You know those recipes that take roughly 30 minutes but taste like you spent HOURS cooking up a storm? Welp, this Rice Noodle Salad with Steak is exactly that and it's freaking delicious!
Between the subtle heat from the dressing, those addictive cucumbers, the perfect marinated and cooked steak and the noodles... this is perfection. It's a recipe for any weeknight when you need dinner on the table in a flash! I've been eyeing it over on Bon App for the better part of a year and finally got around to making it last month and OMG it's everything! And it would work with any other kind of protein... chicken, fish, salmon, you name it! Just give it a quick marinade and then cook to perfection and toss it into the noodles and slurp away!
Rice Noodle Salad with Steak
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- 1 jalapeño pepper super finely diced
- 4 garlic clove roughly chopped
- Kosher salt
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice plus more as needed
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
For the Noodles + Steak
- ½ lb. skirt steak
- 6 oz. wide rice noodles
- ½ small head Napa cabbage coarsely chopped
- 2 mini seedless cucumbers thinly sliced
- ½ cup finely chopped mint plus more leaves for serving
- ½ cup finely chopped roasted salted peanuts, plus more for serving
Instructions
For the Dressing
- Add the jalapeño, garlic, salt, lime juice, soy sauce, honey, and 1 tablespoon oil to a bowl and stir to dissolve honey.
For the Noodles + Steak
- Place the steak in a medium bowl and add 3 tablespoons of the dressing to the steak. Reserve remaining dressing and set aside. Let the steak marinate, turning every few minutes for at least 20 minutes, up to 1 hour.
- While the steak is marinating, bring a pot of water to a boil. Remove from heat, add noodles, and cover. Let sit, stirring every minute to keep from sticking, until noodles are al dente, 5–8 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Drain well and set aside.
- Combine cabbage and cucumbers in a large bowl; season lightly with salt. Massage with your hands to release excess water. Drain off any water that pools in bottom of bowl.
- Pat steak dry and season with salt. Heat remaining oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high. Add steak and cook, turning once, until browned all over, about 5-6 minutes per side for medium. Let rest 5 minutes before cutting into semi-thin slices against the grain.
- Add cabbage mixture, noodles, steak, ½ cup mint, and ½ cup peanuts to bowl with reserved dressing. Toss to combine; taste and season with salt if needed. Top with more mint and peanuts before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Photo by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit
We’ve made this 5 or 6 times now. I really like the flavor and the freshness, but the steak is always tough for some reason. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I’ve used the same cut of steak in a similar marinade before and that one turns out great every time. The main difference is that marinade has rice wine vinegar and you only marinate it for 10 minutes before grilling. For yours, we marinate for the full hour before grilling. Do you think that’s what’s making it tough? Or maybe it needs more acid? Should I use more dressing to marinate? I really want to figure out what I’m doing wrong! The steak was almost inedible tonight.