This black pepper chicken is the most delicious stir fry dish. Thinly sliced chicken is pan seared, combined with a savory black pepper sauce and softened bell peppers and onions, and topped with fresh basil. It’s a family-friendly dinner that tastes even better than take-out!
Table of Contents
- This recipe is…
- Five Star Reviews
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Black Pepper Chicken Stir Fry Recipe Ingredients
- Recipe Variations and Modifications
- How to Make Black Pepper Chicken
- Recipe Tips
- How to Serve
- How to Store and Reheat
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Favorite Asian-Inspired Recipes
- Black Pepper Chicken Stir Fry Recipe
- Recipe Contributors
This recipe is…
This is one of those dishes that is so easy to make and 100 times better than take-out! You’ll start by searing thinly sliced chicken breasts, then sautéing the veggies (a classic combination of red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and onion), combining the two together with a rich, savory black pepper sauce, and finish it all off with a bunch of fresh basil.
Despite the amount of black pepper in this dish, know that it really isn’t spicy. In fact, after we photographed this dish, I brought it home and fed it to my family and my two small children gobbled it up!
If you’re looking for more easy take-out inspired recipes, we’ve got several. Be sure to try our bourbon chicken (made in the Instant Pot for ease), sweet and sour chicken (made sheet pan-style), and Mongolian beef (the ultimate healthy spin on take-out).
Five Star Reviews
“Loved the flavors on this one! Made the white meat juicy and delish! I will definitely make this one again.” – Jessica
“This meal was so delicious and easy to make. We used it as meal prep for lunches and enjoyed it over rice. It’s been added to our regular rotation.” – Ashley
“This chicken was simple and delicious. The veggies were crisp and over rice made the perfect lunch meal prep. Sauce was delightful and I want to lick the bowl. Thank you for this recipe!” – Camille
“So easy and so delicious. My family loved it. It’ll definitely be made often.” – Shannon
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s better than take-out – while you could order a similar dish at a number of take-out recipes, I’d argue that this homemade version is WAY more delicious!
- It’s family-friendly – as mentioned above, the flavors of this recipe are savory and rich, but definitely not spicy, making it perfect to serve to the entire family.
Black Pepper Chicken Stir Fry Recipe Ingredients
You’ll need a handful of ingredients for this recipe – all easily accessible at your local grocery store. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Soy sauce – soy sauce or tamari (gluten-free soy sauce) will both work in this recipe.
- Oyster sauce – oyster sauce is sweet, salty, and savory. If you haven’t purchased it before, you should be able to find it in the Asian section of the international foods aisle of your local grocery store.
- Bell peppers – we chose to go with one red bell pepper and one green bell pepper, but if you can absolutely use two red or two green if you’d like.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Use a different cut of chicken – feel free to use chicken thighs instead of breasts, if you’d like.
- Make it dairy-free – this recipe is dairy-free as-is!
- Make it grain-free – use arrowroot starch in place of corn starch to make this recipe grain-free.
- Make it gluten-free – swap the soy sauce for tamari to make this recipe gluten-free.
How to Make Black Pepper Chicken
This recipe is really easy to make and can all be done in one skillet! Follow along below for the full how-to.
Step 1: Toss the chicken with the corn starch, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper.
Step 2: Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Sear the chicken on each side for 3-4 minutes, or until no pink remains. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside.
Step 3: Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the now empty skillet over medium/high heat. Add the peppers, onion, and garlic. Stir for 5-7 minutes, or until slightly charred.
Step 4: Add the chicken broth, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, honey, and 1 teaspoon black pepper to the skillet and toss to combine. Bring to a simmer.
Step 5: Add the chicken to the pan and stir to combine again. Simmer for 4-5 minutes, then serve with the basil and over white rice.
Recipe Tips
Don’t skip the fresh basil! While we typically suggest skipping garnishes as a way to stay within your grocery budget, this dish is taken to a whole new level with the fresh basil topping, so if you can swing it, keep it in the recipe.
How to Serve
Serve the black pepper chicken stir fry over white rice for a complete, take-out inspired meal!
How to Store and Reheat
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
To reheat, simply pop a serving (of both rice and stir fry) in the microwave for 1-2 minutes or heat the rice in the microwave (1 minute) and the stir fry in a skillet over medium heat (5-6 minutes) until warmed through.
Frequently Asked Questions
One serving of the black pepper chicken (there are 4 servings total) has about 38 grams of protein.
Great question! This sauce is made of chicken broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce, honey, and black pepper, which are pretty typical ingredients for a black pepper sauce.
More Favorite Asian-Inspired Recipes
If you tried this Black Pepper Chicken Stir Fry or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Black Pepper Chicken Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ½-inch strips
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari, divided
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce, divided
- 1½ teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper, divided
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 red bell pepper, deseeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 green bell pepper, deseeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 small yellow onion, cut into thin strips
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ¼ cup fresh basil, for garnish
- Cooked white rice, for serving
Instructions
- Toss the chicken with the corn starch, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Sear the chicken on each side for 3-4 minutes, or until no pink remains. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside.
- Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the now empty skillet over medium/high heat. Add the peppers, onion, and garlic. Stir for 5-7 minutes, or until slightly charred.
- Add the chicken broth, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, honey, and 1 teaspoon black pepper to the skillet and toss to combine. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the chicken to the pan and stir to combine again. Simmer for 4-5 minutes, then serve with the basil and over white rice.
Recipe Notes
- Make it gluten-free – swap the soy sauce for tamari to make this recipe gluten-free.
- Use a different cut of chicken – feel free to use chicken thighs instead of breasts, if you’d like.
Nutrition
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This chicken stir fry was absolutely delicious and is definitely going in our regular dinner rotation! Black pepper chicken is one of my favorite things to order at our regular local Chinese restaurant. My entire family declared this dish “even better!” than the restaurant version. High praise indeed!
Awww that is just the biggest compliment, Leslie! We are so so happy y’all enjoyed it!
I love this dish! It was my first time using oyster sauce and it added a great flavor. Thanks for sharing!
Aww yay! We are so happy you were able to try it, Erin! It really is just so good!
This was really easy, quick and delicious! I’m a big fan of black pepper, so this was right up my street! it kept well for a few days too, so it’s great for an easy leftover lunch the next day!
Yay! We are so happy you enjoyed it, Linda!
Hope to make this recipe soon.
Oooo let us know what you think!!
I loved it! Would have preferred white rice over brown.
Totally get that, Amber! White rice will always have a special place in my heart! We are so happy you loved it, though!
This was great and I didn’t even have any fresh basil on hand. I added broccoli to this dish simply because it’s the one veggie the whole family will eat. We enjoyed!
Haha totally get the broccoli thing!! We are so happy y’all enjoyed it, Crystal!
The entire family enjoyed this recipe! I used tamari instead of soy sauce and scaled back on the black pepper, it can be too much for our little ones. A great way to use the garden peppers. Thank you!!
Woohoo! We are so happy it was a hit with the fam, Emilee! Totally understand scaling back the black pepper!
The whole family liked this recipe. We substituted coconut aminos for both the soy sauce and oyster sauce. And substituted arrowroot for the corn starch. Also only used red bell pepper.
Yay! So happy it was a hit for the whole fam, Christine! Thank you so much for taking the time to share!
This is delicious! Perfect amount of kick from the pepper. I added additional fresh veggies that I had on hand. This will be a new favorite!
Aw yay! We are so glad it was a hit, Whitney!
Made this last night and it was delicious. I probably had more chicken than the recipe called for so I should’ve adjusted the volume of sauce up but oh well. This was a super quick and easy to make recipe that everyone in the family liked. It was mild so I could feed it to my toddler without issue. The addition of fresh basil was just perfect. We will definitely make this again.
Aww yay! We are so glad it was a hit with everyone, Ashlee! Thank you so much for taking a moment to share!
I used chicken thighs + GF hoisin sauce instead of oyster sauce. So tasty + made great leftovers over rice. Thank you 🙂
my starts never enter… every time and I made sure to hit it… so sorry.
haha love ya!
Great idea on the hoisin sauce! We are so so happy you enjoyed it!!
Super easy to make and flavorful. I omitted the green pepper and added green beans instead. This recipe will be on my dinner rotation! Thank you for sharing this yummy and healthy recipe!
Aww you are so welcome, Julianne! We are so happy you enjoyed it! Great idea to add in those green beans!
We absolutely loved this dish! Easy to make, not a million ingredients and very fresh bright flavor from the added fresh basil that we have a ton of this time of year! Will be adding to the regular rotation!
We are so so glad y’all enjoyed it, Addie!! Thank you so much for taking a moment to share!
I have made this recipe 3 times already and my husband and I love it! I didn’t have oyster sauce the first time I made it so I combine some additional soy sauce with a little (1 t.) fish sauce. That really worked. I also cut back a little on the black pepper for our taste.
Love this recipe and will keep it on rotation!
So smart, Melanie! We are so happy y’all enjoyed it!
I made this for my family last night and everyone enjoyed it – including my husband who is a chef with impossibly high standards! Love that it is gluten, dairy, and egg free and still phenomenal!
WHAT?!?! Biggest compliment ever!!! Thank you so much, Elizabeth! We are so so happy y’all enjoyed it!!