Jan 28, 2021 | Beef, Main Course, Recipes
Pepper steak is a stir-fried Chinese American dish consisting of sliced beef steak cooked with sliced bell peppers, bamboo shoots and other seasonings such as soy sauce and ginger, and usually thickened with cornstarch. Sliced onions and bean sprouts are also frequent additions to the recipe.
We’re huge fans of homemade beef and broccoli, but no matter how hard they try, some people can’t seem to convert to the church of broccoli. This is the broccoli-free version of your favorite stir-fry and has quickly become one of our favorits. We like to use both red and green peppers (because they make the dish so dang pretty!), but you can swap in whatever colors you like best. Serve with rice and you’ve got yourself a delicious dinner on the table in no time.
Tried making this awesome dish? Let us know how it went in the comments below!
1/4 c. low-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
4 tsp. packed brown sugar
1 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. vegetable oil, divided
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lb. flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. freshly minced ginger
Cooked white rice, for serving
Apr 11, 2019 | Beef, Main Course
As many of you know one of my daughter’s gave me an Instant Pot for Christmas last year. It took a few weeks of staring at the box before I actually opened it; all those buttons were a bit intimidating! But once I made my first recipe, Instant Pot Beef Stew, it was instant love! Now I don’t know what I’d do without it! So I’ve been exploring possibilities and one of my new favorites in this Instant Pot Mongolian Beef.
Mongolian Beef is a family favorite and we always order it when we dine at Chinese Restaurants, we love the tender morsels of beef in its delicious sauce. I’ve tried to make it at home, after all it’s just a basic sitr fry, but I could never get the meat to be so tender. I’d tried all sorts of cuts except filet mignon, I mean seriously who’d use filet in a stir fry? Whatever I did I could never get it as tender as the restaurants do; that is until now! It never occurred to me that the secret was in the cooking method. I mean all the recipes said fry the meat in a wok or a pan, I’m guessing you’d get very tender meat if you stir fired filet mignon, but at over $15 a pound that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon!
Well it seems to me the secret to tender beef is to pressure cook it! Enter the new love of my life, the Instant Pot! When I adapted my Mongolian Beef stir fry recipe to the Instant Pot the whole dish changed! It transformed from a pretty good stir fry to a tender delicious restaurant worthy dish! This Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is seriously delicious!
But it’s not only yummy, Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is easier than stir fry! What? Easier than stir fry? How is that possible? First of all my original recipe has me marinating the meat for at least an hour; no need to marinate Instant Pot Mongolian Beef so that cuts kitchen time down a bit. And stir fry requires you to, um, well, stir what you’re frying; with the Instant Pot Mongolian Beef stirring is kept to just a few minutes to brown the meat. And best of all from start to finish you could get Instant Pot Mongolian Beef on the table in about 30 minutes!
I serve it over steamed white rice which I make in my Zojirushi Rice Cooker. You can even make bowls and bentos with this recipe!
So here’s the recipe for Instant Pot Mongolian Beef!
Ingredients:
2 Lbs. Flank or Sirloin Steak cut into small thin slices
1 Tbs. Sesame Oil or vegetable oil will work if you’re allergic to sesame seeds or don’t have sesame oil on hand
2 Tbs. Minced Garlic
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup Water
2 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 Cup Coconut Sugar
1 Tbs. Molasses (or you can skip the coconut sugar and Molasses and use 2/3 cup dark brown sugar instead)
1 Tsp fresh minced ginger
3 Tbs. Cornstarch dissolved in 1/3 cup water
3-4 stalks green onions cut to small pieces
1 Tsp Sesame seeds (optional)
Directions:
Turn Instant Pot to Sauté and place oil inside inner pot
Heat oil about 1 minute
Place small amounts of beef in pot and brown both sides – about 2 minutes
Remove browned meat from pot and brown remaining meat in small batches until all meat is browned
Add garlic to pot and cook about 1 minute
Add soy sauce, water, worcestershire sauce, sugar, molasses, and ginger into the pot and mix well
Turn pot to manual and adjust time to 12 Minutes
Return meat and any juices that seeped out to the pot
Place lid on making sure the valve is set to Sealing
When timer goes off move valve to venting to quick release the pressure
Remove lid and stir in cornstarch mixture until the sauce is thickened
Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds before serving.

Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
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Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
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Instructions
Turn Instant Pot to Sauté and place oil inside inner pot
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Place small amounts of beef in pot and brown both sides - about 2 minutes
Remove browned meat from pot and brown remaining meat in small batches until all meat is browned
Add garlic to pot and cook about 1 minute
Add soy sauce, water, worcestershire sauce, sugar, molasses, and ginger into the pot and mix well
Turn pot to manual and adjust time to 12 Minutes
Return meat and any juices that seeped out to the pot
Place lid on making sure the valve is set to Sealing
When timer goes off move valve to venting to quick release the pressure
Remove lid and stir in cornstarch mixture until the sauce is thickened
Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds before serving.
Jul 10, 2018 | Beef, Main Course, Recipes
Beef Broccoli is probably the most ordered type of Chinese food. I mean who hasn’t had beef broccoli?
You know that dish with thinly sliced pieces of beef and crunchy broccoli in savory soy sauce, yes that’s beef broccoli. It’s such a popular dish that I’m pretty sure all Chinese restaurants in the US and possibly around the world have it on their menus.
Beef Broccoli, or as others say Beef with Broccoli, is arguably the most popular stirfry around. It’s the first thing that pops in our mind when we pick up the phone to order Chinese take-out, stand in line at Panda Express, or sit down at our favorite Chinese restaurant. But it’s so easy to make at home, that if you’re a real fan you could make it every day if you wanted to.
The secret to this dish is to use flank steak that is sliced very thin against the grain. Easy right?
Here’s the recipe!
Ingredients:
1 lb flank steak trimmed of fat and sliced thin against the grain
1 head broccoli cut into small florets
1 onion thinly sliced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tsp fresh ginger minced
3 tsp minced garlic
2 tbs sesame oil
1/2 cup beef stock
2 tbs cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup water
Directions:
Mix soy sauce, ginger, and garlic in a bowl.
Add the beef and toss to cover in sauce mixture.
Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Heat sesame oil in wok or large skillet.
Add onions and fry about 1 minute.
Add marinated beef and cook about 2-3 minutes stir in constantly.
Stir in beef stock.
Add broccoli and cook until tender.
Slowly stir in cornstarch mixture until the sauce thickens.
Remove from heat and serve with steamed white rice or noodles.
Easy Beef Broccoli Stir-Fry - Better Than Take-Out!
Easy Beef Broccoli Stir-Fry - Better Than Take-Out!
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Instructions
Mix soy sauce, ginger, and garlic in a bowl.
Add the beef and toss to cover in sauce mixture.
Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Heat sesame oil in wok or large skillet.
Add onions and fry about 1 minute.
Add marinated beef and cook about 2-3 minutes stir in constantly.
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Add broccoli and cook until tender.
Slowly stir in cornstarch mixture until the sauce thickens.
Remove from heat and serve with steamed white rice or noodles.