Best Grilled Steak Salad Recipe

This salad is simple enough for a weeknight but worthy of planning a get-together around, thanks to its star ingredient—ribeye steak. You’ll grill it (and red onions), then combine it with cherry tomatoes, blue cheese, basil, and a drizzle of tangy balsamic dressing, turning it into the kind of impressive-but-secretly-easy dish you’ll be making all the time.

Boneless ribeye is a great choice for a salad like this because it's full of flavor and slices beautifully, but if you have a specific cut you love, go for it! Bold flavors like red onion and blue cheese go particularly well here because of their ability to stand up to the steak, but you're also welcome to swap in alternatives like feta or shallots. Whatever you go with, don't skip the big slices of creamy avocado—they round out this salad and make it feel like a complete meal.

Speaking of skipping ingredients, this garlicky balsamic is not your average bottled version and is very worth making at home. Cooking your smashed garlic just a bit and blending it takes off its raw edge, and gives the dressing a sweet roasted garlic flavor and creamy texture. No blender? Feel free to chop the garlic and shake everything together in a jar.

For a really beautiful look, use a big platter or a really shallow large bowl to plate your salad. Spread out the greens, top with all the elements, and fan out the sliced steak. Wait until the very end to drizzle the dressing over top so nothing gets soggy. If you really want this salad to be Instagram-ready, use big leaves of basil so everyone can see them. Your guests are going to be WOWed!

Made this? Let us know how it went in the comments below!

cloves garlic, peeled, smashed

extra-virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

granulated sugar

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

medium red onion, cut into 1/2" slices

extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

boneless ribeye steak

Freshly ground black pepper

baby arugula and/or baby spinach

avocado, pitted, sliced

cherry tomatoes, halved

blue cheese, crumbled

Torn fresh basil leaves, for serving

Olivia is a food stylist, recipe developer & cookbook author living in NYC. Her work has appeared both on the pages of magazines and on billboards in Times Square. Helping people cook with more confidence is her #1 passion.

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