Steak with fennel salad and white cheese spinach sauce

Tips: Cook a juicy steak with fennel salad and white cheese spinach sauce

Learn to prepare a mouth-watering steak with a crisp fennel salad and a rich white cheese spinach sauce. Our tips will help you impress your guests and delight your taste buds.

Selecting the best cut of steak

Choosing the right steak is vital for a standout dish. Cuts like rib-eye, sirloin, or fillet steak are known for their tenderness and marbling, ensuring you get a juicy and tender steak. Look for a steak with consistent marbling and a deep red colour, which are signs of freshness. 

Let the steak rest

Let your steak rest for 1–2 minutes after frying. This helps the steak retain more of its juices. As the meat cools slightly, the juices thicken and are less likely to run out when the steak is cut, keeping it moist and succulent. The texture of the steak also benefits from a rest period, as the muscle fibres relax, making the meat more tender to the bite.

Preferred doneness

For those who enjoy their steak very tender and moist, cooking it to a rare doneness is ideal. This involves searing the steak on each side for just a couple of minutes, achieving an internal temperature of about 52 °C. The centre will remain mostly red and very soft, providing a minimal degree of a cook but maximum moisture.

Medium rare is often touted as the chef-recommended level of doneness for the best balance between flavour and juiciness. Aim for an internal temperature around 57 °C. The steak will have a warm, red centre that is still soft to the touch.

Medium is a great choice for those who prefer their steak a bit more cooked. It results in a pink and firmer centre, with an internal temperature of about 63 °C. While retaining some juiciness, the texture is firmer than medium rare.

Medium well is achieved by cooking the steak until it has just a trace of pink in the centre and reaches an internal temperature of around 66 °C. The steak becomes firmer and less juicy but still offers a bit of softness in the texture.

For a well-done steak, cook it until the inside is browned through, and the internal temperature is 71 °C or higher. This level of doneness results in a firmer or harder texture, and the steak is much less juicy.

No matter your preference, it is a good idea to use a meat thermometer to accurately gauge the steak’s internal temperature and achieve your desired doneness every time.

Try our tasty steak with fennel salad and white cheese spinach sauce

While meat, sauce, salad, and potatoes serve as classic dinner components, our recipe for steak and fennel salad explores fun, new flavour combinations. Go for a savoury steak of your choice and enjoy it with a fresh fennel salad, a smooth green sauce, and oven-baked potatoes cooked to perfection. Surprisingly each component is very quick and easy to make, so you can have a tasteful meal ready in about 30 minutes. Just give it a go!

Juicy meat with crisp oven-roasted potatoes

The steak offers a robust, savoury taste that beautifully complements the crisp fennel salad and rich sauce. It is seared to perfection, ensuring that every bite is juicy and flavourful. The potatoes undergo a two-step cooking process: boiling followed by baking, which renders them irresistibly soft on the inside with a golden, crispy crust on the outside.

We love potatoes because they can be used in so many ways. Try our recipe for spinach potato salad or new potato salad with white cheese. For more indulgent potato dishes, go for a delicious baked sweet potato with chickpeas or loaded sweet potato fries.

With a smooth green sauce and fresh fennel salad

The steak and potatoes are joined by a bright, fresh fennel salad and a white cheese spinach sauce. With its crunchy texture and zesty flavour, the fennel salad adds a fresh touch that helps balance out the savoury meat. Fennel has a liquorice-like taste that brings an element of excitement to an already tasty dish. The smooth green sauce is made from a combination of white cheese, spinach, and almonds, allowing for rich, nutty, and tangy notes. It is drizzled over the juicy steak and adds a stunning final flourish.

Enjoy an extravagant weekend dinner

Invite friends and family over for an extravagant steak dinner. Our recipe for steak with fennel salad, white cheese spinach sauce, and roasted potatoes allows you to savour wonderful flavours and relaxing moments with your loved ones. It is the perfect dish for special occasions or whenever you want to treat yourself to a well-deserved feast.

Get creative with the recipe

Get creative with our recipe by toasting the almonds lightly before blending them with the rest of the ingredients of the sauce. This brings out their nutty notes and adds complexity to the sauce. Consider trying different nuts like cashews and pine nuts. When blended into the sauce, cashews or pine nuts offer a smooth, velvety consistency that is even creamier than that of almonds.

Add texture and sweetness to the fennel salad by mixing in thinly sliced radishes and carrots or even pomegranate seeds for a sweet contrast. You can also try adding some apple or orange slices to the salad to give it a refreshing quality.