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Steak Potato Salad is what happens when a steakhouse dinner and a cookout side dish join forces, blackened flank steak, grilled fingerling potatoes, charred corn, and tangy bleu cheese in one bowl, and when I served it at our Fourth of July cookout it outshone everything else on the grill. If you love the classic version, our classic potato salad is the creamy tradition this recipe grew up from.
Everything gets grilled, chilled, and tossed in bleu cheese dressing, so you can make the whole bowl ahead and just serve.
Steak Potato Salad Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 1 hour
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 45 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 10 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 214kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Smoky blackened steak with tangy bleu cheese and sweet charred corn
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy grilling skills needed, similar to our grilled vegetable skewers
Quick Answer
Boil fingerling potatoes until just done, then grill them alongside a blackening seasoned flank steak and an ear of corn. Chill everything for about 2 hours, slice the steak thin, cut the corn off the cob, and toss with tomatoes, scallions, bleu cheese crumbles, and enough bleu cheese dressing to coat.
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Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Boil first, then grill. Parboiling cooks the potatoes through so the grill only has to add char and smoke, you get creamy centers with crispy grill marked edges.
- Blackening seasoning on the steak. The spice crust chars into a bold, smoky bark on the grill that stands up to the rich bleu cheese instead of disappearing behind it.
- Chilling before assembly. Two hours in the refrigerator firms the steak for clean thin slices and keeps the dressing from melting into an oily mess on warm ingredients.
- Slicing the flank on a bias. Cutting across the grain at an angle shortens the muscle fibers, turning a chewy cut into tender ribbons.
- Bleu cheese two ways. Crumbles give you pockets of sharp tang while the dressing carries the flavor into every corner of the bowl.
- Seeding the tomatoes. Removing the watery seeds keeps the salad creamy instead of diluted as it sits.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It eats like a steakhouse dinner but serves like a cookout side, one bowl feeds ten people something they will actually talk about.
- It is entirely make ahead, grill and chill everything the night before, then toss and serve while the beer can chicken finishes on the grill.
- The black and bleu combo, smoky blackened steak plus tangy bleu cheese, turns basic potato salad into the best thing on the table.
Key Ingredients
This salad is built from steakhouse flavors, and each ingredient plays a specific role.
- Flank Steak: Lean, beefy, and made for high heat grilling. Sliced thin on a bias, a half pound stretches across the whole salad so every scoop gets steak.
- Blackening Seasoning: The black in black and bleu. That peppery, smoky crust on the steak is what separates this from every other potato salad at the table.
- Fingerling Potatoes: They hold their shape after boiling and grilling, and their creamy centers soak up the bleu cheese dressing without turning to mush.
- Bleu Cheese: Crumbles in the salad and dressing as the coating. The tangy funk against the smoky steak is the whole steakhouse experience in one bite.
- Charred Corn: Grilled until spotty and sweet, it adds pops of flavor and a little crunch to balance the creamy dressing.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
This bowl takes substitutions like a champ, build it around what your crowd loves.
- Different steak cuts: Skirt steak, sirloin, or leftover grilled ribeye all work, just slice thin against the grain.
- Ranch swap: Not a bleu cheese crowd? Use ranch dressing and swap the crumbles for shredded cheddar and crispy bacon.
- Add greens: Fold in chopped romaine or arugula right before serving to stretch it into a full dinner salad.
- Wedge salad energy: Love this flavor profile in lettuce form? Our wedge salad is the classic steakhouse version.
- Spicy kick: Add a minced jalapeno and a dash of hot sauce to the dressing for heat that plays off the sweet corn.
How to Make Steak Potato Salad
- Wash the potatoes and place them in a large stockpot. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil, and cook until just done, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain, cool until you can handle them, and cut in half lengthwise.
- Season the flank steak all over with the blackening seasoning and set aside while the grill heats.
- Right before grilling, toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Grill over high heat, turning to get grill marks on the cut sides, then set aside to cool completely.
- Grill the flank steak to your desired doneness, cooking the corn at the same time until charred on all sides. Set both aside to cool completely.
- Refrigerate the potatoes, steak, and corn until fully cold, about 2 hours.
- Slice the steak thinly on a bias, cut the corn kernels off the cob, seed and chunk the tomatoes, and thinly slice the scallions.
- Combine the potatoes, steak, corn, tomatoes, scallions, and bleu cheese crumbles in a large bowl. Add bleu cheese dressing to coat, taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Pull the potatoes at just done. They should give to a knife with slight resistance, they finish on the grill and overboiled potatoes fall apart in the salad.
- Get the grill screaming hot for the steak. Blackening seasoning is built for hard, fast sear, low heat just steams the spices.
- Do not skip the 2 hour chill. Cold steak slices cleaner, cold potatoes hold together, and the dressing clings instead of sliding off.
- Slice the steak against the grain on an angle, flank steak goes from chewy to tender based on this cut alone.
- Dress just before serving if you are making it far ahead, the salad stays freshest when the dressing goes on within a few hours.
- Taste before adding salt. Between the blackening seasoning and the bleu cheese, this salad often needs less than you think.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
This is cookout royalty, serve it alongside our beer can chicken or a rack of ribs and it will still be the thing people remember.
For a full grill out spread, add our sticky grilled chicken wings and a platter of grilled shrimp skewers, everything cooks on the same fire.
Round out the vegetable side of the table with grilled vegetable skewers, their char matches the blackened steak beautifully.
Leftovers keep covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and honestly make the best cold lunch straight from the bowl.
Steak Potato Salad FAQs
Flank steak is the best cut for Steak Potato Salad because it grills fast, slices into thin tender ribbons, and stands up to bold seasoning. Skirt steak and sirloin are great substitutes, and leftover grilled ribeye or strip steak work beautifully if you have them on hand.
Yes, Steak Potato Salad is built for making ahead. Grill the potatoes, steak, and corn up to a day in advance and refrigerate them, then slice, assemble, and dress within a few hours of serving. The mandatory 2 hour chill is already part of the recipe, so you are halfway to make ahead anyway.
Bleu cheese dressing is the classic choice for this black and bleu style Steak Potato Salad, it echoes the crumbles and cools the peppery blackened steak. If bleu cheese is too strong for your crowd, ranch or a creamy horseradish dressing are both excellent swaps.
Dressed Steak Potato Salad keeps covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The flavors actually improve on day two as the dressing soaks into the grilled potatoes. Do not leave it out longer than 2 hours at a cookout since the creamy dressing is perishable.
Absolutely. Sear the blackened flank steak in a screaming hot cast iron skillet, roast the oiled potatoes cut side down at 450 degrees until browned, and char the corn under the broiler. The Steak Potato Salad loses a little smoke but keeps all its char and flavor.
Fingerling potatoes are ideal for Steak Potato Salad because their waxy texture holds together through boiling and grilling. Baby Yukon golds or small red potatoes halved the same way are perfect substitutes, avoid russets, which crumble when tossed with dressing.
Building the whole cookout menu? Our sticky grilled chicken wings belong right next to this bowl.
Steak Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 3 pounds fingerling potatoes
- 1/2 pound flank steak
- 1 Tablespoon blackening seasoning
- 1 ear of corn husk and silk removed
- 2 large steakhouse tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 Cup scallions
- 4 ounces bleu cheese crumbles
- Bleu Cheese Dressing
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash potatoes and place in a large stockpot. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil and let cook until just done, about 15-20 minutes. Drain, allow to cool to the touch. Cut in half lengthwise. Set aside.3 pounds fingerling potatoes
- Season steak with blackening seasoning. Set aside.3 pounds fingerling potatoes
- Prepare grill. Right before grilling the potatoes, toss them in the olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. Grill over high heat, turning to achieve grill marks. Take off the grill, set aside and allow to cool completely.3 pounds fingerling potatoes
- Grill flank to the desired doneness. Cook corn at the same time, allowing to get charred on all sides. Take off the grill, set aside and allow to cool completely.3 pounds fingerling potatoes
- Place potatoes, steak, and corn in the refrigerator until cold, about 2 hours.3 pounds fingerling potatoes
- Cut steak thinly on a bias. Cut corn off the cob. Seed tomato and cut into large chunks. Thinly slice scallions.3 pounds fingerling potatoes
- Add the potatoes, steak, corn, tomatoes, scallions and bleu cheese crumbles to a large bowl. Add Bleu Cheese Dressing to coat, taste, adjust seasoning if needed. Serve and enjoy!3 pounds fingerling potatoes
Nutrition
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oh, I like the idea of adding cold salad dressing vs. the warm stuff!
Sounds good to me, yum!
This looks so yummy… maybe a salad I could make in a mason jar for on the go? Thanks for the recipe!