Instant Pot pepper steak stir fry is ultra tender beef, perfectly cooked peppers in a homemade savory sauce that is perfect for dinner or meal prep lunches!
You guys have been loving Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli, and I know you are going to love this ultra tender Instant Pot pepper steak stir fry too!
Getting beef ultra tender, but not over cooking your veggies in a dish can be a bit of a challenge. When you put ingredients into and Instant Pot that have significantly different cook times, you can end up with and Instant Pot fail.
How to avoid over cooked peppers in your Instant Pot stir fry
Not all Instant Pot recipes should be just dumping all ingredients in and pressuring up.
When foods have different cook times, you have to take that into consideration.
For this recipe, if you put the peppers in for the pressure cycle, you will end up with very over cooked peppers. To keep the peppers with a bit of crunch to them, you will saute them using the saute feature, before you cook the beef.
The secrets to ultra tender beef
This recipe calls for flank steak. This cut of beef can often come out tough. But, there are a couple of ways to avoid this.
First, cut your beef "against the grain".
How to cut against the grain
You can see in the image below that the grain (the direction of the fibers) is horizontal here. This means you are going to cut your strips at a vertical cut.
When you cut against the grain, you are shortening the fibers, thus making it easier to chew, and more tender. This is important for cutting flank steak.
The second step to ultra tender flank steak is to tenderize it, with a meat tenderizer.
How to tenderize flank steak
To take it one step further to get ultra tender flank steak, I use mechanical tenderization. This basically means you pound the steak. Again you are breaking up those fibers to make the meat easier to chew.
I use this very meat tenderizer mallet (affiliate link).
Once the strips are cut, pound them with a mallet and then cut into bite size pieces. The meat is now flatter and will become ultra tender.
Sear the meat or not?
With steak this thin, no, you don't need to sear the meat first for this recipe.
Can this be a meal prep?
Yes, of course! There are 2 ways I prep this ahead.
For lunches, I fully cook it, portion it, and reheat through out the week.
For dinner, I will prep the meat (cut and tenderize) and put it into a container. Cut the peppers and onions and store them separate from the beef. I will then also made the sauce and keep it in a mason jar. Dinner then comes together really quick.
Are you ready to get Instant Pot Pepper Steak Stir fry into your weekly meal plan?
When you make it, tag me @mealplanaddict on Instagram so I can see your creation!
For more Instant Pot Beef recipes, check out:
Instant Pot Pepper Steak Stir Fry
Equipment
- 6 Quart Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Flank Steak
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ small onion, sliced thin
- 1 cup sliced red pepper
- 1 cup sliced green pepper
Sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- ⅓ cup hoisin sauce
- ½ cup water
- 1 Tbs chili garlic sauce (Sambal Oelek) you can sub in sriracha here
Slurry to thicken sauce
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
- Select the saute feature on your Instant Pot. Allow to heat.
- Meanwhile, slice steak, against the grain, into strips.
- Using a meat tenderizer mallet, pound the strips, and cut into bite size pieces. Set aside.
- Add oil to the instant pot. Once the oil is hot, add the peppers and onion. Saute until onions are translucent and peppers are cooked to desired tenderness. Take care not to over cook.
- Remove the pepper/onion mixture from the Instant Pot and set aside.
- Select cancel on your Instant Pot.
- Add the sauce ingredients to a mason jar and shake (or just add directly into the Instant Pot liner and stir). Leave out the slurry ingredients. You add that after the pressure cycle.
- Add the beef into the Instant Pot.
- Set the Instant Pot to 8 minutes on high pressure.
- After the pressure cycle is complete, quick release the pressure.
- Remove the lid, press cancel and select saute.
- Add the cornstarch slurry into the pot and stir.
- Add the peppers and onions into the pot.
- After about 3 minutes, the sauce should have thickened and the peppers heated.
- Press cancel on your Instant Pot.
- Serve with rice, cauliflower rice, or side of your choice.
Jill says
Awesome
I didn’t have hoisin sauce do I used taco sauce
Used pre sliced beef from my meat dept. no need to tenderize or pound
Yummy
Jill
Janet Vinyard says
Excellent depth of flavors! We loved this dish! I used round steak instead of flank steak and it was just fantastic! Thanks for this great recipe!