Classic Pepper Steak and Rice Like Mom Makes
We’ve all got some kind of awesome cold that comes with eye and ear infections. This comes just a week after our little girl suffered a stomach bug. So, basically, we’re wiped out. What do we do when we’re fried? We pull out my mother-in-law’s recipe box and make classic pepper steak and rice.
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I don’t remember a time my husband has gotten sick that I haven’t had to make pepper steak and rice. He swears that tomatoes will cure him of any kind of disease. At least they make him feel better.
Now, depending on exactly how gross he is, I’ll either make it just like his mom’s recipe, or I’ll tweak it to be healthier. This usually involves substituting with something besides condensed tomato soup.
Classic Pepper Steak and Rice… No Frills
The original recipe is super simple. Get a nice brown on the meat, but don’t worry about cooking it through yet. Also, it’s a good thing if you end up with bits stuck on the bottom of the pan after this step. It adds flavor as you go.
Then you’ll cook your veggies a little bit, and use the liquid they put off to pick up some of that flavor stuck to the pan. After they’ve picked up some flavor, you can dump the meat back in and add the soup. That’s literally it.
We serve ours with rice and either corn or green beans. The additional vegetables are just good for you, but the rice is good for soaking up that soup and filling your belly, especially when you’ve got a cold and can’t eat a lot.
Alternate Preparation for Taking Care of Your Own Sick Self
If you are horribly sick and taking care of yourself (power to you), there’s an even easier way to make classic pepper steak and rice and still end up with a nourishing bowl. All you need to do is grab a couple things when you go out for tissues and cough syrup.
- Buy stew meat. It’s already cut up for you. The chunks are bigger, but don’t worry about it.
- Buy a frozen bag of peppers and onions. Again, they are already cut up.
- Pick up organic, low-sodium tomato soup. The kind that comes in a box with a pour spout on top is great because it has cleaner ingredients in it and less salt. Annie’s or Pacific is good, but there’s usually a store brand for cheaper.
When you get home, all you have to do is dump everything into a slow cooker or pressure cooker, and let it go. The slow cooker will take about 4 hours to get the beef done. In an Instant Pot-style pressure cooker, you can use the “soup” setting, and it will be done in under an hour (but still with time for a nap).
If you’re up to it, serve with rice. Otherwise, you can just have a nice bowl of soup. Feel better!
The Only Tomato Soup Substitution I’d Ever Do
I know there’s a stigma about using canned soup in recipes. So, if you’re looking at this recipe going, “Yeah, but I don’t want to use condensed soup,” don’t give up on trying this.
You can use an organic pre-made soup as mentioned in my notes for taking care of your own sick self. It’s going to be just as easy and just as tasty. Do not add the water. I’ve done this with a roasted red pepper-tomato soup before, and it was really good.
The only non-soup substitution I would ever do though is a can of crushed tomatoes and a bit of tomato paste. There was one time I thought I’d make a gourmet version of this that it actually turned out pretty darn good.
I started the same way, browning the beef and cooking the veggies. But then, I deglazed the pan with a little bit of red wine before adding the crushed tomatoes. Then I stirred in tomato paste to deepen the stewed tomato flavor.
Do What Makes You Comfortable
That was the one time that was ever okay for my husband though. Yeah, he liked it. But, it’s more about getting the kind of food his mom makes than having something fancy.
So, the idea here is to make the recipe your own, and to come away with a dish that brings you comfort. If you want to add spices, go ahead. Maybe you want to try my “gourmet” version. That was really nice. Whatever.
I’m posting this recipe as it was written in my mother-in-law’s card box because, for our family, this is the ultimate sick day comfort food. We just want you to feel better. Heck, right now, we just want to feel better. Achoo!
Just One Last Note about Classic Pepper Steak and Rice
This serves 4. However, it also makes for good meal prep for lunches. It will do fine in a jar lunch, like we usually do. However, it would be better in a separated meal-prep container so your rice doesn’t get mushy by the end of the week.
What’s your favorite sick day food? Comment below and tell me about it.
Pepper Steak and Rice
Equipment
- Large skillet with high sides
- Small saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef round
- 1 can tomato soup condensed
- ¼ cup yellow onion minced
- 1 large green bell pepper
- 1 cup vegetable or beef broth, or water
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups rice cooked
Instructions
- Trim the fat from the beef and slice into strips.
- Brown the beef in a sauté pan with high sides. Remove from skillet, leaving browned bits on the bottom.
- Add in the peppers, and cook for 2 minutes until softened. Add in the onion and cook for an additional 2 minutes until they've taken on some color.
- Add steak back to pan, and pour in 1 can of tomato soup plus 1 cup of liquid (broth or water). Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to incorporate all the brown bits left there.
- Simmer for 30 minutes to marry flavors together. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Serve with ½ cup of rice.
