Steak Pizzaiola Recipe
Published August 23, 2019. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
For an absolutely delicious easy to make weeknight meal, look no further than this steak pizzaiola recipe that is loaded with beef and a garlicky stewed tomato herb sauce.
Weekdays can get a little crazy but if you’re like me and still are wanting to get a great meal on the table for your family then this steak recipe will deliver. In addition, the great part about this recipe is that it uses few ingredients which you are most likely to have already laying around the house.
Steak Pizzaiola
This is a traditional Neapolitan simple recipe consisting of thinly cut pan-fried steaks that are then braised in a very easy to make tomato sauce. If you look at the word pizzaiola, you can obviously see the word pizza, so essentially the sauce would be used as the sauce in this recipe.
When a lot of these traditional recipes were created the world was not rich, so it fell on what was available at the time. If there was leftover pizza sauce it was used as the braising liquid along with meat which created this dish.
Authentic Steak Pizzaiola
Since a lot of these older recipes had variations depending on availability of ingredients the most authentic version consisted of these ingredients:
Steak – A sirloin steak that was thinly sliced and gently pounded using a mallet until flattened is most commonly used for this recipe. You can also use cuts such as strip loin, beef tenderloin, flank steak or round steak.
Olive Oil – In Italy, their version of fat and cooking in fat is olive oil, nothing else.
Garlic – Classically you would fry a whole garlic clove in this recipe, however finely minced garlic helps to spread the flavor further.
Yellow Onion – A roughly chopped or finely minced yellow onion that is lightly caramelized would be in the base of this steak recipe.
White Wine – this ingredient would be optional, but it does add exceptional flavor to the recipe.
Tomatoes – If in season then concasse fresh vine-ripe or Roma tomatoes would be best. If out of season, then whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes will be delicious.
Oregano – this is a necessity for this recipe and you can use dry which would be put in at the beginning of the tomato stewing process or finish with fresh.
How to Concasse a Tomato
cut out the stem and slice an x in the bottom of the tomato. Boil in water for 45 to 60 seconds and then immediately cool in an ice bath for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the skin, slice in half and squeeze out as many seeds as possible and then roughly chop.
How to Make It
1. season the steak with salt and pepper.
2. Pan-fry the thin cuts of steak until browned on both sides and set aside.
3. Caramelize the onions and garlic in the same pan until browned.
4. Deglaze with optional white wine and add in the tomatoes and stew for 15-20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper
5. Add the pan-fried beef back into the tomato saucepan, place a cover on it and cook for 5-6 minutes.
6. Finish by mixing in fresh chopped oregano and serve.
How to Make It in a Slow Cooker
Steak pizzaiola is a fairly easy and quick recipe to make, however, if you are on the go and have no time then you can absolutely make it in the slow cooker. With that being said I would suggest you use a large cut of meat like beef stew meat or a small round roast so that it can break down over time.
- Brown the larger seasoned beef cut in a pan or on the saute function of your slow cooker.
- Next, deglaze with a little white wine and then simply add in the remaining ingredients except for the fresh oregano, salt, and pepper. If you are using dry oregano, put it in at this stage.
- Slow cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 4-5 hours.
- Finish with by stirring in fresh chopped oregano, salt, and pepper.
In fact, if you did a slow cooker steak pizzaiola it would make for a delicious meat sauce as well.
Reheat and Storage
How To Reheat: Add the sauce and steaks to a saucepan and cook covered over low heat for 8-10 minutes or until warm.
Store and Freezing: Store the steak and sauce covered in plastic for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. Steak pizzaiola will freeze well covered in a container for up to 3 months.
chef notes + tips
- Pizza sauce in the Napolitano region of Italy is a simple tomato sauce, not the thick tomato paste style pizza sauce that we know in America.
- You can also use rabbit or poultry meat as well, as these would have been traditional as well.
- For the wine, I used an Italian Pinot grigio.
- Make sure the steak is pounded out before pan searing.
- Since it’s all steak and sauce you should consider serving it up alongside some fettuccine noodles or creamy polenta.
More Amazing Beef Recipes
Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, and Pinterest and if you’ve had a chance to make this then definitely drop me a comment and a rating below!
Video
Steak Pizzaiola Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 8- ounce striploin or sirloin steaks cut in half width-wise.
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 peeled small diced yellow onion
- 4 finely minced cloves of garlic
- ¾ cup pinot grigio, optional
- 10-12 peeled, seeded and roughly chopped fresh vine ripe tomatoes (or 2-28 ounce cans San Marzano tomatoes)
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the sliced steak in between 2 pieces of plastic wrap or butchers’ paper and pound using a mallet until it is half as thick as the original slice. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Add olive oil to a large frying pan or rondeau pot over medium heat.
- Once the oil begins to lightly smoke add in the steaks and cook for 2 to 2 ½ minutes per side or until browned. You may have to do this in batches depending on how big the pan is. Remove the steak from the pan.
- Add the onions and garlic to the pan and roast for 6-8 minutes or until browned.
- Deglaze with wine and cook until most of it has been absorbed, there should be 2 to 3 tablespoons left in the pan.
- Add in the tomatoes and stew over medium-low heat for 20 minutes or until the sauce is thick and the tomatoes have broken down. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the steaks to the top of the tomato sauce, place a lid on and cook for 5 to 6 minutes to warm the steak back up.
- Finish by stirring in some fresh oregano and serve.
Notes
- How To Reheat: Add the sauce and steaks to a sauce pan and cook covered over low heat for 8-10 minutes or until warm.
- Store and Freezing: Store the steak and sauce covered in plastic for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. Steak pizzaiola will freeze well covered in a container for up to 3 months.
- Pizza sauce in the Napolitano region of Italy is a simple tomato sauce, not the thick tomato paste style pizza sauce that we know in America.
- You can also use rabbit or poultry meat as well, as these would have been traditional as well.
- For the wine, I used an Italian Pinot grigio.
- Make sure the steak is pounded out before pan searing.
- Since it’s all steak and sauce you should consider serving it up alongside some fettuccine noodles or creamy polenta.
- To concasse a tomato cut out the stem and slice an x in the bottom of the tomato. Boil in water for 45 to 60 seconds and then immediately cool in an ice bath for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the skin, slice in half and squeeze out as many seeds as possible and then roughly chop.
- If you are using dry oregano, put it in when the tomatoes go into the pot.
Made this as a more upmarket family meal and it went down a storm! My kids thought I was some kind of ‘food Jedi’ for creating this dish. Granted it takes more time to properly concasse the tomatoes but it’s well worth it, and it teaches you another cooking technique to add to you’re skill set. I served mine with pappardelle pasta and some homemade garlic ciabatta. Would definitely make this again. Thanks Chef Billy
thanks for giving it a shot!!
My Grandmother was from Naples, I loved when she cooked this. I am almost 64 now but I seem to remember her putting green bell peppers in it as well, and since we were pretty poor I know she used chuck steak which she trimmed and pounded. My Grandfather loved it and as a boy I used to love sitting at the table watching him eat and drink his wine, dipping fresh Italian bread in it as he ate!
Great!
Have yet to make, BUT thank you for sharing this recipe!! Must admit, in watching ELR, Everybody Loves Raymond, I’ve heard about this So often, and have wondered what it was, and thanks to you, now I know, lol 😉 Keep up the Fab work, new fan here 🙂
I have made several of your recipes. I have learned amazing things. I love to cook and you have made me more confident. I am mostly Spanish and Mexican and Kentuckian heritage. Yes it is funny. I tell people I am a Span-Mex Hillbilly. So we eat a lot of different foods. Now I am Part Italian. wonderful.
Excellent
How should I handle the canned, whole tomatoes? Rough chop? Just squeeze them? Should I add the liquid with them or drain first? Thanks.
squeeze. Liquid is fine.
I loved making this recipe. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the steak which was cooked in a tomato sauce.
Your recipes and videos are amazing. Anyone can prepare great meals with your videos. Thank you so much!
What do you serve with this? I’m thinking maybe polenta.
Polenta is good. Pasta, rice or potatoes as well. I believe I provide options in the blog post 🙂
I seriously can not wait to make this! It looks and sounds amazing.
I can’t wait to make this! I was looking for a steak pizzaiola recipe years ago when we were watching The Sopranos and never could find one. My husband will be so happy!!
Great show!
So flavorful and delicious! Yum!
Thank you!
I am SO excited to make this! What a delicious recipe and gorgeous pictures too.
Thank you! Super easy to make and really tasty.
OMg I’m drooling over here. Putting this on our menu asap!
Haha, it is good 🙂