Instant Pot Pepper Steak

Instant Pot Pepper Steak is an easy pressure cooker recipe that is perfect for busy nights! Made with sirloin steak, peppers, onions, rice, and a sweet and savory sauce, this simple one pot recipe is full of flavor.

Instant Pot Pepper Steak

Pepper Steak is a Chinese-American stir fry dish made with tender beef, peppers and onions, in a simple flavorful sauce.

It is a super fast recipe to pull together on the stove, so what is the advantage of making this recipe in the Instant Pot?

There are two reasons that this recipe for Instant Pot Pepper Steak reigns supreme.

• You can use an inexpensive cut of beef, like round steak or sirloin steak. One of the things that Instant Pot is known for quickly cooking tougher cuts of meat to tender perfection.
• This recipe for is a one-pot meal. The rice cooks with the meat, sauce, and peppers, making dinner simple to pull together. Not to mention, the rice soaks up all the delicious sauce!

I love that I can make this Instant Pot Pepper Steak recipe because not only is it delicious, but it is a 30 minute meal perfect for busy weeknights. Plus the entire family devours it–even the picky eaters!

For more delicious, simple and fast meals in your pressure cookers, try Instant Pot Pot Roast, Instant Pot Shredded Mexican Beef, and Instant Pot Beef Stew.

How to Make Instant Pot Pepper Steak

This recipe comes together quickly. The hardest part is slicing up the beef and the veggies – but don’t be afraid to use a shortcut! You can easily purchase pre-sliced beef and pre-sliced peppers and onions.

For the sauce, I use apricot preserves, which may seem like an odd ingredient. Most pepper steak recipes for call for Hoisin sauce. I love using Apricot All Fruit because it has no added sugar or sodium and adds just the right sweetness. You can certainly use honey in place of the apricot preserves but I would not use Hoisin because it adds too much salt when combined with the beef stock.

Instructions

1. Turn Instant Pot to saute and let heat up until Instant Pot reads HOT, then add in oil and the sliced beef, peppers, and onions.
2. Saute the meat and veggies until the meat is JUST browned and then turn the pressure cooker off. You can drain off any excess grease from the pot if you like, but it also adds flavor.
3. Deglaze the pot by adding beef stock and scraping up any browned bits on bottom of the pan. Those caramelized bits on the bottom add a ton of flavor to your sauce and the entire dish.
4. Stir apricot preserves, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, minced garlic, grated ginger, and pepper into beef stock. Stir everything together in the pot to coat the meat and veggies. Fresh ginger works best for this recipe (I don’t recommend using powdered ginger).
5. Rinse and drain rice well to remove as much of the starch as possible and add into the Instant Pot. Push down rice to submerge fully it in liquid, or you could end up with dried bits of crunchy rice which isn’t very tasty.
6. Place the lid on pressure cooker and cook on HIGH pressure for 3 minutes.
7. Once cook time has elapsed, let pressure release naturally–DO NOT try to do quick release when cooking rice in the pressure cooker.

Modifications and Tips

• Leftover Pepper Steak will keep in the fridge for 3 days and can be frozen for up to 3 months. Either way, store in an airtight container.
• Because white rice cooks faster, do not use brown rice. Other types of rice will take longer to cook and the beef will overcook and be dry and chewy.
• Feel free to omit red pepper flakes if you want a more mild dish.
• Sirloin steak or round steak can be used interchangeably for Instant Pot Pepper Steak. You can even use meat labeled Beef for Stir Fry – it is usually already cut up into strips.
• Use low sodium stock and soy sauce to control the salt in this recipe.
• Use Tamari to make this Pepper Steak gluten-free.

More Delicious Asian Dinners

• Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef
• Crockpot Orange Chicken
• Szechuan Chicken Stir Fry
• Egg Fried Rice

Recipe

Instant Pot Pepper Steak

5 from 2 votes

Instant Pot Pepper Steak is an easy pressure cooker recipe that is perfect for busy nights! Made with sirloin steak, peppers, onions, rice, and a sweet and savory sauce, this simple one pot recipe is full of flavor.

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 minutes mins

Total Time 28 minutes mins

Servings 6

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Equipment

• Electric Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 teaspoons oil
• 1 pound top round steak cut into ¼ inch thin strips
• 1 small onion sliced
• 1 yellow pepper sliced
• 1 red pepper sliced
• 1 green pepper sliced
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 14.5 ounces cup beef stock reduced sodium
• 1/4 cup soy sauce reduced sodium
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger root grated
• 2 tablespoons apricot preserves
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups white rice
• green onions optional

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Instructions

 

• Turn Instant Pot to Saute and let heat up.
• Add in oil, beef, peppers and onions. Saute until meat is just browned. Turn off Instant Pot.
• Drain off any excess grease if desired and return pot back to Instant Pot.
• Add in beef stock and scrape up any browned bits on bottom of the pan. Add in soy sauce, ginger, garlic, apricot preserves, red pepper flakes, pepper, and stir well.
• Rinse and drain rice and then add into Instant Pot. Push down rice until it is just submerged in the liquid.
• Place lid on pressure cooker and be sure to seal vent knob to sealed. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes.
• Once cook time has elapsed, let pressure release naturally. Fluff rice and serve with green onions if desired.

Notes

• Sirloin steak or round steak can be used interchangeably. 
• Use low sodium stock and soy sauce to control the sodium in this recipe. 
• Feel free to use honey in place of the Apricot Preserves.
• Instant Pot Pepper Steak will keep in the fridge for 3 days and can be frozen for up to 3 months. 

Keyword Instant Pot Pepper Steak, Pepper Steak

Nutrition

Calories: 382kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 24gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 46mgSodium: 621mgPotassium: 514mgFiber: 2gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 733IUVitamin C: 44mgCalcium: 48mgIron: 3mg

Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.

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