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Dinner Crockpot Beef Asian
4.5 from 31 votes

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

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By: Joanna Cismaru 38 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

This Slow Cooker Pepper Steak is a super easy slow cooker meal that’s packed full of flavor. All that’s required is 10 minutes prep time to you end up with one delicious meal. Always a favorite and better than take out!

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak served in a bowl over rice
Table of Contents Open
  • What Is Pepper Steak?
  • Ingredient Notes
  • How To Make Slow Cooker Pepper Steak
  • What Else Can Be Used In Slow Cooker Pepper Steak?
    • Meat
    • Veggies
  • Tips For Making The Best Pepper Steak
  • How To Serve
  • Storing Leftovers
  • Craving More Steak? Try These Delicious Recipes:
  • Slow Cooker Pepper Steak
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • Notes
    • Nutrition Information
  • Did You Make This?

This pepper steak recipe is as simple as it gets. It utilizes tons of fresh flavors, like onion, garlic, and bell pepper, and is all cooked down in a zippy pepper sauce. Cooked low and slow, this steak recipe produces a dish that is fork tender and completely drool worthy.

I love to serve this over fluffy white rice, with all that liquid in the pot spooned over generously. The best part? It only requires 10 minutes of prep time! Let’s get cookin!

What Is Pepper Steak?

Pepper steak is a Chinese American dish that is a take out classic. It uses strips (or in this case cubes) of beef that is cooked down with bell pepper and a sauce thickened using cornstarch. Now I didn’t dice up a filet mignon or anything of the sort, rather I picked up some well marbled beef tenderloin and cubed it up into bite sized pieces.

process shots of Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

Ingredient Notes

  • Beef – Tenderloin cubed up into bite sizes pieces, about 1 1/2 inches. We want a cut that will hold up well to a longer cook time.
  • Onion – Something that holds up well to long cooking, such as white or yellow.
  • Garlic – Use as much or little as you like.
  • Bell pepper – Any color you like, diced up into bite sized chunks.
  • Broth – I used beef today, because – well we’re cooking with beef! Low sodium please as we want to control our salt content.
  • Teriyaki – A little teriyaki sauce will go a long way flavor wise. If you don’t have any on hand it’s easy to make! It just requires soy sauce, honey, cornstarch and water.
  • Hot sauce – Whichever kind strikes your fancy, today I used sriracha.
  • Seasoning – I just used pepper today, we have more than enough salt in here already.
  • Cornstarch – This ingredient will thicken up our sauce.
process shots for Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

How To Make Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

  1. Prepare your dish: Trim the meat if needed and cut into small pieces. Place the meat in the slow cooker. Then throw in the rest of the ingredients and roughly stir. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours or on HIGH for 3.5 hours.
  2. Create the pepper sauce: To thicken the sauce, take a ladle of the sauce from the slow cooker and whisk it together with the cornstarch in a small sauce pan. Cook on low until the sauce thickens, then throw it back in the slow cooker and stir so that it all combines well.
  3. Finish the Pepper Steak: Garnish with chopped green onion, sesame seeds, or fresh parsley and serve hot.

What Else Can Be Used In Slow Cooker Pepper Steak?

Meat

I used beef tenderloin for this dish today but beef top round or sirloin cuts will also do just fine. Chicken can also be used instead of beef altogether, the cook time remains roughly the same so follow all the other directions just the same for a delicious chicken twist.

Veggies

While they aren’t traditional you can also use carrots, zucchini, tomato, or mushrooms. You can also serve this dish over cauliflower rice to add another serving of veggies to your dinner.

close up of Slow Cooker Pepper Steak served in a bowl over rice

Tips For Making The Best Pepper Steak

  1. You can skip the sauce thickening step if you’re in a hurry, it is by no means crucial! But I love it as I find whichever starchy base I spoon this dish over soaks up the sauce even better when it’s thicker.
  2. We don’t need to marinade the meat today as it’ll absorb lots of flavor as it cooks slowly but if marinating is key in your kitchen, by all means feel free to combine the sauce ingredients and allow the meat to soak in the fridge as long as you’d like. If time permits, you can also go ahead and brown the meat first.
  3. Slice your tenderloin against the grain to be sure each bite is incredibly tender to the tooth.

How To Serve

This dish is just beautiful served over fluffy white rice, mashed potatoes, or egg noodles. If you have different varieties of rice on hand and want to spoon this dish over something a little different, this handy guide should help.

Storing Leftovers

This dish will stay fresh in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 – 4 days. In the freezer it’ll keep for 2 – 3 months, just be sure it is completely cool before packing in a shallow airtight container.

Craving More Steak? Try These Delicious Recipes:

  • Easy Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake
  • Garlic Butter Steak Bites
  • Pan Seared Steak
  • Best Steak Marinade
  • Steak Tacos
  • Asian Style Pepper Steak

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

a bowl full of rice topped with slow cooker beef and bell peppers
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4.46 from 31 votes

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

Prep 10 minutes
Cook 6 hours
Total 6 hours 10 minutes
Rate Recipe
This Slow Cooker Pepper Steak is a super easy slow cooker meal that's packed full of flavor. All that's required is 10 minutes prep time to you end up with one delicious meal. Always a favorite and better than take out!
6

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pound beef tenderloin (cut in 1 inch pieces)
  • 1 medium onion (roughly chopped)
  • 4 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 2 bell peppers (any color, roughly chopped)
  • 1 3/4 cups beef broth (low sodium)
  • 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Sriracha sauce)
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

Instructions 

  • Trim the meat if needed and cut into small pieces. Place the meat in the slow cooker. Then throw in the rest of the ingredients and roughly stir.
  • Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours or on high for 3.5 hours.
  • To thicken the sauce, take a ladle of the sauce and whisk it together with the cornstarch in a small sauce pan. Cook on low until the sauce thickens, then throw it back in the slow cooker and stir so that it all combines well.
  • Serve over rice, noodles or mashed potatoes. Garnish with some chopped onions or parsley and some sesame seeds.

Notes

  1. Although I used a tenderloin, you could use beef top round steak or beef sirloin steak. Stewing beef would also work.
  2. No salt is listed as an ingredient in this recipe because I find that the teriyaki sauce and beef broth together provide enough saltiness but if you want, feel free to add more as needed.
  3. This dish will stay fresh in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 – 4 days. In the freezer it’ll keep for 2 – 3 months, just be sure it is completely cool before packing in a shallow airtight container.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 353kcal (18%)Carbohydrates: 7g (2%)Protein: 23g (46%)Fat: 24g (37%)Saturated Fat: 10g (63%)Cholesterol: 79mg (26%)Sodium: 667mg (29%)Potassium: 630mg (18%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 4g (4%)Vitamin A: 1240IU (25%)Vitamin C: 53.2mg (64%)Calcium: 22mg (2%)Iron: 3.1mg (17%)
© Author Joanna Cismaru

Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.

a bowl full of rice topped with slow cooker beef and bell peppers

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Joanna Cismaru

Joanna Cismaru

I’m Joanna (Jo for short) and this is my blog where I share with you my culinary adventures. Here you will find a variety of recipes using simple everyday ingredients and creating wonderful, delicious and comforting meals, including some decadent desserts.

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38 Comments
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Angel
Angel
Posted: 1 year ago

Hi! Question about thickening the sauce. Your note says take “a” ladle of sauce from the pan. Do I do all the sauce or just one ladle? Thanks so much!

0
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  Angel
Posted: 1 year ago

Just a ladle, you just need some liquid to mix in with the cornstarch. Alternatively you can mix the cornstarch with a bit of water. 🙂

0
Reply
Ron
Ron
Posted: 3 years ago

You didn’t list the ingredient portions to make the teriyaki sauce Jo, could you please let us know

0
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  Ron
Posted: 3 years ago

I’m not sure what you’re asking. The recipe with the amounts and all ingredients are listed in the recipe card itself. You need 1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce. If you want to make your own teriyaki sauce here’s my recipe: https://cravinghomecooked.com/homemade-teriyaki-sauce/

0
Reply
Shea
Shea
Posted: 3 years ago

5 stars
Loved it! Quick and easy to make.

0
Reply
David
David
Posted: 5 years ago

5 stars
I love your recipes, this one included, but on this one (“Virginia Says” and) I have to ask, why use the most expensive AND LEAST FLAVORFUL cut of beef in something that will be slow-cooked, rendering ANY cut that is used quite tender?

As every beef lover knows, the beef scale runs from tender to flavorful; the more tender the cut, the less flavorful, and vice versa. The only real advantage of beef tenderloin in any application is that it is the extreme on the tender end of the scale. So for something that’s going to cook this long, wouldn’t something like sirloin, round, or even chuck or brisket be just as tender, but provide a lot more beef flavor at significantly lower cost?

I understand not wanting to get a bunch of gristle in the meaty bits of the soup, but with most cuts, especially sirloin and eye of round, it’s very easy to spot and remove gristle (usually just one big, obvious streak that’s easy to fillet off using the same method as removing skin from fish with a fillet or boning knife) before cutting the beef into cubes. (And if you put the gristley bits in a cheesecloth bag and add them to the slow-cooker to be easily extracted before serving, they also add a lot of delicious gelatin to the broth that forms.) So if the end result is going to be tender regardless of the cut, for my own tastes and purposes it makes the most sense to spend less and get more flavor in the dish. Your thoughts, please?

0
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  David
Posted: 5 years ago

Hi David! I really have no valid reason for this only that’s what I had in the fridge. As mentioned in the notes though, you could use a less expensive cut of beef as stewing beef.

1
Reply
Linda P
Linda P
Posted: 5 years ago

Can I use the teriyaki marinade?

0
Reply
Linda P
Linda P
Posted: 5 years ago

Can I add mushrooms? And how much?

0
Reply
Becky
Becky
Posted: 6 years ago

Hi – am I able to use the same recipe if I’m making it stove top?

0
Reply
Fenne Kieken
Fenne Kieken
Reply to  Becky
Posted: 6 years ago

Sure, just adjust your cooking time and heat accordingly.

0
Reply
Virginia
Virginia
Posted: 6 years ago

Wondering why you chose a normally tender cut of meat for this recipe. I would think, economically, speaking, a less expensive but equally flavorful cut would be a more wise choice

0
Reply
Jesse Goodson
Jesse Goodson
Posted: 6 years ago

My Daddy cooked with pork , shrimp and taro.. its so yummy, i will try this recipe, thank you for sharing!

0
Reply
Emily
Emily
Posted: 6 years ago

5 stars
This dish looks amazing, delicious and tasty. I am willing to try it.

0
Reply
Rachel
Rachel
Posted: 7 years ago

What if i don’t have beef broth or any bullion cubes. Is there another spice I could mix with it? I also got pineapple teriyaki sauce. Would it be strange to add pineapple?

Very excited!!

0
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  Rachel
Posted: 7 years ago

Do you have vegetable or chicken broth? You can use that. If not I’d use 1 cup water, 1/2 cup red wine and 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce.

0
Reply
Maralee
Maralee
Posted: 7 years ago

5 stars
Hi Jo! Ok girl, we are 3 for 3? Another delicious recipe from you, did you know we are becoming quite the cooking pair?? The only thing I did different was to use beef stew meat being careful to cut off any excess fat. It was very tender & tasty. I’ll keep you updated on “our” next endeavor!!

0
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  Maralee
Posted: 7 years ago

LOL that’s awesome! I love to hear and see what else you’ll try next. 🙂

0
Reply
Karen
Karen
Posted: 7 years ago

5 stars
This dish looks amazing! Could I use a pork tenderloin for this recipe?

0
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  Karen
Posted: 7 years ago

Absolutely, or chicken even. You just have to watch your cooking times.

0
Reply
Mich
Mich
Posted: 7 years ago

Given the cost of tenderloin, I’m wondering if anyone has made this with a different cut of meat. I honestly don’t have great luck with beef in my slow cooker. Every time I make recipe for some type of beef, it calls for a cheap cut of beef, and says low and slow will make it tender, but I usually end up with stringy and tough. I’m just wondering if there’s some happy medium between expensive tenderloin and a really inferior cut of beef. Thanks.

0
Reply
Twinkle
Twinkle
Posted: 7 years ago

Hi Jo,

I have no gas at home today as my lovely roommate and I have forgotten to pay our gas bill (which has to be paid once every two months! difficult to keep track!) and so I can’t cook on my stove. I saw this as an awesome opportunity to utilize my slowcooker.

I remembered that you have some lovely slowcooker recipes and I decided to give this a try as it looked very pretty in the pictures.

It turned out really lovely! I am having it for lunch today! I left mine on the slowcooker on low temp for a full 8 hours and i used a bit larger chunks of beef. I added a bit of hoisin, brown sugar and rosemary on mine but stuck to exactly everything else on your recipe. 🙂

Thanks so much for this recipe Jo!

0
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  Twinkle
Posted: 7 years ago

Glad you liked it! Sorry to hear about your gas bill though. 🙂

0
Reply

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