Crockpot Pepper Steak is an effortless dump and go meal that takes 10 minutes to prepare, with no hands-on work while it cooks. Tender beef strips, peppers and onions are slow cooked in a savory unami sauce, then served over rice to make a hearty and wholesome dinner. Make it a full meal by adding rice to the crockpot (instructions on how to do this are below).
The slow cooking method tenderizes the beef, much more than the stove does. It's perfect served over fluffy brown rice, basmati or white rice, noodles and mashed potatoes, if you're not adding rice to the slow cooker.
Why I Love This Recipe
- It's a dump and go recipe- there is no precooking the ingredients!
- The beef turns out super tender and flavorful, think melt-in-your-mouth!
- It's hands off throughout the cooking process- nothing is added at a later time!
- 10 minutes of prep time
Table Of Contents
Ingredients
- Beef sirloin strips: sometimes called sirloin tips or beef for stir fry when precut. You can also use sirloin steaks that you cut into long slices.
- Bell peppers: my preference is a combination of green, yellow, red, and orange.
- Onion: I prefer a sweet onion but a yellow onion works too!
- Garlic cloves: go for fresh garlic but garlic powder in a pinch.
- Beef broth: substitute with water, as the recipe also uses bouillon cubes to make a concentrated beef broth.
- Beef bouillon cubes: or packets.
- Soy sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
- Honey: can replace with agave syrup or pure maple syrup.
- Ginger: I use ground ginger but you can grate fresh ginger root too.
- Cornstarch: added to the broth as a thickener. For a thinner sauce, leave out the cornstarch.
Instructions
This easy crockpot pepper steak is made in 3 simple steps.
- Make the sauce. Combine hot beef broth, bouillon cubes, soy sauce, worchestire sauce, honey, ground ginger, black pepper, salt and cornstarch in a mixing glass. Stir well, crushing the bouillon cubes.
- Place beef strips into the slow cooker. Pour sauce on top. Add peppers, onions and garlic on top of the beef.
- Set to LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 3 hours. If possible, stir the ingredients once halfway through.
- When finished, stir well and transfer to a serving dish. Serve over rice or noodles or as a side with mashed or baked potatoes.
Kristina's Tips
- Add peppers at the end if you want them to have a crispier texture, with about 30-60 minutes left.
- Add rice directly to the crockpot. With 2 hours of cook time left, add 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water (or broth for more flavor). This will make it a full dinner without having to cook rice separately.
Notes
- While there may not appear to be enough sauce at the beginning, the beef and vegetables will let out a lot of liquid and you will have more than enough at the end of cooking.Â
Variations
- Change the color of bell peppers: use all green peppers instead of a combination of colorful peppers.
- Make it spicy: add red pepper flakes or even a few jalapeño peppers to make a spicy pepper steak.
How To Serve Pepper Steak
While pepper steak is delicious enjoyed as is, especially for a low carb meal, it's traditionally served with white rice. You can use basmati rice or brown rice too, or serve it with sides like roasted baby potatoes, broccoli, asparagus, brussels sprouts, or green beans. It's also delicious served over mashed potatoes, mashed cauliflower, crockpot mashed sweet potatoes or instant pot sweet potatoes.
How To Store
Fridge: store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezer: use freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months.
Reheat: warm in the microwave or in the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sirloin is the most traditional and most tender cut of beef to use for this recipe. You can use already sliced meat usually labeled "beef for stir fry" or sirloin tips. If you can't find steak for stir fry that has already been cut, use sirloin steaks and slice them into long strips about 1 inch thick.
Yes! You can freezer pepper steak before or after cooking. To freeze it before, slice the meat, peppers and onions and place into a freezer safe bag. Pour the sauce into a separate bag. Store in the freezer for up to 6 months. When you're ready to use, cut open both bags and place the ingredients into the slow cooker while frozen. Cook on low for 6 hours. Slow cooker pepper steak can be frozen after cooking by placing the entire meal (even rice!) into freezer safe bags and freezing for up to 3 months (for optimal quality). Defrost overnight in the fridge.
On high, this recipe cooks for 3 hours and on low it cooks for 6 hours. I prefer cooking beef recipes on low so the meat gets extra tender and flavorful. But in a pinch, a shorter time on low is fine!
If you find yourself less than pleased with how soft slow cooked peppers turn out, add them to the crockpot during the last hour of cook time. Keep in mind though, that the peppers give the sauce flavor and you won't have as much of it if you don't cook them for the entire 6 hours.
Recipe
Dump and Go Slow Cooker Pepper Steak
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lbs beef sirloin strips or sirloin steak cut into slices
- 3 large colorful bell peppers sliced thick
- 1 large onion sliced
- 3 garlic cloves
- ¾ cup beef broth
- 3 beef bouillon cubes
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch or flour
Instructions
- Make the sauce. Combine hot beef broth, bouillon cubes, soy sauce, worchestire sauce, honey, ground ginger, black pepper, salt and cornstarch/flour in a mixing glass. Stir well, crushing the bouillon cubes.
- Place beef strips into the slow cooker. Pour sauce on top. Add peppers, onions and garlic on top of the beef.
- Set to LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 3 hours. If possible, stir the ingredients halfway through.
- When finished, stir well and transfer to a serving dish. Serve over rice or noodles or as a side with mashed or baked potatoes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Jennifer Gambini says
Do I make the bouillon into liquid by adding 3 cups of water to the bouillon cubes in addition to the 3/4 c up beef broth?
Kristina Tipps says
No, you want to make the sauce concentrated. So use 3 cubes of bouillon with only 3/4 cup of water. The beef is going to give off liquid as it cooks, and you don't want it to become diluted.
Jennifer Gambini says
Can you make this the day before you plan on cooking in crockpot?
Kristina Tipps says
If you mean to prepare it the day before, yes you can. You can put everything in a large bowl, then put it into the crockpot the next day.
Ashley says
I have minced garlic, can i use that instead? If so, how much should I use?
Kristina Tipps says
Yes, you can use minced garlic. For every 1 clove of garlic, use about 1 teaspoon of minced garlic.
Kels says
The recipe says it’s for 6 but if I half it because there’s only 2 of us would that change the cook time? Thanks!
Kristina says
It should cook a little quicker, maybe an hour or so. Enjoy!
Lauren Lucas says
Hi there! Looking to make this next week. Recipe says 'hot' beef broth. Are you boiling the broth before adding other ingredients? Wasn't sure what that meant. Thank you!
Kristina Tipps says
Hi Lauren, You don't have to boil the beef broth, just heat it up in the microwave until it's steaming. The additional beef bouillon cubes will dissolve better into hot liquid instead of cold.
Melissa says
Can you make this in an Instapot? Do you know what the cooking times would be?
Kristina says
Yes you can. I would say 8-10 minutes with at least a 15 minute natural pressure release. The peppers will be very soft at that time, though. If you want them crispier, you can add them to the pot once the pressure has been released. Close the lid and let them steam for 5-10 minutes.
Anna says
On instant pot there is slow cook option. So the same 6/3 hour would apply. Unless you cook under pressure in this case 15 minutes would not be enough… I’d say give it at least 30 min
Brittany H says
It was good but even though I cooked it for 7 hours the meat was still tough. Some pieces were tender but others were extremely tough. I added the peppers in 2 hours before end of cook time and they were perfect. What can I do to make the meat more tender next time?
Kristina Tipps says
Hi Brittany, It could have been that particular piece of meat, especially if some pieces were tender and others were not.You could also try giving it a good stir when you add in the peppers, so that all of the meat is coated in the sauce.
Morgan says
Followed recipe exactly, overall flavor was good but the sirloin came out so dry. Any suggestions to prevent that?
Kristina says
Hi Morgan, It could have been the quality of meat. The sirloin should have a good marbeling rather than large pieces of fat or no fat at all. Go with a high quality brand and give the recipe another try. You could also double the sauce, so that there is more of it for the meat to cook in.
Rebekah Armitage says
Are there any changes i should make if I’m setting this to cook for 8 hours while I’m at work?
Kristina says
Make sure that it's on low. Ideally it should cook for 6 hours on that setting and then stay warm for the next 2 hours. If you want it to cook for 8 hours, and don't want the peppers extremely soft (they will be for this duration of time), add them in when you come home and let it cook for another 30-60 minutes. If you don't mind the peppers very soft, then you should be okay at 8 hours without making any changes, although the meat will probably shred more than stay in chunks.
Emily Rogers says
Can I sub the cornstarch with flour?
Kristina says
Hi Emily- yes you can. Enjoy!
Jackie says
Can I substitute cornstarch with flour? If so how should I do it? And I also have ginger paste instead of ginger root
Kristina says
Yes you can use cornstarch. You should mix it with a little cold water before adding to the slow cooker. I have not used ginger paste so I would add a little bit and taste at the end, adding more if needed.