My husband is one of the least picky, most gracious eaters I know, but he’s truly a meat and potatoes guy. He’ll eat a lettuce salad if that’s what I fix, but I’m no dummy. To make it appealing, and to make it dinner, it needs to be big and it needs to have a lot of flavor, texture, and… meat.
How to build a dinner salad.
We break out the big bowls for this one! A true meal-in-a-bowl, I serve it with fresh fruit of some sort and call it the “light” meal of the week… or month. 
Grilled Steak Salad
1. Any combination or amount of greens – we like green leaf lettuce or romaine, and spinach
2. Other fresh, chopped veggies – carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, tomatoes
3. Chopped meat – we like grilled steak or chicken (bacon is tasty, too)
4. Other protein – hard boiled eggs or beans, shredded or cubed cheese
5. Crunch – homemade croutons, sunflower seeds
6. Dressing – it’s almost always homemade ranch at our house
This is what goes over well at our house, with my husband and children. As for me… I go crazy over a spinach, craisins, feta cheese combo topped with a vinaigrette. I know better than to try to serve that to my family, though.
Do you make any main dish salads? What’s your favorite combination?
THAT looks delicious! Thanks for sharing!
My family loves Grilled Steak Salad too
Yours looks and sounds delicious!
Oh, yum! I bet my hubby would even like this, and he isn’t much for salads but this has steak!
You can barely see the lettuce in your picture. My hubs would be all about that kind of salad:)
I know! I thought that when I took the photo. Rest assured there are at least 4 cups of lettuce/spinach under there.
My husband loves a big salad for dinner, and according to him, there’s nothing better than drizzing BBQ sauce along with ranch dressing (an idea courtesy of the Grilled BBQ Chicken Salad from Chili’s).
Oooo, I’ll have to try that sometime! Yum!
I like the combo you mentioned for your husband and family, but I also love the combo you mentioned that you personally enjoy.
That’s my favorite salad!! I eat it for lunch most days. My family won’t eat it for dinner though. Oh well…
We eat main dish salads at least a few times a week. Sometimes they’re meatless. Other times we grill chicken…and toss it on top…with tomatoes + blue cheese dressing. Perfect!
What kind of steak do you use? I am a huge fan of rib eye or porterhouse but that seems a bit expensive for a salad. I so need to figure out the roasts too!
We by a 1/4 or 1/2 of a steer at a time, so we have several different steak options. I’ve used sirloin, ribeye, t-bone, and even filets. Just whatever we have leftover from grilling night.
Ha! My husband loves steak. And I am cheap so we never have leftovers!
Thank you. I will keep in mind.