Easy Pepper Steak Stir Fry Recipe

This Easy Pepper Steak Stir Fry has become one of my favorite weeknight recipes to make. Thin strips of steak and chunks of red and green bell peppers tossed in a delicious and easy to make homemade stir fry sauce.

Serve it over a bed of rice or pasta to make it a complete meal. Or if you want to decrease your carbohydrate intake you can serve it with cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles or eat it as a stand alone main dish.

No matter how you choose to serve it, you are going to want to make this recipe over and over again. Not only does the strips of steak literally melt in your mouth, but the sauce is bursting with flavor!

But what I love most about this recipe is how easy it comes together. In fact, you can make this recipe from start to finish in under 20 minutes!

And if you do a little meal prep the night before or in the morning, you can have dinner on the table in under 10 minutes! Now that is a recipe that you can’t go wrong with.

However, before you jump to the recipe, I want to share some recipe tips that will make this meal become one of your favorites!

Recipe Tips

1. Homemade Stir Fry Sauce

Although you could purchase a bottle of stir fry sauce to make this pepper steak stir fry recipe, it is actually very easy to make your own. And more importantly it is much healthier for you to make your own sauce with just a few basic ingredients.

Many Asian inspired sauce recipes are made by combining soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger with some sort of sweetener. Depending on the amounts used of each ingredient the sauce will take on a slightly different flavor and texture.

The stir fry sauce used in this recipe has the perfect balance of sweetness which makes the sauce a favorite for many. Add in a little Sriracha sauce for a slight bit of heat and you have the perfect homemade stir fry sauce made with very little effort and ready in minutes!

2. Thicken The Sauce

Although not absolutely necessary, I prefer to add corn starch to the stir fry sauce so that it is the perfect consistency. This will allow the sauce to bind to the steak strips and pepper chunks leaving you with great flavor in every bite.

However if you would like to make the sauce a little on the thinner side simply omit the corn starch. You can always decide later if you want to make the sauce thicker.

To do so, remove 1/4 cup of the hot liquid from the skillet. Then whisk in the corn starch until the powder is dissolved.

Stir the mixture in the skillet and continue to stir until the sauce thickens to the desired consistency.

3. What Type Of Steak Is Best To Make Stir Fry

Flank steak

Flank steak is the steak of choice when it comes to making pepper steak stir fry. In fact, it is the same type of meat that I use to make my Beef and Broccoli Recipe.

This cut of meat is long and thin, making it an ideal choice to cut into thin slices. Not to mention that this steak is full of flavor as it comes from the belly muscles of the cow.

It is the perfect choice when cooking the meat at a high temperature for a short period of time. And that is what makes it the steak of choice in all stir fry recipes.

Skirt steak

Skirt steak is very similar to flank steak. It is also long and thin and comes from the diaphragm of the cow. Although skirt steak becomes more tender when the meat is marinated, you can still use it in stir fry recipes.

Just to be sure not over cook skirt steak as it can become tough very quickly. It is best to cook skirt steak slices to medium-rare doneness.

Sirloin steak

Sirloin steak is a the large section of a T-bone steak. When cooked properly the meat becomes nice and tender.

However if making stir fry with sirloin steak it is best to marinate the steak slices in the marinade before adding the meat to a hot skillet. In order to do this make the marinade as instructed and place the thin sirloin steak slices in it for at least an hour.

Then remove the steak from the liquid and make the recipe as instructed.

4. How To Slice The Steak

There are two keys to slicing steak for stir fry. First, you want to slice the steak very thin.

In order to make thin, even slices place the steak in the freezer for 20 minutes. Then using a sharp knife, slice the steak in very thin pieces.

Second, but even more important, you must SLICE THE STEAK AGAINST THE GRAIN. This is the key to getting the meat nice and tender.

Pepper Steak Stir Fry Recipe

*A printable recipe card is located at the bottom of this article which contains the specific measurements, temperatures and cook times. However, continue reading below to learn about more helpful tips about this specific recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 TBSP brown sugar
• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 4 oz flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain
• 1 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch cubes

For Serving:

• Sesame seeds
• Cooked white or brown rice
• Steamed cauliflower rice

INSTRUCTIONS

The first step in making pepper steak stir fry is to prepare the homemade stir fry sauce. In a small bowl add the garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, Sriracha, and cornstarch and stir until well incorporated. Set the sauce aside.

In a large skillet placed over medium-high heat add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil. Once the oil is hot and shimmering add the red and green bell peppers and cook 2-3 minutes until the peppers start to become tender. Remove the peppers and set aside.

Turn the heat to high and add the flank steak to the same skillet that the peppers were cooked in. Sear the beef until no longer pink on either side.

*It will only take a couple of minutes for the steak to cook on each side.

Once the steak is no longer pink on either side add the peppers back to the skillet. Then quickly stir in the sauce.

Toss and let the mixture simmer for 1-2 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. Remove the mixture from the heat.

Serve immediately with white rice, cauliflower rice or as a stand alone meal. Garnish with sesame seeds if desired.

Enjoy! Mary

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