To me, a successful Whole30 is all about simple but flavor-packed meals — and this Whole30 Peppered Steak Stir-Fry is exactly that!
I’ve made a lot of simple Whole30 stir-fry recipes over the years because of their simplicity and ability to pack in so much delicious flavor, but this new Whole30 Peppered Steak Stir-Fry is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. The Pepper-Garlic Sauce is seriously craveable and I cannot get enough of it!
Serve this as-is or pair with cauliflower rice to keep Whole30. And, if you are making this but do not need to keep things Whole30, I recommend adding a little honey to the sauce — it becomes even more craveable, trust me!
Whole30 Peppered Steak

Ingredients
For the Steak:
- 1.5 lbs flank steak
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp tapioca flour/starch
For the Pepper-Garlic Sauce:
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- ¼ cup coconut aminos
- ¼ cup beef broth
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp red boat fish sauce
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
For the Stir Fry:
- 2 tbsp avocado oil plus more if needed
- 1 medium-sized red bell pepper cut into ½ inch cubes
- 1 medium-sized green bell pepper cut into ½ inch cubes
- 1 small white onion cut into ½ inch cubes
Instructions
Prepare the Steak:
- Place the flank steak on a cutting board and cover with parchment paper or plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet (or the bottom of a heavy skillet) pound the steak as thinly as possible. This also helps tenderize the steak. Discard the parchment paper, and using a good knife, cut the steak into 1.5 inch cubes. Now, depending on your cut of meat and how well you pounded your steak-- you’ll likely have some cubes that are much thicker than others. With the thicker pieces of steak, I like to take my knife and slice it lengthwise to create thinner pieces of steak-- so that each piece of meat is about ¼ inch thickness and 1.5 inches large.
- Place the steak in a large bowl and add the avocado oil, coconut aminos, salt and tapioca and toss until very well coated. Set aside to marinate for at least 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, Make the Sauce:
- Place the peppercorns in a zip top bag and using a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy skillet-- pound until coarsely ground.
- Place the coarse peppercorns in a medium bowl with the coconut aminos, beef broth, rice vinegar, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, garlic powder, and cayenne. Whisk until well combined and set aside.
Make the Stir-Fry:
- Heat the avocado oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches so as to not overcrowd the pan, add the steak in a single layer to the skillet and cook until golden brown on each side, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer the browned steak to a plate and continue to brown the steak, add 1 tbsp of avocado oil in between batches as needed, until all the steak is browned and set aside.
- Add the bell peppers and onions to the skillet and cook, stirring, until they are slightly tender, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Pour in the pepper-garlic sauce and cook, stirring often, so that the sauce begins to reduce, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the steak, and any of its juices, back into the skillet and cook, tossing the steak in with the sauce until it is well coated in the sauce and the sauce is thick, 2 to 3 more minutes. Remove from the heat and continue to toss the steak, until the sauce is glossy, 2 to 3 more minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Photography by Eat Love Eats.
18 Comments
MelC
September 10, 2022 at 2:54 amMade this one night when my 13 year old son had 2 friends over and they loved it. The same 2 boys spent the night tonight and requested I make it again. We have 5 teen boys so I doubled the recipe and they ate every single bite. They were sad there wasn’t more. Will definitely make it again!!!
I don’t use fish sauce and use soy sauce instead of coconut aminos and cornstarch instead of tapioca.
Sarah
July 28, 2022 at 3:24 pmMade this last night and it was delish! such good flavor! I have so many green peppers from the garden so it was nice to use a few up!
Camille Morgan
February 18, 2022 at 2:07 pmMy husband said this was the best thing he had ever eaten…. No lie!!! And believe me… he’s done some eatin’! Thank you for posting!! Trying to focus on eating Whole Foods!
Samantha
January 28, 2022 at 1:33 amDelish! Question about the Tapioca as well— if I dredge the meat and let it sit for too long (like when I cook in 2 batches so as not to crowd the pan), I feel like the tapioca gets absorbed and doesn’t cook up as crisp for the second batch—am I imaging it? Or maybe doing something wrong? Either way, it still tasted amazing and I can’t wait to make it again! Thanks 😊
Gail
January 25, 2022 at 6:12 pmHave you ever traded the beef for chicken ? Just because I already have chicken breast thawed
Alex
January 26, 2022 at 1:27 pmChicken will be great in this recipe!
Candace
January 21, 2022 at 9:54 pmDo you need the tapoica flour?
Alex
January 21, 2022 at 10:22 pmyes it helps thicken the sauce and crisp up the beef.
Alexandria Dickens
January 19, 2022 at 12:37 amThis was amazing! Will be a new staple in our kitchen.
Taylor T
January 12, 2022 at 11:37 pmCan I mix the sauce 1 day in advance?
Alex
January 16, 2022 at 6:41 pmAbsolutely!
Taylor T
January 12, 2022 at 11:35 pmAre there other veggies you recommend adding?
Alex
January 16, 2022 at 6:41 pmHonestly– anything will be good here! Broccoli, chopped cabbage, snow peas would be some top picks.
MICHELLE
January 11, 2022 at 7:28 pmThis sound delish. If you don’t pound your own peppercorns, how much ground pepper should you use?
Laura E.
January 11, 2022 at 3:32 amMade this tonight and it was so, so good. My husband went back for thirds! Thank you!!
Shelly Talbott
January 10, 2022 at 7:56 pmCan you substitute arrow root for tapioca flour?
Alex
January 10, 2022 at 9:33 pmyes!! that will work (i do find that tapioca forms a better crispy crust, for what its worth).
PAM
January 11, 2022 at 7:15 pmYUM! question — do you have any good hacks to make the tapioca flower create as crispy a result as possible? sometimes feel like i’m not executing the best on that part. thank you!! <3