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!
Made this last night from your cookbook. WOW! What great flavor! I forgot to buy the chili so used some chili garlic paste. Fantastic!
This dressing is soooooo good!
This is delicious! I make it with kangaroo steak and it’s pretty much my favourite meal to make.
Hi,
quick question. Can you substitute the mint for Vietnamese mint? Not a fan of regular mint.
Hi James, you can absolutely use Vietnamese mint for regular mint. I even use Vietnamese shiso too.
Hi Nagi, this was absolutely delicious. Just wondering, how long will the dressing keep for please?.
Loved this dish, my families go to on a hot summers night. Never dissapoints.
The holy grail of recipies. Super tasty, health and quick.
OMG. This was absolutely amazing. Tasted better than from a restaurant. We added some vermicelli noodles to bulk it up.
Please settle a discussion with my hubby for me–is Thai Beef Salad supposed to be served hot or cold?
Hi Amanda. I’ve eaten thai beef salad in about 50 different Thai restaurants all over the USA and here… every single one of them served it cold. I also lived with a Thai family for a couple of years and they also served it cold. So… hope this answers your question. 🙂
Second recipe I try from the book, second recipe I LOVE and makes me absolutely certain your book is one of the best cooking books ever.
Will try to do a vegetarian version next 🙂
Amazing Salad. My guests raved about it.
OMG Nagi, I liked your recipes before, but I freaking love this. And you for putting it in your book. I had no lime, so I used lemon and it was bloody brilliant!!!! I could drink the dressing just on its own
Recipe for 2 servings says 1/4 tsp of garlic but in the video you throw two whole cloves in. Guessing it’s an error? How much garlic should I use?
Fabulous salad! It’s so good, it stays in our regular rotation. 😋
Amazing! Better than any Thai salad I’ve ever had at restaurants. Even my kids who dislike any sort of salad loved eating this! As I don’t have a mortar and pestle I just threw all dressing ingredients into the blender and was perfect
This was absolutely delicious. I used eye fillet beef yumm. I surprised myself being a self proclaimed coriander hater but this dressing was the bomb!!!!
I didn’t add coriander or mint to salad, personal choice, didn’t need it, I will make this again, so enjoyable😀🤩
Love the Thai Beef Salad. Any idea of quantities to use if I have say 12 people for lunch?
Just hover over the servings at the top of the recipe and you can adjust the servings, the quantities will automatically update.
Hi Lynne, If you hold your mouse over the servings part at the top of the recipe, you can adjust it to how ever many servings you want. 🙂
Hello, loving the book and recipes. However struggling with the nutritional information. For the Thai Beef Salad. Calories: 384cal (19% ). What’s the 19% ? Also, listed is the Carbohydrates: 13.5g (5%) Protein: 38.1g (76%) Fat: 19.9g (31%). Traditionally these 3, Carbs, Protein and Fat add to 100% not, as in this case, 112%. Anyone clarify? Thanks.
Percentage of recommended daily intake. Generic amounts obviously.
The percentages relate to the percentage of your daily allowance. For example the calories equal 19% of your daily calorie allowance. Hope that helps.
Those % are probably for the recommended daily intake not of the recipe itself.
I would guess that the percentages refer to percent of Daily Value. That’s what I think it’s called in the U.S. In other words, 19% of the calories an average person should eat, 76% of the protein, etc. Governments usually don’t know what they’re talking about as far as nutrition goes, so I’d take all that with a grain of salt.
I could be wrong but I think the percentage is how much of the recommended daily intake that particular category takes up.. so 19% of your recommended daily calories, 76% of protein etc
Hi Einford, pretty sure the %s refer to % of recommended daily intake- eg a serving contains 19% of total recommended kilojoule intake of 8700 kilojoules for an adult, and so on in terms of % of total intake of each component like carbs, protein etc.
I always use this recipe for the dressing and it is perfection! I usually just freestyle with the vegetables (since my husband doesn’t eat cucumber, tomato, capsicum OR onion. Ridiculous, I know), and add vermicelli noodles for some carbohydrates. Thanks Nagi!
This is the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. I add vermicelli noodles 🤤