Southwestern Steak Salad

This Southwestern Steak Salad is an easy weeknight main dish salad with perfectly seasoned steak, black bean and corn salsa, and a tasty homemade dressing.

Southwestern Steak Salad combines a vibrant mix of corn, tomatoes, and black beans along with a smoky, creamy chipotle dressing and perfectly cooked skirt steak seasoned with fajita spices.

This is an easy weeknight salad that comes together quickly. It also makes a great summer recipe when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen. (You could even slice up some leftover steak if you’ve got it.)

What’s In A Southwestern Steak Salad?

The salad has three main components to prepare: the steak, the black bean and corn salsa, and the Chipotle-Lime dressing. These are served with your favorite spring salad mix and topped with sliced avocado and crispy tortilla strips.

Skirt steak, which you can read all about here, is a very long cut of beef, and needs to be cut in half or into 10 to 12-inch sections so they fit well in the skillet that will be used for cooking. One thing that I love to do is to make Carne Asada using a skirt steak for dinner one night, and then use the leftovers to make the Southwestern Steak Salad. If you like planning meals around using leftovers, that would be a great idea for you as well.

My recipe includes instructions for making your own black bean salsa and dressing, but of course you could also buy a prepared chunky salsa of any kind. My grocery store has good black bean and corn salsa in the deli section. If you don’t want to make your own dressing, try a Southwest Ranch or Cilantro Lime dressing from the store.

Similarly, you can buy the crispy tortilla strips, or you can use regular tortilla chips, or you can make your own. My favorite way to make them is in the air fryer!

How To Cook The Skirt Steak

Make the steak first, and while it’s resting, the salsa and dressing are made.

Once the steak is cut in half (or in 10 to 12-inch pieces) to fit the pan, rub each piece all over with the fajita seasoning. If your fajita seasoning does not contain salt, combine equal amounts salt with the seasoning (for the recipe below, that’s 2 teaspoons of fajita seasoning mixed with 2 teaspoons of salt).

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it’s shimmering. This will tell you it’s hot enough for pan-frying. Add the steak pieces and cook on each side for two to three minutes. The pan should hold at least two pieces of the steak. If there are more, you may have to cook them in batches to prevent overcrowding. When the pan is overcrowded, the steak will steam instead of fry in the pan. This means it will be difficult to brown and get that caramelized crust on the outside.

Transfer the steak to a clean cutting board and let it rest while you make the black bean and corn salsa and Chipotle-Lime dressing. By the time the salsa and dressing are ready, the steak will likely be fully cooled, which means it won’t be hot anymore, but that all the juices will stay in when you slice it. If you would prefer that your steak slices be warmer, prep the salsa and dressing before you cook the steak. Then, only let the steak rest for 5 minutes while you assemble the salad. Then slice the steak and serve it warm on top.

Prepare The Salsa And Dressing

This salsa couldn’t be simpler and could also be made in advance. It’s great on its own as a chunky salsa or as a topping for chicken or fish if you want to make extra. The salsa is made with black beans, corn, red onion, cilantro, tomato, garlic, salt, and lime juice. 

For the dressing, stir together sour cream, chipotle in adobo sauce, olive oil, red wine vinegar, the remaining lime juice, garlic powder, and salt until well combined, and then set this aside. The chipotle in adobo is key for the dressing. All you need is some of that amazing adobo sauce, but you can kick up the spice if you’d like by also chopping up one of the chipotle peppers and mixing it in as well.

Assemble The Southwestern Steak Salad

Now that the skirt steak has had a while to rest, slice this against the grain into ¼-inch thick slices and get the avocado and salad greens ready. With all of the components prepared, all that’s left to do is mix the salad together! 

In a large bowl, add the spring lettuce mix. Top with the salsa and dressing, and using tongs or two large spoons, toss everything together until it is well coated in the dressing. 

Add the steak and avocado to your salad and serve cold or at room temperature. I like to top this with additional fresh cilantro, crumbled queso fresco, and crispy tortilla strips.

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