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 is beautiful and I can’t believe how much greenery I got my carnivores to eat. Doubled the recipe. Rump steak was cooked to perfection with your tips. Added vermicelli noodles to bulk it up for some extra carbs. Fantastic flavours!
Oh my goodness! Thanks to your recipe I finally got a more authentic taste to my sauce! This is a winner! Hit all the taste vibes I needed.
I made this for my husband. He loved it. I also made a vegetarian version using firm tofu for myself. Fried tofu batons til nice and brown and then followed the rest of the recipe . Was fantastic
Hi Nagi
My husband doesn’t love fish sauce. Is there a substitute I can use?
Definitely a keeper! Added mint, basil and been shoots. Doubled the quantity and used bbq chicken. Used palm sugar but more than stated. ⭐️
I love this recipe of the Thai beef.
But I love it more when Jillian capsicum
Another winner, Nagi – thank you! This dressing is definitely the bomb; we really enjoyed the flavours and it added a lovely zing to the salad (okay, I may have used a tiny bit more chilli than a teaspoon 😉)
This is by far the best salad I’ve ever had. I’ve been using this recipe for years now, this time I made it with chuck beef that I cooked in the slow cooker (budget friendly), amazing. Thank you Nagi!
This is amazing. My family of 6 LOVED it. Everyone agrees that it taste as good as (or better than) any Thai Beef Salad that we have ever had. I wish I could upload my photo.- it is so beautiful!. Thank you so much for a recipe that provided exactly the taste I was hoping to recreate!
Fantastic. Loved the salad dressing. I’ve been craving a good thai beef salad.since leaving Sydney 8 years ago. San Antonio Tx is not the place for good Thai. Now, I can make it myself. Thank you so much for sharing.
Can I add wild rice to it ?
Can I add wild rice to this salad? Any suggestions 🙂
I made this today for dinner & by far this is one of my favourite recipes by you. I love everything about it, especially the dressing & how much heat it pact. I will certainly be making it again.
Hi I cooked your Thai Beef Salad tonight a great success thanks Nagi
Is there any substitute for the birds eye chili or this chili?
Sorry. Typo Should be Thia chili above. Spellchecker. Haha
I didn’t have any fresh chillies, so I just tossed in some dried chilli flakes. Still tasted fabulous
This looks so good! A few questions 😊 could I make this with backstrap instead? Would it still taste good without the onion (my husband refuses to eat raw onion)? And would it last 5 days in the fridge as I usually meal prep my husbands lunches. Thank you x
Hi Nimah – lamb backstrap would be pretty good with this. You could leave the onion out but the flavour won’t be as good. I think 5 days might be pushing it a bit for salad greens, even if you keep the dressing separate. I would get him to eat it early in the week and prep something else that would last five days for later in the week! N x
Hi Nagi
I made this for my family using venison back steaks and it was delicious!! The dressing is to die for and I found a super mix salad at the supermarket which was perfect.
Even my 16 yr daughter ate it and that’s saying something because she is really picky!
I look forward to trying some more of your recipes.
Cheers
Brenda
I haven’t tried this with venison Brenda but I bet it would be very tasty!! N x
This dressing is to die for Nagi! I didn’t expect an ordinary Beef salad as everything I made from your recipes was always delish, but this was more than just delish!!! Thank you so much.
All my children loved this dish. One of them and my husband said it’s the nicest meal they have ever had and would pay to eat this.
This is definitely the best Thai Beef Salad recipe and never fails to deliver a punchy tasting dish. Full of flavour, we use left over roast beef for this dish and always buy enough beef for leftovers, just so we can make this.