Black Pepper Beef. Savory black pepper sauce stir fried with tender beef with green peppers, red peppers and onion. The perfect weeknight dinner that only takes 30 minutes or less to make!
Pair this delicious black pepper beef recipe with white rice and you will have satisfying meal! This is one of my favorite pepper steak recipes to make when I am craving Chinese take out! The black pepper compliments the beef so well along with that rich savory sauce.
What is Black Pepper Beef Stir Fry?
Black Pepper Beef is a classic Chinese dish served popularly at many Chinese restaurants. This Asian dish is made of thin slices of marinated beef stir fried with rich sauce with lots of black pepper and vegetables. The bold flavors of the Chinese style stir fry sauce give the beef a savory taste. A beloved Chinese food that will keep you craving for more!
In fact, there is another version of this dish in Chinese cuisine called sizzling black pepper steak. Popularly found in Hong Kong at your favorite Chinese restaurant. This stir fry is served on an extremely hot plate that has been heated over a fiery flame.
When the waiter serves Sizzling Chinese pepper steak, it is quite a spectacle as they light the stir fry with a small flame so you can watch it sizzle and pop. Do not worry the flame will dissipate so you can enjoy it!
Easy to make
Black pepper beef is one of easy Chinese recipes that come together so easily in 30 minutes. Even though it may seem like a lot of ingredients, you will find many of the ingredients overlap one another.
The cooking process only takes about 5 minutes. Most of the time goes towards preparing the rest of the ingredients. Once you make this, you won't need to order takeout at your local Chinese restaurant!
If you make a lot of Asian dishes, you'll find that you'll have most of the pantry staples for this dish and many other stir fry recipes.
Ingredients
You'll need the below key ingredients for my black pepper beef stir fry. Please scroll down to below full recipe card for exact measurements.
Note: The Asian market will carry these ingredients. You may find them at your select grocery store or online, like on Amazon
- Flank steak or sub with any beef steak such as skirt steak, sirloin steak, flat iron steak. Since this is the main ingredient, I strongly recommend using flank steak. However, I share many other options below in the FAQ section.
- Flank steak does come at an extra cost but it's worth it as it's tender and contains less muscle fibers in a cheaper cut of steak. The muscle fibers can make the beef tough and chewy which is not ideal for stir fries.
- Red bell pepper and green bell pepper: or feel free to sub with any crunchy vegetable like broccoli, broccoli, snap peas, snow peas, carrots for black pepper beef.
- Medium onion
- Neutral oil like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. We'll be using a tablespoon oil in our recipe.
Beef Marinade
- Garlic
- Regular soy sauce: aka all-purpose soy sauce. The label will simply say "soy sauce."
- Dark soy sauce: a dark soy sauce that is very thick and darker in shade. Meant for coloring a dish and less salty than regular soy sauce.
- Shaoxing wine: A Chinese cooking wine that you can find at your local Asian grocer. It is actually a rice wine that adds a lovely flavor to many stir fry dishes. If you cannot find this type of wine, substitute with rice vinegar.
- Corn starch or sub with potato starch, tapioca starch or rice flour. This will help thicken the stir fry sauce.
- Black pepper
- White sugar or brown sugar
- Baking soda: baking soda is a special ingredient used in many Chinese style meat marinades to help tenderize the meat. This technique is called "velveting".
- Neutral oil
Sauce ingredients:
- Oyster sauce or vegetarian stir fry sauce. Oyster sauce is a sauce made of oyster extract and it gives the sauce recipe a delicious umami flavor!
- Dark soy sauce
- Regular soy sauce
- Black pepper: lots of black pepper. I would not suggest replacing with white pepper as it has a more floral taste.
- Shoaxing wine
- Cornstarch
- Chicken stock, or beef stock or vegetable stock
How to Make Black Pepper Beef
Slice flank steak against the grain on an angle. Tip: To easily slice the beef into thin strips, freeze the steak (wrapped in plastic) for 45-60 minutes until it's hard on the outside.
In a large bowl, marinate thinly sliced flank steak in Marinade ingredients (as listed above) for 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine Sauce ingredients (as listed above). Set aside.
In a hot wok or large skillet on medium-high heat, add vegetable oil. Fry beef until cooked, about 1-2 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Fry onions and red bell peppers for a little bit, about 30 seconds. Cook until tender but crisp. Do not over cook them.
Pour in sauce. Allow sauce to simmer and thicken, about 1-2 minutes.
Once sauce is thickened, toss back in cooked beef. Serve and enjoy!
Storage
How long will this black pepper beef last?
Up to 4 days in the fridge stored in an airtight container. To reheat, pan fry on the stove top or microwave for 2-3 minutes.
FAQ
What other cut of beef can I use for black pepper beef?
If you cannot find flank steak, other cuts you can use are:
skirt steak, sirloin steak, ribeye, New York strip, top loin, tenderloin, tri-tip, shoulder center aka Ranch steak or shoulder top blade (Flat Iron).
What other vegetables can I use in this quick stir-fry?
If you are not a fan of green bell peppers or red bell peppers, try broccoli, snap peas, snow peas, carrots, or any hard crunchy vegetable of your choice.
How do I cut flank steak thinly?
Freeze it in plastic wrap for 45-60 minutes until the outside is hard. Then unwrap it and slice it. When you marinate it, let it thaw to room temperature.
Other Stir Fry Recipe You May Enjoy!
If you enjoyed my stir fry dish, please check out these other new recipes:
Black Pepper Beef
Ingredients
- 226 grams flank steak thinly sliced (or sub with any beef steak of choice)
- ½ large red bell pepper diced
- ½ large green bell pepper diced
- ½ medium onion julienned
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Marinade:
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoon regular soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon Shaoxing wine or Dry Sherry wine
- 1.5 teaspoon cornstarch or potato starch or tapioca starch
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon white sugar or brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine or Dry Sherry wine
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch or potato starch or tapioca starch
- ½ cup chicken stock or beef stock/vegetable stock
Instructions
- In a large bowl, marinate thinly sliced flank steak in Marinade ingredients (as listed above) for 15 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine Sauce ingredients (as listed above).
- In a hot wok or large skillet on medium-high heat, add vegetable oil. Fry beef until cooked. Remove and set aside.
- Fry onions and red bell peppers for a little bit, about 30 seconds. Cook until tender but crisp. Do not over cook them.
- Pour in sauce. Allow sauce to simmer and thicken, about 1-2 minutes.
- Once sauce is thickened, toss back in cooked beef. Serve and enjoy!
Petra
Oh my gosh… this is so delicious!!!! Very easy to make. I will share this with my friends again. Your food is becoming famous in The Netherlands. Thanks again.
christieathome
I'm so happy to read this, Petra! Glad it was easy and thank you for sharing my recipe and for making them 🙂
Khadija
My family doesn't cook with wine, is there something I can substitute it for?
christieathome
Rice vinegar will work as a substitute or feel free to omit the wine.