Pepper Lunch is one of my favorite meals.
I love how it’s simple but has so much flavor.
The only downside is that it requires some cooking and an oven or skillet.
But if you don’t have either, there are other ways to cook this meal.
- How do you make pepper lunch?
- What ingredients do you need for pepper lunch?
- How long does it take to make pepper lunch?
- What is the best pepper lunch recipe?
- How do you make pepper lunch spicy?
- How do you make pepper lunch without a stove?
- Is there a pepper lunch microwave recipe?
- What is the easiest way to make pepper lunch?
- What is the quickest way to make pepper lunch?
How Do You Make Pepper Lunch?
Making pepper lunch is easy enough.
You will just need a few basic ingredients like rice, soy sauce, water, beef, onions, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, green onion, and scallions.
Once you get your ingredients together, heat up your pan with about 1 tablespoon of oil on medium-high heat.
Then add all of your spices except for the ginger.
When they start to turn brown, remove them from the burner and set aside.
Next, pour half of a cup of warm water into the bottom of the pan.
Add salt to taste.
As soon as the water starts boiling, dump in your rice and stir until it gets nice and fluffy.
Now, add your ground beef and mix everything well.
Make sure not to overcook your beef because once it gets too done, it won’t absorb any of the flavors.
Cook your beef for 5 minutes before adding in your vegetables and spices.
After five minutes, add in your liquid (soy sauce) and let simmer for another 3 minutes.
After three minutes, add in your sliced onions and let simmer again for 2 more minutes.
Now, after two minutes, add in your chopped garlic and ginger.
Let the mixture sit for another minute and then toss in your scallions and green onion.
Finally, pour in your remaining soy sauce and sesame oil.
Stir everything around, letting it cook down for another 30 seconds or so.
Serve hot!
What Ingredients Do You Need For Pepper Lunch?
You will probably want your own special pepper lunch pan with holes in the bottom (or use any old aluminum baking tray).
You can also get them online at Amazon.com.
The first thing you need when making Pepper Lunch is ground beef.
If you aren’t going to buy it already prepared, then you should go ahead and grind up your own.
Grinding beef takes less time than buying pre-ground beef, which makes it perfect for a quick afternoon snack.
Next on the list is soy sauce.
Some people substitute water instead of soy sauce because they don’t like the taste.
However, using soy sauce gives the right amount of saltiness and umami flavor to the food.
Soy sauce is available almost everywhere these days, so it shouldn’t be hard to find.
If you don’t have any fresh ginger root, minced garlic cloves work well as a substitute.
Just add a bit more seasoning to the mix to compensate for its lack of pungency.
Finally, you will need some kind of seasoning mixture.
Most recipes call for ketchup mixed with sugar, sesame oil, and/or vinegar.
There are many different kinds of seasoning mixtures out there, all with their own unique flavors.
Experiment until you come up with something tasty!
How Long Does It Take To Make Pepper Lunch?
The average time to make pepper lunch is about 15 minutes.
With a little bit of prep work, most people can get the job done in less than 30 minutes.
As always, though, every person will be different depending on their skill level and what they choose to use.
Meat
There are many options when it comes to making pepper lunch.
You could go with ground beef, which is easy enough, but I prefer flank steak because its texture is perfect for this type of dish.
If you want to save money, you can also buy pre-cut pieces instead of buying whole steaks.
Rice
You can purchase brown rice from your local grocery store, or you can easily find frozen packages at any major retailer.
Brown rice cooks faster than white rice, so you may not even need to cook it first before adding it to your dish.
Vegetables
I like using mushrooms as part of my pepper lunch.
They add extra depth of flavor and provide protein, too.
Carrots and green beans are also good choices here.
Just remember to cut them into small cubes rather than slicing them up lengthwise.
That helps keep the vegetables from falling apart during cooking.
Sauce
Most people who eat pepper lunch don’t bother with sauce.
However, sauces can really enhance the flavors of this dish.
If you decide to use one, just pick something that goes well with the rest of the food.
Some examples include teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, ketchup, or salsa.
Seasoning
To season your pepper lunch, start by opening all of your spices.
Then sprinkle salt onto the top of each ingredient (except rice) and mix everything together.
Finally, set aside until ready to serve.
What Is The Best Pepper Lunch Recipe?
This is such an easy meal.
You can find recipes online for all kinds of different versions.
Here is one from Food Network.
They say they use “a little more than half a pound of sirloin steak and about 1/4 cup of chopped onion,” which would be approximately 6 ounces of meat and 2 tablespoons of onions (depending on size).
So basically just follow these directions:
- First, heat up your pan with oil and add the garlic and onion.
- Cook them until softened.
- Add the ground beef into the pan, breaking it apart as you stir.
- Cook it until browned.
- Then pour in the broth and bring everything to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes before serving.
It doesn’t get any easier than that!
How Do You Make Pepper Lunch Spicy?
The key ingredient in Pepper Lunch is Sesame Oil.
If you can find sesame oil with chili peppers then use that instead of regular olive oil.
You could also add red pepper flakes to spice things up.
Pepper Lunch Recipe #1 – Chili Peppers
Ingredients:
4-5 small pieces dried chili pepper (or more if desired)
1/3 cup olive oil
Sesame oil (to taste)
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
Add oil to pan over medium heat until hot.
Add chili pepper(s) and saute them until they start to soften.
Reduce heat and simmer on low for about 5 minutes.
Pepper Lunch Recipe #2 – Jalapeno Pepper
Ingredients:
Jalapenos sliced thin
Olive oil
Cayenne powder
Directions:
Heat jalapenos in a frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil.
When all the oils starts to smoke remove from heat and let cool.
Then squeeze lemon juice into the mixture while stirring.
Next, sprinkle cayenne pepper and salt onto the mix.
Stir well and serve immediately.
Serves 2 people.
How Do You Make Pepper Lunch Without A Stove?
If your kitchen doesn’t have a stove or an oven, then maybe you can still enjoy pepper lunch! Here is what you need to know about making pepper lunch on a grill pan instead.
- A large grill pan with high sides (a cast-iron pan would work well)
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 12 ounces ground chuck steak (or any cut of choice)
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Pinch of garlic powder
- Black pepper to taste
- Onion powder to taste
- Garlic powder to taste
- Red chili flakes to taste
- Soy sauce to taste
- Water to add as needed
Is There A Pepper Lunch Microwave Recipe?
There isn’t really a full-on “microwave pepper lunch” recipe since it can be made on any type of pan (stovetop, grill, etc.).
However, we are going to discuss methods for making it both indoors and outside of your home.
Here is what you will need:
- A cast iron or nonstick pan
- Flour
- Soy sauce
- Ground red pepper
- Beef steak
- Salt
- Butter
- Rice
- Water
- Onion
- Green onion
- Garlic (or garlic powder)
- Olive oil
You may also want to add a few spices like paprika, cayenne, or chili powder depending on how hot you would like your meal to be.
We recommend starting with less than 1 tbsp per pound of meat.
You can always increase as desired.
Let’s get started!
What Is The Easiest Way To Make Pepper Lunch?
The simplest method for making Pepper Lunch that I know of would be to use a crockpot.
All you would need are ground beef and onion.
You can add any seasoning you like, such as salt, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, etc., to add more flavor.
Just put everything into your crockpot with water or broth and let it simmer all day.
What Is The Quickest Way To Make Pepper Lunch?
The fastest way to prepare Pepper Lunch is to use your Instant Pot pressure cooker.
You can also roast peppers on the grill and then slice them into strips to add extra zip and spice to your meal.
And while you shouldn’t put too many peppers onto the grill at once, you should be able to get about two dozen slices from each pepper before they start burning.
You will want to cut off the stem end of each pepper, which is where most of the heat comes from.
Then, just peel back the skin.
When done peeling, wash the pepper with water to remove any dirt or burnt bits from the bottom.
If you like, you can also rinse out the seeds as well.
Once all the peppers are prepared, place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper to catch any drips.
Roast the peppers in your electric range until blackened.
Once blackened, transfer the peppers to a large bowl filled with ice-cold water.
After 10 minutes, drain the peppers again and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel.
Set aside.
Next, chop up your chicken breast into small pieces.
To prep the beef, first season both sides with salt and pepper.
In a nonstick pan over medium high heat, sear the beef on both sides for three minutes per side.
Remove the beef from the pan and set aside.
Add the onions to the same pan and saute for five minutes until softened.
Transfer the onion mixture to a mixing bowl.
Place the beef back in the pan and return the pan to medium heat.
Cook for another 3 to 5 minutes until browned.
Place the beef in the mixing bowl along with the garlic powder, soy sauce, and sesame oil.
Mix together thoroughly and let sit for 15 minutes.
Next, add the red chili flakes, sugar, ginger, and cayenne pepper to the bowl.
Stir everything together.
Now preheat your instant pot using the sauté function.
Pour in 1/4 cup of water, followed by 2 cups of uncooked white jasmine rice.
Close the lid and seal according to instructions provided by the manufacturer.
Select Manual mode and adjust the time to 4 hours (for low pressure).
After four hours, release the pressure valve and open the lid carefully until the steam stops emitting.
Check to see if the rice is tender.
If not, close the lid and allow it to continue cooking under low pressure for another 30 minutes.
Open the lid again and check for tenderness.
Make sure the beef is fully cooked through.
Serve hot!
How Do You Make Pepper Lunch Taste Better?
There is no right answer here because everyone likes different things.
If you like your food hot, add more red chili flakes.
For less heat, use fewer.
You can also experiment with adding fresh herbs such as cilantro or green onion tops (scallions).
You might want to try using another type of bean instead of black beans too — white kidney beans would be good.
You could even substitute ground turkey or chicken for the beef.
As far as seasoning goes, you can season with salt and pepper or go all out by adding garlic powder, paprika, and oregano.
This will give you more depth of flavor.
The key to making pepper lunch is to not overcook the meat.
When I first started making this dish, I was always undercooking the beef because I didn’t know any better.
That resulted in mushy, bland rice.
Now I just follow the package instructions on how long to cook each ingredient separately before combining them together.
So, if the steak is supposed to be medium-rare, then I stick to that temperature range when cooking everything else.
And don’t forget about the sauce!
If you prefer your peppers extra spicy, feel free to increase the amount of chili flakes used.
Just keep in mind that the amount of liquid in the recipe should stay consistent.
To avoid overdoing it, start off with half the recommended amount of chili flakes, and then add more later if needed.
Also, remember to adjust the amount of water accordingly.
As for the cheese, you can leave it out altogether.
However, if you decide to put cheese on top, go ahead and sprinkle it on at the end after reheating your pepper lunch.
Cheese adds additional moisture to the dish which helps prevent the rice from getting dry.
I recommend serving pepper lunch with warm crusty bread or tortillas.
They soak up all the juices and help cleanse the palate between bites.
Equipment
- 1 Pan
Ingredients
- 800 g beef
- 1 white onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 cups rice cooked
- 1 cup corn cooked
- 6 tsp butter
- 1 tsp black pepper
- onions
- oil
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup tamari
- 1/4 cup oyster sauce
- 1/2 cup tamari
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- All ingredients should be combined well in a sauce pan before being cooked for 5 minutes at a low heat.
- Remove from the heat and then reserve.
- Heat the oil in a sauce pan, then sauté the garlic until fragrant.
- Pepper and tamari should both be freshly ground.
- Cornstarch and water should be combined, then gently added to a sauce pan and cooked over low heat until the sauce thickens.
- Remove from the heat and then reserve.
- Once the cast iron pan is heated, add the oil, onion, and garlic. After adding the beef and cooking it for three minutes with a strong scent, turn off the heat.
- Place freshly cooked rice in the centre of a platter, then add cooked corn kernels and butter on top.
- Serve steak surrounded by rice, with Amakuchi and Karakuchi sauces drizzled on top.
Video
Nutrition
My blog is all about creating delicious meals with ingredients that are easy to find in your local grocery store. I’m passionate about making yummy meals that I can share with my friends and family.