Beef and Chicken Stir Fry Recipes

This simple steak or chicken and peppers stir fry recipe is a delicious dish that can be done in two ways. Whether you go with steak or chicken, the sweet and salty flavor of the meat and peppers combined with either rice or noodles is always a big hit.

Simple steak and pepper stir fry on bed of rice on white plate One of the things I love most about this dish is that it's a fast and healthy weeknight dinner perfect for any day of the week! I'm able to get a tasty meal on the table that's so easy to make and so good to eat that everyone is happy from the cook (me) to everyone who eats it. If you enjoy peppers as much as we do you will love this dish! The sauce is divine and of course, you can add more vegetables if you want to or need to!

I switch between steak and chicken all the time for this recipe. They both work equally well, and frankly, I usually buy what's on sale or use up whatever I have on hand! This recipe just begs for either steak or chicken to be used with it, so there's really no issue with switching back and forth. It keeps things fresh, and I just buy whichever happens to be on sale. That keeps the old wallet happy.

I have even made this dish as a side, with no meat, and everyone loved it! I end up with so many peppers in the summer that I have to use up and I thought why not and luckily it worked! The sauce that this dish uses is absolutely amazing, so if you go meatless with it, it still really holds up.

Closeup shot of simple steak and peppers stir fry over rice

A Brief History of Stir Frying

Today, the stir fry is simply a delicious collection of meat, vegetables, and seasonings that are cooking very quickly in a very hot skillet. However, in ancient China where this method of cooking was invented, it was equal parts cooking and efficiency.

Most food historians agree that stir frying was invented by the Chinese in response to a chronic shortage of wood and other fuel. By using an incredibly hot wok, Chinese cooks could create food for large numbers of people in only three to five minutes of cooking, allowing them to make more food for more people using far less fuel.

While the method of stir frying has been around for centuries, the actual English translation of it has only been around since 1945. It was in that year that the term first appeared in the cookbook How to Cook and Eat in Chinese by author Buwei Yang Chao. Her husband, Yeun Rn Chao, an American linguist, devised the term in an effort to correctly convey the meaning of its Chinese character counterpart.

Simple Steak or Chicken and Peppers Stir Fry

I feel confident that this easy, delicious stir fry recipe is true to its namesake. Just like all stir fry dishes, this recipe uses only a few ingredients and is cooked very fast at very high heat. It's also filled with classic Asian ingredients. You'll find steak, peppers, onions, and the sauce ingredients in pretty much any stir fry dish you'd order at a Chinese or Japanese restaurant.

Ingredients

It only takes a handful of ingredients to create this easy delicious stir fry recipe. Aside from the meat, the only other thing you might have to buy especially for the recipe is oyster sauce. Outside of that, you probably have all these ingredients in your kitchen already.

beef steak
onion
sweet peppers
oyster sauce
cornstarch
salt
pepper
oil

Making This Simple Steak or Chicken and Peppers Stir Fry

Making this recipe is just as simple as its ingredient list. Like all stir fry recipes, this dish cooks up exceptionally fast in an exceptionally hot skillet, so it's a perfect dish for any day of the week, even hectic weeknights. Just like the ingredient list, it doesn't take much to cook up this stir fry.

The following outline is just the highlights of this recipe, but when you look at the recipe card at the end of the post, you'll see that there's not much more to it. Here's what you do.

In a cup mix oyster sauce, water, cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
In a large skillet, on medium-high heat, oil until it is shimmering or when flicking a drop of water in it causes it to dance.
Add sliced beef or chicken and sauté until browned and, if using chicken, it is no longer pink.
Remove meat and set aside.
Heat the oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers or a drop of water flicked in it dances as well.
Add onions and stir for a few minutes until tender.
Then add peppers and stir for a few more minutes until tender.
Add cooked beef or chicken and oyster sauce mixture.
Stir to coat and thicken the sauce, just a few minutes.

Simple steak or chicken and peppers stir fry over rice on white plate

Variations

As you can probably already tell from its name, you can use either steak or chicken in this stir fry recipe, however, that's not all you can do to change things up. You can do a few different things to change up the flavors, and every one of them will taste amazing!

Change the Meat

This recipe calls for either steak or chicken, but you can also use pork that is cut into thin strips. It works just as well, and it tastes wonderful to boot.

Add Veggies

I kept this dish simple with onions and green peppers, but you can add more vegetables if you want. Almost any vegetable will work so long as they're cut up in such a way that they can be cooked quickly. However, to keep things true to this dish's Asian roots, I recommend the following options:

Broccoli
Water Chestnuts
Carrots
Snow Peas
Bean Sprouts
Leafy Greens
Baby Corn
Bamboo Shoots
Mushrooms

Change the Sauce

This recipe uses oyster sauce, but you can use other sauces to change the flavor of your stir fry. Some of these are better for steak and some will work better in the chicken pepper stir fry variation. All of them, however, stay true to the traditional stir fry flavor.

Kikkoman Classic Stir Fry Sauce (Beef)
Le Kum Kee Mandarin Orange Chicken Sauce (Chicken)
Minor' General Tso Sauce (Pork)
Soy Sauce
Sweet Soy Sauce
Hoisin Sauce
Combination of Sweet Soy and Hoisin Sauces

Serving Simple Steak or Chicken and Peppers Stir Fry

This recipe stays very true to traditional stir fry roots, and as such, I recommend serving it over the traditional bed of either rice or noodles. That's all you need for a complete meal that is absolutely delicious on every level.

When serving this dish with noodles, don't use Italian noodles like spaghetti. Instead, use traditional stir fry noodles to keep that signature flavor and texture. There are three noodle varieties that work very well with this dish.

Soba Noodles
Udon Noodles
Rice Noodles

When serving this dish with rice, you can use any kind of rice you like. I prefer sticky rice, but you can also use regular long-grain rice. You can even go with brown rice if you want a bit more chew.

Storing the Stir Fry

This stir fry will keep well in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for up to four days. For longer storage, you can freeze the stir fry in an air-tight, freezer-safe container or heavy-duty freezer bag for up to a month. It's not recommended to freeze it any longer than that. Although it will still be edible, it will lose some of its flavors.

Give This Simple Steak or Chicken and Peppers Stir Fry a Try

This simple steak or chicken and peppers stir fry recipe is incredibly easy to make and absolutely packed full of flavor. Whether you go with the original recipe – which I recommend for your first time – or change up the meat, vegetables, and/or sauces, you'll absolutely love this recipe. Give it a try, and I'm sure your family will agree that it's absolutely delicious. It's so simple and easy, there's no reason not to!

Other Delicious Stir Fry Recipes to Try

We also have some other recipes you might be interested in trying. I just love them all, in their own special way! Take a peek below at some of them. You just never know when you will find a keeper!

Pork Noodles

Japanese Inspired Noodles with Beef

Black Bean Garlic Beef Noodles

Simple Chicken Stir Fry with Ramen Noodles

Easy Black Bean, Green Bean and Pork Stir Fry

Fabulous Green Bean Stir Fry

Quick Chicken Stir Fry

Korean Chili

Needless to say I have quite a few things I love to do with peppers! This includes filling them with meat and stuffing in my Stuffing Peppers or meat, rice and cheese in my Awesome Stuffed Peppers. I also fill them with beef or short rib and lentils in my Lentil Short Rib Stuffed Peppers.

I regularly bake eggs inside sweet peppers in our Roasted Sweet Pepper Cups and Eggs. You should also have a look at our recipe for Chicken Melts in a Pepper which is a personal favorite of mine!

Now that I think about it I use peppers in so many recipes and I can't seem to help it! Am I the only one who uses peppers a lot? I just can't be. Can I?

Simple Steak or Chicken and Peppers Stir Fry

Simple Steak or Chicken and Peppers Stir Fry is fast and delicious. Served with rice or noodles this dish will never disappoint!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian Inspired

large skillet
saucepan

1 pound beef steak any cut, cut into strips or boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
2 large peppers, green, yellow, orange or red, thinly sliced
¼ cup oyster sauce
1 tblsp cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
4 tblsp olive oil or another vegetable oil

Get out and measure all of your ingredients.
In a cup mix oyster sauce, ⅓ cup water, cornstarch, salt, and pepper.
Stir until incorporated and set aside.
In a large skillet, on medium high heat, place 2 tablespoons of oil until it is shimmering or when flicking a drop of water in it causes it to dance. Add sliced beef or chicken and sauté until browned and, if using chicken, it is no longer pink. Around 4 or 5 minutes. Remove meat and set aside.
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium high heat until it shimmers or a drop of water flicked in it dances as well. Add onions and stir for a few minutes until tender.
Then add peppers and stir for a few more minutes until tender.
Add cooked beef or chicken and oyster sauce mixture.
Stir to coat and thicken sauce, just a few minutes.
Serve with rice or noodles. Enjoy!