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 (454 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.
I love Chinese food n I’ve tried making so many receipts n they never come out as expected but this one is by far the best n it tasted so good. I’m in love with it. Thanks so much
Wasn’t my favorite. The sauce was good, but the recipe is written weird. The peppers should be cooked for 5 mins minimum and then add the ginger and garlic. Otherwise the veggies are barely cooked at all, and would’ve been raw. Also, the chicken needs way longer than noted to get a sear. Don’t think I’ll make again.
I think that’s the point, to have more crisp veggies, but everyone has different preferences regarding their veggie doneness.
This has been a staple in our home!! This is so good!! One of the best dishes ever!! I highly recommend this recipe!
I tried this. Very good recipe! Thank you!
This recipe intrigued me because I never had a black pepper dish. And I was excited to use all my Asian ingredients. I’m going to do more Asian meals and plan on using your site a lot. I like how good this was. It tasted like true Chinese food. And I love that the veggies were still crunchy and fresh. Definitely five stars!
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This is absolutely delicious!!! Can’t wait to try it with other proteins … any would work!
This was great, liked the heat of the pepper.loved using farm stand fresh produce to make it. Substituted linguini for rice.
This is beyond delicious. Thank you for sharing. Simple and quick to put together and oh so tasty.
Soooo good!!
This was so easy to do. I had 3 lb of chicken thighs, so I tripled everything but the sugar. Only had cooking sherry, but still tasted great. Can’t wait to try this again with Shaoxing wine!
I loved it and so did my whole family. Thank you for adding a recipe to my rotation@ominivorescookbook
Just made this for dinner tonight and know it will make frequent appearances on our dinner table! I made a few changes: only used 1 bell pepper, added snap peas, carrots, green onions, used a full white onion and doubled the sauce so there was enough for the lomein noodles I mixed in at the end. It was a hit!
Absolutely wonderful!! I added some fresh mushrooms and served it over stir-fry noodles. My husband says it is the best Chinese dish I have ever made!
This was easy and delicious. Ty
Favorit recipe!!!!
This is my first time ever writing a review on a recipe but this one is worth a review. This has been one of my favorite dishes I’ve ever made ! My todles ate all their food and more. The ginger is a bit strong but I love it even my husband licked his plate and he hates the taste of ginger so this says alot. This recipe was printed and laminated in my recipe collection!
Thank you for this recipe- eating it up as i write! is delicious. love the black pepper heat. I added cabbage & celery worked great. but need to heed your advice re letting chicken be, until browned – don’t think wok was fully heated. still great! and will do better when I make again (which will be soon 😉
I wonder if this recipe could be made in a crockpot? Thank you!
Recipe was great I used red cooking wine instead everyone loved it
“this is one of the best dishes you have made!’ my husband said. the directions are easy to understand and make.
I made this last night and it was a huge hit. So easy to make and delicious.