Chinese Pepper Steak

by Sabrina Snyder

Last Update:

25 Comments

5 from 5 votes
4 Servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
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Chinese Pepper Steak is a restaurant classic made at home with less fat and all the delicious salty, peppery flavors in under 30 minutes.

This pepper steak is the classic beef version to the super popular Panda Express Black Pepper Chicken you all love on the blog.

Pepper steak served with rice in a bowl

Sabrina’s Chinese Pepper Steak

Chinese Pepper Steak was never a recipe I wanted to order when going out to eat, but after getting hooked on the Black Pepper Chicken from Panda, I was more open to experimenting.

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Chinese Pepper Steak Recipe

Chinese Pepper Steak is a restaurant classic made at home with less fat and all the delicious salty, peppery flavors in under 30 minutes.
Yield 4 Servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine Chinese
Author Sabrina Snyder
Pepper steak served with rice in a bowl
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

BEEF:

  • 1 1/2 pound flank steak , sliced thinly against the grain
  • 1 tablespoon lite soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dry sherry

VEGETABLES:

  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 yellow onion , sliced thinly
  • 1 green bell pepper , sliced thinly
  • 1 red bell pepper , sliced thinly
  • 4 scallions , cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 tablespoon garlic , minced
  • 1 tablespoon ginger , minced

SAUCE:

  • 1/4 cup lite soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup dry sherry
  • 2 tablespoons corn starch
  • 1/4 cup beef stock
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons coarse ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Add the soy sauce and sherry to a bowl with the beef and stir.
  • Let marinate while cooking the recipe.
  • Add the sesame and canola oils to a large skillet on medium high heat.
  • Add the onions and cook for 3-4 minutes, until wilted.
  • Add in the bell peppers, green onions, garlic and ginger to the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes until just starting to wilt.
  • While the vegetables are cooking mix the sauce ingredients together.
  • Remove the vegetables and leave the remaining oil in the pan to cook the steak.
  • Raise the heat to high and add the steak, cooking for 1-2 minutes on each side.
  • Add back in the vegetables and the sauce and let cook for just a minute for it to thicken.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 409kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 102mg | Sodium: 1188mg | Potassium: 878mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1167IU | Vitamin C: 67mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 4mg

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About This Recipe

This pepper steak is a quick and easy beef stir-fry with vegetables made with a soy-sherry mixture flavored mostly with sesame oil and fresh ginger and garlic along with a punch of black pepper. While it may look like a complicated sauce, the hardest part is slicing the steak and vegetables before cooking.

Chef’s Note

As with any stir fry, I suggest having everything prepared before you start heating up your skillet/wok as the cooking process goes quickly and to preserve the fresh and tender vegetables you can’t let them cook too long.

Can This be Made Ahead of Time?

You can certainly cook the meal ahead of time and re-heat throughout the week. I suggest cooking the beef one minute shy of the instructions so it can maintain some tenderness in reheating. To reheat use a microwave at half power for 1-2 minutes to prevent overcooking the steak.

What to Pair With

  • Add steamed rice or fried rice.
  • Add a quick Classic Chinese Chow Mein.
  • Serve it over your favorite steamed vegetables or even cauliflower rice. You could even enjoy it with Asian Cucumber Salad for a chilled vegetable side.
Chinese Food Pepper Steak

Photos used in previous versions of the post.

Steak and pepper dinner in a bowl
Steak and peppers served with rice
Chinese steak served with rice in a bowl

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I prepared your recipe tonight. It was really good but I had to make two mayor modifications. It need it more sugar. I put 2 tablespoon and reduce the black pepper to 3/4 teaspoons. I also added toasted sesame seeds. It certainly needs more sugar. Really good pepper steaks. Thank you for the recipe. I will certainly prepare it again.

    Reply

  4. I have a question Sabrina, well two questions actually, first can I use ribeye steak and the second is what can I use in place of the dry sherry??
    Thanks in advance 🙂

    Reply

    1. Yes, you can use ribeye steak for this recipe. If you’re looking for a dry sherry substitute, you can use equal amounts apple cider vinegar and water or even a dry red or wine wine will work. Hope this helps!

      Reply

  6. Excellent sauce!! I did triple marinade due to personal preference. I doubled sauce. Super excellent balance of flavor. I cook Chinese all the time and I am a major fan!! I have saved several of your recipes and I will making more!! Bravo. Family enjoyed very much.

    Reply

  14. That is one of my favorite take out meals! I am so excited to have a great recipe to make at home!

    Reply