You’ll mix up a crunchy salad of shredded red cabbage and herbs with zesty Thai dressing. We often serve it on its own, or with a side of Coconut Fried Rice, Asian Cucumber Salad, or Spring Rolls.
Ingredients You’ll Need For This Grilled Steak Salad
Flank steak – We’re always wondering what kind of steak for salad? Since we’re grilling and marinating the steak for this recipe, the best cut is flank steak. It’s a lean and textural cut of beef that takes on the flavors of marinades well (which also helps tenderize it).
Marinade – Grated ginger, lime zest and fresh lime juice, chili flakes, garlic, fish sauce, and soy sauce.
Salad – Red cabbage, roughly chopped fresh mint and cilantro, shallots, and crushed roasted peanuts.
Thai Salad Dressing – Our easy salad dressing has lime juice and white vinegar, for a lot of zing, and a good amount of peanut butter to balance all that acid.
How to Make Grilled Steak Salad
Make the marinade. In a large bowl, combine the fish sauce, pepper, soy sauce, vegetable oil, ginger, lime zest, lime juice, chili flakes, and garlic. Add the steak and turn to coat well.
Marinate the steak. Pop the marinated steak in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours.
Grill the steak. Cook the steak over high heat until it reaches 140°F on an instant-read thermometer.
Rest and slice. The steak needs to rest for about five minutes before slicing it thinly against the grain. A good, sharp kitchen knife comes in handy here.
Make the salad. Place the cabbage, half the mint, half the cilantro, and half the shallots onto a serving platter. Toss the salad with ¼ cup of the dressing. Spread the salad out in an even layer and arrange the steak on top.
- Garnish + serve. Sprinkle the salad with the remaining shallots, mint, and cilantro. Drizzle with the remaining dressing and garnish with the peanuts and chili flakes.
How to Store Steak Salad + Tips
Shortcut: To make this a quicker meal, you could skip making the Thai Salad Dressing, and use any Asian-inspired dressing from the store (look for a Thai or sesame dressing).
Customize it: You can add so many things to make this recipe your own–fresh basil, green cabbage or lettuce, green onions or chives for the shallots, etc. It’s really just about making a delicious, crunchy, fresh salad to accompany the steak!
Substitution: Using crunchy peanut butter in the salad is a delicious work-around if you don’t have roasted peanuts on hand.
Storage: Cabbage is a sturdy vegetable, and this salad holds up well for a few days in the fridge after it is prepared. The steak can be frozen if you need to keep it longer. We usually wrap it tightly in foil and then place it inside an air-tight container in the freezer for up to three months.
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