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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 in white bowl next to Instant Pot

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.

Peppers, Onions, and Steak in Instant Pot

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.
Bowl of Instant Pot Pepper Steak

More Delicious Asian Dinners

Recipe
A bowl of pepper steak with rice

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
Cook Time 3 minutes
Total Time 28 minutes
Servings 6

Equipment

  • Electric Pressure Cooker

Ingredients
  

  • 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

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. 

Nutrition

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

Kristen Chidsey

Kristen is the creator of A Mind Full Mom. She has a passion for bringing families together around the kitchen table with easy, family approved recipes! Kristen believes in making the most of every moment of life and that life is better lived enjoying great food with the people you love.

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Comments

  1. I don’t usually comment but this recipe doesn’t have any so I must say that this is absolutely delicious as written. I just used a bit less rice, everything else the same, definitely a keeper!

  2. I tossed 1/3 cup of brown rice, coarsely chopped onion and green pepper, a frozen 8 or 9 ounce sirloin steak, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper with 1/4 cup of beef broth into my instant pot mini duo and pressure cooked it for 30 minutes.

    It was really easy. Took me perhaps 10 minutes to get everything chopped up and into the pot, then about 40 minutes later my instant pot beeped that it was ready and it turned out pretty good for considering I basically improvised the whole thing on the fly.

    I’m definitely going to take the extra time to try your recipe next time considering how well my half-arsed improvised version turned out. Yours must rock!

  3. Recipe calls for one pepper, then one each red and green peppers. What is the one pepper, just another bell pepper, or some sort of hot pepper?

    1. That should be “yellow” pepper. 1 of each color. Sorry for the confusion and thanks for letting me know!