Black Pepper Chicken
Sweet and sour chicken, laced with the bold, earthy essence of black pepper. This dish is as easy as it is sensational. You need a handful of ingredients and this ultra- healthy, gluten-free dinner is on the table in about 20 minutes. Best weeknight meal ever.
Black pepper makes every meal a better version of itself. What do I mean? Black pepper not only adds heat, but it also adds subtle woodsy, citrusy notes, flavors that enhance the sweet, savory, and salty ingredients in a dish. That’s why black pepper is so prevalent in just about every recipe. In this dish, we take advantage of black pepper’s prowess by using it to enhance every single element.
The main flavors in this dish are soy sauce, mirin, sesame, and black pepper. That means, you may have everything you need already. And you can use chicken breasts, tenders, thighs, and drumstick meat, so use what you have handy.
Here’s the simple process for making this dish
- Coat cubed chicken with cornstarch and water (this tenderizes the meat in the most incredible way).
- Sear the chicken in oil.
- Add onion and bell peppers.
- Add a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, and black pepper and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Serve.
- Can’t get much easier than that.
How much black pepper do you need for this black pepper chicken? One teaspoon. You might think that seems like a lot, and when you’re measuring it out, you might think, “Hmmmmm”. But trust me. When you combine the black pepper with salty soy, sweet mirin, and nutty sesame, everything balances out perfectly. This dish is not overly “peppery”. If you have concerns for the younger members of the family, reduce the amount of black pepper to 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon. You can add more at the table.
How should you serve your black pepper chicken? I served our black pepper chicken over fluffy jasmine rice. The sweetness of the rice partnered beautifully with the peppery/salty chicken and sauce. Plus, it kept the meal gluten-free. You can also serve the chicken and vegetables over Asian noodles or in lettuce leaves.
This dish works with steak and shrimp too. The black pepper sauce is sweet/salty/tangy/peppery, which means it works really well with steak and shrimp too. Feel free to swap either one of those (or both) in for the chicken if desired.
Black Pepper Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, tenders, or thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
- 3 tablespoons water, divided
- 3 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon mirin, or Shaoxing cooking wine
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 bell pepper, any color, seeded and chopped
- Cooked rice for serving, optional
- Chopped green onions for serving, optional
Equipment
Instructions
- In a shallow dish, combine 1 tablespoon of the water and 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch. Add the chicken and turn to coat all pieces. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons of water, remaining 2 teaspoons of cornstarch, soy sauce, mirin, black pepper, and sesame oil.
- Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until no longer pink. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook for 2 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through and the vegetables soften.
- Add the soy sauce mixture and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 2 minutes, until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken and vegetables.
- Top with green onions (if using) and serve over rice (if desired).