Air Fryer Black Pepper Chicken

Discover how to transform frozen lightly breaded chicken breast bites from convenient snack to high protein meal with this air fryer recipe. The chicken is air fried with bell pepper then tossed in an umami black pepper sauce inspired by Chinese-American takeout.

How to Make It

This easy recipe is essentially two steps, starting with air fried chicken and peppers and ending with everything being tossed in a homemade sauce.

I’ll walk you through the two parts below and cover some ingredient substitutions and prep notes along the way. If you’re in a hurry, there’s a printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Part One: Air Frying Frozen Chicken Bites and Bell Peppers

Start by popping twelve ounces of frozen lightly breaded chicken breast chunks or bites in an air fryer for about five minutes at 400ºF.

That should give you enough time to cut three bell peppers into squares about the same size as the chicken pieces. Once the peppers are ready, add them to the air fryer with the chicken and continue cooking for 10-12 minutes until the peppers start to pick up a bit of browning and the chicken is crispy.

While the chicken and peppers are cooking, you can make the black pepper sauce. More on that in a second. First, let’s talk about what to do if you don’t have an air fryer.

Can I use an oven instead of an air fryer?

Always! I haven’t tested this specific recipe with anything other than an air fryer, but I have two recipes that combine these same frozen chicken bites with veggies in a “sheet pan recipe” format.

One recipe splits the chicken and broccoli up between two quarter sheet pans and bakes at 400ºF for 20-25 minutes on the middle rack. While the other makes a bigger batch of chicken and brussels sprouts on two half sheet pans at 450ºF for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pans between the bottom and middle racks for even browning.

You can see there’s no wrong way to do it. Try meeting in the middle at 425ºF for 25-30 minutes with the chicken on one side of a sheet pan and the peppers on the other.

Part Two: Making the Black Pepper Sauce

This part is easy. Add the sauce ingredients to a pan, pop it over medium-low heat, and reduce it to a thicker sauce while the chicken and peppers cook.

I bet you have soy sauce, maple syrup (or honey), black pepper, garlic, and toasted sesame oil on hand. The only two sauce ingredients you might have questions about are oyster sauce and black vinegar.

You can swap black vinegar for balsamic vinegar. The most commonly recommended substitutes for oyster sauce are hoisin, fish sauce, or even a bit of Worcestershire sauce. You’re looking for an umami sauce of some kind.

For a couple of alternative flavor profiles, check out my sweet n sour or hot honey sesame sauces.

Ideas for Garnishing and Serving

New around here? Nine out of ten times the answer is rice bowl. And that’s the case again here.

I like mixing jasmine rice with cauliflower rice to get more volume without the calories. The recipe calls for dividing the finished dish into four servings with 265 calories and 24g of protein each. But if you have an appetite and higher protein needs, double up with a big serving of rice for 50+ grams of protein.

I recommend keeping the garnishes simple. Add a bit of sliced green onion or chopped cilantro, a pinch of toasted sesame seeds, and call it a day.

And that’s it. You can print or save the full recipe card below. If you’re looking for more ideas to make with frozen chicken bites, check out my chicken parm sandwiches or Korean bbq tacos before you go.