Vegan Pepper Steak

How to Make Vegan Pepper Steak

Note: If serving with rice, get that going first (note that if you’re doing brown rice, you may want to get that started well before you start this recipe).
Start this recipe by soaking your soy curls. Add the soy curls to a medium bowl, discarding any of the powder at the bottom of the bag. I usually save the small crumbles for other recipes. Cover the soy curls with the broth and mix gently. Let sit for 10-12 minutes. While you wait, measure out the other ingredients, chop the peppers, mince the garlic, grate the ginger, etc.
When the soy curls have absorbed most of the liquid (they won’t absorb it all), you’re ready to dry fry. Start a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Place the bowl of soy curls next to or near the stove with the skillet. Working with one handful at a time, gently squeeze the excess broth out of the soy curls and throw them in the skillet. You don’t have to go crazy getting them dry–just squeeze out the majority of the liquid, whatever comes out in 1-2 squeezes.
You can save the extra broth if you like. Strain out the excess liquid–I like to save it in a jar and use it in soup, rice, or other things throughout the week or it can be frozen for later use.
Dry fry the soy curls for about 3-5 minutes or until they start to get a little browned. Stir them often with a wood or silicone cooking spatula/spoon. If you notice them start to get really dark or burned, turn the heat way down. I don’t use oil when I do this because I feel like the soy curls absorb the oil and stay kind of wet. The dry frying technique really helps to brown the soy curls.
Add the sliced peppers and cook for 4-6 more minutes until the peppers start to get softer. You can customize this a little based on how cooked you like your peppers–I like mine to still have a bite to them.
In a small bowl or measuring cup (I like to use the measuring cup because it has a spout), whisk together the water (reserve ¼ cup of the water just in case you need it but don’t add it to the mix at this time), soy sauce, mirin, coconut sugar, and arrowroot powder or cornstarch until smooth. Set aside for a minute.
Now add the garlic and ginger and stir constantly for one minute. Then turn the heat down to medium.
Add the sauce and stir constantly for about a minute–it should thicken quite quickly. If you think it’s gotten too thick, go ahead and add a bit of the reserved water at a time until you get the consistency you want. If it gets too thin you have two options–cook it down for a little while (5-6 minutes) and it will thicken on its own, but the peppers may get too soft during this time. So the other option is to mix another tablespoon of arrowroot powder or cornstarch with a few tablespoons of water in your bowl or measuring cup and add that to the pan. Mix it in and it should thicken in a few minutes.
Remove from heat, season with fresh cracked black pepper (and salt if you think it needs it, but I found it salty enough) and serve with rice. I like to garnish mine with roasted sesame seeds and chopped green onion. Red pepper flakes would be good too.
Refrigerate leftover vegan pepper steak separately from rice in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days, or freeze in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.

More Vegan Chinese-Takeout Inspired Recipes

I love making vegan Chinese takeout inspired dishes. This vegan pepper steak is definitely not authentic Chinese food… It’s more like American Chinese restaurant food, but many people including myself grew up loving some of these dishes. So I decided it was worthwhile to make vegan versions and share them on my site.

Anything Else?

As always, I hope you love this recipe–I know I do, and Mr. Zardyplants does too. This is has become a go-to dinner for us so much that I started keeping bell peppers in the house at all times!

This Vegan Pepper Steak is:

Saucy
Sweet
Savory
A tiny bit spicy (but customizable)
Cozy
Satisfying
Surprisingly healthy
And oh so delicious!

Let me know in the comments below if you make this recipe or tag me @Zardyplants on Instagram so I can see your beautiful recreations! If you tag me on IG, I will share your post in my stories 🙂

Also, one quick request: if you love how this recipe looks or tastes, please leave me a 5-star rating and a nice comment–ratings help more people find my recipes which helps me keep providing them! Thank you!