The first time I scrolled past The Modern Proper’s recipe for a Philly Cheesesteak Skillet, I stopped, backtracked my little pointer finger & thought, “oooooh, I wanna eat THAT”.
Something about the brightly colored mix of peppers, gooey molten cheese and golden-seared steak was just calling to me.
Perhaps it’s the pandemic, but all I want to eat these days, all that makes it worth dragging myself into the kitchen, is comfort food. Summer, be damned.
But the problem with that delicious looking recipe is two fold for me: first off, I would die after eating that much cheese. (I mean, I’d die happy, but I digress!). Secondly, ain’t no room in my budget right now for ribeye.
(In fairness, Natalie & Holly give recommendations for other, more affordable-ish cuts of beef. But my purse right now isn’t stretching to steaks, period.)
But the more I looked at their sumptuous skillet, the more I wanted to whip up a version that I could afford and enjoy myself. So this ground beef Philly cheesesteak skillet took shape in my kitchen over the span of a few different weeknight dinners.
Don’t be daunted by what looks like a lengthy ingredient list: this recipe pulls together a handful of ingredients – ground beef, mushrooms, onions & peppers – that need minimal prep & relies on pantry seasonings & spices to punch things up a notch!
The best part of this ground beef Philly cheesesteak skillet could be up for debate: is it the creamy decadence of the dairy free cheese sauce that gets spooned into every little gap between the meat and veggies, or is it the gloriously deeply-hued caramelized beef?
I wanted to pack as much flavor as possible into that budget-friendly beef, so make sure to follow my method for the most burnished, deeply seared (grey-no-more!) ground beef ever. The result is a deeply savory, crispy edged beef that takes on the steakhouse inspired seasoning blend for the fullest, steak-iest ground beef, ever.
I hope you enjoy this ground beef Philly cheesesteak skillet as much as we have!
PrintGround Beef Philly Cheesesteak Skillet (dairy & gluten free)
Looking for comfort food? This dairy free Philly Cheesesteak Skillet is a one pan wonder that transforms ground beef into something decadent on a weeknight. Don’t be daunted by what looks like a lengthy ingredient list: this recipe pulls together a handful of ingredients that need minimal prep & relies on pantry seasonings & spices to punch things up a notch!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6
- Category: one pot meal, weeknight
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: gluten free, grain free, paleo, w30
Ingredients
For the easy caramelized ground beef:
- 8 oz – 1 lb / 225 g – 454 g mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons / 30 ml avocado oil, divided, or neutral cooking oil of choice
- 1 large yellow onion
- 2 – 3 mixed medium bell peppers, about 454 g / 1 lb
- 1 lb / 454 g lean ground beef
- 3/4 tsp golden coconut sugar
- 1 tsp / 5 g granulated garlic
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika, this is the best, most deeply hued paprika I’ve found
- 1/4 tsp ground mustard
- 2 tbsp / 30 ml coconut aminos, I like this one
- 1/2 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp / 7 g potato starch or cassava flour, see notes
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml chicken or beef broth
For the dairy free cheese sauce:
- 1/2 cup / 70 g raw unsalted cashews, like these
- 3/4 – 1 cup / 180 ml – 240 ml chicken broth
- 2 tbsp / 12 g nutritional yeast, I like this one
- 1 tbsp / 15 ml avocado oil
- 1 tsp / 5 ml white wine vinegar
- 1/4 tsp ground paprika
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp granulated garlic
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp tomato paste, optional
- 1/8 tsp ground mustard
- 1 1/2 tbsp /15 g potato starch or cassava flour
Instructions
PREP: Put the raw cashews into a blender pitcher and cover with just boiled water. Let soak, covered. Meanwhile, wipe the mushrooms dry with a damp cloth and quarter them. Peel and chop the onion in half through the root, then into thick-ish slices. De-seed the bell peppers & chop into slices the same thickness as the onion. Make the beef seasoning blend by mixing together the coconut sugar, granulated garlic, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, onion powder, sweet paprika and ground mustard in a small bowl.
BROWN: Preheat a cast iron skillet or similar over medium high heat. Add the quartered mushrooms to the dry skillet and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt & cook until golden brown. Scoot the mushrooms over to one side of the skillet and add 1 tablespoon / 15 ml of the avocado oil. Let the oil warm through for a few seconds and then, when shimmering, toss the mushrooms in the hot oil so that they finish cooking and are golden brown & glossy.
COOK: Transfer the mushrooms to a large bowl and add the remaining 1 tablespoon / 15 ml of oil to the skillet. Add the sliced onions to the skillet and cook until they have reduced and wilted down a little, a few minutes. Add the sliced peppers and cook until the onions and peppers start to brown in spots & are tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer the onions and peppers to the same bowl as the mushrooms and keep warm.
CARAMELIZE: If your skillet is looking a little dry, feel free to add a small amount of additional oil to the skillet to lightly coat. Place the ground beef into the skillet in a single piece or broken into as few a pieces as possible. Lightly press down on the beef so that it’s about the thickness of a generous home made patty. Cook, undisturbed, until the beef is seared with a lovely deep crust, then flip over and repeat on the other side.
BLEND: While the beef is browning, drain the cashews and rinse them through a strainer. Return the cashews to the blender pitcher, along with the smaller amount of broth, nutritional yeast, avocado oil, white wine vinegar, paprika, salt, garlic, black pepper, tomato paste (if using) and ground mustard. Blend until smooth & creamy. Measure the potato starch or cassava flour into a ramekin and pour a little of the blended sauce to cover. Use a spoon to mix into a smooth slurry. Add the slurry to the blender and blend until smooth. If you prefer a thinner cheese sauce, add the remaining broth and re-blend.
SEASON: Once the beef is nicely seared, drain the skillet of any excess fat. Use a wooden spoon to loosely break up the beef into large pieces – the middle of the ground beef should still be pink. Sprinkle with the seasoning blend and stir to coat. Continue to cook the beef until it is cooked through and caramelized, breaking up into bite size pieces with a spoon as you go. Pour over the coconut aminos and fish sauce & stir to coat. Reduce the heat to low.
THICKEN: Make a slurry with the potato starch and the broth, adding a little liquid at a time until smooth. Pour the thickening liquid over the beef and stir to coat. Cook over the residual heat until the beef is coated and glossy, stirring to scrape up any of the nice browned bits on the bottom of the skillet.
WARM: Increase the heat to medium and add the vegetables back to the skillet. Cook until warmed through and ready to serve. Drizzle with as much of the cheese sauce as you like and serve immediately. Not traditional, but we like to serve this with sliced green onions, fresh jalapeno and pickled jalapeno slices. Delicious over GF pasta, fluffy rice or scooped onto GF rolls, too.
Notes
I’ve tested this recipe with a variety of thickeners for the beef. Potato starch is the easiest to use with a completely neutral flavor. Otto’s cassava flour works well, but other brands have issues. Pamela’s is both gritty & too sweet in flavor. As a general rule, if your cassava flour has a sweet scent or a grittier texture, I wouldn’t use it. Arrowroot starch works in a pinch, but it’s a tad on the mucilaginous side, so I’d rather skip it altogether.
For a nut free alternative cheese steak sauce, use my AIP Dairy Free Cheese Sauce & season to taste. For a coconut & nut free alternative, use my AIP Dairy Free Cheese Sauce v2.
This recipe will make about 1 cup / 240 ml of cheesesteak sauce & depending on how saucy you like your cheesesteak, you may not need to use it all. You can make the cheese sauce ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Bell peppers, cashews & paprika are Stage 3 AIP reintroductions. Mustard & black pepper are Stage 1 AIP reintroductions. Optional potato starch & tomato paste are Stage 4 AIP reintroductions.
I have never commented on your recipes , but just so you know, your recipes got me through the AIP diet and introduction phase. And even though I’m back to eating a more “normal” diet I still come back and use your recipes all the time. I have made this recipe over and over the past couple years. I love it and my dairy eating, cheese loving family enjoys it too, my husband especially. I serve it to them on a bed of rice, and over cauliflower rice or a salad for myself. I’m not going to lie, my in-laws did ask me where the real cheese was but then they gobbled it down the same as everyone else and said they were surprised by how much they liked it. That is a huge win in my book! And since the men in my family tend to eat huge portions, I really appreciate that this recipe uses ground beef. So much more affordable.