recipes

Instant Pot Pepper Steak

Jun 15, 2023 Admin

Instant Pot Chinese Pepper Steak. The Chinese-American restaurant classic as a hands-off pressure cooker dinner.

Pepper Steak is a classic of Chinese-American restaurants, usually found between General Tso's chicken and Crab Rangoon on the menu of your local takeout place.

Calling this recipe "Chinese-American" is not a value judgment. My first question about a meal is not "Is it authentic?" but "How does it taste?" Chinese American cooking is one of the first fusion cuisines, where immigrants merged their old and new homelands to create something delicious. There's a reason the classics of Chinese American restaurants are classics - they are just good recipes.

A bowl of Instant Pot Pepper Steak with chopsticks and rice

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

And here's where I take a few liberties. I'm not stir-frying; I'm using my pressure cooker. It makes this a quick meal for a busy weeknight, and it's hands-off once I lock the lid. I prefer flat iron steak - after all, steak is in the recipe's name - but it will work with any chuck roast cut. (Flat iron is the chuck blade roast cut into a steak and is one of my favorite cheap cuts of beef.)
I finish the recipe with a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. (Thanks to the sealed cooking environment, there is no evaporation in a pressure cooker.) The sauce needs some help, and the cornstarch turns it into a glossy coating for the meat. Serve over rice, and dinner is ready.

If you’ve tried one of my Instant Pot Thai curries, you will recognize this technique - it is the same idea, used with a different flavor profile.

Ingredients

Peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
Garlic
Fresh ginger
Green onions (aka scallions)
Flat iron steak (or chuck blade steak or boneless chuck roast)
Fine sea salt (or kosher salt)
Onion
Green bell pepper
Red bell pepper
Yellow bell pepper
Water
Soy sauce
Hoisin sauce
Toasted sesame oil
Cornstarch

Garnish and Sides

Minced green onions (scallions)
White Rice

How to Make Instant Pot Chinese Pepper Steak

Fry the garlic, ginger, and green onion

Heat the peanut oil in an Instant Pot set to Sauté mode adjusted to high until the oil starts to shimmer. (Use medium-high heat with a stovetop pressure cooker). Stir in the garlic, ginger, and green onion, and fry until you smell the garlic, about 30 seconds.

Everything in the pot

Sprinkle the beef with the ½ teaspoon of salt. Add the beef, onions, and bell peppers to the pot, and stir to coat with the garlic/ginger/scallion oil. Pour in the water and soy sauce, then stir in the hoisin sauce to coat the beef.

Pressure cook for 12 minutes with a Natural Pressure Release

Lock the lid on the pot. Pressure cook on high pressure for 12 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC or for 8 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 20 minutes. (After 15 minutes of natural release, you can quick release the remaining pressure if you are in a hurry).

Finish the beef

Remove the lid from the pressure cooker, and stir in the toasted sesame oil. Whisk the cold water and cornstarch in a small bowl, then stir into the pot to thicken the sauce. Serve over white rice or noodles, sprinkling with minced green onions for garnish. Enjoy!

Recipe Tips

Pre-cut steaks make prep easier: I recommend a flat iron steak instead of a chuck roast, even though they're similar cuts. Why? Because the steak is the right thickness for the beef strips used in this recipe, which takes a lot of the work out of prepping the meat.
Thicken with cornstarch: The cornstarch slurry I whisk in at the end thickens up the sauce and gives it that glossy look that makes me think of Chinese restaurants. It's not essential, but the sauce is thin without it. (Most pressure cooker sauces are thin - there's no evaporation in the sealed pressure cooker pot.)

Ingredient Substitutions & Variations

Different cuts of beef: Flat iron steak is cut from the chuck roast, so any other cut from the chuck, like blade steaks, chuck eye, or chuck steaks, will also work. Other cuts that work in Instant Pot Pepper Steak are cuts that stand up to pressure cooking. Bottom round, top round, or flank steak are good choices.
Garlic and ginger: If you don't have fresh garlic and ginger, you can sprinkle the beef with a teaspoon of garlic powder and a teaspoon of powdered ginger.
Hoisin Sauce: The key flavor ingredient is the Hoisin sauce. It adds sweet, salty, and five-spice-powder flavors to the recipe. It's available in the international aisle in most grocery stores. If you can't find it, you can substitute plum sauce or brown sugar as recommended in the ingredients list.
Toasted sesame oil: Many Chinese recipes are finished with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil, which adds a nutty flavor to the dish. You can skip the toasted sesame oil if you don't have any.

Equipment

A 6-quart pressure cooker

Scaling

This recipe doubles easily in a 6-quart pressure cooker. Cut all the ingredients in half, and this recipe will fit in a 3-quart pressure cooker. The cooking time does not change; it takes the same time to cook each piece of beef, no matter how many are in the pot.

Storing Leftovers

Instant Pot Pepper Steak will keep in the refrigerator for a few days or in the freezer for a few months. I store it in airtight 2-cup containers, which make the perfect size for a leftover lunch from the microwave.

Frequently Asked Questions

What cut of steak is best for pepper steak?

Flat iron steak is the best cut for pepper steak. It's cut from the chuck shoulder of the cow, has excellent flavor, and stands up to pressure cooking.

How do you make pepper steak not tough?

How? By pressure cooking flat iron steak or any other cut from the chuck or shoulder. Flat iron steak has a lot of fat and connective tissue, which break down in the heat of the pressure cooker, going from tough and chewy to tender and juicy.

Do you wash pepper steak before cooking?

No! Please do not wash pepper steak, or any meat, before cooking. USDA researched this, and found that "washing or rinsing meat or poultry increases the risk for cross-contamination in the kitchen." Washing doesn't rinse away any bacteria; it just splashes it around the kitchen. Please don't do it!