Salt and Pepper Chicken

This crispy Salt and Pepper Chicken is so full of flavour with its spicy chillies and the delicious Chinese five spice blend, you’ll be coming back for seconds.

Salt and Pepper Chicken

Ready in 15 minutes, this delicious crispy chicken dish is great served on a bed of lettuce, in a wrap with salad or with a side of fried rice.

Ingredients to make Salt and Pepper Chicken

To make this Asian inspired recipe, you will need:

½ cup cornflour / cornstarch

1 TBSP salt, divided

1 ¼ TBSP pepper, divided

1 TBSP Chinese five spice blend

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 cup oil for frying + 1 TBSP for sautéing

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

1 red chilli, diced

1 green chilli, diced

3 spring onions / green onions, sliced

Making Salt and Pepper Chicken

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to a bowl or a large ziplock bag.

Cut and dice the onion and add to a small bowl.

Cut and dice the red and green chillies and place in a separate bowl.

Mince the garlic and add to the chillies.

Slice the spring onion and add to the chilli and garlic bowl.

Add the cornflour, ¾ TBSP of salt, 1 TBSP pepper and the Five spice blend to the bowl or bag with the chicken. Stir or toss the bag until all of the chicken is coated.

In a heavy skillet, heat 1 cup of oil over medium-high heat until it is hot.

Very carefully, add the chicken allowing space between each piece. Cook for around 6 minutes or until browned and cooked through.

Remove the chicken and place on a plate over with paper towel and continue cooking the rest of the chicken in batches until all is done.

In a separate skillet, heat 1 TBSP of oil over medium heat.

To the oil add the onion and cook for about 2 minutes or until the onion begins to soften.

Stir in the garlic, chillies and spring onion. Cook the mixture for an additional one to two minutes.

Return the chicken to the skillet with the vegetables and toss to mix through.

Serve warm.

Cooking Salt and Pepper Chicken in the Air Fryer

This delicious chicken can also be cooked in the air fryer instead of a skillet. The chillies, onions and garlic will still need to be cooked in a skillet, but the chicken can be cooked in an air fryer.

To do this, add the coated chicken pieces to your air fryer basket and spray with oil.

Cook at 176˚C (350˚F) for 10 minutes.

Cook for a further 5 minutes at 200˚C (400˚F)

Variations

• In this recipe, we used chicken boneless, skinless chicken thighs, though you could use chicken breast if you like. Chicken wings or drumsticks could also be used, though for all changes, you will need to adjust the cooking time slightly.
• The chicken could also be swapped for pork loin steak. 
• The type of chillies you use will depend on how spicy you want the dish to be. Jalapeños, Serrano, or milder chillies can be used. 
• If you prefer to use capsicum (bell peppers) instead of chilli,  you can.
• Swap out the chilli for fresh basil leaves. Quickly stir fry the basil leaves and toss with the garlic, onion and chicken.
• This recipe tastes best when eaten straight away, though it could be cooled, cover and refrigerated for up to one day. Reheat in the air fryer for a few minutes or in a frying pan over medium heat with a small amount of oil.

More Chicken Recipes

• Low Carb Chicken Cashew
• Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Wings
• Chicken Stir Fry
• Homemade Chicken Stock
• Chicken Vegetable Soup