This pepper steak stir fry is thinly sliced flank steak cooked with red and green bell peppers in a savory sauce. A quick and easy meal that tastes even better than take out!
I always order pepper steak at my local Chinese restaurant, it’s one of my favorite dishes. This homemade version is ready in minutes and has that same great restaurant flavor.
There’s nothing better than a delicious Asian dish that’s not only easy to make, but also better than takeout. This pepper steak stir fry is a restaurant quality meal made in the comfort of your own home!
HOW DO YOU MAKE PEPPER STEAK STIR FRY?
This dish is a combination of sauteed bell peppers, browned steak and a savory sauce. The recipe starts by cooking the sliced peppers until tender. The next step is to add the thinly sliced flank steak into the pan. The finishing touch is the 2 minute sauce which gets poured over the meat and vegetables and then simmered until thickened. Add a bowl of steamed rice and dinner is ready!
I used red and green bell peppers in my Chinese pepper steak because that’s what I had on hand. However, any color of bell pepper is perfectly fine. Some bell peppers are sweeter than others. Red, yellow and orange peppers are typically sweeter than green peppers. Some pepper steak recipes call for tomatoes or onions, feel free to add those into the mix if you like.
To make your steak easier to slice, you can place it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Partially freezing the meat firms it up and makes it easier to get super thin slices. I typically use flank steak for this recipe as it’s readily available and super flavorful. However, sirloin goes great in place of the flank steak, if it’s preferred or if you have easier access to it.
WHAT KIND OF MEAT IS PEPPER STEAK?
Pepper steak isn’t an actual type of meat. The title can make it appear to be a specific type of steak but it’s just the name of the dish because it contains peppers and steak. The steak often used in pepper steak dishes is flank, sirloin, or round steak.
CAN THE STEAK BE COOKED IN THE OVEN?
If you would like to cook the steak in the oven, that’s perfectly fine to do, although you won’t get that seared brown crust. Simply make sure you don’t leave the meat in the oven for too long so that it dries out and becomes tough. You can place your steak in an oven proof pan and bake it for up to 15 minutes, depending on how well-done you like your steak. Be sure to stir it halfway through the cook time.
My family and I absolutely love a good stir fry. It’s so much nicer to make this steak stir fry at home rather than having to get everyone together to go out and eat. We like serving it over rice or sometimes eating it by itself. Either way, it’s delicious.
OTHER BEEF RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
- Steak Bites with Garlic Butter
- Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak
- Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
- Soy Marinated Flank Steak
- Philly Cheesesteak Pasta
Pepper Steak Stir Fry Video
Pepper Steak Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil divided use
- 1 red bell pepper cored, seeded and cut into strips
- 1 green bell pepper cored, seeded and cut into strips
- 1 1/4 pounds flank steak thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Heat 1 teaspoon of the vegetable oil over medium high heat in a large pan.
- Add the peppers and cook for 3-4 minutes or until just tender. Remove the peppers from the pan and place on a plate.
- Add the remaining oil to the pan. Season the flank steak with salt and pepper to taste.
- Increase heat to high. Add the steak to the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Add the garlic and ginger, then cook for 30 seconds.
- Place the peppers back in the pan with the steak.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sugar, 1/4 cup water and cornstarch.
- Pour the sauce over the steak mixture and bring to a simmer. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until sauce has just thickened, then serve.
Hi, I made your pepper steak recipe and it was amazing!! I followed the recipe exactly and it was so delicious. I think I’ll be making this for a long time to come. thank you for what you do!
Amazing!!! Thank you for this recipe!
Excellent flavor! In the future, I will add extra liquid for a smoother sauce.
Delicious! Only thing I did different was add about a tablespoon of honey and a dash of red pepper flakes.
This was really tasty! Will definitely go in regular rotation.
Made this last night and it truly is restaurant quality and BETTER THAN TAKEOUT! So quick to whip up with microwavable jasmine rice. We used shaved ribeye since that’s what we had on hand. I also added sliced onions, a tablespoon of hoisin sauce and a teeny bit of sriracha. Garnished with chives (would have used green onion if I had) and sesame seeds. When I tell you we went to bed talking about it, you know it’s good! Pro tip: If you need your meat to “stew” a bit more in the sauce, keep adding water to it to slow down the simmer process until you’re happy with the doneness and sauce consistency. I found that it needed about a 1/2 cup more of water.
I’m a fairly new-ish cook, enJOYing cooking for myself now @ 72 and found your recipe for peppers, onions and steak. Thanks! It’s delicious and this glaze can be used in so many ways. It’s now a staple in my recipe book…do we even have recipe ‘books’ anymore? Ha! Pinterest board’s more like it ((^)^))
I made this using chicken. It was excellent!!
I made this using leftover steak & it was still great! I just modified it slightly for cooking time. Worked great 😊
The sauce was a pretty thick (and I put 1/2 T. less of cornstarch because I doubled the sauce), but the steak and peppers were otherwise enjoyable!
Delicious!! Followed the recipe almost exactly, except, I doubled all the ingredients and quadrupled the sauce. Even my picky 26-year-old son loved it! Will definitely be making this recipe again. Thanks for sharing.
Excellent! Very easy to make and quick to get on the table.
Household favorite and most requested. I switched from flank to skirt steak. Made it with both and prefer the skirt steak.
This pepper steak recipe simply put is restaurant quality. I double the sauce and my family loves it😋 It’s an easy recipe, but to make it quickly, I substitute frozen peppers, garlic powder, and ginger spice. Thanks for posting ‼️