Black Pepper Chicken is a Chinese takeout classic. Stir fried chicken breast in a savoury pepper sauce with onions and bell peppers. Ready in half an hour and so garlicky, piquant, and delicious!
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Why Every Garlic Lover Needs to Try This
Black Pepper and Garlic. Name a more iconic duo.
Add in some juicy and tender seared chicken, and it’s just about the perfect weekend stir fry recipe. Guaranteed to be better than Panda Express, and cheaper too.
Our recipe uses more than TWICE the amount of garlic of other Chinese Black Pepper Chicken recipes. The sauce is more bold and flavourful. Plus, garlic is healthy so how can you argue with that?
Black Pepper Chicken is surprisingly low in calories for how yummy and filling it is. We make it nearly once a week here. It’s become quite a staple!
Ingredients + Substitutions
A few important notes on some of the ingredients used in this Chinese Black Pepper Chicken recipe:
Velvet Chicken Breast: Traditionally, Chinese restaurants use velveted deep-fried chicken breast to make their stir fry recipes. It’s the secret to how they make chicken taste so great. But since nobody’s got time to bust out the deep fryer for a casual weeknight dinner, I developed a quicker velveting technique. Use this velvet marinade to make pan-fried chicken that’s tender, not tough.
Substitution Tip: You can also use chicken thigh instead of chicken breast. But since thighs are a fattier cut of meat, they’re naturally more tender and don’t require velveting to keep them juicy.
Ground Black Pepper: There’s tons of black pepper in this recipe. In the chicken marinade, plus more in the black pepper sauce itself. It’s key to the signature taste of Black Pepper Chicken.
Bell Pepper: The traditional vegetable for Black Pepper Chicken Stir Fry. But Kevin is not a fan of bell pepper, so we usually substitute spinach or baby bok choy. Or just omit it entirely, that’s cool too.
Note: In Panda Express' Black Pepper Chicken, they add celery. We always felt that celery was the worst part of the dish, so it doesn’t feature in our recipe 😝 You can add a stalk of celery if you’d like, though.
Scallions: Divide the green and white parts of the scallion. Dice up the green parts and reserve them for topping. Slice the white parts into 2-inch long segments and use them in the stir fry.
Garlic: The magical bulb that makes everything more tasty. Best to use fresh minced garlic here for best results.
Shaoxing Wine: Gives the Black Pepper Chicken its authentic Chinese restaurant flavour. If you’re avoiding alcohol, just leave it out. No biggie.
Oyster Sauce: Adds umami and sweetness! If you don’t have, hoisin sauce makes a decent substitute.
Soy Sauce: Chinese cuisine has two main types of soy sauce: light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Light soy sauce actually tastes stronger than dark soy sauce but dark soy sauce has a deeper colour. This recipe uses both. But you can omit the dark soy sauce if you don’t have it. Just add a bit more soy sauce to taste.
Cornstarch: Thickens the sauce slightly to make it cling to the chicken. Gives it a nice shine, too. Can substitute with potato starch or tapioca starch.
See recipe card for quantities.
Directions
Step 1. Marinate the chicken according to my Velvet Chicken recipe. Mix in ground black pepper. Set this aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
Step 2. Make the Black Pepper Sauce: Whisk together water, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, black pepper, and cornstarch. Set aside.
Tip: If you’re short on time, you can skip the chicken velveting step. Just slice the chicken into strips and massage with black pepper before using. But if you have 15 minutes to spare, I recommend velveting. It makes the chicken more tender and flavourful.
Step 3. Heat oil on medium-high heat. Spread chicken over the wok in a single layer. Sear until golden brown, then flip and sear the other side.
Step 4. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Don’t worry about the middle being undercooked, we’ll be heating it through later.
Step 5. Return the wok to the heat and add more oil. Throw in onion and bell pepper. Cook until the edges start to brown. Then add garlic and stir fry just until fragrant.
Step 6. Pour in the Black Pepper Sauce. Bring it to a simmer, then add back the chicken and stir to coat.
Step 7. The sauce should be slightly thickened and clinging to the chicken.
Step 8. Remove from heat and top with scallions.
Storage Tips
Fridge: Refrigerate Chinese black pepper chicken for up to four days.
Freezer: Freeze black pepper chicken stir fry for up to four months.
What to Serve with Black Pepper Chicken
More Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a rating or comment below to give me feedback and help out other readers.
Recipe Card
Chinese Black Pepper Chicken Stir Fry
Equipment
- Wok or skillet with high sides
- Thin spatula
Ingredients
Chicken
- 8 to 10 ounces velvet chicken breast recipe for velveting chicken here; see Note 1
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Aromatics
- 2 tablespoons oil divided
- 1 small onion sliced into wedges
- ½ sliced bell pepper *optional; see Note 2
- 1 to 2 scallions diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine *optional
Black Pepper Sauce
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- ½ tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken according to our velvet chicken recipe (see Note 1). Mix in 1 teaspoon ground black pepper. Set this aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Mix together the ingredients for the black pepper sauce: ⅓ cup water, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, ½ tablespoon light soy sauce, 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, and 1 teaspoon cornstarch. Set aside.
- Heat half of 2 tablespoons oil in a wok or sauté pan on medium-high heat. Spread 8 to 10 ounces velvet chicken breast over the wok in a single layer. Sear for a minute or two until golden brown, then flip and sear the other side. The chicken pieces should release easily from the pan with a thin metal spatula.
- Transfer the chicken to a plate. Don’t worry about the middle being undercooked, we’ll be heating it through later.
- Return the wok to the heat and add the remaining half of 2 tablespoons oil. Throw in 1 small onion and ½ sliced bell pepper. Cook until fragrant and the edges are starting to brown.
- Add 6 cloves garlic and stir fry for another 20 seconds or so. Be careful not to burn it. Deglaze with 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine, if using.
- Pour in the black pepper sauce from step 2. Bring it to a simmer, then add back the chicken. Stir to coat in black pepper sauce, until sauce is slightly thickened and clinging to the chicken. Remove from heat and top with 1 to 2 scallions.
Notes
- Is it necessary to velvet chicken? If you’re short on time, you can skip the chicken velveting step. Just slice the chicken into strips and massage with garlic powder and black pepper before using. But if you have 15 minutes to spare, I recommend velveting. It makes the chicken more tender and flavourful.
- Alternative: Use chicken thighs instead. Much more tender and no need for velveting.
- Bell Pepper: If you don’t like bell pepper, substitute with spinach or baby bok choy. Or just leave it out entirely.
Nutrition
Food safety
- Cook chicken pieces to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C).
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat (for example after marinating the chicken).
- Don't leave black pepper chicken sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
- For any Chinese stir fry dish, the cooking temperature is quite high. Never leave the stove unattended.
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove. It's also good practice to use a cooking oil with a high smoke point (such as avocado oil or sunflower oil).
Jennie says
Had this for supper tonight. Family loved it! I did leave out the bell pepper as you suggested .
Kelly Zhang says
Awesome Jennie, I'm glad it was a hit.