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 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. ← 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 we 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 mustard and Dijon mustard for a creamy, delicious finish.
Steak salad dressing
This creamy balsamic vinaigrette is a favorite of mine and goes perfectly with this steak salad. Although it’s creamy, this salad dressing contains no dairy.
When you mix Dijon mustard with oil, it thickens and becomes 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’ve mixed those four ingredients and lightly seasoned them with salt and pepper, add a little water to thin them out. About a tablespoon will do.
This simple vinaigrette is one I often make. While I’ve provided the exact quantities you need for this steak salad recipe, it’s easy to scale up to 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 it your own!
swapping ingredients like nobody’s business. This is great news if you’re rummaging through your fridge trying to throw a 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 … 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.
Best Steak Salad with Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
The Steak
- 10 ounce grilling steak (boneless prime rib)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons avocado oil
The Salad
- 4 ounces arugula
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
- ½ English cucumber (diced)
- ½ avocado (sliced)
- ¼ cup thinly sliced red onions
- ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese (optional)
The Creamy Balsamic Dressing
- ½ tablespoon grainy mustard
- ½ tablespoon dijon mustard
- ½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- A pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
- Take the steak out of the fridge and season both sides evenly with the salt and pepper.10 ounce grilling steak, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper
- Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle the avocado oil over both sides of the steak. When the pan starts to smoke, add the steak and cook it undisturbed for 2 minutes. Flip the steak over and let it cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let it rest while you prepare the salad.2 teaspoons 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.½ tablespoon grainy mustard, ½ tablespoon dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons olive oil, A pinch of salt and pepper, ½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- Add the arugula, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, red onion, and if using, the blue cheese to a salad bowl.4 ounces arugula, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, ½ English cucumber, ½ avocado, ¼ cup thinly sliced red onions, ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
- Pour the dressing over top and toss to coat.
- Thinly slice the steak across the grain.
- Add the dressed salad to a serving platter and place the sliced steak on top. Alternatively, divide the salad between two plates with ½ of the steak over each.
Last step:
- After you make this recipe, take a picture with your phone and share it in the comments section below. I love seeing it when you make my recipes!
Equipment
Video
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
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For more inspiration, check out all of my salad recipes!
Great dish! Next time will make dressing with white balsamic.
Cooked a what we Brits call a Ribeye steak to medium rare.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 😊 White balsamic sounds like a lovely twist for next time — a little lighter but still bright. And a perfectly cooked ribeye alongside? That sounds fantastic. Thanks so much for sharing!
super easy and quick, modifiable, tasted great. i’ll definitely make it again
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 😊 Easy, flexible, and delicious is exactly what I’m aiming for. Thanks so much for leaving a note — and I love hearing it’s a repeat for you
This steak salad was a hit with the whole family! The dressing is very good, just make sure to use high-quality olive oil and balsamic. I didn’t have any grainy mustard, so I just used straight Dijon. So smart to thin it with water, it doesn’t dilute the flavor at all, just makes it the perfect creamy texture. I used two .88 lb New York strip steaks for a family of five and it was the perfect amount. I added blue cheese to the salad, which was heavenly and I would say is a must for this! I used a combo of baby greens and baby spinach, which was what I was in the mood for; as the writer says, I’m sure all greens work well here. At the end of the meal my 11 year old said, “You should make this more often.” LOL – I think I will!
This made me smile from start to finish — thank you for such a thoughtful note! I love all your tweaks (blue cheese *yes please*), and I’m especially obsessed with your 11-year-old’s comment 😂 That’s the ultimate seal of approval. So happy it was a hit with the whole family!
This was a really nice dinner! Thank you for the recipe! I just used vine tomatoes as the shop didn’t have cherry tomatoes.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Vine tomatoes sound perfect — I bet they added great flavor. Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try! 💛
Love this dressing, thank you. Only little problem is it turns the whole salad a dirty brown colour LOL. So I rather splash the dressing about instead of mixing it in? Im going for mini baby potatoes. Unfortunately my avos are still hard and green but just know they go so well in a steak salad, no mayo needed either! Next time.
I’m so glad you loved the dressing! 😄 Haha yes, it definitely has a way of changing the salad’s look, but I love your “splash instead of mix” trick—that’s genius. Mini baby potatoes sound perfect, and I agree, avocado in a steak salad is next-level. Hopefully your next ones ripen up just in time! 🥑🥩
I used organic white balsamic vinegar…..no dirty brown, it was delicious.
I’d recommend using more basalmic in the dressing as well as a bit of lemon. I subbed feta for the blue cheese. Delish!
Great tweaks! 🍋 Adding more balsamic and a touch of lemon sounds like a delicious flavor boost, and swapping feta for blue cheese is a smart move. So glad you enjoyed it!
The dressing requires roasted garlic (cooled and micro minced) and red onion (micro minced) as well as 1/4 tsp of M.S.G
Your version sounds delicious!
This is a really good steak salad recipe! I used leftover Prime Rib/chimchurri (Sam’s Club) with romaine /baby spinach, tomatoes, green pepper, red onion and avocado. No extra vinaigrette. Also added leftover air fryer roasted potatoes! So good and fresh!!
Excellent. I tried this recipe for a Bunco group. I used both the red onions and radishes and everyone loved it. The dressing was superb. Thank you.