Fajita Taco Salad with steak is delicious, nutritious, and a great summer dinner! Tender, medium-rare steak is served on top of a bed of lettuce with sauteed peppers and onions and a tangy avocado lime dressing drizzled generously over the top.
Get ready for the salad of the summer! This steak salad will sustain you for hours, it has carbs, protein, and healthy fats.
You can completely tailor this salad to your personal tastes and add or omit things as needed. This steak fajita taco salad is topped with homemade avocado lime ranch dressing, but you can also uses homemade buttermilk ranch or any southwest dressing you would like!
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What cut of steak should I use for steak salad?
You can use a lot of different varieties. Sirloin, flank steak, and skirt steak, are all good options. This recipe uses flank steak because it's one of the more inexpensive choices and it sears really well! When cooked to medium or medium rare and sliced against the grain, it is incredibly tender.
This steak taco salad is a great way to enjoy steak in a more economical way because your portion of meat can be smaller in combination with the plethora of other salad toppings!
What makes this salad so good
- Fresh: Crunchy romaine lettuce and lots of veggies make this a super fresh take on fajitas.
- Easy: Aside from the marinating the beef fajita meat ahead of time, this recipe cooks up quickly and easily. It requires a little chopping and then just assembly.
- Perfect spring/summer dinner: Full of summer produce like cherry tomatoes and bell peppers.
- Nutrient dense: Start with a huge bed lettuce. It is full of fiber and vitamins and minerals. On top of that there's steak for protein and iron, avocado for healthy fat, peppers and onions for more vitamins, and dressing for calcium! Everything adds flavor and nutrition.
- Make ahead: The majority of the elements of the salad can also be made ahead of time-- making it a perfect meal prep option! A big batch of veggies can all be sauteed together, the steak cooked and then split into portions, and the dressing mixed and poured into separate containers. Everything can be done at the beginning of the week and then portioned out!
Simple fajita steak marinade
This simple beef fajita taco marinade is so quick to throw together but gives the flank steak a wonderful flavor! What you'll need:
- olive oil
- orange juice
- lime juice
- salt
- pepper
- cumin
- paprika
- onion powder
- garlic powder
- chili powder
- dried oregano
Ingredients
Salad
- romaine
- flank steak
- yellow onion or red onion
- bell pepper
- tomatoes
- crumbled tortilla chips or crispy tortilla strips
- crumbled queso fresco cheese
Avocado Lime Ranch Salad Dressing
- avocado
- Greek yogurt or sour cream
- buttermilk
- garlic
- freshly juiced lime
- green onions
- salt
- pepper
- dried dill
- onion powder
Here are full instructions and tips for this avocado lime ranch.
How to assemble the salad
Step 1. Begin by preparing your marinade.
Step 2. In a small bowl, combine oil, orange juice, lime juice, spices, salt, and pepper.Â
Step 3. Pour over top of the steak and marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes or up to 24 hours. Remove from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.
Step 4. Heat cast iron skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil. Once the oil is hot, place in flank steak and sear for 3-4 minutes on each side. Allow to rest and then thinly slice against the grain.
Step 5. To the now empty skillet, heat remaining oil over medium heat. Add onions and peppers.
Step 6. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring often.
Step 7. To a serving plate or bowl, add a generous helping of chopped lettuce. Top with sliced steak, peppers, onions, tomatoes, crumbled tortilla chips, and crumbled queso fresco cheese. Spoon on dressing and enjoy.Â
Full ingredient amounts and instructions can be found in the recipe card below.
Expert Tips
- Allow meat to rest to let the juices redistribute after cooking. This helps it stay juicy and tender.
- Allow the steak to come up to room temperature before cooking so that the meat cooks evenly and quickly.
- Use a meat thermometer to test the temperature. Pull steak from the pan once it reaches in between 120-125 degrees F. It will carry over cook 5-10 degrees while it rests.
- Make sure to cut the flank steak against the grain to ensure it isn't too chewy or tough.
Optional add-ins
- avocado
- black beans
- salsa
- corn
- cilantro
Recipe FAQs
The most commonly used cuts of beef for fajitas is skirt steak or flank steak. Sometimes hanger steak is used, but flank or skirt steak are most common.Â
Almost, but not quite. Flank steak comes from the lower abdominal muscles of the cow whereas skirt steak comes from the diaphragm muscle. Both are long flat cuts that stand up well to marinades and quick, hot cooking. They can be used interchangeably in this recipe.Â
Yes, you can! Feel free to substitute chicken breasts or thighs in this recipe. Because this marinade is acidic, chicken only needs 30-60 minutes to marinate to avoid compromising the texture of the meat.
Other Main Course Salads to try:
If you tried this Fajita Taco Salad or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love to hear from you.
Fajita Taco Salad
Ingredients
- 8 cups romaine lettuce chopped
- 1 ½ lb. flank steak or skirt steak
- 1 onion julienned
- 2 bell pepper julienned
- ½ cup queso fresco crumbled
- ½ cup tortilla chips crumbled
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
Avocado Lime Ranch
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- 1 avocado ripe
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 lime
- 4 green onions
- ½ tsp. onion powder
- ½ tsp. dried dill
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. pepper
Fajita Steak Marinade
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- ½ cup orange juice
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
Instructions
To marinate steak
- Begin by preparing your marinade. In a small bowl, combine oil, orange juice, lime juice, spices, salt, and pepper.Â
- Pour over top of the steak and marinate for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours. Remove from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.
Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing
- In a blender or a food processor, add all ingredients and pulse until very smooth.
Salad Assembly
- Heat cast iron skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil. Once the oil is hot, place in flank steak and sear for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until the internal temperature reaches 120-125 degrees. Once cooked, set to the side to cool and then slice thinly against the grain.
- To the now empty skillet, heat remaining oil over medium heat. Add onions and peppers and saute for 5 minutes, stirring often.
- To a serving plate or bowl, add a generous helping of chopped lettuce. Top with sliced steak, peppers, onions, tomatoes, crumbled tortilla chips, and crumbled queso fresco cheese. Spoon on dressing and enjoy.Â
Melissa Szymczak says
Looks delicious! I like your choice of mixed greens- just romaine would not taste as good with all your ingredients.
Sarah says
Thank you! 🙂 I agree. I think it makes the salad a little more dressed up too!
TRINITY F GORZ says
yumm! Yumm! Cant wait for a nice day to make this! I can smell the steak on the grill Already!
Sarah says
One of the best smells ever!