Not just another Thai Beef Salad….This is made with one little change to create a dressing from an award winning Thai restaurant, arguably one of the best in the world outside of Thailand!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Thai Beef Salad
I’m probably completely biased, but I think that Asian salads are the best in the world. I love them because they are interesting and the dressings are so good.
The chances of me ordering a salad as a dish (not a side) at any restaurant other than an Asian one is almost zero.
However, at Asian restaurants, there is a good prospect of it happening!!
My favourite part is the zingy, fresh, strong flavoured dressings used in Asian salads. No mayo, no cream, no cheese, far less oil. Just pure fresh flavours – often with plenty of fresh chilli heat in it. I love it!
Along with Green Papaya Salad, I think Thai Beef Salad is probably one of the better known Asian salads. I eat it year round, rain, hail or shine, and it’s one of my favourite ways to use a good piece of steak because a little bit goes a long way.
I don’t know about where you live, but even though Australia is cattle country, beef is the most expensive protein and a good steaks cost $40+ per kg (that’s $20+ per pound).
For a Thai Beef salad for 2, you really only need around 7 to 8 oz / 200 – 250g of good quality steak. Cook it to your liking…..I won’t say it’s a sacrilege to cook quality beef more than medium rare but… OK, I can’t resist, I have to say it. I think it’s a crime to cook quality beef beyond medium rare!!!!!
What goes in Thai Beef Salad
Here’s what you need.
The unique thing about this recipe is the use of coriander/cilantro stems in the Dressing. The flavour it adds is terrific – and authentic!
In Thailand, the roots are traditionally used but in Western countries, coriander usually isn’t sold with long roots like it is in Thailand so it’s a total pain to get enough to make this Dressing.
Using the stem is a terrific fall back!
How to make Thai Beef Salad
The Dressing is the star here, and the key to getting truly great flavour in it is to grind up the coriander/cilantro stems, chilli and garlic in a mortar and pestle to form a paste before mixing in the other Dressing ingredients.
But don’t worry if you don’t have a mortar and pestle – you can finely mince the ingredients then shake the Dressing up in a jar!
The Dressing is the key
The dressing for this salad is the star, and it’s based on a recipe from this cookbook by Suet Saenkham, the genius Thai native behind the critically acclaimed Spice I Am restaurants in Sydney.
Spice I Am is said to be one of THE best Thai restaurants outside of Thailand. Everything I have tried from the cookbook is just so incredible, a step up from the run-of-the-mill Thai takeouts.
I adapted the dressing recipe a wee bit because I must admit I found the original recipe a little too strong flavored, which is saying something for me because I really like strong flavours! But the base recipe is the same.
Hope you enjoy! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Thai Beef Salad
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1/2 tsp birds eye or Thai Chilli , deseeded and finely minced (Note 1)
- 1/4 tsp finely minced garlic (1/2 small clove)
- 1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro/coriander stems
- 2 1/4 tsp white sugar
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp grapeseed oil (or canola or vegetable oil)
- 1 small pinch cooking / kosher salt
Salad
- 7 – 8 oz / 200 – 250 g good quality beef steak – sirloin , at room temperature (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp oil (vegetable, peanut or canola oil)
- 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
- 2 heaped cups mixed lettuce leaves
- 10 cherry tomatoes , halved
- 1/4 small red onion , very finely sliced
- 1/2 cucumber (optional deseed) , cut horizontally then cut into slices (about 1/3 cup)
- 1/4 cup cilantro/coriander leaves , lightly packed
- 1/4 cup mint leaves , lightly packed
Garnish
- 1/4 cup finely chopped peanuts , roasted, unsalted
- Extra cilantro/coriander and mint leaves
Instructions
Dressing:
- Place the birds eye chili, garlic, cilantro stems and a small pinch of salt into a mortar and pestle. Grind until a smooth paste forms.
- Add the remaining Dressing ingredients. Adjust sugar, lime juice and fish sauce to taste. Set aside.
- Alternative: Finely mince garlic, coriander and chilli. Use side of knife to smear into paste on cutting board, then shake in jar with remaining ingredients.
Beef:
- Preheat a skillet over high heat until screaming hot and smoking.
- Drizzle the beef with 1/2 tbsp of oil on both sides, then sprinkle with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cook the beef to your liking (Note 2).
- Cook times: for steak 2cm / 4/5” thick, 2 min on each side for medium rare (until internal temp is 52°C/125°F) OR 2 1/2 min each side for medium (internal temp 57°C/135°F).
- Remove the beef from the skillet onto a plate. Loosely tent with foil and set aside for 10 minutes to rest.
Salad:
- Place lettuce in a bowl, drizzle with 1 tbsp Dressing and toss.
- Slice the beef thinly against the grain (Note 2) and place in a bowl with the remaining Salad ingredients. Dress with most remaining Dressing and toss gently.
- Pile dressed lettuce onto plate(s), pile over beef and other salad ingredients.
- Sprinkle with peanuts and garnish with extra cilantro/coriander and mint leaves if using, drizzle with remaining Dressing. Serve immediately!
Recipe Notes:
Remember: the steak will continue cooking when resting! And remember: you can cook a steak a bit more if needed but you can’t UNCOOK steak!
Cutting the beef against the grain produces the most tender slices. To do this, look at the piece of steak and you will notice that most of the fibres are going in one direction. Turn the steak so the fibres are going left to right directly in front of you. Then cut across the fibres – i.e. 90 degrees perpendicular to the direction of the fibres.
3. Adapted from the Spice I Am cookbook by Suet Saenkham, the genius behind the Spice I Am restaurants in Sydney, Australia, arguably one of the BEST Thai restaurants in the world outside of Thailand!
4. Nutrition per serving assuming 2 servings.Nutrition Information:
Originally published July 2015. Updated August 2019 with new writing, new photos, brand new video, step photos and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!
Life of Dozer
Look what I brought back from Vietnam for him……… Toddler size fits him perfectly!
This was really, really good (did I say REALLY good)? The flavors blended so well together!! I didn’t have birds eye chili peppers but I had Thai chili paste and the heat was excellent. I added sliced mushrooms, because I had some and kept everything else exactly as you. Never would I have thought to put stems in the mortar and pestle…what a great thing to do and no waste!! Thanks ~~~ Lori
I’m SO GLAD you enjoyed this Lori!!
I made this salad for a dinner party last week and it was delicious! Everyone raved about the dressing. I’ll definetely be making it again.
Oh YAY!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know you loved it!! 🙂
This looks off the charts delicious! Love the tip about grinding the cilantro stems 🙂
Thanks Kathleen! Yup, the grinding of the cilantro stems makes all the difference. Same with guacamole!
That’s a delicious and healthy salad!! Can’t wait to try!! thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks Arpita!! Hope you do try it – and LOVE it as much as I do! N x
Asian salads are totally the best!! I feel like I’m a bit biased towards Asian food though… This salad looks exactly like what I get at the restaurant! Beautiful, Nagi!
Also, thank you so much for sharing these cookbook recs!! My bookshelf is already piled high with cookbooks, of course, but I’m always interested in buying more!
You an me both Lisa, we’re both biased!! 🙂
I am loving all the flavors and texture in this salad. This is definitely a keeper and one of my favorites. So healthy and refreshing. 🙂
Thank you! I do hope you give it a go – the flavour really is amazing! 🙂
This is gorgeous! And I am totally with you– Asian salads AND soups have the best and most interesting flavors. I could just drink Pho broth.
I am surprised beef is so expensive there! Here in Malaysia, we get Australian beef- I only ever buy small steaks for my husband because I don’t eat beef, so maybe that’s why I haven’t realized it’s so expensive? The upside to that– beef is much cheaper in the States, but it’s more humanely raised and healthier in Aus!
OMG, I could totally drink Pho broth too! Have you ever tried to make it from scratch? Mine just didn’t have the same flavour! You’re lucky living in Malaysia – beef might be expensive but who cares – besides the fact you don’t eat it, seafood is so much better! Produce too, because it’s all organic 🙂
I have tried to make my own– and I haven’t quite nailed it yet! I do make a Pho-ish broth with tons of ginger and Vietnamese spices, but I have never found the right fish sauce, or at least never figured out how to add it in the right combination, so make a genuine Pho broth– and I have also found it depends on how good your chicken broth turns out– still trying to perfect that one 🙂
This is so pretty ! Stumbeled , yummed and pinned ! I stopped eating beef a year ago but I’m eating this with my eyes lol
Aww thanks so much! <3
SUPRISE – I love Thai Beef Salad and I generally prefer my steak blue or at most rare! I guess the real surprise will be the day that I say I don’t eat …
You know what will be a a surprise Rachel? The day one of us visits our blogs and says “EW YUCK!” 😉
Oh! This sounds so unusual and good! Love Japanese food but never had a Japanese salad before. Can’t wait to try it! 🙂
Oops! I meant Thai not Japanese! All this talk about Asian food is making it hard to focus LOL
Ha ha!! I do that all the time! 🙂
I also love the zingy flavor of Asian salads, and go straight for the Asian-flavored salad when ordering salad at a restaurant. This Thai beef salad looks delicious and beautiful. The pour shot has me drooling. Yum!
ME TOO! I honestly don’t think I’ve ever ordered a creamy salad at a restaurant 🙂
am totally with you on this Nagi! Asian salad are so delicious and refreshing. I especially love Thai Beef salads as that heat from the chilis balances out the cool salads fixings and mint leaves. The beef is even MORE expensive in Hong Kong as it is flown in from Australia…
OMG yes! I was amazed at the prices at the wet markets! Having said that though, SEAFOOD is such food value in HK – you’re lucky! I’d take seafood over beef any day 🙂
I’m totally with you, Asian salads are the best (not that I’m biased either). As far as I’m concerned, the combination of fish sauce and lime is the greatest dressing EVER, which makes Thai Beef one of my favorites too! There’s so much flavor, you don’t even think you’re eating a salad!
Btw, love your PERFECTLY cooked beef! It doesn’t get better than that!
I think fish sauce is gold in a bottle, full stop! 🙂 Come to think of it, most Asian countries I know have their variation of it, whether it’s shrimp paste, dashi, bonito etc with fish flavours in it. Can’t beat it! 🙂
ANOTHER I cant wait to make! I think sometimes people do not make recipes because they do not want to invest in the ingredients that they MAY not use again- here is my two cents worth- IF you follow Nagi’s recipes you WILL use the birds eye chili’s, the fish sauce, the kefir leaves etc., and many freeze or have a long shelf life. My Asian food store is less costly than my ‘regular’ food store, so when I go I STOCK UP! Nagi there are so many recipes I would never have tried let alone thought I could make without your never ending gift you give to us, recipes and your laughter! BEEF RENDANG… my family is still talking about that one- haha I VOTE FOR LAMB SHANKS!!! I know they will be yummy and fun to make. Lisa, from P TOWN- heading into the 10o’s for the next week- HELP!!! xo
Thank you Nagi… Another great offering..
I know that the dressing for this salad will become another welcome addition to my file of Sauces and Dressings from Nagi…
This salad will be enjoyed in our home soon..
P.S. Many of your recipes are for 2.. I appreciate that as it keeps me from having to reduce recipes to fit the two of us.. :O)
I’m so glad you like the look of this Ross! I do hope you try it – the dressing really is that extra little bit more special and authentic by adding the coriander! 🙂 And I never noticed most of my recipes were for 2!
Hi Nagi! This looks wonderful! I have several motars but I also have a second coffee grinder that I use for spices. While we don’t have an Asian restaurant, I have something much better! You!! 🙂 My motto for cooking steak is “rare as you dare”! It makes me cringe when someone orders well done – might as well forget any real flavor or tenderness!
I know! I was at a steak house the other week and heard someone order a $50 piece of steak well done. My jaw dropped! 😉 PS You don’t have any Asian restaurants in your area? How is it that you love Asian food so much?!
Hi Nagi! The answer is because I love well seasoned, good food! Be it Asian, Spanish, Italian, Southern, Cajun, Creole or Mexican…I enjoy all food! Food is comforting and brings people together, In good times and bad – it’s a universal language with no words needed! 🙂
So true! 🙂 Having said that though, I doubt there are many people in the world like you who are able to appreciate so many ethnic foods even without Asian restaurants in your area. PS I tried your granola bars on the weekend. SO GOOD!! I may have to post them too! Dorothy’s Granola Bars 🙂
Nagi – it’s like you are in my head!!! “My favorite part (about Asian Salads) is the zingy, fresh, strong flavored dressings used… No mayo, no cream, no cheese. Just pure fresh flavors – often with plenty of chili in it.” are almost the same words I’ve uttered so many times! I love the dressing to this – I don’t have a mortar and pestle, but, I’ve been using a hammer and board – fortunately for me, my dog loves coriander and cumin seeds so he cleans up all those bits and pieces that go flying!
That is just about the cutest thing I’ve heard – your dog hoovering up bits of coriander! 🙂
Love Asian salads! Of course I like any salad. 😉 But you’re right — Asian salads tend to have more vibrant flavors that stand out a bit more. This is terrific! My kind of food — thanks.
You do great salads John! Big flavors – just what I like! N x
I would totally agree with you, Asian salads ARE interesting and I think that is the main draw for me. They are my favorite kinds of salads and I’m quite certain I would absolutely LOVE this one!
We’re two peas in a pod! 😉 <3
Asian salads are always beautiful and taste delicious, but I don’t think I’ve ever made one myself. Perfect recipe Nagi, can’t wait to try it! And the beef is cooked just the way I love it!
Really? no way! Queen of salads never made an Asian salad? Gotta change that! <3