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…
- 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
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).
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
Saw this on instagram and knew I had to make it. So easy to prepare with ingredients already on hand. Forgot the garlic but it was still delicious. Will definitely make it again.
Loved the flavors on this one! made the white meat juicy and delish! I will definitely make this one again.
Yay! We are so happy you enjoyed it, Jessica!
This meal was easy to prepare, with few essential ingredients and the flavor was amazing! A little too peppery for my kids so I will likely reduce the pepper in the last step next time, but I will definitely make this again! I had chicken tenders on hand so I just sliced those in half again and the cook time was perfect. Do not skip the basil!
The basil is a MUST haha!! Totally get the pepper/kiddos situation! We are so happy y’all enjoyed it, Abigail! Thank you so much for taking the time to share!
This was delicious! I halved the recipe for two, used a poblano, and threw in a habanero for heat. Served with brown rice for me and quinoa for the hubby. An easy stir-fry that you can quickly throw together and have dinner ready in no time.
YUM! We are so happy y’all enjoyed it, Laurie! Thank you so much for taking the time to share!!
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.
Love the meal prep, Ashley! We are so happy it was a hit!!
Easy and delicious! Ate for meal prep. Partner loved as well. We also used some broccoli to beef up the veggies 🙂
We are so glad y’all enjoyed it, Courtney!!
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!
YAY! That is amazing, Camille! We are so so happy you enjoyed it!
So easy and so delicious. My family loved it. It’ll definitely be made often.
Awe yay! We are so glad, Shannon!
My 14 year old and I made this recipe this weekend and I was super impressed with how well it came out. It also was delicious as leftovers the next day!
Awww that’s awesome, Shannon! We are so happy you enjoyed it!