Steak Pizzaiola is a rustic peasant-style beef dish that combines mushrooms, peppers, and beef that’s braised in a pizza-style sauce that’s so good it’s almost drinkable! Since we use inexpensive cuts of beef for our alla pizzaiola, this dish packs maximum flavor with minimal cost.
Editor’s Note: Originally published on January 29, 2019. Updated with expanded information and all new photos.
Growing up, steak pizzaiola, or “pizza maker’s steak” was something my mom made often and a dish that can be found in many Italian-American restaurants in the New York metro area.
It’s also one of the Italian-American dishes made even more famous by Ray Romano who had an affinity for his mom’s steak pizzaiola in his sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond.
While many high-end restaurants will use expensive cuts of beef, such as dry-aged ribeyes, I prefer a more economical peasant-style version of alla pizzaiola using chuck steaks.
It’s not only budget-friendly, but braising the beef in the pizzaiola sauce for a few hours yields super tender meat with tremendous flavor!
If you love the pizza-style combination of oregano, tomato, peppers, and mushrooms, check out my chicken pizzaiola recipe as well!
Want to learn more? We discuss the roots of this dish, cooking methods, and variations in episode 20 of The Sip and Feast Podcast – Steak Pizzaiola: The Affordable Steak Dinner Solution.
Table of Contents
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Steak. I use chuck steaks for this recipe because they’re budget-friendly and hold up really well to the braising method outlined in the recipe. If you can’t find chuck, you can use top or bottom round, or blade steaks. And while you can use more expensive cuts of beef, I’m a big believer that a really good steak needs little beyond salt, pepper, and maybe some rosemary as illustrated in my reverse-seared ribeye recipe.
- Olive oil. Opt for regular olive oil over extra virgin due to the heat needed to sear the steaks.
- Wine. Opt for a dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc.
- Mushrooms. I used cremini mushrooms, also known as baby bellas. They have a great texture and flavor that pairs perfectly with steak and we use these in our beef marsala recipe as well. You can use white button mushrooms or any mushroom you’d like.
- Bell peppers. I love red bell peppers with bistecca alla pizzaiola, but feel free to use orange or yellow if you prefer.
- Tomatoes. Hand-crush your canned tomatoes, or use a can of already crushed tomatoes. Hand-crushing will allow for greater variation of texture so use whichever you prefer.
- Beef stock. Either use your own homemade beef stock, or opt for an on-demand stock using beef base, such as Better Than Bouillon, dissolved in water (follow the instructions on the package).
- Dried oregano. This is a key ingredient and one that gives steak pizzaiola its distinct “pizza maker” flavor!
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Hand-crush a 28-ounce can of plum tomatoes and set aside. Slice 1 red bell pepper and 8 ounces of cremini mushrooms. Chop 15 cloves of garlic and set aside. (Photo #1)
- Pound 4 boneless chuck steaks (roughly 3 pounds total) to 1/2″ thick, then pat dry with paper towels and season liberally with salt and pepper on both sides (Photo #2).
- Heat a large heavy pan to a touch higher than medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sear the steaks on both sides until well browned, then move to a plate and set aside (Photo #3).
- Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the same pan along with the mushroom and pepper slices. (Photo #4).
- Cook the peppers and mushrooms for 7-10 minutes or until soft and browned (Photo #5).
- Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes or until fragrant and lightly golden (Photo #6).
- Add 1/2 cup of dry white wine along with 1/2 cup of low-sodium beef stock and turn the heat up to high for 2 minutes to cook off the alcohol, then reduce the heat to medium-low (Photo #7).
- Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan, give it a stir, and bring to a lively simmer. (Photo #8).
- Taste test the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste, if needed. Add 1 teaspoon of dried oregano. (Photo #9).
- Return the steaks to the pan and ensure they’re covered with the sauce (Photo #10).
- Cover the pan with a lid and cook over a low simmer until very tender, about 90-120 minutes. Flip the steaks every 30 minutes to ensure even cooking. At the 60-90 minute mark, check for tenderness and if the sauce is too thick, add a bit of water to loosen it up (Photo #11).
- After 2 hours the beef should be very tender and you can turn off the heat. Use a spoon or use the paper towel method to remove some of the fat. You can even use slices of white bread to absorb the fat. (Photo #12). Plate the steak pizzaiola and top with hand-torn fresh basil and serve with grated cheese and crusty bread to mop up the sauce. Enjoy!
Top tips
- Pound the steak. Pound them to around a 1/2″ thick using a meat mallet so that the steaks will braise equally and all be tender at the same time. If you are cutting individual steaks from a large chuck roast this step is more important.
- Skim the fat. When braising any type of beef with a high-fat content, such as braised short ribs, it’s important to skim the fat off the top to prevent a greasy sauce. You can do this in multiple ways. Use a spoon, bulb blaster, or the paper towel method, or even by laying pieces of white bread on top of the sauce. You can also place ice cubes into a ladle and move the cup side around the top of the sauce. The fat will cling to the bottom of the ladle. Wipe it off and repeat until most of the fat has been removed.
- Double the sauce! If you’d like to serve your steak pizzaiola with pasta, simply double the amount of tomatoes and you’ll have plenty extra!
Frequently Asked Questions
Steak pizzaiola is great with a side of pasta in the same pizza-style sauce, or some crusty bread to mop up the sauce. A side of greens such as sauteed spinach with garlic and oil, or garlicky sauteed broccoli rabe would also be great.
Pizzaiola is an Italian word that roughly translates to “in the pizza style” and typically refers to meat prepared with tomatoes, garlic, white wine, and sometimes peppers, mushrooms, or other vegetables.
Leftovers can be saved for up to 3 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container and can be reheated on the stovetop or in the oven.
More braised beef recipes
If tender braised beef sounds like heaven to you, check out these other fantastic beef recipes!
If you’ve enjoyed this steak pizzaiola recipe or any recipe on this site, give it a 5-star rating and tell us about it in the comments below.
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Steak Pizzaiola
Ingredients
- 4 boneless chuck steaks flattened to 1/2" thick, about 3 pounds total
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large red bell pepper sliced
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
- 15 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 28 ounce can plum tomatoes
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup low sodium beef stock
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 5 large basil leaves chopped
Instructions
- Pound the chuck steaks to approximately 1/2" thick.
- Heat a large heavy pan to a touch higher than medium heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Pat the steaks very dry and liberally season with salt and pepper on both sides. Sear the steaks in the hot pan until well browned on both sides then remove the steaks to a plate.
- Add the remaining olive oil to the pan along with the mushrooms and peppers. Saute until soft and brown (about 7-10 minutes) then add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes or until lightly golden.
- Add the hot red pepper flakes and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Add the beef stock and wine and turn the heat to high for 2 minutes to cook off the alcohol. After 2 minutes reduce heat to medium-low and add the tomatoes to the pan and stir together. Bring the sauce to a lively simmer. Taste test and add salt and pepper to taste along with the dried oregano.
- Add the steaks to the pan and cover with the lid. Cook over a low simmer until very tender (90-120 minutes). Flip the steaks every 30 minutes to ensure even cooking. If the sauce starts to dry out during the braising process, just add a few ounces of water to the pan.
- Once the steaks are very tender, turn off the heat and taste test one more time, adjusting salt and pepper if required. There will be a good amount of fat in the sauce that has risen to the top. If you like, you can spoon it out, or use paper towels. Simply lay the paper towels on top of the sauce and lift. The fat will adhere to the paper towels. Repeat until the sauce looks
- Top with fresh basil and serve with grated Pecorino Romano and crusty bread to mop up the amazing sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
- Tough cuts of beef, pounded thin, like top round and bottom round work just as well as chuck steaks. Bone in chuck steaks also work great for this dish.
- The sauce can easily be doubled for pasta.
- Removing the fat can be accomplished in a few different ways. Laying paper towels on top of the sauce and discarding until the sauce no longer looks fatty is the quickest way to remove fat from a sauce like this. You can also skim the fat with a spoon or use multiple other methods.
- Leftovers can be saved for up to 3 days and can be reheated on the stovetop or in the oven.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was originally published on January 29, 2019. It was completely updated on September 19, 2023.
Hello James. I made this wonderful dish. My roommates gave Beef Pizzaiolla high reviews. Thank you. It was delicious. I used gnocchi.
Hi Kimberly, we’re so happy you enjoyed this one and really appreciate the comments!
Hey Jim,
Absolutely love your recipes. I’m a Queens girl living on Long Island now but appreciate your cooking immensely. Quick question, I know you mentioned you can use bottom round but wondering if you’ve ever tried making this recipe with it? I accidentally purchased a large piece and would like to find a great way to cook it..Thanks!
Angela
Hi Angela, yes, you can use bottom round (see the Recipe Ingredients section for Jim’s comments on this). Hope you enjoy!
This sounds delicious. I can’t wait to make it.
Every recipe of yours I have made were excellent.
I miss your videos. You’re so good explaining and showing us how to do it.
I miss your son taste testing.
Thanks for all the great recipes.
Hi Donnalee,
Thanks for liking the recipes and videos. We still post brand new videos every Thursday on YouTube and on Facebook a few days later. I’m guessing you’re on Facebook, since they tend to highly curate what you see every so often. It’s often based on your previous behavior. Maybe you clicked on more news posts or a different creator which then makes Facebook thinks thats all you want to see from now on. Anyway, if you like, share, and most importantly watch our newest videos, Facebook will start showing them to you in your feed again. Hope you enjoy the steak pizzaiola!
I’ve made this for years braised in oven , but hsve always used pounded round steak or top round
Does the. New York strip get tender and fall apart nicely
Hi Vinnie, Jim used thin chuck steaks for this recipe, not New York strips. He recommends using chuck steaks but if you can’t find those, top or bottom round, or blade steaks could work. If you’re using a NY strip, you’d be better off cooking the steak quickly and then just topping with the pizzaiola sauce since a strip doesn’t hold up well to braising.
I notice that in your instructions (not in the recipe card) the instructions from #7 are repeated on #s 8 thru 11 as well. Confused me at first read through…
Hi Matthew, thank you for letting us know. It’s been fixed now and apologies for the confusion!
We have made many of Jims recipes but this is the first one I have decided to make and not eat! I normally only pressure can tried and true recipes that I can put on my shelf and enjoy any time I feel like not cooking. When I saw this on their yt channel I just knew it would be the first Sip and Feast recipe to go on my canning shelf. I did add the extra can of tomato and I doubled the recipe. Other than that I followed the directions except for the long simmer it went into jars to finish off in my pressure canner for 90 minutes once temp was reached. The smell was AMAZING as I was portioning out the jars and I know its another winner, no doubt! So that is a HUGE compliment from our home, we trust your recipes so much we invested in this one in a big way that goes well beyond, “what’s for dinner tonight”!
Hi Kristy, thanks for the wonderful comment and so interesting to hear that you canned this one! Thanks for trusting my recipes and wish you all the best!
Used my 6qt rondeau and braised in the oven for about 2 hours. Creminis are difficult to find so I used white mushrooms & added a green bell pepper to the red. Served over egg noodles and I must say it is an Excellent dish, that I will make again. Thank you James & Tara.
Hi Tom, so happy to hear you enjoyed this one and really appreciate the comment!
It is hard to express the quality of the recipes and directions that Jim has produced. This is the 7th recipe I have made for my family and not one has failed to impress. We have what is now known as “Sip and Feast” meals!
Steak Pizzailoa was a HUGE winner with my family. I made it [nearly] identical to the recipe but did add an additional 28 oz can of plum tomatoes (per Jim’s suggestion) as we had it with pasta. I kept it on a low burner for just over three hours and was amazed at the blending of flavors and beautiful reduction in the sauce (as an FYI, I did reduce the beef stock per his sons suggestion).
Jim has given me the confidence to cook astounding Italian meals that I would not have otherwise dared try. You simply can’t go wrong (but do watch his YouTube videos for the best explanations ever).
Hi Reed, I’m so happy to hear you’ve been enjoying the recipes and videos. This is a wonderful comment and I’m truly grateful! Thank you for following along with me!
Would it be the same cook time if using top round steaks?
Hi Tommie, the cook time will depend on the thickness of the steaks you use so be sure to check them for doneness. I flattened the steaks to 1/2 inch thick for this recipe so if you do the same, you should have roughly the same cook time.
You mentioned being able to put this in a dutch oven and do the simmering process in the oven. Around what temperature would you want to do this in the oven at?
Hi Clayton, you can do this at 325f. Hope you enjoy!
I saw this recipe and needed to try it, but my partner doesn’t eat beef and I wasn’t feeling cutlets. The butcher had some nice looking turkey breast and quarters so I bought one of each (~1.7kg total) and subbed them for the beef pretty much 1:1.
Braised in the oven (325 fan for 90min) and oh my goodness the depth of flavour that came out was amazing. I can see what the taste tester meant by it being “too beefy”. Turkey is pretty mild in flavour and the meaty flavour I got out of it was like nothing I’ve tasted! 10/10
Hi Paul, thanks for the comment and so happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Can’t wait to try. Can it be frozen?
Hi Margaret, while you certainly can freeze this dish, it will be better when made fresh.