In my opinion, the best thing about Thailand (while it’s hard to pick just one) is the street food. Wandering down the backroads, picking a stall and squatting on a sweaty plastic stool while you watch an agile grandma tossing the wok one-handed. Street food is fundamental to Thai culture and makes accessibility to delicious fresh and spicy salads incredibly easy, not to mention affordable. With the average dish costing around $2.50, it was always necessary to have a salad on the side, alternating between my two favourites green papaya and Thai beef salad. Now I’m home, it’s a little bit more challenging to find some of those authentic Thai ingredients, so when I want a little bit of zest, spice and freshness, I can’t go past this Thai beef salad recipe.

Print Recipe

Thai Beef Salad With Noodles

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Course: Lunch, Main Course, Salad

Cuisine: Thai

Keyword: beef salad, easy salad, noodle salad, summer salad, thai beef salad, thai salad

Servings: 2

Cost: 20

Equipment

• 1 small fry pan
• 1 mortar & pestle 
• 1 serving platter

Ingredients

• 300 g  Scotch Fillet Steak
• 1 Cos Lettuce leaves washed & torn
• 100 g Vermicelli Noodles  cooked & drained
• 2 punnet Cherry tomatoes  halved
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 bunch Thai basil, Vietnamese mint & Coriander

Toasted Rice

• 1/2 cup White rice

Dressing

• 2 green chillis
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 limes  juiced
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 2 tbsp  sugar

Instructions

Toasted Rice

• Add rice to a small frying pan and gently toast over medium-high heat, stir occasionally for 3-5 minutes until the grains are toasted and golden. Leave to cool for a few minutes and then grind into a coarse powder using a mortar and pestle.

Steak

• Heat a dry small frypan over high heat until it is very hot
• Season steak with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil before placing into the searing hot pan
• Cook on each side for 2-3 minutes for a medium steak, remove from pan and allow to rest

Dressing

• Grind garlic and chillis into a paste with mortar and pestle, add lime juice, fish sauce and sugar, stir to combine. Taste and adjust accordingly

Assembly

• In a large dish assemble lettuce leaves, vermicelli noodles, tomatoes and herbs. Thinly slice steak and place on top of the salad. Generously drizzle with dressing, sprinkle with toasted rice powder and scatter with pickled onions. Serve with a side of extra chilli and lime wedges.

Erin Murnane

Erin’s an Accredited Practising Dietitian & Certified Intuitive Eating Counsellor. She uses a non-diet approach and weight-inclusive care to help her clients reclaim a healthy relationship with food and their bodies free of guilt, shame and restriction.