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A quick and easy weeknight-friendly black pepper chicken stir fry made with crisp peppers, sauteed onions, and crunchy celery! Serve this over brown rice or on its own!
Quick weeknight dinner alert!
Pepper chicken stir fry is a back pocket kind of recipe that you can pull out when you need something healthy and quick to make on weeknights.
We’re talking about crisp green bell peppers, sauteed red onions, crunchy slices of celery and tender chicken in every single bite. It doesn’t hurt that the ingredient list is pretty straight forward and most, if not all, of these ingredients, are pantry and refrigerator staples.
Today’s recipe is inspired by a tofu version that I made some time back. Black pepper tofu stir fry is made with a mix of tricorn peppers and crisp tofu squares. It’s delicious, albeit not something I can regularly make around here because the hubby isn’t the biggest fan of tofu. So I came up with a version that works well with chicken. Pepper chicken stir fry has a few more veggies, and I’ve cut back on the cornstarch just a hint to give you a little more sauce to drizzle all over a warm bed of pasta, rice, or cauliflower.
Ingredients for pepper chicken stir fry
- Chicken: You’ll need boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes. You could also use boneless chicken thighs or tenders for this recipe.
- red onions: You can use a shallot or a small red onion. I know not everyone keeps shallots at home, so I’ve tested the recipe with both!
- bell pepper: I like to slice the peppers extra thin so that they cook super fast but still maintain their brightness! Feel free to use peppers of different colors too!
- celery: Thinly sliced on the biased is what I like to do so that it looks all fancy but really, all I did was turn the knife and cut at a 45º angle!
- ginger + garlic: Essential ingredients for making a delicious stir fry!
- sauces: low sodium soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, and oyster sauce (or vegan oyster flavored sauce for those with allergies) is what we’ll need. These ingredients add umami, a touch of sweetness, and a bit of tang to the stir fry.
- seasonings: We’re using coarse ground pepper to season the stir fry. I like to use a peppercorn medley, however this is entirely optional. Black pepper that is coarsely ground works just fine!
- cornstarch: The cornstarch plays a two-part role. A bit of it is used on the chicken. I find this helps create a bit of a crust on the chicken. The rest is used to thicken the sauce just a touch.
How to make the easiest pepper chicken stir fry
- chicken: start by seasoning the chicken. In a bowl, combine the chicken with a bit of the cornstarch and some salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer. Then, add the chicken to the skillet in a single layers and cook until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken to a plate.
- veggies: In a small glass jar or bowl, combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, ground pepper, honey, vinegar, and the remaining cornstarch. Cover with a lid and shake until combined. Then, add the remaining oil to the skillet and sauté the onions, peppers, and celery for about 3-5 minutes or until the veggies brighten in color. Add the ginger and garlic at this point and give it all a quick toss.
- finish: Once the veggies are done, you’ll add the chicken back to the skillet and then just drizzle in the prepared sauce. Because we used cornstarch, the sauce should sizzle and thicken immediately. Serve over warm rice, caulirice, or even egg noodles!
Black pepper chicken stir fry is a clean-the-fridge recipe, so don’t be afraid to swap out the veggies for things you’ve got in the fridge that need to be used up!
To meal prep:
This one works great for meal prep! I use these glass containers that stack beautifully in the refrigerator. Just scoop out a half cup of brown rice, add one-fourth of the prepared black pepper chicken and veggies on top, a handful of almonds or walnuts in one of the compartments, and a medley of berries in the other.
Unlike a lot of meal prep recipes, pepper chicken stir fry tastes better as it sits!
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
- Lomo Saltado (Peruvian steak stir fry)
- Sesame Ginger Tofu Stir Fry
- Easy Thai Cashew Chicken
- 10- Minute Ginger Shrimp Snow Pea Stir Fry
- Spicy Peanut Tofu Stir Fry
- Garlic Lovers Pepper Steak Stir Fry
- 20-Minute Teriyaki Chicken
- Garlic Lovers Thai Basil Chicken
Black Pepper Chicken Stir Fry
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons oil divided
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 small shallots or 1 small red onion, sliced
- 1 bell pepper sliced (any color)
- 2 stalks celery sliced into ½-inch pieces
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons ginger grated or minced
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or GF tamari
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoons coarse ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoon cornstarch divided
Instructions
- CHICKEN: In a small bowl, combine the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch and a small pinch of salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons of oil to the skillet when it’s hot along with the chicken. Allow the chicken to cook all the way through, about 4-6 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate.
- VEGGIES: In a small measuring cup, combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, ground pepper, honey, rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water; stir until the cornstarch dissolves, set aside. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in the skillet. Add the onions, pepper, and celery. Saute everything for 3-5 minutes or until the veggies brighten in color and start to cook down a little. Add the ginger and garlic during the last minute of cooking.
- FINISH: Add the chicken back to the skillet and drizzle in the prepared sauce, and stir to combine. The sauce will thicken fairly quickly, about 20 seconds or so. Serve on a bed of white or brown rice. Enjoy!
Notes
- This is a good recipe for meal-prep as the flavors actually taste better as it sits.
- Feel free to swap out the peppers or celery for other veggies you’ve got on hand that need to be used up. Depending on the veggies you use, you may need to double the sauce ingredients to make sure there is enough!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
I enjoyed this recipe!!! I used hoisin sauce instead of oyster sauce and I’m not sure if it changed anything, but it was still delicious, definitely going to add to my list of dinners to make:-)
I made this as-is tonight and it’s was delicious! Tastes like it came from a restaurant. I love how versatile it is with your choice of veggies. Would be great with pork also. I’ll definitely make this again. Thank you for sharing.
My husband loves this dish! He says it’s so flavorful. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Stef! I am so glad to hear your husband enjoyed it! 🙂
Definitely, a keeper! I used squash, zucchini, onions, red peppers and snow peas. Doubled the sauce, because I made a big batch, with all those veggies. Excellent!!
Yum! Your additions sound delicious, Tracy!
I tried this recipe and I have decided that when I make it again I will omit the honey and the ginger also I will use more celery! Thank you!
So glad to hear you gave it a try, Shronda 🙂
This recipe was fantastic! I made it exactly as directed and it came out perfectly. Chicken was really tender and the sauce was so flavorful!
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Love this recipe. Made it twice now and both times turned out excellent. I added toasted cashews to mine, yum yum!!!
Your addition sounds yummy!
Hello
Can i use coco aminos instead of oyster sauce? One family member is allergic to seafood…
I’ve never worked with coco aminos, so I’m unsure! If you’ve replaced oyster sauce with them in other recipes successfully, then I think it should work out just fine 🙂
Quick, easy, delicious. I’ll be making this on a regular basis.
Excellent!!! Better than PF Chang!!! I will make this again.
Amazing!!! I am completely in love with this recipe. I will make it over and over again! Thank you! ???
Made this Sunday night…big hit! I used green beans instead of peppers. I parboiled the beans for a few minutes to speed up the wok cooking. It was delicious.
This recipe was delicious and I will be making it again. However, I will use half the amount of pepper. I used 2 tsp of coarse black pepper, however the end product was too spicy for my family. I thought it was perfect (I love black pepper!)…but the rest of the family only finished half their plates, I served it over rice.
So if your family doesn’t like things too spicy, just use 1 tsp of black pepper.
However, the flavor of the sauce was amazing…I’ve never used Oyster Sauce before and I was hesitant about what flavor would be produced, but the sauce was flavorful, savory and delicious, plus I found this super easy to make!
Made this tonight, we followed your advice and used what veggies we had in the fridge, carrots and snap peas, otherwise we followed it exactly. Some of the folks thought it was a little too spicey, I thought it was spicey but I loved it. Even though it was spicey everyone went back for more! Food net work watch out!
So easy and tasty! Great for a weeknight dinner and my husband loves to have leftovers for lunch.
Made this today and it was absolutely DELICIOUS. I added a little more black pepper and some garlic powder, because why not? 😀 Made it with the garlic noodles recipe on your blog. SO SO good.
what is the best type of oil to use for this? vegetable? olive? sesame?
You can use any kind of flavorless oil for this recipe, so grapeseed, canola, vegetable are all great options!
Thank you for sharing your recipe. I’ve tried this and I’ve added mushroom and asparagus. It tastes very good and my family loves it.
I made this dish today. After reading it I was drawn to it based on its simplicity. No nonsense ,no fuss 🙂 I omitted the celery because I am not a huge fan. I felt like 2 tablespoons of black pepper was a bit too much for my palate. I will make again and use 1 tablespoon. The dish has great flavor otherwise! Thanks so much.
Hey Kim glad you gave the recipe a try! You’re right, 2 tablespoons is definitely too much. The recipe does call for 2 teaspoons of black pepper which should work out perfectly 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the flavors though!
OMG!! I am so sorry I read it incorrectly. A result of getting in from work and rushing to make this. Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention. I am adjusting my star rating to a 5!! If it permits me to do so. I must give credit where credit is due. You are a master with the spices. I am going to have tonight for dinner and cool it down with fresh pineapple.
No worries, it happens! Pineapple chunks are a good idea — love how that sounds!
Good post with yummy dish!!. I loved it. I love spicy dishes especially chicken. Waiting for upcoming post.
Oh this looks so delicious! I love how you can change the ingredients to what’s on hand. Hope you are quickly getting over that nasty flu that is sweeping the nation.
Thank you, Laurie!