This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Peruvian beef stir fry (Lomo Saltado) is quick and delicious to make at home. It’s made using thinly sliced steak and stir-fried with onions and tomatoes. Lomo Saltado can have french fries mixed into the stir fry. But you can also serve on the side. I can’t think of a better way to eat steak and potatoes together!
Lomo Saltado!
Not only is it fun to say, it’s also delicious on your tongue. Loaded with tons of savory, perfectly seared steak slices, crisp onion petals, and savory, ripe tomatoes. I love serving it on a bed of white rice (or cauliflower rice if I’m watching the calories) alongside hot and crispy French fries.
We first enjoyed this delicious Peruvian steak stir fry at a local restaurant that makes it so well. And of course, three bites in I was obsessively dissecting all the flavors that were just dancing on my tongue.
@littlespicejar Peruvian Lomo Saltado Full recipe linked in my profile and on littlespicejar.com #lomosaltado #lomosaltadoaloperuano #beefrecipes #stirfry #quickrecipes #easyrecipes #summerrecipes #onepanmeal #onepotmeal ♬ Chill Vibes – Tollan Kim
I won’t tell you how to eat your Lomo Saltado, but I’ll let you know this much; this steak stir fry is served with FRENCH FRIES. And to be honest, I can’t think of a better way to eat steak and potatoes. One thing about Lomo Saltado, people get very heated about the way the fries are served. Some are adamant that you need to toss French fries into the stir fry, while others keep them on the side. For this reason, I’d like to point out that I don’t toss my French fries in the stir fry. However, it is done both ways! You can toss them in if you like, but I’m big on texture and want to enjoy that hot crispy, crunch!
My boyfriend and I made this for dinner and it was AMAZING. It had so much flavor and was so delicious we immediately sent the recipe to our friends lol. We paired it with red wine and absolutely loved it.
What is Lomo Saltado?
Is a popular Peruvian stir fry dish made with beef that literally translated means “jumped loin.” It is a dish that is part of Chifa cuisine which is the meshing of Chinese and Peruvian ingredients and cooking techniques. Peruvian beef stir fry is typically a combination of steak, onions, tomatoes, and French fries. It’s served alongside cooked rice.
Ingredients to make Lomo Saltado
- Beef: There are several different cuts of meat you can use for this recipe. Be sure to cut against the grain and make equal pieces so that they cook up in roughly the same amount of time.
- Low sodium soy sauce: I recommend using low sodium soy sauce because the recipe would be quite salty with regular soy sauce.
- Garlic: Mince the garlic finely! Half of it will be used to marinate the beef, the other half will go into the stir fry.
- Oyster sauce: adds umami to the stir fry along with the soy sauce.
- Red wine vinegar: Vinegar helps cuts through some of the salt and the fattiness of the beef. It’s just the right amount so it’s not going
- Aji amarillo: is a Peruvian yellow pepper that is grown all over Peru. I found it a bit difficult to find fresh peppers where I live, so I used the next best thing – aji Amarillo paste. Fresh is best, but if you can’t find it, you can purchase it here. A substitute for the aji Amarillo is a combination of 1/4 of finely grated serrano pepper and 1/4 of a finely grated yellow bell pepper combined. You can also just throw both of these ingredients into a food processor if that’s easier.
- Red onion: You’ll want to cut the red onion into thicker wedges so that they hold up to the high heat cooking.
- Tomatoes: The tomatoes are also cut into wedges. I use Roma tomatoes and cut them into 6-7 pieces depending on the size of the tomato.
- Cilantro: Cilantro is added in right at the end before serving, but you could also use scallions, I’ve seen it served with both.
- Cornstarch: The cornstarch is used to just add a hint of thickness to the sauce.
Recommended Cuts of Beef
There are several different cuts of meat you can use for this recipe. My favorite Peruvian restaurant here uses filet mignon, but you could also use sirloin, skirt steak, or flank steak. Cut the meat in thin slices or small pieces that are the same size so that they cook up evenly.
How to make Lomo Saltado at home
- Marinate the beef: Add a splash of soy sauce and roughly half of the minced garlic to the thinly sliced beef. Allow for it to marinate for 5-7 minutes while you prepare the remaining ingredients. This is where you’d add in a pinch of baking soda if you used a particularly tough cut of meat.
- Make the sauce: The sauce is as simple as combining a few ingredients in a mason jar and giving it a quick shake to help everything mix. All you need is soy sauce, red wine vinegar, oyster sauce, aji Amarillo paste, and cornstarch.
- Stir fry and put it all together: Add oil to a cast iron skillet or a cast iron braiser. Let it heat all the way through. When the oil is shimmering, add the beef slices in batches and sear them on both sides. Then, remove the beef to a plate and continue browning the remaining beef. Add another splash of oil to the pan then salt the onions until they soften a bit before adding the garlic and the tomatoes. Continue to saute for 1 minute. Then add the beef back into the pan. Drizzle everything with the prepared sauce and toss to combine. You’d also add the French fries here if you wanted them to soften in the sauce. Top with sliced scallions or chopped cilantro if desired. Serve warm over rice!
Best Tips for Success
- Slicing the beef: I suggest making sure to cut the meat across the grain. This shortens the length of the muscle fibers and helps make the meat more tender.
- For particularly tough cuts: marinate the meat for 1 hour in ¼ teaspoon of baking soda along with the soy sauce and garlic. The alkalinity of baking soda helps raise the pH of the meat. This causes the proteins to move further apart, and that makes it more tender and easier to chew!
- To help slice the steak easily: place the fresh steak in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. That way, it’ll stiffen a bit and the blade can slice through the meat much easier.
- Mis en place: The steak takes minutes to cook. So you want to be sure everything is prepped beforehand. That way, it’s smooth sailing during the cooking phase.
Other Peruvian Recipes to try:
Lomo Saltado (Peruvian Beef Stir Fry)
Ingredients
- 1 pound flank steak, or filet mignon, sirloin, skirt steak, cut into thin slices
- 5 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 5 cloves garlic minced or grated
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Aji Amarillo paste
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 red onion sliced into ½ inch wedges
- 3 roma tomatoes seeds removed and sliced into ½ inch wedges
- Sliced scallions/chopped cilantro for serving
- Oil for cooking
- Cooked French fries + rice for serving
Instructions
- MARINATE:Add 1 tablespoons soy sauce and roughly half the garlic, to the thinly sliced beef and allow for the beef to marinate for 5-7 minutes. If you’re using a particularly tough cut of meat, consider adding ¼ teaspoon of baking soda along with the soy sauce and let it marinate for 30 minutes.
- SAUCE:In a small bowl, combine the remaining 4 tablespoons soy sauce, oyster sauce, red wine vinegar, Aji Amarillo paste, and cornstarch. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- PREHEAT:Add about a tablespoon of cooking oil to a hot cast iron pan or wok over high heat until it starts to shimmer.
- SEAR: Brown the beef in batches for roughly 1-2 minutes flipping as needed to cook evenly. You want the beef to sear, not steam! Remove to a plate.
- SAUTE: Add another tablespoon of oil if the pan is dry. Add the onions and sauce, let them cook for 1 minute before adding the remaining garlic and tomatoes. Continue to sauté for 1 minute.
- TOSS: Add the beef back into the pan. You’d also add the French fries here if you wanted to cook them with the sauce. Drizzle with the prepared sauce and toss to combine. Top with sliced scallions or chopped cilantro (or both.)
- SERVE: warm with rice and with French fries (if you want them crispy!)
Notes
- Make sure you cut the steak against the grain. For detailed instructions on how to do so, see post.
- If you can’t find Aji Amarillo, you can blend ¼ of a serrano with ¼ of yellow bell pepper. It’s not exactly the same thing but something similar.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Tastes stealth similar to lomo saltado I’ve had at Mario’s and other LA spots
This is the best thing I’ve ever made in life!!! No wonder this is the top Google recipe.
This isn’t how my ex father in law from Lima made it. I think it’s the aji. Plus the cornstarch in the sauce before you put it on the meat. It made my food gunky. It tastes good but I had to compensate with soy sauce and the amount of aji was too much for my daughter. She’s not used to spicy.
Made this recipe with thin strip Rib-Cap, and it was otherworldly! Unfortunately, had no Red Wine Vinegar, so I subbed with a Japanese Rice Wine Vinegar. It was a bit less “punchy” on the acidity, and it had a subtle sweetness, to it! Highly recommend that substitution!
It was pretty good; I’d suggest just adding the stove temperatures to the recipe for less experienced home cooks for whom it might not be intuitive. There’s no mention of heat levels anywhere.
Delicious! Due to dietary restrictions we can’t have oyster sauce so I replaced with hoisin sauce for the umami and it was amazing! I threw in homemade air fried French fries to the whole thing to mix with all the sauce and juices. Will definitely make it again.
This was delicious– my husband and I both loved it! I made it mostly as written, except I just cut the steak in half initially and seared the larger pieces to get a good crust and removed to a plate. I subbed half a red bell pepper for one of the tomatoes, which was nice– I sautéed the pepper with the onion, adding the tomato when onion was tender. Then I sliced the beef across the grain and removed fat before returning it to the pan to finish, heat through and coat with sauce. I served it on a bed of arugula which was a nice texture contrast and provided a “salad” that took no work. I made frozen steak fries on the side, which was easy and super tasty. The rice would have been nice, but we opted for just one starch 🙂