This Pepper Steak Recipe is delicious and easy to make! Now, I’ve had Pepper Steak in American Chinese restaurants before, and while they are pretty yummy too, they are not as delicious as the ones my mom makes – this is her recipe!

About the ingredients

Here’s some additional info / tips for cooking Pepper Steak:

Peppers

You can cook this Pepper Steak with Onion Stir Fry with different types of peppers. Did you know there’s over 600 types of peppers? That’s why I’m not going to list them all, but I’ll mention my two favorites:

Bell Peppers

Bell peppers come in various colors, and they actually all taste a little different. Green bell peppers have a grassy or vegetal flavor, while orange, red and yellow bells are sweeter and fruitier. The sweetest being red bell peppers.

The most common pepper to make with Pepper Steak is Green Bell peppers, however, you could try other colors of bell peppers or a mix of them to play with the various flavors.

Jalapeno Peppers

This is actually our favorite pepper to stir fry Pepper Steak with! Jalapeno Peppers add a kick to the dish. We like to slice it lengthwise and then cut it in to bite size pieces. In order to not make it super spicy, make sure to remove the seeds and soak it in water for 15 minutes.

If you do like it super spicy, you can slice it horizontally and leave the seeds in there.

Steak

The trick to tender steak is two parts:

1. I recommend using flank steak, sirloin, skirt steak, ribeye for this stir fry. Those are more tender cuts and are less likely to be tough.
2. The marinade! Which is part of the recipe. But basically the longer you marinade the better, but even 15 minutes will make a difference. If you do choose a cut that is not as tender, make sure to marinade for longer (at least two hours).

In this recipe I used flank steak – it worked out very well!

How to cook Pepper Steak

My instructions below show you how to cook Pepper Steak on the stove. You can use a wok, cast iron, cooking pan, or skillet.

First gather your ingredients:

• 1 lb of beef, cut in to strips
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp of garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 cup of peppers, cut in to bite size or strips
• Salt, as desired
• Chopped green onions (optional)

In a medium bowl, mix the sliced beef with soy sauce, cornstarch, salt, sugar, and sesame oil. Let it marinade for at least 15 minutes. You can marinade overnight too, but be sure to let it marinade in the refrigerator.

Heat cooking oil/fat of your choice in a medium cooking pan. Add garlic and cook for about a minute, and then add beef. Stir fry for a minute or 2 or until it is mostly brown/cooked (but not completely). Remove the steak and garlic from pan and place aside.

Add bell pepper to pan, and stir fry until peppers begin to soften, which usually takes about 2-3 minutes. Add the steak and garlic back to pan.

Add green onions and combine. Stir fry everything until steak is cooked to desired tenderness.  Remove from heat and serve!

Pin for later!

Looking for more yummy stir fries using peppers? Check out my other delicious ones here:

• Pepper Steak with Onion Stir Fry
• Pepper Pork Stir Fry
• Jalapeño Chicken Stir Fry
• Chinese Shredded Pork with Peppers

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