Kansas City Steak & Spinach Salad

This steak salad is all Kansas City swagger: a thick-cut steak marinated in soy sauce, red wine vinegar, and garlic, broiled to your liking, then sliced thin and tossed over a bed of fresh spinach with mushrooms and orange sections.

The soy-garlic marinade does double duty. Part of it flavors the steak during a 30-minute soak, and the rest gets blended with oil and oregano to become the salad dressing. Same flavor profile on the meat and the greens ties the whole bowl together.

Orange sections are the surprise here. Their bright, juicy sweetness plays against the savory steak and earthy spinach in a way that makes every forkful interesting. It’s a combination that screams steakhouse confidence.

Slice the broiled steak thin across the grain while it’s still warm. Warm steak on cool spinach wilts the leaves just slightly, creating that half-warm, half-cool contrast that makes composed salads feel like a real meal.

Pro Tips

• Use the plastic bag method for marinating. Pressing the air out ensures every surface of the steak stays in contact with the marinade.
• Broil 4 minutes per side for rare. Add 1-2 minutes per side for medium-rare to medium. This steak should be sliced thin, so don’t overcook it.
• Slice against the grain. This is a must for tenderness, especially with a leaner boneless cut.
• Toss the dressing with the spinach right before adding the steak and oranges. Overdressed spinach wilts and goes limp fast.

Variations

• Swap spinach for arugula for a more peppery, assertive green base.
• Add sliced red onion and crumbled blue cheese for a steakhouse-style loaded salad.
• Use grapefruit sections instead of oranges for a more tart, bitter citrus contrast.