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.
I followed the recipe exactly except for the addition of 1/2 large onion and about 5-6 oz. mushrooms – and I used 1/2 large yellow bell pepper instead of a whole red one. It was great and colorful. Served with white rice (made with chicken stock instead of water) and a few chow mein noodles on top for crunch. There is enough meat in this that I think it could serve up to six if you added even more veggies like broccoli and/or sugar snap pea pods – and maybe added an egg roll or two as a side. I’m going to add broccoli to my leftovers (there are just two of us).. Also, I was a bit concerned about the sugar, but I added it as specified in the recipe. The whole thing was wonderful. I did add quite a bit of water when making the sauce, but that was probably due to the fact that I had not turned down the heat on the pan soon enough. This is definitely a keeper! Thanks!
This is very similar to my mom’s recipe only she added sliced onions and more water, no sugar or ginger it’s been a family favorite for 60 years oh served over rice
Excellent, fast and easy. I added sliced onion, doubled the sauce. My protein was Pat LaFreida shaved beef.
Please tell me where I can add notes? Thank you.
Do you think that artichoke hearts would be a good item to add to this recipe? It just came to me while I ate your wonderful dish. I love artichokes and there are not many dishes that call for them what do you think?
This is more of an Asian style dish so I’m not sure if the flavors would go, mushrooms would be a great addition!
Can you do this with chicken?
Yes that should work!
My sauce thickened too much. But it was still tasty. Do you think it was too much cornstarch?
You can add a little beef broth or water to thin it out if you think the sauce is too thick!
Wow this was AMAZING ! I was scared if they soy sauce and sugar but wow it complemented the steak so well .
Sooooo so good . Next time I’m gonna make with
Brocoli and onions. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe
Thank you for this recipe I want step-by-step and my pepper steak came out awesome
Is it OK to use flour instead of corn starch due to a corn allergy? Thanks
I believe that could work, or you could just omit the corn starch and the sauce wil be a little thinner!
This was really good. I chickened out of using that much sugar, and used 1Tb, and I thought the sauce was still delicious and well-balanced. (I also ended up adding an extra 1/4 cup of water, but that may be because I had more vegetables.
Absolutely delicious! Yikes I think I had 3rds. So simple and delicious. Doubled everything and got multiple compliments. Will keep this on hand!
Can I use Asian zing sauce chili pepper soy and ginger. For this recipe
I’m not familiar with this sauce but it sounds like it could work!
Great recipe, thank you!
Best pepper steak recipe ever. I used dry ginger and didn’t measure. Just dumped it in. Added a bit more garlic and also purple onion. Used venison. It was wonderful
Didn’t change a thing. Yum!!!!
This is absolutely delicious. Quick and easy.
Made this and it was very good!
Very good! The only change I made was to add some onion & celery pieces. I think it would be good with sugar snap peas as well. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
In 2018 we lost our house and town to a fire. This is very similar to a recipe that I used to make. I am so excited to have this recipe again. I don’t remember any sugar in my recipe, but I will give it a try. I have also added toasted sesame seeds and sliced mushrooms along with onion if I have them on hand. My son has a birthday in a couple of weeks and he has been asking for this recipe, so I think I will surprise him with this for his birthday dinner this year! Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂
I love anything pepper and onion combination, so of course I add equal parts peppers and onions.
I used tender ribeye steak, it worked just as well because I had to double my cooking measurements. This was quick and easy and very delicious.
My husbands favorite restaurant meal. So since I’m off for the holiday decided to make this treat him. He thought it was take out. Awesome recipe!
I couldn’t find flank steak so I used “sizzle steak” instead. I “chuncked” the peppers instead of slicing in order to have the tender, crisp texture. I also added “chunked” onions and left the rest of the recipe the same. It was wonderful! This recipe is definitely a keeper! I served it over white rice, it’s delicious!