Steak Salad with strawberries, blueberries, avocado, feta cheese, pumpkin seeds, onion, and herby delicious dressing to make you swoon. This incredibly delicious salad recipe is engineered to feed three people comfortably as an entrée.
This salad was inspired by my partner, who recently became a straight up salad connoisseur.
I’m the salad eater in the house.
Yet somehow, my partner went on a bender and ended up making the best salad I had eaten since I showed you My Current Favorite Salad Recipe back in April.
Because I was harboring the internal dialogue that he couldn’t possibly make as great of a salad as me, I was blown away when, after turning down his offer to make me one, I became aggressively jealous of the salad he had made with dinner.
So the next day, I made this very salad for lunch and nearly shed tears, it was so blissful.
I made a few changes from his: I made my own dressing (he used store-bought), and chopped up leftover steak (well, smoked tri tip, to be exact) and crisped it up in a cast iron skillet before adding it (his salad was meatless because he ate his protein on the side). I also used pumpkin seeds – he does sunflower seeds.
The seed difference isn’t even a matter of personal preference for me (I love sunflower seeds), but I happened to be in the beginning part of my cycle, so I used it as an opportunity to seed cycle. TMI, I’m sure.
Let’s dive right into this insanely satisfying beauty of a meal before you cancel me from your POV.
Steak Salad Ingredients:
Steak: Use any kind of leftover steak or form of beef that is easy to chop up and toss in. Ideally, use beef that has been grilled or smoked to add amazing smoky charred flavor, but truly any beef will do!
I used leftover Smoked Tri Tip and simply chopped it into bite sized pieces then seared it up in a cast iron skillet until it was a little golden-brown and crispy.
Vegetables: Spring greens, green onion, red onion. I love the fresh, snappy texture of spring greens and the enormous amount of flavor both red and green onion provide.
Normally I would say feel free to add your favorite salad veggies like celery, carrots, and/or tomato, but I’m such a huge fan of the flavor profile of this steak salad, that I actually think you should try it as is before making any changes!
Fruit: Blueberries, strawberries, avocado. This trifecta makes that creamy, sweet, tangy addition that makes every bite taste simply perfect.
Cheese: Feta Cheese! I love feta in salads but you can easily skip it or go with goat cheese or gorgonzola. But, again, I do recommend trying it with feta first 🙂
Crunch: Pumpkin seeds. I used raw pumpkin seeds but you can also toast them up on the stove top or roast them in the oven for added rich flavor. Here is where I’ll say feel free to swap them out for sunflower seeds, pecans or walnuts, as in my opinion the source of the crunch doesn’t matter so much as the presence of the crunch itself.
Dressing: An herby, creamy simple dressing reminiscent of Green Goddess Dressing or some sort of Mediterranean style dressing.
How Many People Does This Salad Feed?:
Two people if you’re my partner and I, three people if you’re a normal human and you’re hungry. If your people aren’t assertively hungry, it will stretch to four or five, especially if you add another side dish or two.
More often than not, I make a big salad for myself for lunch. If you want to scale it down to feed one, simply divide all the ingredients into thirds, and that is precisely what I do for just myself!
How to Make Steak Salad:
Begin by making the salad dressing. To do so, blend everything in a small blender until combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.
If you’d like to reheat or crisp up the steak, simply chop it into bite-sized pieces and heat it over medium-high heat on the stove top until it turns golden-brown and crispy. Similarly, you can toast the pumpkin seeds in a skillet on the stove top or roast them in the oven if you’d like.
Add all of the ingredients for the salad to a large serving bowl and drizzle in the dressing (For a salad of this size, I typically use just over ½ cup of salad dressing, but add it to your personal taste!).
Toss everything together until the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the salad and everything is well-coated in dressing. Taste the salad for flavor and add more dressing if you’d like.
Serve in big bowls, and enjoy!
Note: as an alternative, you can have everyone self-serve the amount of ingredients they would like by handing them a bowl and allowing them to go to town. This is my typical approach, since most people have different preferences for the amount of goodies they add in.
If you make it, feel free to report back and tell me what you think!
Compliments of chef Jeff!
Ingredients
- 10 ounces spring greens
- 10 ounces leftover steak, chopped (and crisped up in a frying pan)
- 1 ½ avocados, diced
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup strawberries, chopped
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion
- ⅓ cup pumpkin seeds, toasted if desired
- 3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
- ½ cup + 1 Tbsp salad dressing, recipe below
- Mayo-Free Green Goddess Dressing*
Instructions
- Begin by making the salad dressing. To do so, blend everything in a small blender until combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- If you’d like to reheat or crisp up the steak, simply chop it into bite-sized pieces and heat it over medium-high heat on the stove top until it turns golden-brown and crispy. Similarly, you can toast the pumpkin seeds in a skillet on the stove top or roast them in the oven if you’d like.
- Add all of the ingredients for the salad to a large serving bowl and drizzle in the dressing (For a salad of this size, I typically use just over ½ cup of salad dressing, but add it to your personal taste!).
- Toss everything together until the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the salad and everything is well-coated in dressing. Taste the salad for flavor and add more dressing if you’d like.
- Serve in big bowls, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
