Savory Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

Pepper steak is one of those Chinese-American dishes that delivers a deeply satisfying dinner without requiring anything close to restaurant-level technique. The soy-based sauce, sweet bell peppers, and tender beef strips over white rice make up a combination that feels complete and balanced in every bowl. The slow cooker version gets you there with almost no hands-on effort and produces beef that’s genuinely more tender than a quick stovetop version ever manages.

The long, low cook is what makes this work. Tougher, more affordable cuts like top round or London broil have dense muscle fibers that need time to break down. The slow cooker provides exactly that environment, and as the beef slowly tenderizes, it releases its flavor into the soy and broth base, building a gravy that has real depth by the time the cornstarch slurry goes in at the end.

This savory slow cooker pepper steak feeds four to six people from one pot, holds well through the week, and is the kind of weeknight dinner that requires about 15 minutes of actual work and delivers something that tastes like considerably more.

Why You’ll Love This Savory Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

The texture of the beef after a full slow cook is the first thing people notice. Strips that would be chewy and tough cooked quickly over high heat become genuinely fork-tender after hours in the slow cooker, and they absorb the savory soy and broth sauce throughout rather than just being coated on the outside.

The bell peppers add natural sweetness that balances the saltiness of the soy sauce. Adding them in the final hour of cooking if you want more bite is a worthwhile option, but going in at the beginning produces a softer pepper that integrates more fully into the finished gravy.

The cornstarch slurry at the end transforms the thin cooking liquid into a proper, glossy gravy that coats every strip of beef and pools into the rice underneath each serving. It’s the step that turns a good slow cooker meal into a restaurant-quality finish.

This also freezes exceptionally well, which makes it a practical recipe to double when you’re already running the slow cooker for a long cook.

Ingredients for Savory Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

The ingredient list is focused and largely pantry-driven. The cut of beef is the one decision worth spending a moment on.

For the beef and vegetables:

• 2 lbs beef (top round, sirloin, or London broil), cut into 3/4-inch thick strips
• 2 large bell peppers, one red and one green, sliced into strips
• 1 large white or yellow onion, sliced into petals
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced (optional)

For the savory sauce:

• 1 1/2 cups beef broth, divided
• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, or 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, optional

For the thickener:

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

For serving:

• Cooked white rice or egg noodles
• Sliced green onions and sesame seeds for garnish

For the beef, top round is my first choice for this recipe. It’s affordable, has a relatively uniform grain structure that slices cleanly, and breaks down beautifully during the long slow cook without falling apart or becoming stringy. London broil refers to a cooking method rather than a specific cut in most markets, but it’s typically top round or flank steak labeled for that purpose and works identically. Sirloin produces a slightly more tender result with a shorter cook time since it’s a less worked muscle, but it costs more and the long slow cook may make it softer than ideal for sliced strips.

The slicing direction matters more in this recipe than almost any other beef dish. Always slice against the grain, meaning perpendicular to the direction the muscle fibers run. Cutting with the grain leaves long, intact muscle fibers that remain chewy regardless of cook time. Cutting against shortens those fibers at the outset, which is what allows the slow cook to break them down into something genuinely tender.

For the soy sauce, low-sodium is strongly recommended here. The reduction that happens during the long cook concentrates the salt level significantly. Starting with full-sodium soy sauce often produces a finished dish that’s too salty to balance out, even with extra broth.

How to Make Savory Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

The method here is genuinely simple. The only technique point worth extra attention is the cornstarch slurry at the end.

1. Whisk together 1 cup of the beef broth, the soy sauce, brown sugar, salt, pepper, ginger, and Worcestershire sauce if using in a medium bowl until the sugar has fully dissolved and the mixture is smooth.

2. Add the sliced beef strips, onion, bell peppers, mushrooms, and minced garlic to the slow cooker. If you prefer your bell peppers to retain some snap and color rather than becoming fully soft and integrated into the sauce, hold them back and add them in the final hour of cooking instead.

3. Pour the sauce mixture over the beef and vegetables and stir well to ensure the beef is evenly coated and the garlic and seasoning are distributed throughout rather than sitting in one spot.

4. Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours or on High for 3 to 4 hours. The beef should be fork-tender at the end of the cook time. On Low, the longer time produces a slightly more even tenderness throughout the strips, which I find gives the best result for a tougher cut like top round.

5. About 30 to 45 minutes before you’re ready to serve, whisk the remaining 1/2 cup of cold beef broth with the cornstarch in a small bowl until completely smooth with no lumps. Cold broth is important here, just as cold water would be, since the cornstarch disperses evenly in cold liquid and then activates cleanly when it hits the hot sauce. Hot broth causes partial premature thickening before the slurry is added.

6. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the slow cooker liquid. If you’ve been cooking on Low, switch to High at this point. Cover and cook for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until the sauce has thickened into a glossy, coating gravy. In my experience, the sauce needs the full time to reach the right consistency, so resist the urge to add more cornstarch if it looks thin in the first 15 minutes.

7. Taste the finished sauce for seasoning before serving. A little extra soy sauce deepens the saltiness if needed. A small drizzle of sesame oil stirred in at this point adds a nice aromatic finish. Serve over warm white rice or buttered egg noodles, garnished with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.

What to Serve with Savory Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

White rice and egg noodles are both natural bases for the savory gravy, but a few side dishes round the meal out further.

Steamed Jasmine Rice: The floral, slightly sticky quality of jasmine rice is the most traditional and complementary base for the soy-forward gravy. The rice absorbs the sauce evenly and adds a neutral, subtly fragrant backdrop that keeps the beef and peppers as the focus.

Buttered Egg Noodles: Wide egg noodles tossed with a little butter and a pinch of garlic powder provide a rich, starchy base that works exceptionally well with the brown sugar and soy gravy. They also soak up more sauce per forkful than rice, which some people prefer.

Steamed Broccoli: A side of simply steamed broccoli adds a fresh, slightly bitter vegetable element that cuts through the saltiness of the soy sauce and keeps the meal feeling balanced. It also stays in the Asian-inspired flavor territory of the main dish without competing with it.

Cucumber Salad: A quick cucumber salad with rice vinegar, sesame oil, and a pinch of sugar adds crunch and cool acidity that contrasts nicely with the warm, savory beef gravy. It takes about 5 minutes to put together and requires no cooking.

Mashed Potatoes: A non-traditional but surprisingly good pairing. The savory beef gravy works over mashed potatoes in the same way it works over egg noodles, and it makes the meal feel more like a Western comfort dinner than a Chinese-American one, which can be a welcome change of pace.

Pro Tips & Variations

Always slice against the grain. This is the single most impactful preparation step for this recipe. Look for the direction the muscle fibers run and slice perpendicular to them. A proper against-the-grain slice on top round produces a completely different level of tenderness than a with-the-grain slice of the same cut cooked for the same time.

Add the peppers late for more texture. Placing the bell pepper strips in during the last hour of cooking rather than at the beginning preserves more of their structure and color. They stay slightly crisp and vibrant rather than becoming fully soft and integrated into the gravy. Both approaches are good; it comes down to texture preference.

Stir in sesame oil at the end. A teaspoon of toasted sesame oil stirred into the finished sauce right before serving adds an aromatic, nutty depth that complements the soy and ginger base without requiring any extra cooking.

Add heat with red pepper flakes. A quarter teaspoon of red pepper flakes added to the sauce at the beginning builds a gentle, background heat that runs through the entire dish. A full half teaspoon makes it noticeably spicy. Chili garlic sauce stirred in at the end is another option for those who want to control the heat level per serving.

Double the recipe efficiently. This dish scales well to a doubled batch in a large slow cooker. The cook time stays roughly the same. Double the cornstarch slurry proportionally and allow a few extra minutes for the larger volume of liquid to thicken.

Storage & Reheating Tips

Store leftovers with the sauce and beef together in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The gravy thickens considerably in the refrigerator as the cornstarch sets. This is normal and reverses completely when reheated with a splash of beef broth.

To reheat, I warm the beef and sauce in a covered saucepan over medium-low heat, adding a splash of broth to loosen the gravy back to its original consistency. Stir gently every couple of minutes. Microwave reheating at medium power in 60-second intervals with a tablespoon of broth added before heating works well for individual portions.

For freezing, portion the cooled beef and sauce into freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating. The cornstarch-thickened sauce reheats well from frozen with minimal change in texture.

Common Questions

My sauce isn’t thickening after the cornstarch slurry. What’s happening? The most common cause is the slow cooker not being hot enough when the slurry goes in. Make sure you’ve switched to High for the thickening stage and that the liquid is visibly simmering before you stir in the slurry. Also confirm the cornstarch was mixed with cold broth rather than warm. If the sauce is still thin after 45 minutes on High, mix an additional tablespoon of cornstarch with a tablespoon of cold water and stir it in.

Can I use flank steak instead of top round? Flank steak works well here. It’s a slightly more tender cut to start with and has a pronounced grain that’s easy to identify and slice against. It may be done a little closer to the 5-hour mark on Low rather than needing the full 6 hours. Check for tenderness at that point before continuing to cook.

The sauce tastes too salty. How do I fix it? This usually happens when full-sodium soy sauce is used rather than low-sodium. To balance it, stir in a small amount of brown sugar a teaspoon at a time to cut the saltiness, or add a splash of additional unseasoned beef broth to dilute it. A squeeze of lime or a small dash of rice vinegar can also shift the perception of saltiness by adding acidity.

Savory slow cooker pepper steak is a dinner that earns its place in any weekly rotation that includes a crockpot. The beef becomes genuinely tender in a way stovetop cooking can’t replicate in a reasonable amount of time, and the glossy soy gravy over rice is one of those combinations that satisfies in a deeply straightforward way. Set it up in the morning and dinner is ready when you need it.