This Easy Instant Pot Pepper Steak is a delicious 30-minute dinner idea packed with bell peppers, sirloin steak and a tasty soy-pepper sauce!
The Instant Pot makes this steak super tender and infuses the sauce with flavour in a fraction of the time!
Why you'll love this recipe
- Speedy & so tasty: This is a great 30-minute meal packed with delicious flavours.
- Simple & convenient: Easy cleanup and minimal effort makes for a restaurant-quality meal at home.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – or any other neutral cooking oil like canola oil or grapeseed oil.
- Yellow onion – white onion or shallots would also work.
- Sirloin steak – use any 12 oz. steak variety of your choice.
- Low-sodium soy sauce – tamari or coconut aminos are the best substitutes for soy sauce.
- Honey – brown sugar would also help add a hint of sweetness to this dish.
- Rice vinegar – white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar would also work.
- Garlic – fresh minced garlic is best but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Black pepper – if you want your pepper steak to be extra spicy, double up on the black pepper.
- Water – this is crucial to the dish and will help cook the rice.
- Jasmine rice – you can use plain white long grain rice, but make sure to double up on the amount of water if you do so.
- Green and peppers – use any combination of colour bell peppers of your choice.
- Green onions – chives or shallots would also be good as garnish or you can leave these out altogether.
- Sesame seeds – black or white sesame seeds would both work or you can leave these out.
How to make pepper steak
Step 1: Drop in the first 10 ingredients.
Put the first 10 ingredients to the Instant Pot in order.
Step 2: Cook on high pressure.
Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes.
Step 3: Release pressure.
Do a quick release of the pressure.
Step 4: Stir in the peppers.
Add the peppers and put back the lid.
Step 5: Let it sit.
Allow the dish to sit for 5-10 minutes.
Step 6: Garnish and serve.
Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds and enjoy immediately.
Recipe Tips and variations
Here are some ideas to make your Instant Pot pepper steak even more delicious:
- Sear steak first: A little sear can do a lot to boost the flavour and texture of the meat.
- Veggie medley: Add mushrooms, broccoli, and any of your favourite veggies to this dish – you can't really go wrong here!
- Add beef broth: You can use broth instead of water for an ever richer flavour.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make sure my steak is tender?
You can marinate the steak in a mixture of cornstarch and baking soda (use 1 tsp of each).
Can I adjust the recipe for a thicker sauce?
A cornstarch slurry added after pressure cooking and simmered on the sauté function will thicken the sauce.
Why do I need to add the veggies in last?
One thing you've probably noticed is that I usually do a base of protein and starch to cook on high pressure, and I almost always wait until the end to add the veggies. I'm telling you, there's nothing more that I hate than overcooked, soggy bell peppers. I would rather my veggies get tender from sitting in the hot rice and sauce.
What to serve on the side
This pepper steak dish is a meal all on its own with steak, rice and veggies. That being said, you can still serve some sides:
- Simple greed salad or cucumber salad
- Steamed or roasted veggies
- Crusty bread
How to store and reheat
Store: Store the leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.
Freeze and reheat: Freeze this pepper steak for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight then reheat.
Meal prep tools
- The Instant Pot DUO Plus is the version I use in this recipe.
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls for your leftovers.
- I get my grass-fed beef from Butcher Box.
Easy Instant Pot Pepper Steak
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 12 oz sirloin steak, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp black pepper (double it if you want it spicy!)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 1 tbsp Sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- Add olive oil, onions, steak, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, garlic, black pepper, water and jasmine rice to the Instant Pot in that order, gently pushing rice underneath the liquid as much as possible but not stirring.
- Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes. Instant Pot will take 10-15 minutes to preheat then the 3 minutes on high pressure. Do a quick release of the pressure. When safe to do so, open lid and stir in peppers, then replace lid and let sit 5-10 minutes until veggies soften.
- Serve garnished with green onion and sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Video
Comments & Reviews
Resa Glennon says
Hi Taylor!
I LOVE your recipes and have tried many already. I’ve made the Pepper Steak numerous times but no matter the meat ALWAYS comes out tough and rubbery…and it’s sirloin steak! I’ve even tenderized it but same. I have not tried your suggestion with baking soda and cornstarch but I was wondering if I could use a piece of chuck roast which always comes out delicious in the Instant Pot?
Just printed up another one of your recipes for dinner tonight! Thanks
Resa
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Resa, I would try my baking soda and cornstarch method to tenderize or use chuck roast instead. Steak strips always come out tougher unfortunately than a roast. I’m so glad you enjoy the recipe overall!
Valerie Duval says
This was delicious! Even my husband who’s not a fan of peppers loved it! Especially because the peppers aren’t cooked to a mush! Absolutely loved how easy it is, too. Will do again for sure, perfect for quick weekday dinner. Thanks!
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you both enjoyed 🙂 Thanks for leaving your review!
Cjmd says
Love this recipe! The only thing I did was use strip steaks I had in the freezer trimmed them good first. Delish!
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed 🙂
JoAnn Carroll says
I used Arborio rice a little more honey and vinegar but the dish was absolutely the b best!!! We loved it and cannot wait to have it again!!! Increased water for the rice!!
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed, JoAnn!
Margaret says
Hi there. I’m new to using my IP and have a question. I recently made teriyaki chicken and rice at the same time in my IP (chicken and sauce were at the bottom and the rice & water were in a seperate glas bowl on top of a wire rack, right on top of the chicken). I cooked it for 10 min on high pressure and chicken and the rice came out perfect. I can’t imagine that there’s any reason why I cannot do that with this recipe but I am just unsure about the cook time. Would anything change if I cook the rice this same way? Thanks!
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Margaret – I haven’t tried it this way myself but based on your experience with the teriyaki chicken I feel like it should work! What time did you cook the chicken dish for? That’s probably a good indicator of the time you should use. Although I don’t imagine you would need anymore than 5 minutes of cook time. Let me know how it turns out if you try it this way!
Cynthia says
This was a wonderful dish. Thank you so much for sharing and it will be a keeper for this household. I did a few things differently though:
I used cubed steak because I find sirloin to be a bit tough, cubed steak turned out very tender
Cook at 4 minutes rice wasn’t quite done at three.
Use beef broth instead of water
Used 1/2 TBSP olive oil and 1/2 TBSP sesame olive oil for richer flavor.
AMAZING! Thank you!
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed Cynthia! Glad those changes worked out 🙂
Sandy Warhurst says
Can this recipe be doubled? I have a 6-quart Instant Pot.
Taylor Stinson says
Yes it can be 🙂
Kim says
What about the cooking time if you double the recipe? Would you add more time? If so how much?
Taylor Stinson says
I don’t believe you have to adjust the cooking time if doubling – it should be fine!
Angela Woolems says
This looks so delic. How would you adapt the cooking time using brown rice since it takes longer to cook.
Thanks
Angela
Taylor Stinson says
I wish I could help Angela but I honestly don’t know how to adapt the recipe this way since I’ve never done it myself. If I had to guess, you could add 3-4 extra minutes to the cook time but I’m really not sure. Sorry about this!