Copycat Pepper Chicken
I have been making this for several years now! It’s so yummy! 🤤 ~Wendy
Why Is My Pepper Chicken Recipe So Good
I first tried this on a college conference trip to Houston with my sister, after a rough day of hunting for gluten-free food at the airport (we circled the food court four times and walked out of two restaurants). She talked me into swapping my usual Teriyaki chicken for the pepper chicken at Panda Express, and one bite in, I knew I had to recreate it. I made my own version the very next day, and it’s been in our dinner rotation ever since.
- This is a copycat of the popular Panda Express Pepper Chicken, and it’s faster, tastier, and more satisfying to make at home than any takeout.
- I usually grind whole peppercorns in a spice grinder for my recipe. Freshly ground pepper has so much more flavor and aroma than pepper that’s already ground in a container. A pepper grinder works too, it just takes more grinding to get enough for the recipe.
- This is a fast and easy chicken recipe, perfect for busy weeknights. Serve it with extra veggies and it’s a healthy dinner too.
- This is a genuine one-pan, 30-minute dinner, so it’s an easy one to double when you want leftovers.
- You can serve it over rice, quinoa, farro, or cauliflower rice, so it fits into pretty much any dinner routine.
Table of Contents
Key Ingredients and Notes
- Chicken thigh meat: thigh meat is juicier and more flavorful than chicken breast. If you prefer breast meat, just watch it closely since it cooks faster and dries out more easily. Don’t overcook it.
- Black pepper: for the best flavor, potency, and aroma of black pepper, grind whole peppercorns for this recipe. Use either a spice grinder or a pepper mill.
- Soy sauce: I recommend low sodium soy sauce for more control over how salty the final dish tastes. Swap in a gluten-free soy sauce or tamari if you need this dish to be gluten free.
- Chicken stock or broth: when using store-bought chicken stock or broth, I always recommend “low sodium” or “no salt added” to control the salt in the dish. I also get bone broth for deeper flavor.
- Celery and onion: cut them into similar-sized pieces so they cook evenly and both keep some crunch. You can also add or sub other veggies (some readers have done that successfully.)
- White vinegar: white wine vinegar goes great with chicken and acid balances the saltiness. You can use rice vinegar too.
How To Make Panda Express Copycat Pepper Chicken
- Cut the chicken into even, bite-sized pieces. Uniform pieces cook through at the same rate, so you don’t end up with some pieces dry and overcooked while others are still raw in the middle.
- Toss the chicken in cornstarch, salt, and pepper before it goes in the pan. This thin coating seals in moisture during the high-heat cook, which is the difference between juicy, tender chicken and dry, chewy chicken.
- Preheat the pan until it’s actually hot before you start cooking. A properly hot pan sears the onion and celery instead of letting them steam, which builds more flavor right from the start.
- Sauté the onion and celery until they soften, then add the chicken right into the same pan. Giving the vegetables a head start means they’re tender by the time the chicken is done, and cooking everything together in one pan builds more flavor than cooking components separately.
- Let the chicken cook until about half way done. I like to cook it undisturbed to give it a golden brown sear for more flavor.
- Whisk the sauce again right before you pour it in. Cornstarch settles to the bottom fast, and re-whisking keeps the sauce from clumping or thickening unevenly.
- Bring the sauce to a simmer, then drop the heat to medium-low. This lets the sauce thicken gently and finish cooking the chicken through.
Ways to Serve Pepper Chicken
I recommend it over a simple jasmine rice but, this is a versatile dish that fits into a few different dinner styles depending on what you’re in the mood for:
- Spoon it over a bowl of fluffy rice pilaf or classic steamed rice to soak up the pepper sauce.
- Keep it low-carb and serve it over cauliflower rice instead.
- Turn it into a full fried rice night by pairing it with a side of chicken fried rice made with the leftover rice you have on hand.
- Skip the rice altogether and serve it over noodles or veggies. Add a veggie side to round out the meal, like zucchini stir fry or roasted green beans and mushrooms.
Storing Copycat Pepper Chicken
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
- Reheat in a skillet over medium heat until warmed through, stirring occasionally. Add a small splash of chicken stock or water if the sauce has thickened too much in the fridge.
- Freeze in a freezer-safe container for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating on the stovetop.
Copycat Pepper Chicken Recipe FAQs
It has a kick but it’s not in the chili-pepper sense. The heat comes from the black pepper itself, which is warm and aromatic rather than sharp or burning, so it’s very family-friendly. It also doesn’t linger like chili pepper spice does.
Yes, though thigh meat stays juicier through the quick, high-heat cook. If you use breast meat, keep a close eye on it since it cooks faster and can dry out more easily.
Yes, the nutrition information for this recipe includes the jasmine rice.
Yes, swap the soy sauce for a gluten-free soy sauce or tamari. The rest of the ingredients are naturally gluten free.
First, this is a pepper chicken, so the dish a peppery. But, there can be too much. Pre-ground store bought pepper is usually super-fine so you end up measuring a lot more of it.
There is also a flavor difference. Pre-ground pepper tastes dull, flat, and mostly dusty or hot, while freshly ground pepper tastes bright, sharp, fruity, and aromatic.
More Asian-Inspired Recipes
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Copycat Pepper Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thigh meat
- 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
- salt
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 cups chopped celery
Sauce:
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce use gluten free soy or tamari if needed
- 3 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tbsp fresh cracked black pepper
Rice:
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked Jasmine rice yields about 4 1/2 cups cooked
Instructions
- Cook rice according to the package instructions and set aside.
- Preheat a cooking pan over medium-high heat and add a couple of tablespoons of oil for cooking.
- Chop chicken thigh meat into small pieces and place them in a small mixing bowl. (You can first remove excess fat from the meat if you prefer.)
- Add 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch, 2 tsp. black pepper, and some salt. Mix very well so that the chicken is coated in corn starch, salt, and pepper evenly. Set aside.
- Dice onion and celery and saute for a few minutes.
- Once veggies are softened, add chicken and mix well. Saute chicken until about half way cooked.
- While chicken is cooking, whisk ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl.
- Add sauce into the pan with the chicken, stir well. Bring the sauce to simmer and lower the heat to medium-low.
- Stir and cook chicken and veggies until chicken is completely cooked. Take off heat.
- I prefer to serve this Pepper Chicken over Jasmine rice.
Jasmine rice can be swapped out for brown rice, quinoa, or steamed veggies.
Video
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
- Reheat in a skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. Add a small splash of chicken stock or water if the sauce has thickened too much in the fridge. You can reheat in a microwave at 30-40 second intervals, stirring in between.
- Freeze in a freezer-safe container for up to 1 month (without rice). Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in 2018.
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Categories:
30 Minute Meals, Chicken Dinner Recipes, Dinner Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, Rice Dinner Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely delicious and so easy! I reduced the amount of chicken a bit and added a little more cornstarch to the sauce but otherwise followed the recipe. It is definitely going into our regular rotation. Thank you!
Glad you liked it, Ann!
My family really liked this recipe. We put it over a layer of rice and steamed vegetables. We did sprinkle a few chow mein noodles on top. I do have a question concerning pepper. In the first ingredients it has 2 teaspoons of pepper. Then in instructions it states 1 teaspoon. Which is correct?
So sorry, yes, it’s 2 tsp!
Hi there,
Does it need to be chicken stock? I have chicken broth.
Thanks,
Renee
Yes, you can use chicken broth instead of the stock. I hope you enjoy it!
This is so quick, easy & delicious! I used rice vinegar instead of white, chicken breast instead of thigh & added more cornstarch w/ water after adding the sauce as it seemed too thin. My husband told me numerous times that it was really good while we were eating. A keeper recipe 😊
Yay! Glad it was a winner, Jennifer!
My favorite quick meal ever ❤️
I am so happy you like it!
Oh my goodness! So tasty! I did add minced garlic by accident. I also was concerned with my chicken, as I had to trim so much fat. I doubled the cornstarch mixture that you toss the chicken in, but I didn’t need to. I added more cornstarch to the sauce and was glad I did.
I have never had this meal before, but it came out perfectly and is delicious! The chicken is so tasty and tender. Thanks for a wonderful meal!
I am so glad you liked it, Kristine! 🙂
Made this for dinner. Used breast instead of thigh. Also used red bell pepper. I was out of celery. It was delicious. Thanks so much.
I am so glad you liked it!
Very good! I had to add a little mor cornstarch to thicken the sauce a bit and I added cashew pieces to it! Will make again !
Adding cashews was a good idea! I am glad you liked it, Dee!
This was super easy and really tasty and almost a one pot meal.
Glad you liked it! Thanks for stopping by, Barb!
Could you make this in the crockpot?
I pinned this recipe and plan on making it for dinner tonight. Can you use chicken breast instead of chicken thigh meat?
Hi Wendy,
You can definitely use chicken breast instead. Enjoy!
This recipe is delicous!
Thank you so much, Josie!
My new favorite
Thank you, Josie! So happy you liked it!
Extremely easy and very tasty. Quick too. I would definitely recommend this to anyone. Whether you cook all the time or not. It’s very tasty.
Fabulous. Another tasty recipe to put in our rotation! Thanks.
Thank you, Kate! 🙂
Would you please post the quantity of a single serving.
YUM. I made this tonight; it reminds me of something my mom used to make, but not as heavy. Simple and quick. I added mushrooms and carrots, and will probably add snow peas next time. Delicious! Thank you!
Oh wonderful! It’s like a pepper chicken stir fry 🙂 Great idea!
This looks amazing!!! I was sold until I got to the calorie count. I only have 1400 per day, is there any way we can modify it to reduce the calories?
Hi Karen! This is actually calculated for rice as well. You can make it with quinoa or steamed veggies to lower the calorie count. Use low sodium soy sauce and broth as well.
I really hope you will give it a try!
Delicious but next time I would use less chicken broth or more cornstarch for thicker sauce.
I”m so glad you liked it, Vickie! You can just add a little more cornstarch without taking away the broth.
The gorgeous picture caught my eye on Pinterest. But the recipe itself sounds delicious. I haven’t seen this before so I can’t wait to try it!!!
Thank you so much! I hope you will try it, Stephanie 🙂 It’s really east and tasty.
You have a gluten intolerance but you use soy sauce??
Hi Cathy! I always use gluten free soy sauce. It’s available in just about every grocery store if you’re looking for one.