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Home » Midweek Meals » Chinese Salt and Pepper Chicken Breast

Chinese Salt and Pepper Chicken Breast

By Victoria · On: Jun 10, 21 · Last Modified: Aug 19, 21

53 shares
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This recipe of Chinese salt and pepper chicken breast is an explosion of flavors. You can enjoy it as a snack, starter, or even as a main meal served near some noodles or fried rice. By using a simple marinade and a few vegetables such as bell peppers, scallions, garlic, ginger, and onions, you can get an incredible taste on the plate. Learn some simple techniques that will allow you to cook this salt and chili chicken better than your local takeaways.

You will find this kind of dish in a lot of Chinese restaurants. And this is for a reason. It’s delicious and it’s very versatile. You can eat it in a lot of combinations.

A few simple vegetables fried with a few spices with chicken in a WOK can bring you some spectacular results.

White plate with Chinese salt and pepper chicken.

Usually, I’m not frying anything in my kitchen, but this recipe is so good that I allow myself from time to time to make it at home. And sure, you don’t need an entire cast-iron skillet full of oil. I’m using the oil just to cover it a little the meat.

If you want to make this recipe healthier, the secret is to keep the oil at the right temperature. In that case, the ingredients will not absorb the oil.

Feel free to adjust the level of spices to suit your taste.

If you want a detailed step-by-step explanation, please follow the next steps. If you want just a basic, short, guide, you can scroll to the end for the Recipe Card.

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In This Post: show
1 Why this recipe is so popular?
2 Tips for Success? How to make it better?
3 Ingredients Swap?
4 How to scale the recipe up and down?
5 What Ingredients do you need?
6 Step-by-step Recipe:
7 Answering Your Questions:
8 Recipe Card:
9 Chinese Salt and Pepper Chicken Breast

Why this recipe is so popular?

  • It will take you only 30 minutes to make it, which usually is faster than waiting for the delivery from a takeaway.
  • It is very simple and easy to make. It requires form you only a few steps and you have your delicious dish on the table.
  • It is affordable in ingredients. For this recipe, you need just a few basic vegetables and a chicken breast.
  • It is very versatile, and you can combine it with a lot of side dishes.
  • You control the ingredients, especially the amount of the oil so you can make it healthier than ordering from the restaurants.

Tips for Success? How to make it better?

  • If you want to get the best results, you should marinate the chicken the night before. If you’re limited on time, 15-25 minutes should be more than enough for the chicken to marinade.
  • Fry the chicken in small batches. If you will put too much meat into the heated oil, the oil temperature will go down and you will not get this browny color on the chicken and the chicken breast will absorb more oil than we need.
  • Chose and adjust your chiles on how spicy you and your family are used to eating. If your family doesn’t like spicy food, you can stick only to red and, or green bell peppers instead.

Ingredients Swap?

  • Corn starch. You can replace it with potato starch or just with all-purpose flour. Check this article for more starch alternatives.
  • Spring Onions. You can replace them with scallions.
  • Chili peppers. I used fresh chili pepper but you can also use dried chili flakes or just to replace the chili pepper with the one that you and your family are ok with it spiciness.
  • Chicken breasts. You can use other parts of the chicken or even use turkey instead of chicken.

How to scale the recipe up and down?

You can half the recipe, double, or even triple the recipe. Just stick with the same ratio of ingredients. The only ingredient you should pay attention to is the oil. Use it just to cover the ingredients.

If you will double-triple the recipe, a better idea will be to fry the chicken in the oil in multiple batches. This will make it easier for you to maintain a high oil temperature and you will avoid that the meat will absorb oil.

What Ingredients do you need?

Cutted bell peppers, spring onions, chilli pepper, garlic, ginger and chicken breast on white table.
  • 1 medium Chicken Breast. Approx:  28oz (750 grams)
  • 34 US fl. oz. (1 liter) of oil.
  • Corn Starch to cover all the meat.
  • 3 Spring Onions.
  • 1 medium Onion.
  • 1 piece of Chili Pepper or to your taste.
  • 3 Garlic cloves.
  • ½ of a medium Bell pepper.
  • Optionally: 1 tablespoon of Ginger.
  • Salt & Pepper to taste.

Step-by-step Recipe:

Prepare all the vegetables. Wash them well and cut them into thin slices as in the picture below:

Ingredients for Sicilian tuna pasta on white table

Cut the meat into strips about the size of a finger. Make sure that all the pieces to be the same size. By doing that, the meat will be cooked evenly.

After that, season the chicken breast or the meat you have chosen with salt and pepper to your taste.

Seasoned chicken breast with salt and pepper on a white plate.

Now, take a large bowl. Put the chicken breast in it and pour starch over the meat. Mix well until you will cover the meat with starch on all sides.

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Chicken breast pieces in a all purpose flour in a white plate.

Preheat the oil in a saucepan to 350°F (175 °C). If you do not have a kitchen thermometer, you can test the temperature of the oil by dropping a small piece of meat into the heated oil.

If it starts to sizzle, you can start frying.

Quick Note: Make sure that the heat under the pan is closer to low than medium. If the oil temperature will be too high, the meat will burn on the outside, but on the inside, it will remain raw.

Put a few slices of meat into the heated oil. Be careful not to make any splashes of hot oil because you can burn yourself.

Hand holding a piece of chicken breast over hot oil.

Quick Note: Fry the meat in several batches because if you will put all the meat at once, the oil temperature will cool down and as a result, the meat will absorb too much oil.

When the meat will get a slightly golden color as in the image below, you can take it out from the pan.

To make sure that the meat is fried enough, break a piece of meat in half and check if it is cooked inside. When the meat is ready, take it out and put it on a plate covered with paper napkins or in a sieve to drain the excesses of the oil.

Holding Fried chicken breast with a black chicken spoon.

In the meantime, pour a little oil in a wok or in a large pan. If you have sesame oil, I will recommend using it instead. It will give an extra flavor to the vegetables.

Pour all the sliced vegetables into the pan and fry them for 2-3 minutes on high heat.

Crunchy onion, bell pepper, garlic for salt and pepper chicken.

After that, add the chicken breast (or the meat you decided to use instead) over the vegetables and mix everything. Fry all the ingredients for another minute.

Fried chicken breast with sliced vegetables in a wok.

Our Salt and Chili Chicken is ready to be served. I sprinkled over the dish some fried sesame seeds for an extra flavor. You can also add some green onion tails.

White plate with Chinese salt and pepper chicken.

Answering Your Questions:

Can you store and reheat the Chinese salt and pepper chicken?

Sure, you can store the leftovers in a refrigerator for up to 3 days, but keep in mind that in the next few days, it will not be so crispy.

You can reheat it in the microwave or on the pan.

How to make the chicken breast crispy?

First of all, you need to dry well the meat before you will start frying the meat. Make sure that each piece of meat is well-covered with starch, and make sure that the oil is heated to the required temperature.

If the oil temperature will be lower, then the meat will absorb a large amount of oil. If the oil will be too hot, the meat will burn outside, but inside it will remain raw.

What goes well with salt and pepper chicken?

Usually, I’m cooking this salt and chili chicken when I want something light and spicy. Because of that, I’m eating it as is. Without any side dishes. But it goes very well with some egg noodles, fried rice, near some potatoes, or even near a fresh salad.

Consider also some fried vegetables in Asian style. If you want to go safe, pick some Asian-style sauces, or some Asian-style pickled vegetables. You can’t go wrong with them.

Also, if you want to make a meal on the go, you can put the salt and pepper chicken with vegetables in a wrap, some salad leaves, cucumbers, bell peppers, fresh carrots, and roll all the ingredients.

What salad to serve near it?

A fresh cucumber salad would go well with this dish. You can combine this dish with some fresh vegetables, and you will get something similar to caesar salad.

What Meat to Use Instead of Chicken Breast?

You can replace the chicken breast with wings, thighs, drumsticks, or leg quarters.

Is the salt and pepper chicken healthy?

Even if the chicken breast is fried in a large amount of oil, if you will keep an eye on the oil temperature, and you will let the chicken drain after frying, in the end, a small amount of oil will remain on the meat.

Consumed moderately with some fresh vegetables, this dish did not harm your figure.

How Many Calories per Serving?

This recipe is only 508 calories per serving.

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White plate with Chinese salt and pepper chicken.

Recipe Card:

White plate with Chinese salt and pepper chicken.

Chinese Salt and Pepper Chicken Breast


★★★★★

5 from 16 reviews

  • Author: Victoria
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 Servings 1x
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Description

Find how to make Chinese Salt and Pepper Chicken Breast at home that will be crunchy, spicy, and crispy without using a ton of oil.


Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 medium Chicken Breast. Approx:  28oz (750 grams)
  • 34 US fl. oz. (1 liter) of oil. 
  • Corn Starch to cover all the meat.
  • 3 pieces of Spring Onions.
  • 1 medium Onion.
  • 1 piece of Chili Pepper or to your taste.
  • 3 Garlic cloves.
  • ½ of a medium Bell pepper.
  • Optionally: 1 tablespoon of Ginger.
  • Salt & Pepper to taste.

Instructions

1. Wash and cut the vegetables into slices.

2. Cut the chicken breast into strips about the size of a finger. Make sure that all the pieces to be the same size. Season the meat with salt and pepper.

3. Take a large bowl. Put the chicken breast in it and pour starch over the meat. Mix well until you are sure that the meat is covered well with starch on all sides.

4. Preheat the oil in a saucepan to 350°F (175 °C). Fry the meat in a few batches to keep the oil hot until it will obtain a slightly golden color.

5. Put the fried chicken on a plate covered with paper napkins or in a sieve to drain the excess oil.

6. Now, take a wok, pour a little oil in it, and fry all the vegetables for 2-3 minutes on high heat.

7. Over the vegetables, add the chicken breast and mix all the ingredients. Fry them for another minute.

8. The dish is ready to be served. Optionally, you can sprinkle over some fried sesame seeds or some chopped green onion tails.


Notes

Fry the chicken breast in a few batches to keep the temperature of the oil high. Otherwise, the oil temperature will go down and meat will absorb more oil than we need.

  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Frying
  • Cuisine: Chinese

Nutrition

  • Calories: 508 cal

Keywords: Chinese, chicken, fried, recipe, food, vegetables

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jenny

    Jun 18, 21 at 1:44 PM

    I’m always looking for chicken breast recipes that aren’t bland, and this one’s a keeper. I love the crispy texture and flavor!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. Jenn

    Jun 20, 21 at 8:08 PM

    Printing this one off right now! So excited to try it!! Thanks for the fun recipe and detailed instructions! xo

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  3. Carrie Robinson

    Jun 24, 21 at 6:01 PM

    I have a feeling that my family would love this! Adding this to my weekly dinner rotation asap. 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  4. Claudia Lamascolo

    Jun 24, 21 at 7:47 PM

    This sounds perfect for us going to try it this weekend great recipe!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  5. Andrea

    Jun 24, 21 at 8:21 PM

    This salt and pepper chicken looks fabulous! I love all the fresh vegetables in it too!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  6. Whitney

    Jun 27, 21 at 1:18 PM

    Wow! It’s so easy and quick to make! Thank you! Added this recipe into my rotation list!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  7. Farah Abumaizar

    Jun 28, 21 at 12:37 PM

    Gorgeous and looks so simple! I’m sure my kids would love this recipe, can’t wait to try it out!

    Reply
  8. Mahy

    Jun 28, 21 at 1:47 PM

    I love how simple this chicken recipe is. It is EXACTLY what I have been looking for – easy and delicious!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  9. Beth Sachs

    Jun 28, 21 at 1:53 PM

    This salt and pepper chicken is going on my meal plan. It looks delicious!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  10. Kechi

    Jun 28, 21 at 2:59 PM

    This salt and pepper chicken looks and sounds so incredibly flavorful! Am definitely making it this weekend! YUM

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  11. Alejandra

    Jun 28, 21 at 4:21 PM

    This looks so tasty and I love how fast it is to make! Adding this to my list of finger recipes to try!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  12. Shannon

    Jul 01, 21 at 2:23 PM

    Went down an absolute storm with the family. Easy enough to make and tastes delicious.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  13. Lisa

    Jul 01, 21 at 5:20 PM

    Oh wow I made this last night and it did taste like our Chinese takeaway!!! We always order Salt and pepper ribs and prawns and they taste just like this chicken recipe. Thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  14. Karina Benize

    Jul 02, 21 at 1:15 PM

    Made this at work for the colleges, and it went down a treat. Something so simple like salt and pepper really excited everyone’s taste buds.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  15. Marie Plain

    Jul 05, 21 at 11:11 AM

    Thank you so much for this gorgeous recipe! I have made it numerous times now and have received loads of compliments from friends and family when I’ve made it for them.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  16. Malene

    Jul 07, 21 at 5:28 PM

    Made this salt and pepper chicken tonight due to being on lockdown and our favourite Chinese being closed. Really easy to make and tastes as good if no better than the Chinese

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  17. Merona

    Jul 07, 21 at 7:09 PM

    Tried this recipe recently after trying quite a few other recipes I’d found online. None had that balance of flavor just right.

    This recipe was perfect!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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Hey, I'm Victoria, the blogger behind the Go Cook Yummy. I'm running this blog with my husband, Alex, where we share our family recipes that actually work. Read more about us...

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