Garlic Pepper Beef is a super quick and easy combination with minimal effort delivering maximum yum. Skip takeout and whip this up when you are in the mood for Chinese or Asian foods. Garlic beef pepper with crispy vegetables and a slick savory sauce will tick all of your hungry, need food now boxes 👌😉.
Recipes like the Pork Mince Noodles, Mongolian Beef Noodles and Beef Noodle Stir Fry are all about take out style cooking at home.
The Beef Pesto Pasta, Beef Yaki Udon and Easy Beef Yakisoba give us carbs and protein and yum!
🤍 Recipe Highlights
I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the recipe in the points below:
- Packed with vegetables: it is a meat and 3 veg meal but not in a traditional roast sense. This easy recipe with a simple combination of ingredients works and cooks quickly!
- Versatile: if you want to switch the protein, you can. If you want to switch the veggies you can. If you want to pair with noodles in place of rice, you can! Is it a beef and 3 veggies dish, yes. Is it a stir fry yes. Is it simple, easy and exceptionally delicious, of course my friend! 😘
- Better than takeout: sure it is good to eat out and get take out. But one of the things that I love when you make take out like food at home is that you know exactly what has gone into the dish! No preservatives or funny flavours or ingredients that you didn't expect. Healthy, fresh and so very tasty!
- Budget friendly: there is nothing in this recipe that will break the bank. The beef will be the most expensive ingredient and you can choose to purchase it when it is on special. The vegetables and rice make it a cost effective recipe.
- Family friendly: everyone from little kids to those young at heart can enjoy this garlic pepper beef recipe! The sauce is subtle with a little tang and the garlic and ginger mellow with the juicy beef. The whole family will love the recipe!
🥗 Ingredients
The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.
As you can see the recipe calls for:
- Beef: you can purchase pre sliced beef (easy and convenient) or choose to slice it yourself. We want long thin strips as they cook quickly and retain moisture. Rump steak, sirloin steak, flank steak or porterhouse are all good choices.
- Garlic: we use more garlic for this recipe than for some other ones! 6 fresh garlic cloves thinly sliced, get cooked with the beef and ginger.
- Ginger: provides a lovely sweet balance to the savory flavors in the recipe.
- Capsicums (bell peppers): these are fantastic vegetables to stir fry. They keep their crisp texture and bright colours. The recipe calls for both red and green capsicums.
- Onion: peeled and sliced into long thin strips.
- Salt and black pepper: used to season the beef as it cooks. We do however, add double the amount of pepper for the recipe compared to salt to get that spicy pepper flavour throughout the dish.
- Peanut oil: Peanut oil is used more often in Asian recipes that other types of oil. For example olive oil. It will be found in the cooking aisle of the supermarket with the flours, sugars and other types of oil.
- Green onions: these are an optional way to garnish the dish for serving. I take 2, peel off any withered bits and slice the green bits on the diagonal discarding the white onion part.
🍜 Stir Fry Sauce
- Oyster sauce: commonly found in the Asian foods section of the supermarket. This thick dark coloured sauce is popular in Asian recipes. It has a salty, savory taste and thick paste like texture.
- Chinese cooking wine: (Shaoxing Wine) also found in the Asian foods section. This ingredient brings the sweet flavour to the beef due to the addition of caramel in the sauce!
- Honey: an excellent way to add sweetness to recipes without calling for 'white sugar' or 'brown sugar'.
- Sesame oil: an aromatic oil often used in Asian cooking. We only need a small amount which is the 4th ingredient in the honey beef sauce.
Tasty Tip: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making the recipe. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the recipe which are coming next 😉👌.
🍳 Instructions
Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by gathering the ingredients for the sauce and then whisking them together. A glass and mini whisk are handy for these simple steps.
- Gather sauce ingredients (Photo 1)
- Whisk to combine (Photo 2)
- Cook beef (Photo 3)
- Next cook the vegetables (Photo 4)
👩🍳 How to Make Garlic Pepper Beef
Start by gathering the ingredients to make the sauce. Add the Chinese cooking wine, oyster sauce, honey and sesame oil to a glass. Then use a mini whisk or teaspoon to stir it together.
Place a large skillet onto the stove and turn the heat to high. Add a little bit of peanut oil, sliced garlic cloves, beef, ginger, salt and pepper. Allow these to cook for 3 to 4 minutes, using a silicon slotted turner to move the ingredients around in the pan as you go. Once the beef is cooked transfer it (and any juices) to a bowl lined with paper towel.
Without rinsing or cleaning the pan add the onion and bell peppers to the pan. Cook these for 2-3 minutes. They will have a wet sweaty look when they are done.
- Add cooked beef (Photo 5)
Once you have cooked the vegetables, you can add the cooked beef back to the pan as shown in the photo above.
- Pour sauce over the dish (Photo 6)
Now we are ready to pour the sauce over the beef and vegetables. Simply drizzle it in and then stir to combine.
- Stir and heat through (Photo 7)
Once you have poured the sauce over the dish, you can give it a few stirs and keep it on the stove to allow it to heat through.
Next you can cook or heat some rice and then the hard work is done! 👌😉.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
If you want an Asian style appetizer, the Air Fryer Frozen Spring Rolls with some sweet chilli sauce will work well.
You can use coconut rice, basmati or Jasmine rice to serve.
Or you can cook ramen, udon or egg noodles and stir those into the dish. If you want it to be really saucy and noodle like, you can double the sauce.
Each of these options will work well and offer diversity if you want to make the dish regularly and switch it up a little each time.
Grab the chopsticks or forks will work too and everyone can get ready to chow on down! 😉👌.
👍 How to Guide
How to Store
Store leftovers of the garlic pepper beef in sealed, airtight containers in the fridge. They can be refrigerated for 2-3 days and need to be reheated before being consumed.
How to Freeze
Allow the dish to fully cool. Then portion into airtight containers or zip lock bags, squeeze the air out then seal. Frozen portions of the dish can be kept in the freezer for 3 months.
You can also purchase the beef in advance when on special, then freeze. Remove from the freezer and let thaw when you want to make the recipe. Frozen beef should not however, be frozen again once cooked (something to keep in mind!)😊.
How to Reheat
Allow frozen portions to fully thaw in the fridge overnight or on the bench during the day before reheating. Reheat in the microwave (fastest) covered for 2 to 3 minutes.
😉 Substitutions and Variations
Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:
- You can use a red onion if you wish to.
- You can also add a yellow capsicum (bell pepper) if you want another pop of colour in the dish.
- If you want to try another protein chicken, shrimp or pork will each work well.
- To add a darker colour to the dish, stir ½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce into the glass as you combine the other sauce ingredients.
- If wanting to use fresh ginger in place of the minced ginger, reduce the amount down to ½ teaspoon.
- An alternative to the sliced green onions for garnish is toasted or fresh sesame seeds. These will add a little texture on top of the dish also.
💡 Tasty Tips
Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:
- The best way to prepare both the onion and capsicum for the recipe is to cut them into long thin strips.
- We use high heat the entire time to cook the recipe. Once you have combined the cooked vegetables, beef and sauce and allowed it to heat through, you can then to the heat down to medium in preparation for serving.
- We also want to keep things moving in the pan as we cook it. A silicon slotted turner or wooden spoon is ideal as you can move the ingredients around to ensure they consistently cook across the dish.
- Save time and energy on weeknights and used store bought pre cooked rice which you can simply heat and add to the dish to serve 😉👌.
- You can also meal prep the recipe in advance by preparing the vegetables, combining the sauce ingredients and then simply cook when you get home from work or after picking the kids up from sport and what not. Dinner will be done in lightening fast speed!
🤓 Frequently Asked Questions
Is garlic pepper just garlic and pepper?
No, garlic pepper is not just garlic and pepper. A recipe with this combination often includes a protein such as beef, pork or chicken, stir fried vegetables, a savory sauce and is served with rice or noodles.
What cut of meat is used for pepper steak?
To make a pepper steak recipe you can use a variety of cuts of meat. The most popular are rump steak, sirloin, flank steak or porterhouse.
Why do you salt and pepper steak before cooking?
Adding salt and pepper to steak or beef is done to add flavour to the meat. This process is known as 'seasoning'. Searing is different seasoning as it is done to ensures the juices stay locked into the meat.
😍 More Easy Dinner Recipes
Dinner! It is an every night of the week kindof thing! One of the reasons why it may not be your favourite meal of the day is not having enough options to make it easy as well as interesting. I offer you choice through variety in taste, texture and cook time to reduce the stress and get dinner sorted ASAP. Here are some recipes, I hope you will love:
- Sticky Pork Ribs
- Pasta Al Pesto
- Italian Short Ribs
- Salmon Fettuccine
- Penne Alfredo
- Easy Tuna Pesto Pasta
- Pesto Pasta Bake
- Oven Baked Pork Ribs
- Beef Osso Bucco
- Air Fryer Beef Kabobs
It is time to get our beef on my friend. You can also find all of my homemade takeout recipes in the one spot!
Adrianne
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📖 Recipe
Garlic Pepper Beef
Equipment
- 1 Glass jug to combine the sauce ingredients
- 1 Mini whisk to whisk together the sauce ingredients
- 1 Large saute pan
- ! Silicon flexible slotted turner or wooden spoon
- 1 Medium sized bowl
- 3 Sheets of paper towel to absorb the juices from the cooked beef when transferred out of the pan
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tbs peanut oil
- 6 cloves garlic thinly sliced, Note 1
- 1 tablespoon ginger minced, Note 2
- ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 500 grams/16 oz sliced beef
- 2 medium red capsicum deseeded and thinly sliced into long strips
- 2 medium green capsicum deseeded and thinly sliced into long strips
- 1 large brown onion skin peeled and thinly sliced
Beef Garlic Sauce
- 2 tbs Chinese cooking wine
- 2 tbs oyster sauce
- 2 tbs honey
- 1 tbs sesame oil
Garnish (optional):
- 2 green onions green bits, thinly sliced
Serving suggestion (optional):
- basmati rice
Instructions
- Sauce: gather the ingredients to make the sauce. Then add the Chinese cooking wine, oyster sauce, honey and sesame oil to a glass. Use a min whisk or teaspoon to consistently combine, then set aside,
- Cook beef: place a large sauté pan on the stove at high heat. Add the peanut oil, sliced garlic, beef strips, minced ginger, salt and pepper. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring every now and then till the beef is browned with no visible pink bits. Once cooked transfer to paper towel lined bowl and set aside.
- Cook vegetables: without rinsing or cleaning the pan add the sliced onion and capsicum to the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. The vegetables will have a wet sweaty look when they are done.
- Combine: add the cooked beef back to the pan with the sliced vegetables. Pour over the sauce and then toss and allow to heat through. Turn the heat down to medium or low once done. This also allows you time to sort out your rice or noodles if using.
- Serve: cook basmati rice according to packet instructions or use store bought precooked rice. Portion garlic pepper beef over the top of the rice and provide chopsticks or forks for serving.
Notes
- Note 1 - Garlic: you can reduce this down to 2 garlic cloves if you are not a huge fan of garlic. We do not however, want to omit this completely as it is one of the key 3 ingredients in the dish.
- Note 2 - Ginger: you can reduce this amount to 1 teaspoon if you are not a huge fan of ginger. I don't recommend using powdered ginger in its place. You can use fresh ginger, yet if wishing to do so the maximum amount that I would recommend is ½ teaspoon.
- Note 3 - Beef: you can purchase pre sliced beef (easy and convenient) or choose to slice it yourself. We want long thin strips as they cook quickly and retain moisture. Rump steak, sirloin, flank steak or porterhouse are all good choices.
Belinda says
Yum we are so trying this. It looks amazing.
Adrianne says
Thank-you for your feedback and enthusiasm Belinda.
Jenny Doorman says
Absolutely delicious. We loved this and will make again It was very easy.
Adrianne says
Thanks Jenny. That is great feedback!
Tammy Handen says
Great recipe. Healthy and very easy to follow the steps.
Adrianne says
Thank-you Tammy. I appreciate your feedback.