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
Diane says
What if I wanted to double the recipe to feed a bigger family? What’s the cook time then?
Kristina Tipps says
The cook time remains the same.
Anonymous says
This is an absolutely wonderful recipe. Thanks so much, I used some older frozen stew meat and it was perfect. I only added a chopped seeded tomato and we serve it with bean sprouts.
Kristin says
Can i use better than bouillon base instead of the cubes? and if so how much?
Kristina Tipps says
Yes, use one teaspoon per cube.
Kristin says
can i use better than bouillon base instead of the cubes? and if so how much would that be?
Joyce says
This was amazing! I used the better than bouillon and it gave it a nice rich flavor. After reading some of the comments I decided to use a little more cornstarch to make my sauce a little thicker and I put my onions and peppers in with 2 hours left on the cook time. After 1 hour my veggies were perfect and the meat was fall apart tender…so my total cook time was only 5 hours. I’m going to try this again using chicken thighs and chicken bouillon.
Kristina Tipps says
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Lauren says
If I’m trying not to use bouillon cubes, I typically replace with some extra broth. Will that work in this recipe? I was thinking extra broth and extra cornstarch ?
Kristina Tipps says
The bouillon cubes are intended to make a concentrated sauce, so as long you're okay with not having that, you can skip the bouillon cubes. You can add extra broth but this won't add extra flavor as the bouillon cubes would- it woill only make some extra broth. Enjoy!
Lana says
What can I add to thicken the juice?
Kristina Tipps says
You can add more cornstarch or flour.
Allison says
Why does the broth have to be hot?
Kristina Tipps says
The broth is hot so that the bouillon cubes can easily dissolve.
Kayla says
Is it supposed to be watery?
Kristina Tipps says
Yes, the liquid is the sauce. If you're going to serve this over rice, noodles, etc., extra sauce goes great! If you've also used a beef cut with a high fat content, you'll have some extra liquid than if using a leaner cut of beef.