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Looking for a salad recipe that’s hearty but still healthy? How about fast and made with pantry ingredients? Too good to be true, you say? Well, I don’t think you’ve met this Vietnamese Steak Salad, aka Xà Lách Thịt Bò.
I dug this recipe out when I was tired of eating the same old greens with ranch dressing. I just needed something more. Searching through my archives, there it was – an old recipe from Wandering Chopsticks. This Vietnamese salad reminded me of salads my mother used to make. I adapted this recipe to be simpler because having a meaty steak salad faster in my mouth is always a top priority. Like in the recipe by Wandering Chopsticks, the order of steps is important if you want to make it easy on yourself and have everything done in 30 minutes or less.
The beauty of this Vietnamese salad is the steak marinates while you prep your salad ingredients. Then you pan-sear your steak and throw the marinade into the pan to make a delicious and quick dressing. I love the contrast of the cold, crisp greens slightly wilting with the warm dressing and steak when tossed together. Hey, if that ain’t your thing and you prefer your greens to stay crisp, just let it cool before mixing into your greens. Do you, boo.
Pickled Onions (hanh dam)
There is an important step that I don’t recommend you skip in this recipe: making the Vietnamese pickled onions (hanh dam). That bite of vinegar from the quickly pickled onions cuts through the rich steak and creates a wonderful balance of flavors. Start with making the onions first, and it’ll be ready to top the Vietnamese salad when you’re finished. Be sure to slice the onions very thinly so that it pickles quickly.
Tips For Preparing the Steak
I used a cut of New York Strip in this recipe, but you can use any cut of steak you like. I prefer my steak medium so I cook it for about 3-5 minutes on each side. However, doneness is also dependent on the thickness of the steak. This is why I use the finger test to test doneness. I can tell by poking the steak how well done it is instead of cutting into it. You can also use a meat thermometer (medium is 145°F). Fortunately, this recipe is very forgiving. If you find the steak is undercooked when you slice into it, just toss it back in the pan with the dressing and gently cook it to your liking. I’ve done this a couple of times and it still comes out perfect.
Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:
Vietnamese Steak Salad (Xà Lách Thịt Bò)
Equipment
Ingredients
Steak Ingredients
- .75 to 1 pound steak of choice (I used NY strip steak)
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. avocado or canola)
Pickled onions (hanh dam) ingredients
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 small onion quartered and very thinly sliced
Salad ingredients (use any combination of vegetables and toppers)
- 1 head lettuce (red, green, or romaine works great)
- 1 cucumber
- 1 carrot
- 1 tomato
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients
Prepare the steak marinde
- Place steak in dish for marinade.
- In a small bowl combine soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and ground pepper. Stir ingredients to desolve the sugar.
- Pour marinde over steak. Set aside as you prepare the other ingredients.
Prepare the pickled onions
- In a small bowl, combine white vinegar and sugar. Stir ingredients to desolve the sugar. Add the thinly sliced onions and mix to ensure onions are covered by vinegar mixture. Set aside as you prepare the other ingrdients.
Prepare the salad
- Chop the lettuce and vegetables of choice for salad. Combine in a large bowl and set aside.
Cook the steak
- Heat up a skillet on medium heat with a tablespoon of oil. Remove steak from the marinade and place into skillet. For medium steaks, cook on one side for 4-5 minutes before flipping. Cook second side for another 3-5 minutes. You can use the finger trick to test for doneness or use a meat thermometer (medium is 145°F). Remove the steak and set aside to allow meat to rest.
Prepare the dressing
- In the same skillet, pour in the steak marinade with 1/4 cup water and red pepper flakes. Allow the dressing to come to a boil and reduce to about half. Turn off the heat, add cilantro, and stir.
- Slice the steak. Steal a bite. Take the sliced steak and put back into the skillet (heat is off) so that it's covered in the delicious dressing.
- Place steak and dressing over bowl of salad. Add those pickled onions. Toss together and enjoy!
Notes
- Follow the order of steps and everything can be prepped and finished in about 30 minutes.
- Since the marinade was used for the raw meat, be sure the dressing comes to a boil in the pan to make it safe for consumption. The water added keeps the marinade from thickening too quickly before it has a chance to boil.
- When the warm steak is tossed with the vegetables, the salad greens tend to wilt. I enjoy the contrast, but if that’s not your jam let the steak and dressing cool completely before mixing the salad.
- This is a great recipe for cleaning out the fridge. Use any vegetables or salad toppers you like (e.g. radishes, spinach, peppers, boiled eggs)
This looks amazing. Thanks for sharing this recipe I am going to bookmark it for later
Thanks so much for checking it out!