Grilled Beef Salad Recipe (Barbecue)

This grilled beef salad is a main-course salad for barbecue season: a flank or sirloin steak is grilled over high heat, rested, sliced thinly and laid over crisp romaine with tomatoes, cucumber and red onion. One red wine vinegar and mustard vinaigrette does two jobs, with a few spoonfuls used to marinate the steak and the rest kept aside to dress the salad.

Flank steak suits this treatment because it is lean, flavorful and relatively inexpensive, but it needs two things to be tender: it should not be cooked past medium, and it must be sliced across the grain. Resting the meat for 10 minutes before slicing keeps the juices in the steak instead of on the cutting board.

The portion of dressing for the salad is set aside before any of it touches the raw beef, and the used marinade is thrown away. The steak can be served warm from the grill or grilled ahead and served cold, which makes this a practical way to use one steak for four plates.

Grilled Beef Salad

Marinated flank steak grilled on the barbecue, sliced thin and served over romaine, tomatoes, cucumber and red onion with a red wine vinegar and mustard vinaigrette.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Marinating and resting time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Main Course, Salad

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

For the vinaigrette and marinade

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For the beef

• 1 1/4 pounds flank steak or top sirloin steak 3/4 to 1 inch thick
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• a little vegetable oil for the grill grates

For the salad

• 1 large head romaine lettuce chopped (about 8 cups), or 8 cups mixed salad greens
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
• 1/2 English cucumber sliced
• 1/2 small red onion thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese or feta optional

Method

 

1. Make the vinaigrette: put the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a jar, close the lid and shake until blended.
2. Put the steak in a shallow dish and pour 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette over it, turning to coat both sides. Set the rest of the vinaigrette aside for the salad. Cover and marinate the steak in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours.
3. Heat a gas or charcoal barbecue to high (450 to 500°F). Clean the grates and wipe them with a paper towel dipped in a little vegetable oil.
4. Lift the steak out of the marinade and discard the marinade. Pat the steak dry and season both sides with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
5. Grill with the lid closed for 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare (130 to 135°F on an instant-read thermometer) or 5 to 6 minutes per side for medium (145°F, the USDA minimum for steak). Turn the steak only once.
6. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and rest it for 10 minutes. Then slice it thinly across the grain, holding the knife at a slight angle.
7. While the steak rests, toss the romaine, tomatoes, cucumber and red onion in a large bowl with about two-thirds of the reserved vinaigrette. Divide among 4 plates.
8. Arrange the sliced beef over the salads, drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette, and sprinkle with the cheese if using.

Notes

Food safety: never use marinade that has touched raw beef as a dressing. USDA guidance for beef steaks is a minimum internal temperature of 145°F followed by a 3-minute rest; medium-rare is below that and is a matter of personal choice.

No barbecue: cook the steak in a preheated cast iron grill pan or skillet over high heat, or under the broiler, for the same times.

Make-ahead: the vinaigrette keeps in the refrigerator for up to 1 week; shake it again before using. Grilled steak can be refrigerated, unsliced, for 3 to 4 days and sliced cold for the salad.

Variations: add grilled corn cut from the cob, sliced bell pepper or avocado. A creamy dressing made with homemade buttermilk ranch dressing mix can replace the vinaigrette on the salad; still marinate the steak in the oil and vinegar mixture.