An easy black pepper chicken with juicy tender chicken, crisp vegetables and a rich savory black pepper sauce. It takes no time to put together and tastes better than your usual Chinese restaurant takeout! {Gluten-Free Adaptable}
Black pepper chicken should be one of the meals on your dinner menu rotation. Not only because it’s so easy to put together and delicious, but also because it is loaded with healthy lean protein and colorful veggies that make it perfect as a one-pot meal.
Making restaurant stir fry might look challenging at first glance, but once you’ve followed a solid recipe once, you’ll understand the workflow and the whole process will become way less intimidating. Plus, once you’ve tasted how great a homemade stir fry is, you’ll prefer it over takeout. The homemade version also contains less oil, sugar, and sodium, which is better for your body.
Black pepper chicken ingredients
For black pepper chicken, you probably already have most of the ingredients in your pantry.
Make sure you cut the ingredients, prepare the sauce, and marinate the chicken before you start cooking. When the stir fry starts, you will need to move fast so the ingredients won’t overcook.
When you’re ready to cook, your table should have:
- Minced ginger and garlic in a plate
- Mixed sauce (it’s nice to have a small spoon on the side because you’ll need to stir the sauce again before adding it to the pan)
- Marinated chicken
I like to prepare by grouping my ingredients together so it makes the cooking easier, plus you will have fewer bowls to clean up later.
Cooking notes
1. The key for tender juicy chicken
No matter whether you use chicken breasts or thighs, if you follow this procedure you will get super tender chicken just like you’d get at a Chinese restaurant:
- Always cut the meat against the grain. Try to maintain the same thickness and size for each slice.
- Always marinate the chicken. The whole process will help soften the chicken and create a rich flavor.
- Let the chicken sear for 30 seconds before stirring it. If you try to stir the chicken immediately, you’ll find it stuck to the pan due to the cornstarch in the recipe. If you let the chicken cook for a bit before moving it, the meat will come out well-seared without being torn apart.
2. Why you need to remove the chicken once
Transferring the half-cooked chicken to a plate before adding the rest of the ingredients is crucial for two reasons.
- When you add the sauce and veggies, the pan temperature will drop significantly. If you don’t take the chicken out beforehand, the veggies won’t be seared properly, and the sauce will reduce very slowly. Both result in a soupy dish with steamed ingredients.
- The chicken is slightly underdone when you remove it, and is just cooked through once added back. If you leave the chicken in the skillet the whole time, by the time that the veggies are cooked, the chicken will be way overdone – dry and chewy.
3. Get used to the pace of stir frying
I found that Chinese stir frying has a much faster pace than most Western cooking. When I start cooking a dish, it takes me about 5 minutes (or maybe less) to finish. This means you have less than a minute between adding ingredients. So do read through the recipe before cooking, and move quickly once you start.
How to make black pepper chicken
- Spread out the chicken in a heated large skillet
- Once the surface of the chicken is lightly charred but the inside is still pink, remove from the pan
- Add the aromatics and saute gently
- Stir fry the vegetables
- Pour in the black pepper sauce and cook until it thickens
- Add back the chicken and stir everything together
That’s it! The chicken is tender and juicy and the vegetables crisp with vibrant colors. You can serve it by itself or over steamed rice. For a healthier meal, try to use steamed brown rice. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days, or in the freezer for a month or two. I hope you enjoy!
More Chinese takeout recipes
- Chinese Curry Chicken
- Chinese Beef and Broccoli (牛肉炒西兰花)
- Sweet and Sour Tofu (糖醋豆腐)
- Easy Shrimp and Broccoli
- Easy Mongolian Meatballs
Black Pepper Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb (450 g) chicken breasts (or thighs) , sliced against the grain into 1/4” (5-mm) thick pieces
Marinade
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (or soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Sauce
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce (or soy sauce)
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce (or soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Stir fry
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 white onion , chopped
- 2 bell peppers , chopped (I used mixed colors)
Instructions
- Combine chicken, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and cornstarch in a medium-sized bowl. Gently mix by hand until the chicken is coated with a thin layer of the mixture. Marinate for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the chicken. Immediately spread the chicken into a single layer using a spatula, with as little overlap as possible. Sear for 30 seconds or so, until the bottom is lightly browned. Flip the chicken. Cook for 15 to 20 seconds. Stir occasionally, until both sides are browned but still a bit pink inside. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet. Add the ginger and garlic. Give it a quick stir until fragrant. Add the white onion and peppers. Stir and cook for 20 seconds.
- Stir the sauce mixture until the cornstarch is dissolved completely, and pour it into the skillet. Stir with a spatula immediately and cook until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, a few seconds. Add back the cooked chicken. Quickly stir a few times to coat everything with the sauce. Turn off heat and remove the skillet from the stove. Immediately transfer everything to a big plate so the ingredients won’t keep cooking in the hot skillet.
- Serve hot as a main dish.
Video
Nutrition
The post was published on July 11, 2018 and updated by Jun 9, 2022.
In reading your tips about keeping the chicken tender, you have 2 other choices:
1) add about 1/2-3/4 tsp baking soda to the marinade
2) I sometimes brine chicken breast (which is tends to be drier than thigh) or pork in 2 cups water with 1 1/2 Tbsp salt and 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar for about 90 minutes….it definitely keeps the meat juicier.
This recipe is absolutely perfect. The instructions are perfect, and the results were amazing.
A Chinese lady from Wuhan told me recently that a lot of what Americans think is Chinese food really isn’t eaten in China. Would you say your recipe is authentic?
It really depends on the recipe. For example, black pepper chicken is not frequently eaten in China, but black pepper beef is. When I develop this recipe, I would use my own experience to create a sauce that is similar to what I had in China, and not that far from what you get in the US for Chinese takeout. So does recipes like General Tso’s chicken and beef and broccoli.
On the other hand, I also share recipes that are very popular in China but less-known in the US. Dishes like Sichuan Boil Fish and chive pockets. For those recipes I try to recreate authentic flavors as much as I can.
Then there are the dishes in between, like mapo tofu and dan dan noodles. Those dishes are both popular in and outside of China. Mine is closer to the Chinese version, but I might have used shortcut to make the recipes easier to prepare for home cooks.
I had a fantastic black pepper beef at a restaurant in Chicago’s Chinatown once, and I’ve been chasing a similar dish ever since. I’m definitely making this with chicken this weekend and experimenting with beef in the future if it lives up to my memory!
A little too much dry sherry for me (celiac substitution). Still delicious!
Delicious! I love that I also learned new things about how to best stirfy and doing the marinade with cornstarch. So helpful!
Also curious if the light/dark soy sauce is what makes your sauce darker. Mine is pretty plain/clearish. I’m not sure how to describe it, but I love a brown sauce and would like mine to look like that.
The dark soy sauce is what makes the sauce darker. It is thicker and much darker than regular soy sauce and has caramel color in it. Adding a touch of dark soy sauce will darken the sauce and give it a slight sweet hint.
Tried this tonight for dinner and it was a HUGE hit with everyone! Will definitely be making this again. My husband and son both love tons of pepper on everything, so they really liked this!
Excellent tips in this recipe for prepping and cooking chicken (wish i known this years ago!), fairly simply ingredients, and a result the whole family adored. The fussy teenage daughter even went back for seconds! I’d imagine this will become a regular.
This looks amazing but before I make it what can I substitute the wine with as my husband is allergic. Thx
You can replace it with chicken broth. Happy cooking!
Excellent! Will be making again. I track my macros closely but I didn’t add up the total weight How much does one serving weigh? I can’t find that info. Thanks!
The database I used did not have the info on the weight of one serving. For each serving, it contains 10 g fat, 17.8g carb, and 26.1g protein. Hope this helps.
Terrific! I’m working my way through all your recipes. I did this one today because (you’re right!) I had all the ingredients in hand.
Easy and quick prep. Turned out great. Attractive and very tasty. The black pepper was just enough and not too much. The recipe made 4 full servings. (Leftovers!)
While I was eating, my mouth said, “This is so good. I wonder what it would be like with a few peanuts sprinkled on?” Answer: “Really, really good!”
Going on my favorites list. Thanks!
Maggie, you haven’t by chance tried doing the chicken in an air fryer, have you? If you were to do so, would you prep the chicken the same way right up to the cooking stage?
This is one of my favorite recipes I’ve tried so far, I’m in the middle of eating it and couldn’t help but write a review and I’ve never done that. Thank you so much , will 1000% be rotating this.
I loved this recipe so much I have made it 2x. First time I tried with chicken second time Indid with flank steak. Amazing ! The save is spicy sweet and perfectly balanced and thick. I did not have any wine or an alternative so I just used a little squeeze of lemon. Ty so much. Bring on some more recipes !
Food was amazing will definitely be making this again.
This was absolutely delicious. My husband is super picky and he even liked it. Will be added in the rotation for sure.
Sounds great! Can’t wait to try it! Love black pepper.
Excellent recipe! I mistakenly added 1 tbsp of soy sauce instead of 1 teaspoon to the sauce and it was perfect for us. I also added sliced mushrooms. Hubby gobbled it up and said to be sure to make it again!
I couldn’t find sherry wine or shaoxing wine (really struggling out here apparently) so I used mirin and omitted the extra sugar. The flavor is awesome. I struggle to get the necessary heat level from an electric stove, even with a cast iron skillet, so I ended up with the steamy soup that was mentioned. But it tastes great! I’m sure with the proper technique it’s outstanding.
So delicious!
My husband and I loved the shrimp stuffed eggplant dish with a black pepper sauce at our favorite Chinese restaurant so I simply HAD to try this one when I saw it. It was a hit with both of us! So, so good. Thank you for sharing your recipes and especially your techniques. Grateful.