Grilled Steak Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
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No more boring salads! This grilled steak salad is made with juicy, tender steak, corn, tomatoes, cheese, and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette!
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We have made this salad several times for friends to rave reviews! Thank you for introducing us to flank steak. It is a new favorite!
Why you’ll love this Grilled Steak Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Quick, speedy salad. Say goodbye to boring salads! This steak salad delivers high protein and fresh greens in lightning speed. The steak is grilled perfectly (just needs a simple brush of oil, salt, and pepper here, nothing too fancy), and you can throw on some corn on the cob for those charred, smoky corn kernels.
- Includes an easy balsamic vinaigrette. You can make a classic 5-minute balsamic vinaigrette using pantry staples, making it ahead of time up to 1 week in advance.
- Budget-friendly. Steak salads typically cost $15-20 at a restaurant, but this can easily be made at a fraction of the cost right at home, using better-for-you ingredients and skipping the store-bought dressing.
- Incredibly flexible recipe. You can essentially use any cut of steak here (ex. flank, sirloin, or ribeye) and add leftover (or seasonal) vegetables on hand for a true clean-out-the-fridge meal.
Key Ingredients
Steak
Flank, sirloin, or ribeye steak
Oil
Canola or vegetable oil (for grilling)
Greens
Romaine, mixed baby greens, or arugula
Veggies
Corn, tomatoes, and red onion
Cheese
Blue cheese, feta, or queso fresco
Extras (optional)
Croutons, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), sunflower seeds, or slivered almonds
Dressing
Balsamic vinaigrette (recipe below)
How to make Grilled Steak Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Make the dressing. Combine the extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon, honey, salt, and pepper.
- Prep the grill. Preheat the grill to medium heat (325-375°F) and scrape the grill grates clean to prevent sticking and to guarantee those perfect sear marks.
- Prep the corn. Shuck the corn completely and remove the silk, then brush lightly with butter (or oil) and season with salt and pepper.
- Grill the corn. Place the corn directly on the hot grill, turning every few minutes until lightly charred on all sides. Let the corn cool before cutting off the kernels.
- Grill the steak. Brush the steak with oil and season with salt and pepper. Then grill the steak for 5-6 minutes per side until medium-rare or desired doneness.
- Rest and slice. Let the steak rest for at least 5 minutes before thinly slicing against the grain.
- Assemble. Combine the romaine, corn kernels, steak, tomatoes, onion, and cheese, adding only half the balsamic vinaigrette to start, and adding more, to taste, if needed.
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Grilled Steak Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette: Frequently Asked Questions
What other cuts of meat can I use?
Sirloin and ribeye are both excellent options.
Do I serve this warm or cold?
Steak salad is incredibly flexible. You can serve the freshly cooked warm steak on top of the cold, crisp greens or you can use leftover chilled steak.
Can I make the dressing ahead of time?
Yes! The dressing can be made 1 week in advance and stored in an airtight container (such as a mason jar) and placed in the fridge, letting it come to room temperature for about 15 minutes and shaking well before using.
What if I don’t have a grill?
No grill, no problem. A cast iron grill pan or a large cast iron skillet will work beautifully here, especially during those winter months when it’s too cold to grill out!
How do I prevent a soggy salad?
Wash and dry the greens thoroughly first, then add the dressing just before serving.
How can I store leftovers?
Store the leftovers separately (salad ingredients and dressing apart) in airtight containers in the fridge. Dressed salad will unfortunately not keep very well.
Grilled Steak Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
No more boring salads! This grilled steak salad is made with juicy, tender steak, corn, tomatoes, cheese, and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette!
Ingredients
- 3 ears corn, husks and silk removed
- 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ½ pounds flank steak
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 head romaine, roughly chopped
- 6 Campari tomatoes, quartered
- ½ small red onion, thinly sliced
- 4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
For the balsamic vinaigrette
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons honey
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat grill to medium heat. Brush corn with butter; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Add corn to grill, and cook, turning occasionally, until charred and tender, about 10 minutes; let cool before cutting the corn kernels off the cobs.
- Brush steak with canola oil; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add steak to grill, and cook, flipping once, until desired doneness, about 6 minutes per side for medium rare. Let rest 5 minutes; thinly slice against the grain.
- To assemble the salad, place romaine lettuce in a large bowl; top with corn, steak, tomatoes, onion and blue cheese. Pour the balsamic vinaigrette on top of the salad and gently toss to combine.
- Serve immediately.
For the balsamic vinaigrette
- In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon and honey; season with salt and pepper, to taste; set aside.
Equipment
Notes
- Prep ahead of time. Save time by making the dressing up to 1 week in advance, and prepping and dicing the vegetables 1-2 days prior and storing them in airtight containers in the fridge.
- Dry the greens thoroughly. Wash and dry the greens thoroughly using a salad spinner to avoid the dressing from sliding off or causing the greens to go limp and soggy very quickly.
- Cut in uniform size. Cut all of the salad ingredients in similar size pieces for a consistent bite.
- Use extra virgin olive oil. High quality extra virgin olive oil is ideal for salad dressings for maximum flavor.
- Use a hot cast iron grill pan. When opting to cook indoors, a heavy bottom pan, such as a cast iron grill pan or large cast iron skillet, retains heat much better than a nonstick skillet, allowing for even cooking, a better sear, and smoky, caramelized flavors for the steak.
- Let your meat rest. Let your meat rest for at least 5 minutes prior to serving, allowing the juices to redistribute – this will allow for maximum flavor and juiciness.
- Slice against the grain. Always slice perpendicular to the direction of the muscle fibers – this will shorten muscle fibers, leaving you with more tender (less chewy) pieces of meat.
- Add some crunch. Add some croutons, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), sunflower seeds, or slivered almonds for some crunch.
- Toss the dressing just before serving. This will avoid a soggy salad and allow for maximum, crisp freshness.
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We used last night’s leftover (indoor) grilled New York Strips and Corn on the Cob and added sliced avocado. Warming up the steak and corn in the grill pan made this a perfect Summer mid-week meal!
We have made this salad several times for friends to rave reviews! Thank you for introducing us to flank steak. It is a new favorite!
Soooo good! The dressing is excellent!!
This looks absolutely delicious! I was wondering if it would be possible to use frozen or canned corn? Do you think that would work fine? I’ll be using a grill pan inside rather than grilling outdoors.
Thanks!
We had this for the second time and loved it again! Fast, easy and very tasty on a super hot summer day. We’ll definitely have it again and again!
This was delish! My husband took one bite commented how great it tasted. For sure adding into our rotation.
Had I not had issues getting the steak to the correct temp (I broiled that and the corn due unable to grill) I would have been done making it a lot sooner. And the dish clean up was pretty easy too.
Perfect with summer fresh veg. The salad dressing was perfect. I used feta because it was on hand. Next time, I would like avocado on plate. I grilled corn and while it cooled enough to handle, I grilled steak. While steak rested, I assembled salad. Easy peasy.
Both my husband and I love this salad. It is tasty as written
Made this last night. It was quick and excellent.
That’s what we love to hear! Thank you, Sarah!
VERY GOOD!!! LOOKS GREAT!!!
Could you recommend a substitute for cooking w/o a grill? Thank you!
You can try cooking the flank steak and corn in the oven. 🙂
You bring such joy to my life and great meals as well. YOUR COOKING BLOG IS THE GREATEST EVER….HAVE NEVER TRIED A RECIPE THAT WAS NOT FABULOUS! THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO
You are so welcome, Mary!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Looks yummy but I don’t like blue cheese. Can I use feta or some smoked gouda?
Absolutely!
You can substitute whichever cheese you prefer! As always, please use your best judgement when making substitutions and modifications.
Looks delicious, your recipes are awesome. Do you know how many calories is the balsamic vinaigrette? Just curious, it probably is better than store bought dressing. 🙂
Hi Tim, nutritional information is provided only for select recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, we recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
Suggestions if you don’t have a grill. Pls.
You can try cooking the flank steak and corn in the oven. 🙂