Black Pepper Chicken

Ultra-tender chicken stir fried in a delicious black pepper sauce with crunchy celery, carrots, onions, garlic and ginger! This quick and easy black pepper chicken beats takeout and is a fantastic main dish best paired with rice.

If you love juicy chicken and black pepper sauce, this dish is for you! It's packed with savory flavor and each bite has the perfect amount of black pepper. The chicken breast is also super tender thanks to the marinade.

Black pepper chicken is a popular Chinese-American stir fry dish served at many Chinese restaurants, like Panda Express. It's best served over steamed white rice for a complete meal.

Why you'll love this recipe:

• ready in 30 minutes in one-pan.
• perfect for busy weeknights.
• can be made in advance for meal preparation.
• the vegetables and protein can easily be substituted if you wish.
• restaurant-quality saving you money in the long run!
• great for the whole family.

I love making this Asian dish whenever I have chicken breast in the fridge. It's so tasty and it always hits the spot when I'm craving Chinese takeout.

Ingredients & Substitutes

Please scroll down to recipe card below for exact measurements.

• Chicken Breast: or substitute with skinless boneless chicken thighs. Not a fan of chicken? Substitute with flank steak, pork shoulder, shrimp or white fish.
• Celery: or substitute with zucchini or button mushrooms.
• Carrots: or substitute with bell peppers.
• Onion: or substitute with 1 shallot.
• Garlic
• Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil, coconut oil or any heavy scented oils.

Chicken Marinade

• Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
• Cornstarch: or substitute with tapioca starch or potato starch.
• Cold Water
• Baking Soda: do not skip this ingredient as it's the secret ingredient to tender chicken.
• Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil.

Stir-Fry Sauce

• Oyster Sauce: or substitute with vegetarian stir fry sauce. If you're gluten-free: substitute with a gluten-free version.
• Regular Soy Sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
• Dark Soy Sauce: this is thicker and darker than regular soy sauce.
• Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch or tapioca starch.
• Shaoxing Wine: or substitute with dry sherry wine, dry white wine or chicken broth.
• White Granulated Sugar: or substitute with cane sugar.
• Ginger: or substitute with ¼ teaspoon ground ginger.
• Black Pepper
• Chicken stock: ideally low-sodium chicken stock or substitute with cold water.

Note: Most Asian grocers will carry these ingredients. You may find some at your select grocery store or online, like on Amazon.

Instructions

Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make black pepper chicken:

1. Transfer sliced chicken breast into a medium bowl. Marinate chicken pieces with the marinade ingredients as listed above for 15-20 mins at most and don't marinate past this time frame.

2. In a small bowl, combine the stir-fry sauce ingredients as listed above. Set aside.
   

3. Heat 1 tablespoon or 15 ml vegetable oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Fry marinated chicken on both sides until cooked and slightly golden brown, about 3 mins in total. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

4. Reduce to medium heat and add remaining oil into the pan. Then add onions, garlic, carrots and celery and fry until veggies are slightly softened but still crisp, about 1-2 minutes.

5. Pour in prepared stir fry sauce. Toss everything together and allow sauce to simmer to thicken.

6. Quickly toss in cooked chicken and mix with the sauce and vegetables until evenly coated. Remove off heat. Serve and enjoy!

Pairing Suggestions

Black pepper chicken serves well with:

• starters like egg rolls, crab rangoons, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup
• white or brown rice, or fried rice
• chow mein, lo mein, plain noodles, soup noodles 
• cooked vegetables like bok choy, spicy garlic bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, garlic green beans or stir fried snow pea leaves.
• protein dishes like Beef Mushroom Stir Fry, Mongolian Beef, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Soy Garlic Tofu and more!

FAQ