Classic Thai Beef Salad (Yum Nua)

Classic Thai beef salad recipe (Yum Nua) made with grilled beef steak! This beef salad is incredibly easy to prepare and makes an excellent option for those following a low-carb or gluten-free diet.

Thai beef salad (Yum Nua) is perhaps one of the most well known salads of Thailand. The grilled beef steak is tossed with cucumber, tomato, shallot, fresh chili, fragrant herbs, and a fish sauce and lime juice dressing.

With this authentic Thai beef salad recipe, you can taste the full flavor of authentic Thai cuisine. It’s important to understand the balance of sweet, salty, tart, and spicy tastes all mingled in Thai cuisines.

You can use my recipe for the salad dressing first. Then, taste and adjust the amount of each ingredient according to your taste palate.

Thai-style beef salad is one of the simplest meat-packed salad recipes you can prepare. It’s also incredibly satisfying to eat. If you’re interested in exploring other Southeast Asian salad recipes, you might want to try my Vietnamese Chicken Salad recipe – it’s another winner!

Choice of Beef Steak

Any tender cut of beef is suitable for this recipe. While I prefer to use tenderloin in my beef salad, rib-eye, striploin, or sirloin steak would also work well.

If you’re looking for a more robust beef flavor, consider trying this recipe with skirt or hanger steak. Just be sure to grill these cuts properly to avoid a tough texture.

Important tip to remember: Make sure to bring your steak to a room temperature before you begin grilling, about 30-45 minutes. Cooking a cold steak can result in uneven cooking.

Herbs for Thai Beef Salad

To achieve the full flavor and taste of Thai salad, I recommend using a combination of cilantro and mint. You could also add a small amount of Thai basil for an extra layer of fragrant herb flavor.

Personally, I prefer tearing the herbs with my hands instead of slicing them with a knife. I find that this method enhances the flavors and aromas of the herbs. While I can’t explain why this is the case, it seems to make a difference in the taste of the final dish.

Ingredients List

For Beef Steak

• Beef steak: Beef tenderloin is an excellent choice, but sirloin or striploin steak would also work great
• Soy sauce: to season the steak
• Black pepper: aromatic ingredient
• Cucumber: remove the seeds
• Cherry tomatoes: cut in half
• Shallot: replace with red onion if not available
• Herbs: Cilantro and mint

For Salad Dressing

• Fish sauce: seasons and adds umami to the dressing
• Lime juice: adds tanginess and sourness to the salad
• Fresh red chili: adds heat
• Palm sugar: If not available, replace with brown sugar

How to make Thai Beef Salad

• Season your beef steak with soy sauce and pepper. Let it sit for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, slice cucumber in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and cut up.
• Cut tomatoes in half, slice shallot thinly, and tear the herbs.

• Grill your steak over a very hot grill to get the grill marks. Cook to your desired done-ness.
• Let the steak rest for 5 minutes, then slice thinly across the grain.

• If using palm sugar, grate it to collect about 1 tablespoon. If you can’t find palm sugar, substitute with light brown sugar. You need a little bit of extra caramel-like taste that you don’t get with white sugar.
• Squeeze out lime juice and chop fresh red chili. If you don’t want it too spicy, remove the seeds from the chili.

• In a small bowl, mix together the fish sauce, sugar, lime juice and chili. Taste and adjust sweetness, saltiness and tartness according to your taste.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine beef, cucumber, tomatoes, shallot, and herbs. Drizzle about 3 tbsp of dressing and toss together. Taste and add more dressing if needed.

Serving Suggestion

It’s best to serve the Thai beef salad right away. You can chill the leftover in the fridge, and the flavor will get stronger as it chills.