Easy Black Pepper Chicken Recipe inspired by Panda Express. Juicy, tender chicken bites in a savoury black pepper sauce. This homemade black pepper chicken is easy, only requires a few ingredients to make, and tastes as good as your favorite Chinese takeout or even better.
Craving more restaurant favorites? Check out our Honey Sriracha Chicken Recipe, Chicken Jalfrezi and Kung Pao Shrimp.
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Black pepper adds the freshest aroma and taste to any dish where pepper is used, whether it's a curry, soup, or even stir-fries.
I absolutely love this dish. The freshness, crunch, and zesty peppery flavor combination of this dish have me making it every chance I get.
What is Black Pepper Chicken
Black pepper chicken is a delectable Chinese dish and a popular menu item in Panda Express, one of the largest Chinese fast food chains in the United States. The recipe features succulent chicken pieces, crunchy onion, and bell peppers, all coated in an irresistibly delicious black pepper sauce.
This black pepper chicken recipe is wonderfully quick and easy, healthy, and satisfyingly delicious!
The black pepper sauce boasts an addictive balance of sweet, spicy, and savory flavor with an earthy, peppery undertone that will have everyone returning for more.
After you learn how to make Chinese black pepper chicken at home, you won't go to order takeout again!
Why You'll Love this recipe
Quick and easy to make. Once you start cooking, it is ready to serve in less than 15 minutes in a single pan.
No deep-frying required. The chicken gets quickly marinated with seasonings and cornstarch, then pan-seared. Marinating the chicken ensures juicy, flavorful chicken, while searing it gives it a mellow crunch and an excellent fried flavor without deep frying.
Contrasting textures. The tender chicken pieces complement the texture of the crunchy onion and bell peppers.
Delicious sauce. The black pepper sauce is loaded with so many flavors; tangy, sweet, savory, and with a hint of heat to drape every inch of the chicken and veggies.
Customizable. You can use chicken breasts or thighs or swap the chicken for tofu, shrimp, or other protein of choice and use whatever veggies you have on hand. You can even adjust the heat as per your taste buds.
Nutritious. This black pepper chicken recipe uses lean chicken breasts and veggies. It is also stir-fried in minimal oil rather than deep-fried to create a healthy chicken dinner your whole family will love.
Budget-friendly. It is much less expensive than takeout. Feed your entire family for a fraction of dining out.
More Delicious Asian Recipes
- Chicken Mei Fun
- Asian Broccoli Stir Fry
- Spinach Stir Fry with Garlic
- 10 Minute Sesame Garlic Ramen Noodles
- Flaky Scallion Pancakes
- Chinese Salt and Pepper Chicken
Ingredients You will need
Here are a few important notes about the ingredients. For measurements see the recipe card below.
- Chicken: I use boneless skinless chicken breasts, but you may use boneless chicken thighs.
- Oil: use a neutral, high-smoking point oil such as vegetable, canola, peanut, or sunflower oil.
- Vegetables: Onions and bell peppers add a nice crisp texture and a lovely sweetness that go well with the chicken. I used green bell peppers. You can also include red and yellow bell peppers for color and the different flavors they bring to the dish.
- Aromatics: Garlic, ginger, and fresh red/green chili. Fresh chili adds a kick of heat to the recipe. Use less or more based on your heat level preference. You can even omit it for a milder version.
For the Black Pepper Sauce
- Soy sauce: use both light and dark soy sauce for the perfect flavor. I use Kikkoman.
- Rice vinegar: If you don't have it on hand, use white vinegar instead.
- Brown sugar: adds sweetness to balance the tangy flavor. You can use more or less depending on how you like it.
- Toasted sesame oil: adds depth of flavor. Toasted sesame oil is made by pressing toasted sesame seeds. It is darker in color than regular sesame oil and has a strong fragrance. Hence it is used for flavoring dishes.
- Black pepper: It is an important component of this dish. Be sure to use good-quality black pepper. I highly recommend using freshly ground black pepper for this recipe. That's because freshly cracked black pepper has a strong citrusy aroma that you won't get with pre-ground or sold-ground pepper.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch acts as a thickening agent in the sauce. Cornstarch also provides a light coating that ensures the chicken won't dry out while cooking. Potato starch is a nice substitute.
P.S. Light soy sauce has been left out from the ingredient list by error.
Preparations Step By Step
Make the sauce
Make the black pepper sauce by whisking together the crushed black pepper, rice vinegar, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, brown sugar, toasted sesame oil, cornstarch, and water in a bowl until there are no lumps.
Marinate the chicken
Coat chicken with 1 tablespoon of the sauce, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, and salt. Rest it aside while you prepare the onion, ginger, garlic, and pepper.
Brown the chicken
Heat a large frying pan until it's hot. Add one tablespoon of oil and tilt the pan to spread oil all over. Add chicken in a single layer and cook over medium flame until golden from the bottom. Then flip the chicken cubes over and cook until the chicken begins to brown and is almost cooked through. Then transfer the chicken to a plate. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan; cook the chicken in batches if needed.
Stir fry vegetables
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the same pan. Add ginger, garlic, and chopped chilies; Saute for 30 seconds. Immediately add onion and bell peppers. Stir fry over a high flame until the vegetables are crisp and tender.
Combine
Reduce the flame to the lowest. Whisk the sauce to recombine and pour the sauce. Let it simmer for 30 seconds. Add the fried chicken and toss well until warmed through.
Serve
Switch off the flame and add freshly ground black pepper. Stir to combine and serve hot.
Helpful Tips
Prepare your ingredients in advance. Like all stir-fries, you need everything ready before heating the pan because the cooking goes very fast.
Use freshly ground peppercorns. Freshly cracked black pepper has a strong flavor. You can crush the peppercorns using a mortar and pestle or peppermill or just put them in a kitchen towel and pound them with a heavy object like a rolling pin.
Don't skip the quick marinating process. It's essential for a tender, juicy, flavorful chicken, just like in Chinese restaurants.
Use the marinating time to do other prep work. While the chicken is marinating, prepare your veggies and aromatics.
Whisk the sauce before using. Always whisk the sauce well before using it, as the cornstarch tends to settle at the bottom.
How to serve
It's delicious all by itself, or you can serve it over rice or noodles. I love to pair it with my Egg fried rice and Asian cucumber salad.
How to store
Black pepper chicken stir fry is best eaten fresh. However, leftovers will still be tasty. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
FAQ
The written recipe is not gluten-free. To make it gluten-free, use gluten-free soy sauce or tamari. Also, make sure your rice vinegar contains no gluten.
You can use the sauce for marinating chicken, fish, shrimp, or vegetables in grilled or bbq dishes. This sauce is also great for making stir-fried noodles.
You can easily make this sauce ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Remember to shake it up or whisk it to recombine before using it.
If you try the recipe, please take a moment to leave a comment and rating. I love hearing from you and it also helps other readers who are thinking of making the recipe.
Recipe
Easy Black Pepper Chicken Recipe
Equipment
- Pan
Ingredients
- 500 gram or 1.1 lbs skinless chicken breast cut into bite size cubes
- 2 tablespoon peanut oil
- salt as required
- 2 medium size onion cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 large size green bell pepper cut into 1 inch cubes
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 fresh red/green chili chopped
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
For the sauce
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- 3 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon water/chicken broth
Instructions
Make the sauce
- Make the black pepper sauce by whisking together the crushed black pepper, rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, toasted sesame oil, cornstarch, and water in a bowl until there are no lumps.
Marinate the chicken
- Coat chicken with 1 tablespoon of the sauce, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, and salt. Rest it aside while you prepare the onion, ginger, garlic, and pepper.
Brown the chicken
- Heat a large frying pan until it's hot. Add one tablespoon of oil and tilt the pan to spread oil all over. Add chicken in a single layer and cook over medium flame until golden from the bottom. Then flip the chicken cubes over and cook until the chicken begins to brown and is almost cooked through. Then transfer the chicken to a plate. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan; cook the chicken in batches if needed.
Stir fry vegetables
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the same pan. Add ginger, garlic, and chopped chilies; Saute for 30 seconds. Immediately add onion and bell peppers. Stir fry over a high flame until the vegetables are crisp and tender.
Combine
- Reduce the flame to the lowest. Whisk the sauce to recombine and pour the sauce. Let it simmer for 30 seconds. Add the fried chicken and toss well until warmed through.
Serve
- Switch off the flame and add freshly ground black pepper. Stir to combine and serve hot.
Emily Artherton
Thanks for this really easy to make super yummy meal! It does taste like Panda Express black pepper chicken. I used 1 tsp of honey in place of the brown sugar, there’s no amount listed in the recipe card, and I didn’t have the rice vinegar so I used white wine vinegar. Even with those changes this was a really tasy, really east meal to make. Thanks for posting!
Geetanjali
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe and for your helpful feedback! I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the dish and that the substitutions worked out well for you. I've updated the recipe card with the amount of brown sugar. Thank you again for letting me know!
Stephanie
I just made this tonight! My chicken didn't have that coloring like the picture shows, but it was SOOOO good! I doubled the sauce because we like IT SAUCY! DEFINITELY will make again!
Grayce
I made this last night very flavorful. My husband who is a picky eater loved it. Thanks for a great recipe!
Geetanjali
That's wonderful to hear! I'm thrilled that both you and your husband enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback.
Don
I make a lot of meals from Pinterest and the internet and this is one of the worst I’ve ever eaten! Way too many onions and too spicy! Yuck!
Dee Dee
It's called black pepper chicken. What did you expect"?
Lisa
Tell me you have boring tastebuds without telling me you have boring tastebuds.
Ял
If you didn’t like it that doesn’t mean that the recipe is bad. I, personally, love lots of onions in a recipe. And I like this recipe because of the black pepper in it. It is called “Black pepper chicken”, it’s suppose to be spicy. You just had to use the amount of onions and spices you like or just skip it, find a recipe you would like. It’s ok when people have different opinions, but you, or anyone else, should never say “yack” on food. There are people who don’t have any food available, who are suffering of a hunger. Next time just think before saying such things.
Alana
I don’t see the amount of brown sugar. It’s not on the list of ingredients but it’s in the instructions.
Geetanjali
Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I apologize for the confusion - I must have missed that when I was writing it. I've updated the recipe post. Thank you again for letting me know, and I hope you'll give the recipe a try!
Vince
I enjoy making this recipe. My wife really likes it. I'd love for my chicken to come out as colorful as that in the picture. What's your secret?
Meranda
How much is a serving size and how many calories?
Betsy
It was amazing. I will make it again. Thanks for the recipe!
Rick Teller
Very good; will repeat. Used a wok rather than a skillet; also ramped up the ginger a bit. Added a handful of cashew pieces for crunch, because they were sitting on the counter and why not?
Susan Quickle
I really enjoyed this dish. I wasn’t able to find fresh ginger or a fresh red chili pepper. I substituted with ground ginger and an Asian red chili sauce and it was great. Deffinetly going to fix it again, hopefully with the fresh ginger next time. My husband thought it might actually taste good with some pineapple. We will see. Thank you so much.
Susan s.
Made this tonight. The recipe was easy to follow and meal was delicious. I served it over rice. Family loved it. I had doubled the sauce recipe. Definitely will make again. Thanks for the recipe.
Rebecca H.
So delicious! Easy to follow recipe and everyone loved it.
Kendra
Yummy! I just made this tonight and I am impressed with the ease and the complexity of flavors in this dish! Well done, I will make this again.
Lindsey
My goodness this is now a staple in my house! Wow...just wow. We don't use soy sauce, instead we use coconut aminos. Im sure the 2 different soy sauces make a more well rounded flavor, however the coconut amino did not disappoint. We absolutely love this one!
Ann Alexander
Delicious!!! All 3 of us gave it 5 stars! Not sure that’s ever happened in my house before. This one is a keeper!
Jan
I made this last night for dinner and I will add this to my rotation! My husband is pretty picky eater and he loved it! Thanks for sharing! I doubled the sauce and added some zucchini but other wise the same as recipe!!
Sara
Made this last night and it was so yummy! Modified the sauce by adding a spoonful of crispy chili flakes & oyster sauce because we like it extra spicy. Delicious will definitely be making it again 😋
Amiee
My husband and I really enjoyed this recipe. I added some red pepper flakes and extra pepper as we both like that kind of flavors. I felt this recipe was easy to follow with great tips and directions. I also made the fried rice recipe she suggested and that was AMAZING!
Kelli McDougall
I made this tonight & it was delicious! So much flavor & my husband & kid approved! We will definitely be making this again!
Helen Manuel
I made this recipe for lunch today and we enjoyed it very much. I did add mushrooms and red pepper flakes. My husband said he would eat it again.
Ashley
AMAZING! I didn’t have chili peppers so I used chili pepper sauce. I also added some pineapple and sriracha for some added heat. This was very easy to make. I will definitely make this again!
Stephen Brinson
I’m a stay at home Dad & Grandpa I love cooking & trying new dishes. My wife is a nurse in Labor & Delivery Department. She hasn’t cooked daily in years bcuz she says she taught me how lol. Anyway your Black Pepper Chicken is ah Keeper and thanks for sharing and letting others like myself try new recipes.