This black pepper chicken is easy, flavorful, and comes together in under 20 minutes! Tender chicken and crisp veggies are tossed in a savory, perfectly spicy sauce. Make this restaurant-quality black pepper chicken recipe the next time you’re looking for something quick, delicious, and satisfying!
What Makes This Black Pepper Chicken So Good
- It requires just one skillet and comes together in under 20 minutes! The only thing faster than making this recipe will be cleaning it up afterwards. One skillet means quick, easy, convenient cooking and even easier cleanup!
- The flavors in this black pepper chicken are incredibly well-balanced! The sauce is perfectly tangy, has just the right amount of black pepper, and a touch of sweetness. It also doesn’t skimp on the sauce, making enough to ensure you’ll have a spoonful of sauce with every bite!
- It’s a restaurant-quality meal that’s easy enough to make at home! Therefore, even the most inexperienced home chefs are capable of making this flavorful recipe. Simply cook the chicken, sauté the veggies, then simmer everything in a homemade black pepper sauce – yum!
Key Ingredients for Black Pepper Chicken
Chicken Breasts – Start with 1 to 2 pounds of boneless and skinless chicken breasts, then place them on a cutting board and chop the chicken into about 2-inch cubes. However, feel free to play around with the size of the chicken based on your preferences. I also recommend patting the chicken dry with a paper towel before cooking. Dried chicken breast will cook up slightly more crispy and, in my opinion, delicious!
Oyster Sauce – If you plan on making a lot of stir fries at home, I highly recommend you pick up a bottle of oyster sauce. You can find oyster sauce in the ethnic food aisle of most grocery stores, or at specialty Asian markets. Oyster sauce is a thick, slightly sweet sauce that adds a boost of richness to this black pepper chicken. If you don’t have oyster sauce, you can either leave it out of this recipe or replace it with a tablespoon of hoisin sauce.
Black Pepper – Black pepper is the star of this dish! It’s perfectly spicy, subtly nutty, and packs a serious punch in this recipe. Feel free to use more or less black pepper based on your spice tolerance. However, I found two teaspoons to contribute the perfect amount of heat without building up in your mouth and/or making this dish inedible.
Chef’s Tips
- Serve this black pepper chicken however you’d like. My personal favorite method is over rice. The rice does an incredible job at soaking up any extra sauce, making every bite outrageously delicious!
- Feel free to add or remove any veggies! The ingredients in the recipe below are what is most traditionally found in black pepper chicken. However, you can customize this dish any way you’d like. A handful of fresh broccoli in addition to some shredded carrots would taste great in this dish!
- If you’d like even crispier chicken, simply toss it in some corn starch before cooking! Add the cubed chicken along with 1/2 cup corn starch to a bowl and toss to coat. Once coated, proceed with the recipe as instructed. The extra corn starch will help to dry the outside of the chicken making it that much crispier!
Other Easy One Skillet Recipes
- Chicken Florentine
- Chicken Fricassee
- Creamy Coconut Chicken with Lime
- Whole30 Chicken Cacciatore
- Beef Pad Thai
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Black Pepper Chicken
Equipment
- Large skillet
- Small bowl
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil see Notes
- 1-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
- salt to taste
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 3 celery stalks chopped
- 1 onion chopped
For the sauce:
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 2 teaspoons black pepper see Notes
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated
Instructions
- Heat peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat then add in the chicken and a pinch of salt, cook for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.
- Add in the chopped peppers, celery, and onion. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Mix all sauce ingredients together in a bowl then transfer to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce has thickened. Serve over rice with chopped scallions.
Notes
- Peanut Oil: You can use vegetable oil, canola oil, or avocado oil in place of the peanut oil in this recipe.
- Black Pepper: For very little spice, use just one teaspoon of black pepper and for no spice, use half a teaspoon of black pepper.
- Make it Paleo: Replace the soy sauce and oyster sauce with 1/4 cup of coconut aminos and use coconut sugar in place of the regular sugar in this recipe.
Nutrition
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Hi! I’m Sam, a travel, food and fitness enthusiast from the New York metro area. I love creating new and inventive recipes, and my favorite part is sharing them with others. My love of food goes all the way back to my early childhood, I grew up cooking alongside my mom and Nonna – the two best cooks I know! When I’m not in the kitchen, I’m either planning my next vacation, spending time outdoors (preferably on a beach), or bingeing Netflix’s latest docu-series. My passion for eating and living well led me to create the blog and Instagram account, Sam Does Her Best, where I health-ify my favorite comfort foods. I’m a big believer that good-for-you food can still be exploding with flavor and (most importantly) easy to make. I’m thrilled to be here at 40 Aprons doing what I do best – creating, photographing, and sharing delicious recipes with you all!
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