Slow Cooker Orange Beef & Fire Peppers

Slow Cooker Orange Beef & Fire Peppers

Simply delicious beef and pepper dish reminiscent of pepper steak and orange beef, but a lot tastier! Three methods of preparation given.

This meal takes pepper steak to the next level!

It was originally a pressure cooker recipe that I adapted from a book I had gotten with an old Cook’s Essentials pressure cooker.  It works just fine in a pressure cooker if that’s the way you want to go with this.

Since most pressure cooker meals can be adapted to slow cookers with simple liquid and time adjustments, that’s how I went with it this time and I also wanted to test my brand-new Ninja 4-in-1 cooker!

Ninja 4-in-1 in green

One thing I have been told and observed for myself is that the Ninja cooks hotter and faster than a conventional slow cooker.  So if you want to try one of these appliances out, I suggest you keep an eye on whatever you want to slow cook because it’ll probably be done in 2/3 of the time.  My “muse” Shirley W will cook most things which call for LOW/8 hours about 5 hours in her Ninja.

This particular recipe was done (meaning the meat) in 2 hours on HI instead of the usual 3-4 on the same setting on a conventional cooker.

And since this is so adaptable, you can do it stovetop if you don’t want the wait–and it’s ready in less than 30 minutes–because it’s essentially a stir fry.  Only thing with stovetop is you need to have a much better cut of meat than one you’d use in a slow cooker or pressure cooker.  I recommend sirloin steak, because it’s tender, flavorful and often on sale!

If you want, you can add a fourth pepper color–orange.  I chose not to here because I was going to garnish with orange slices–which I forgot LOL, but it’s still gorgeous with the three varieties and you can even take that down to two if you want to economize.  Just use the red and green.  My store had all the colors on sale for the same price this week, which is why I got all extravagant and mixed it up nicely.

Super delicious and colorful too

This would probably be SUPER with pork as well, so feel free to substitute that for the beef if you want.

I prefer this less saucy, so I use 1/2 the sauce ingredients when I make this in any of the methods listed.

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Slow Cooker Orange Beef & Fire Peppers

Simply delicious beef and pepper dish reminiscent of pepper steak and orange beef, but a lot tastier! Three methods of preparation given.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time8 hrs

Total Time8 hrs 10 mins

Course: beef, skillet dinners, Slow Cooker

Cuisine: American

Keyword: beef recipe, slow cooker beef

Servings: 4

Calories: 724kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 2 lbs beef round shoulder or sirloin*, cut in 1/2-inch slices
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp oil for frying

SAUCE

• 2 cups orange juice
• 1 1/2 tbsp orange zest
• 6 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark sesame oil
• 2 beef stock cubes
• 1/4 cup sugar

VEGGIE COMBO

• 1 medium green bell pepper cut in strips
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper cut in strips
• 1 medium red bell pepper cut in strips
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 8 oz fresh mushrooms sliced

SEASONED FLOUR

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

TO THICKEN

• 2-3 tbsp cornstarch
• 4-5 tbsp water

Instructions

• *Use sirloin or any tender cut of beef for stovetop method
• Mix seasoned flour ingredients and coat the meat with it.
• Mix the orange juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, stock cubes and orange zest in a small bowl. You can use one-half of each of these ingredients if you don’t want it overly saucy–I only use 1/2 the amount. Set aside.
• Slow Cooker/Ninja Method:
• Set Ninja to “Stovetop High” and let it heat for a few minutes. If using slow cooker, heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil.
• Brown meat well. Add garlic. Add the orange juice mixture. If browning in the skillet, scrap up all the brownie bits at the bottom of the skillet (deglazing) and add entire contents to slow cooker.
• Cover Ninja or slow cooker. Set to HI/Slow Cooker on the Ninja or HI on a regular slow cooker. Cook for about 3-4 hours in the regular slow cooker, about 3 in the Ninja (Ninja cooks a little hotter than a conventional slow cooker).
• For the Slow Cooker add the mushrooms, onions and peppers. Cover and cook for 15-30 minutes, depending on how crisp you like your bell peppers.
• For the Ninja, set it back to Stovetop/High and add the mushrooms, onion and peppers. Stir frequently until peppers are to desired crispness. I cooked about 5 minutes because I like my peppers pretty crisp.
• I did not have to thicken the sauce in the Ninja, but if you desire a thicker sauce, then add the cornstarch/water mixture–just enough to make it as thick as you want. Heat through and cook for 1 additional minute
• For Pressure Cooker:
• Brown meat in skillet as directed in the slow cooker method, unless your pressure cooker has a browning function, then proceed as for Ninja method.
• Add the orange juice mixture, seal and cook on HIGH/MEAT/15psi for 8 minutes. Let pressure drop naturally.
• Add the veggies, seal and cook on MEDIUM/VEGGIES/10 psi for 4 minutes. Release the pressure valve (electric model) or for stovetop pressure cookers, IMMEDIATELY place under running cold water to release the pressure.
• If thickening the sauce is desired, then add only as much cornstarch/water mixture (while stirring) to make the desired consistency.
• Stovetop Method:
• Brown meat as for regular slow cooker method.
• Add the veggies and stir fry until they are desired crispness.
• Add the orange juice mixture, bring to boil–add the cornstarch/water mixture, stirring constantly until mixture bubbles.

Nutrition

Serving: 1person | Calories: 724kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 61g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 141mg | Sodium: 2708mg | Potassium: 1540mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 1349IU | Vitamin C: 187mg | Calcium: 97mg | Iron: 8mg

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Slow Cooker Orange Beef & Fire Peppers

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