Bistec Encebollado Salvadoreño (Steak and Onions)

Bistec Encebollado Salvadoreño — savory steak and onions bursting with deep, bold flavor. Easy to prepare with just a few basic ingredients, it’s always a hit!

I met the lovely Alicia Maher, author of Delicious El Salvador and Sabores Deliciosos, at a cookbook signing at Melissa’s Produce.

Alicia demonstrated how to make one of her favorite recipes in Delicious El Salvador, Bistec Encebollado (p. 112), an amazing Salvadoran meat recipe that she cooks regularly. During the demo, I decided that’s what I’d be making for dinner that night — and I’ve been making it ever since.

It was the onions that really lured me in. My mom would have loved this dish, and wouldn’t have even had to say “double the onions, please.” 🙂

Big flavor with minimal work — that’s what this steak and onions recipe is, which makes it great for busier nights, and impressive for a weekend dinner party.

About the Ingredients

Part of the simplicity of the recipe is that it only has essentially four ingredients.

• mustard – I use Dijon, though Alicia’s recipe calls for ‘yellow.’ Both work well!
• onions – I like a thick slice for this recipe!
• Worcestershire sauce – Worcestershire is available in almost any market. Substitution: Worcestershire can be substituted with soy sauce of tamari.
• top sirloin steak – The less fat, the less you’ll have to trim. You can use any very tender cut on meat, if not sirloin.

How to Make Bistec Encebollado Salvadoreño

– Trim any excess fat from the steaks and pound it until it’s vert thin. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper, rub with the mustard, place in a shallow dish, and add the  sliced onions on top. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.


– In a large skillet, heat the oil over a high flame, and when it’s very hot, add them to the skillet. Cook on each side for about 1 minute, turning once, until golden brown. Remove the meat from the skillet and set aside in a serving dish. 


– Reduce the flame to medium, and in the same skillet, cook the onions until golden. Reducing the flame to low, add Worcestershire sauce and cook the onions for about another 20 seconds. Spoon this directly over the steaks.

(More detailed instructions are below.)

More About Alicia Maher

Alicia was born and raised in El Salvador. It’s her mission to “preserve, rescue and document authentic Salvadoran recipes for her children, future generations, and food lovers everywhere.”

Alicia was also a contributor to The Immigrant Cookbook, representing the millions of Salvadoran immigrants living in the US.

I’ve always loved Salvadoran food, so I was super excited about this event. I asked Alicia if she has Salvadoran restaurants she would recommend. Without skipping a beat, she said, “in my kitchen, at home.” And fittingly, Delicious El Salvador is a guide to authentic Salvadoran home cooking.

There are 75 recipes in Delicious El Salvador and there are gorgeous photographs of each one, most of which were taken on location, in San Salvador.

More Must-Try Steak Recipes

I hope you try this Bistec Encebollado recipe, and love it as much and my family and I did!

Bistec Encebollado Salvadoreño (Steak and Onions Recipe)

Valentina K. Wein

Bistec Encebollado Salvadoreño — savory steak and onions bursting with deep, bold flavor. Easy to prepare with just a few basic ingredients, it’s always a hit!

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Marinating Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 27 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Salvadoran

Servings 4 to 6

Calories 353 kcal

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• 2 pounds top sirloin steak (or any other tender cut you prefer), sliced into 6 equal portions
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup Dijon mustard
• 1 cup onion, thickly sliced rings, about ½-inch-thick
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Optional Accompaniments

• 2 to 3 large tomatoes, cut into about 12 slices, about ¼-inch-thick
• 2 handfuls butter lettuce or sprigs of watercress (or greens of your choice)

Instructions 

• Prep steak and marinate. Trim any excess fat from the edges and pound the steaks with a meat mallet, to about ¼ inch thick. Season with the salt and pepper, rub with the mustard, place in a shallow dish, and add the  sliced onions on top. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

• Sauté steak. In a large skillet, heat the oil over a high flame until it’s almost smoking. Add the steaks to the skillet. Cook on each side for about 1 minute, turning once, until golden brown. Remove the meat from the skillet and set aside in a serving dish.

• Sauteé onions. Reduce the flame to medium high, and in the same skillet with the oil remaining from cooking the steaks, fry the onions until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Reducing the flame to low, add the Worcestershire sauce and cook the onions for about another 20 seconds. Remove skillet from the stove.

• Assemble and serve. Top the steaks immediately with the onions and pan juices, then garnish before serving with the sliced tomatoes and greens of your choice.

NOTES

Nutritional information is automatically calculated, so it should only be used as an estimate.

NUTRITION

Calories: 353kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 53g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 134mg | Sodium: 1278mg | Potassium: 1268mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 795IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 107mg | Iron: 5mg

Keywords steak dinner recipes, easy steak dinner

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