Best Steak Salad with Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette
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This is the steak salad of your dreams! It's loaded with a juicy steak, your favorite veggies, and a creamy balsamic vinaigrette. It makes a delicious healthy lunch or dinner salad!
If I ate this steak salad once a day for the rest of my life I'd be a happy woman. ā truth!
With Mother's Day coming up, I thought this would make the perfect lunch to share with mom. And yes, I know that steak is normally reserved for Father's Day. But why can't us moms have a juicy steak for our day? I think we need to change the stereotypes. (And can someone pour me a glass of whiskey while we're at it.)
Fall in love with this steak salad
- The juicy rib-eye steak is pan-seared to absolute perfection. It doesn't get any better than this. (And I'll share the secret of how easy it is to create this masterpiece steak.)
- Peppery arugula. Because arugula is my all-time favorite.
- Creamy avocados. Yes!
- Sweet cherry tomatoes.
- Crunchy cucumbers.
- An easy to make balsamic vinaigrette with grainy AND dijon mustard to make it creamy and delicious.
How to make the best pan-seared steak
To make the best steak salad, you need to cook the best steak. Luckily, that's really easy.
- Season your steak well. I've listed 1/2 teaspoon of salt in the ingredient list, but you could double this. The first time I had a really well-seasoned steak, my mind was blown. It makes all the difference.
- Cook the steak in a blazing hot pan. If you have a cast iron pan, use it. I set mine on the element on high heat and don't put the steak in the pan until it's smoking like mad. This crazy high heat is what gives the steak a gorgeous char without overcooking it.
- And because you're using such high heat, oil the steak instead of the pan.
- Make sure the steak you buy is at least 3/4 inch thick. More is better.
If you salt your steak well and cook it quickly over super high heat, you'll have the best steak ever for your steak salad. Just look at this gorgeous steak! ā
Steak salad dressing
This creamy balsamic vinaigrette is a favorite of mine and goes perfectly with this steak salad. Even though it's creamy, there's no dairy in this salad dressing.
When you mix dijon mustard with oil it becomes thick and creamy. So thick that you'll need to whisk in a little water to make it pourable. All you need for this dressing is:
- Dijon mustard
- Grainy mustard
- Balsamic vinegar
- Olive oil
Once you mix those 4 ingredients together and season lightly with salt and pepper, you'll just need to add a little water to thin it. About a tablespoon will do.
This simple vinaigrette is one I often make. While I've given the exact quantities you need for this steak salad recipe, it's really easy to make a larger batch. And since it will keep for weeks in your fridge, you can have it on hand whenever the steak salad mood strikes. (Like, tomorrow.)
Make this steak salad recipe your own
If there is one truth about salads, it's this: they are the masters of flexibility. They can handle swapping ingredients like nobody's business. This is great news if you're rummaging through your fridge trying to throw a healthy salad together.
Instead of:
- Arugula, try baby greens or crunchy romaine
- Cucumbers, try celery or bell peppers
- Tomatoes, try mangos or persimmons
- Red onion, try radishes
- Avocado ā¦ wait, please don't substitute avocado. It's too good!
And to switch things up some more, a little blue cheese or goat cheese is amazing sprinkled on top. Especially the blue cheese. I LOVE blue cheese.
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Best Steak Salad Recipe
Ingredients
The Steak
- 10 ounce grilling steak (boneless prime rib)
- Ā½ teaspoon EACH: salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil
The Salad
- 4 ounces arugula
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
- Ā½ English cucumber (diced)
- Ā½ avocado (sliced)
- Ā¼ cup thinly sliced red onions
The Creamy Balsamic Dressing
- Ā½ tablespoon EACH: grainy mustard, dijon mustard, and balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- A pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
- Take the steak out of your fridge and evenly coat both sides with the salt and pepper. Add all the salad ingredients to a salad bowl.10 ounce grilling steak, Ā½ teaspoon EACH: salt and pepper, 4 ounces arugula, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, Ā½ English cucumber, Ā½ avocado, Ā¼ cup thinly sliced red onions
- Heat a cast iron or heavy-bottomed pan over high heat. Drizzle the avocado oil over both sides of the steak. When the pan starts to smoke, add the steak and let it cook undisturbed for 2 minutes. Flip the steak over and let it cook for 2-3 minutes more. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let it rest.1 teaspoon avocado oil
- While the steak is resting, whisk the salad dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Thin the dressing with up to a tablespoon of water, as needed. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss.Ā½ tablespoon EACH: grainy mustard, dijon mustard, and balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil, A pinch of salt and pepper
- Thinly slice the steak across the grain and serve it over the salad.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
I loved this salad recipe! The meat thermometer is super helpful to get the perfect cook. And for the salad dressing we thought it was a bit tart so we added some honey so it made it a grainy honey mustard which paired well.
Oh my god! Ate this tonight and WHOAH, so so good and this steak is seasoned! This dressing is beyond. Ā Subbed fr fried onions for avo, but thatās a me thing!Ā
So yummy! I crave this!!! Super easy to make too
Fantastically delicious!! Used double the grainy mustard as I didn’t have regular dijon. I might make a bit more dressing too. We used NY strip for steak and grilled it. We also used feta cheese. So, so good!! Thank you!!
Wowser! I made this steak salad with (filet mignon) the creamy balsamic vinagrette tonite for my husband myself and it easily scored 10 out 10 for taste and visual appeal for both us! The detailed instructions were perfect each step of the way covering both the steak and the salad. With a bottle of wine to go along with it — we toasted a winning dinner. Two thumbs up for an excellent recipe that we will be making again and again in our house.
Tasty! Used with already leftover steak – which made the steak stretch to feeding two people the next day. I should have made more dressing because we like a lot of dressing on our salads (but we also used more greens). If you tend that way, would definitely recommend making multiples of the dressing recipe. Still we really enjoyed it! I agree that the avocado is a big part of the appeal. Looking forward to trying the steak directions and trying it with the blue cheese crumbles as suggested. Had been looking for a good steak salad recipe to satisfy a craving – no need to go to a restaurant now! Thank you!
Loved the dressing, didn’t thin it with water as suggested. A strong consensus in our family of six isn’t easy to accomplish. Can’t wait to try it again.
Could you use Feta cheese instead of Blue?
Feta would be very tasty on this salad!
Used Rib Eye. Not a fan of raw onions so I used red and white radishes.
This was a delicious lunch.
Wonderful dressing. Didn’t have grainy mustard so doubled up on reg Dijon. Best quality meat is important. Great flavors!
This was so simple to make and amazing, thank you!
Very good and easy.
This looks like a great dinner idea! It’s grilling season. Can’t wait to try this out.
So delicious!Ā
I added 1 Tbsp of maple syrup for a bit of sweetness because my wife doesnāt like mustard and she absolutely loved it! You may be tempted to drink the dressing!
Like the first line of this post says, she could have it everyday! Thank you for the recipe!š
I added some sugar. It definitely needs some sweetness.
Made it!!
Delicious!
Love this meal, definitely having this at least once a weekĀ