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.
This was my first ever stir fry and it came out AMAZING!!! The flavor was perfect and the chicken was so tender! I would definitely make this again and I highly recommend this recipe!
A coworker gave me this recipe and 2 days later I made it for the family. It was an instant hit and I will definitely be making this again in the future.
Thank you for sharing! It is very delicious and my Chinese cooking usually doesn’t turn out. I did double the sauce because I like extra on my rice. Very good!
This is our new favorite !! Great way to mix in some delicious and crisp veggies, all incorporated in the sauce – oh my gosh, so good! I did not have sherry or the other one, so I had to wing it with a 1/2 & 1/2 ratio of aji mirin + white wine vinegar. I’m not entirely sure what the true recipe would taste like (obviously) but this is going to be the way I’m making it every time haha. Thank you soooo much!
Amazing made for my family tonight only change was added so chilli flakes definitely going on rotation
Tasted great over some simple white rice and my boyfriend loved it. I had a
problem with the chicken being coated in cornstarch though. The only pan we
have is a stainless steel and while common sense should have told me tha
t it might not work as well, the chicken stuck and never came un-stuck. I let it
heat up and used plenty of oil, but we ended up salvaging what chicken we
could and washing the pan to start over. Tonight Im going to try leaving the corn
starch off the chicken marinade to see if we still like it without it. We arent giving
up! Thank you 🙂
Hi Marie, Thanks for your review and I’m glad you like the dish.
As for the pan, I highly recommend using a nonstick or carbon steel pan (or cast iron). Stainless steel pan will have issue with the cornstarch. However, if you do not use the cornstarch, the chicken tend to come out tougher. I find it quite tricky to cook thin sliced chicken in stainless steel pan even without the cornstarch, because by the time the chicken is browned and released from the pan, the inside would overcook a bit. That being said, you can still try it out and see if you like the result. And do keep me updated if you cook the dish without the cornstarch. Would love to hear how it comes out.
This is the second night in a row that I have made this dish. It’s delicious! I made it on a whim the first night, so I did not have every ingredient. For the wine I used rice vinegar, for the light and dark soy I used liquid aminos, for the oil I used 1 tbsp olive oil & 1 tbsp sesame oil. I was holding my breath, but it came out fantastic! Tonight, I used some ginger and that really elevated it. I will eventually try it exactly as instructed, but it was a hit regardless. Thank you so much!
Omg the dish came out sooooo good! If you want it a little more spicy I added jalapeños and chili flakes! Omggggg it came out so freaking good!
Is there a substitute for the wine ? I’m alcohol free and don’t want to use wine with my cooking
You can use chicken broth instead. Happy cooking!
I made this for my family & everyone loved it! Will be adding this into our rotation!
So good, I’ll be making this meal on rotation
So good, I’ll be making this meal on rotation
Another 5 star! Thanks!
BobB & Family
Love this recipe so much!!!! My husband and siblings love this whenever I make it
This was really good! I doubled the sauce b/c my husband likes a lot of sauce. Will definitely be making again.
I liked the flavor profile, but it was way too salty for my taste. Having lived in Asia a number of years, I make sure that our pantry is well a stocked with authentic Asian cooking supplies. I did not add the additional salt listed as the last ingredient in the sauce recipe. Since light soy sauce is saltier than dark soy sauce, I’ll probably try substituting dark soy sauce for part of the light soy sauce next time.
This came out so good, I will make it again!
Just made this recipe for the first time for dinner and it is delicious and super flavorful! While I think I’m a decent house cook, the instructions were simple and easy to follow. I really appreciate your easy and modern take on classic Chinese dishes (I’m half Chinese) and I look forward to trying more of your recipes. Thank you!!
WOW! I tried it tonight and I absolutely love it!!!! Thank you!!!
Great recipe! My family loved it! Hubby said it was amazing!
I am in LOVE with this recipe. Cooked it exactly as prescribed and it came out beautifully! It was spicy and sweet with a perfectly balanced. 10 of 10 would cook again!