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Kangaroo and Macadamia Salad
Kangaroo and macadamia salad is fresh, rich, and just a little bit fancy without trying too hard. Tender grilled kangaroo is paired with soft butterleaf lettuce, salty Pecorino, buttery macadamias, and a smoked honey mustard dressing that brings everything together. It’s exactly the sort of salad I want as Brisbane starts pretending spring has arrived.
Kangaroo and Macadamia Salad
My kangaroo and macadamia salad is fresh, filling and packed with Australian flavour, with tender grilled kangaroo, crisp lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, pecorino and roasted macadamias. A honey mustard dressing brings everything together with just the right balance of sweetness and tang. I love this easy kangaroo salad for lunch or dinner because it feels light but still substantial, with plenty of texture and bold flavour in every bite.
Ingredients
Kangaroo
- 400g kangaroo steaks
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Salad
- 60g oak leaf or butter leaf lettuce, rinsed and dried
- 200g perino tomatoes, halved
- 1 Lebanese cucumber, finely sliced
- 1 small red onion, finely sliced
- 25g Pecorino, crumbled
- 50-60g roasted macadamias
Dressing
- 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp honey mustard
- 2 tsp honey
Instructions
- Coat the kangaroo steaks in olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
- Heat a griddle pan over medium-high heat. Cook the kangaroo steaks for 2-3 minutes per side, or until cooked to medium-rare. Remove from the heat and allow to rest while you prepare the salad.
- Pile the lettuce into a large salad bowl and top with the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, Pecorino, and macadamias.
- Whisk or blitz the dressing ingredients together until thick and creamy.
- Thinly slice the rested kangaroo and lay it over the prepared salad. Drizzle over the dressing and serve immediately while the kangaroo is still warm.
Notes
- Kangaroo is one of Australia's great underutilised proteins. It's lean, sustainable, and has a rich, slightly gamey flavour that sits somewhere between beef and venison. If you've never cooked it before, this salad is a brilliant place to start.
- Kangaroo is very lean, which means it overcooks quickly. Medium-rare is the sweet spot. The meat should still be pink and juicy in the centre. Well-done kangaroo is dry and loses all its flavour.
- Resting the steaks after cooking is non-negotiable. It allows the juices to redistribute through the meat, which makes a significant difference to how tender and juicy it is when you slice it.
- I use this cast iron griddle pan for kangaroo steaks. It gets screaming hot and gives you beautiful char marks without overcooking the lean meat.
- Slicing the kangaroo finely and laying it over the salad while it's still warm is what makes this a warm salad rather than just a steak salad. The warmth slightly wilts the lettuce and softens the onion just enough.
- Oak leaf or butter lettuce are both soft, delicate varieties that work beautifully here. A robust lettuce like cos or iceberg would be too crunchy and compete with the kangaroo.
- Macadamias add a buttery richness and crunch that's a natural pairing with kangaroo. Use roasted and lightly salted ones for the best flavour.
- The honey mustard dressing is thick, creamy, and slightly sweet, which works beautifully against the richness of the kangaroo and the saltiness of the Pecorino.
- Blitzing the dressing in a small jug with a stick blender rather than just whisking gives you a thicker, more emulsified result that clings to the salad leaves beautifully.
- This salad is best eaten immediately while the kangaroo is still warm. Not suitable for storing or reheating.
What I Cook With
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Serve this with
- Serve with my Crispy Lemon Thyme Roasted Potatoes for a more substantial meal. The bright lemon and herbs work beautifully with the grilled kangaroo, creamy Pecorino and smoky honey mustard dressing.
- Add my Garlic Bread on the side for something simple and satisfying. The crisp, buttery bread works well with the juicy tomatoes and cucumber while letting the kangaroo and macadamias remain the focus.
- Pair with grilled asparagus with lemon and sea salt for an extra vegetable side. Its slight char complements the grilled kangaroo, while the lemon keeps everything fresh against the rich macadamias and cheese.
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Kangaroo Is Back on the Menu
Winter is apparently over in Brisbane, even though technically there are still a few days left. The temperature has already started creeping back into the mid twenties, and one of the star jasmine plants on my balcony has finally decided to blossom. Just one of them, mind you. The others are apparently still considering whether spring is worth the effort. Still, the warmer days have definitely shifted what I feel like eating, and suddenly salads are back on the menu whether I’m emotionally ready for Brisbane’s endless summer or not.
Kangaroo felt like the perfect place to start. I used to eat it all the time many years ago, both at restaurants and at home, then I moved to the UK and venison quietly took its place. When I came back to Australia, I remembered kangaroo existed, cooked it once, and then somehow forgot about it again. Which is ridiculous because I genuinely love it. When it’s prepared properly and never cooked beyond medium rare, it has such a beautiful, rich flavour. It reminds me a little of venison, actually, and the two can work quite happily in many of the same recipes.
So this salad is my little seasonal reset. The majority of you are heading into autumn while I’m looking at increasingly sunny Brisbane afternoons and thinking about lighter dinners. I do miss proper autumn though. Scotland especially, with all those colours, and Adelaide and Sydney too, where the seasons at least make some sort of effort. Brisbane’s forever summer may suit some people, but it makes craving big wintery meals slightly harder to justify. For now, I’m leaning into salads, good produce, and the occasional kangaroo steak while the jasmine does its best to convince me spring has arrived.
Letting the Kangaroo Do the Talking
I originally thought about making this salad much louder. Bigger flavours, sharper leaves, goat’s cheese, perhaps something sweeter roasted alongside the kangaroo. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted the meat itself to be the thing you noticed first. Kangaroo has enough character without being buried under everything else, so I kept the rest of the salad deliberately simple and let the ingredients support it instead of competing for attention.
That’s why I used butterleaf rather than rocket. I love rocket, but it has a peppery bite that can easily become the dominant flavour in a salad. Butterleaf is softer and gentler, which gives the kangaroo more room to shine. I also went with Pecorino rather than goat’s cheese. Goat’s cheese would absolutely work, but it brings a creamy tang that changes the whole mood of the plate. Pecorino gives you salt and richness without making the salad feel too heavy, and the macadamias add the crunch I always need in a proper salad.
Then there’s the smoked honey mustard dressing, which came about because I found a jar at my local deli and obviously couldn’t leave it there. It has this lovely smoky sweetness that works beautifully with the kangaroo without taking over. If you can’t find smoked honey mustard, normal honey mustard will still be delicious, so don’t make life difficult for yourself hunting down one specific ingredient. The whole point is balance. Tender kangaroo, soft leaves, salty cheese, buttery macadamias, and enough sweetness and acidity in the dressing to pull everything together. Nothing fussy, nothing overworked, just a really good salad that happens to feel a little bit special.
One Last Brisbane Date, Apparently
I also have a date tomorrow. Yes, I know. I very recently declared that I was done with dating until I move to Sydney, and yet here we are. In my defence, he slid into my DMs rather than appearing through an app, he’s cute, and he’s been genuinely sweet in our conversations so far. So I figured I’d see how it goes rather than overthink it. That said, this really is the final date before Sydney. Famous last words, perhaps, but I’m sticking with them for now.
The move itself is becoming more exciting the more Mum, my little sister, and I talk about it. Mum is getting her plans together, and I’ll follow once my own ducks are lined up. My sister was born in Sydney, although we left when she was about eighteen months old, so she’s excited to properly get to know the city that should’ve been home. I haven’t lived there for around fourteen years either, and I know it’s changed enormously, but every time one of those “what’s on in Sydney” videos appears on TikTok, I get immediate FOMO.
For now, though, Brisbane is home, and I’m trying to enjoy what’s good about being here while I have it. Warm afternoons, my balcony slowly waking up for spring, Mum and my sister nearby, Lulu ruling the flat, and plenty of time in the kitchen. This kangaroo and macadamia salad feels very much like where I am right now. Australian, fresh, uncomplicated, and slightly nostalgic at the same time. Maybe tomorrow’s date will be lovely, maybe it’ll become another story for the blog, who knows. Either way, dinner is sorted, Sydney is waiting somewhere ahead, and I’m quite happy letting things unfold at their own pace.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know when kangaroo is cooked to medium-rare? Two to three minutes per side on a properly hot griddle pan will get you there for a standard steak thickness. Press the meat and it should have a little give but some resistance. Fully firm means overcooked, and overcooked kangaroo is dry and loses the rich, slightly gamey flavour that makes it worth eating. It should still be pink and juicy in the centre when you slice it.
I’ve never cooked kangaroo before. Is it difficult? No, and this salad is a brilliant place to start. The main thing to understand is that kangaroo is extremely lean, which means it overcooks faster than beef. Keep the heat high, keep the cook time short, rest it properly, and slice it finely. Those four things are all you need.
Why does the dressing need to be blitzed rather than just whisked? Blitzing with a stick blender in a narrow jug properly emulsifies the oil, vinegar, honey, and mustard into a thick, creamy dressing that clings to the salad leaves rather than pooling at the bottom of the bowl. Whisking gets you partway there but the blitzed version has a noticeably better texture and coating quality.
Ingredient breakdown
Kangaroo steaks
One of Australia’s great underutilised proteins. Lean, sustainable, and with a rich, slightly gamey flavour that sits somewhere between beef and venison. The leanness is both its strength and the thing that requires the most attention when cooking it, because it overcooks quickly and dry, well-done kangaroo is a very different and considerably less enjoyable thing than medium-rare. Season it, let it rest for ten minutes before cooking, give it two to three minutes per side on a screaming hot griddle, and rest it again before slicing. That rest after cooking is non-negotiable because the juices need time to redistribute through the meat before you cut into it.
Olive oil
A thin coating over the steaks before they go on the griddle, which helps the seasoning adhere and promotes an even sear without the lean meat sticking to the hot surface.
Oak leaf or butter lettuce
Soft, delicate varieties that suit a warm salad where the heat of the kangaroo will wilt them very slightly as it sits on top. A robust lettuce like cos or iceberg would be too crunchy and structural, competing with the kangaroo rather than complementing it. Rinse and dry the leaves thoroughly before building the salad so the dressing coats them properly rather than sliding off wet surfaces.
Perino tomatoes
Small, sweet tomatoes that are a step up from standard cherry tomatoes in terms of flavour intensity. Halved and scattered through the salad where they add sweetness and acidity that cuts through the richness of the kangaroo and macadamias.
Lebanese cucumber
Finely sliced rather than diced, which gives it a delicate presence in the salad rather than making it the dominant textural element. Lebanese cucumber has a thin skin and almost no seeds, which makes it better suited to a composed salad like this than a thicker-skinned variety.
Red onion
Finely sliced and added raw, which provides a sharp, slightly pungent contrast to the sweet dressing and rich kangaroo. The warmth of the sliced meat sitting on top softens it very slightly before serving, which takes the edge off without losing the flavour.
Pecorino
Crumbled over the salad rather than grated, which gives you irregular pieces that distribute through the leaves and add pops of salty, sharp flavour at different points throughout the bowl. Pecorino suits the slightly gamey kangaroo much better than a milder cheese would.
Roasted macadamias
Roasted and lightly salted for the best flavour, adding a buttery richness and satisfying crunch that is a genuinely natural pairing with kangaroo. Macadamias are one of Australia’s great native ingredients and their richness balances the leanness of the meat beautifully.
Extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey mustard, and honey
The four ingredients of the dressing, blitzed together until thick and creamy rather than just whisked. The olive oil provides richness and body, the apple cider vinegar adds a clean, fruity acidity, the honey mustard emulsifies everything and adds a savoury, slightly sharp depth, and the honey balances the vinegar and rounds the whole thing out. Drizzle it over just before serving so the leaves don’t wilt before the dish reaches the table.
