This General Tso Sauce recipe is easy to make with only 6 ingredients, perfect for General Tso chicken or any other quick and easy stir fry. It's loaded with flavor.
General Tso Sauce Recipe
When you're in the mood for Chinese food, my spicy food loving friends, it's good to have a general tso sauce recipe on hand. It's perfect for when you're like me and need to indulge in some teriyaki madness!
General tso sauce is a sweet and spicy Chinese sauce popular in Chinese American cuisine. It is made with a base of soy sauce and chili sauce with a touch of vinegar and a sweetener, like honey, then thickened with cornstarch.
It is hugely popular with Chinese takeout dishes like general tso chicken or tofu, or other types of stir fry dishes.
You'll find variations, of course, using other preferred ingredients, and recipes can vary from cook to cook and restaurant to restaurant.
My version is very simple with only 6 ingredients. I choose to focus on the soy sauce and chili sauce, making this mildly sweet and more savory, as we prefer. You can easily adapt it to your own palate.
General Tso Sauce Ingredients
- Soy Sauce - Use light soy sauce for this, though any soy sauce can work for you. To your preference.
- Honey - Or you can use brown sugar.
- Rice Vinegar
- Chili Sauce - Try my homemade chili garlic sauce. It's great for this.
- Chicken Broth - You can use stock, or vegetable broth.
- Cornstarch - For thickening.
How to Make General Tso Sauce
Whisk the ingredients. Whisk together the soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, chili sauce, chicken broth, and cornstarch in a small bowl.
Warm the sauce in a pan. Add to a sauce pan or pot and heat 3-5 minutes over medium high heat, or until the sauce thickens.
Enjoy! Use as desired. Easy enough, isn't it?
Boom! Done! Your General Tso sauce is ready to use. How are you going to use yours? What are you making tonight? Try my General Tso Chicken recipe, of course, but it's also great for making any stir fry, like orange chicken.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Cooking general tso sauce. Usually when making recipes like General Tso’s Chicken, the sauce thickens in the pan or wok along with other ingredients.
- Other optional ingredients. This is my preferred recipe, though I have seen some with other ingredients you might try, including sesame oil or sesame seeds, garlic and ginger, white wine vinegar, other red chilies or dried chili flakes, green onions. Feel free to experiment and make it your own.
- The chili sauce! There are several options available for this recipe. I enjoy using Doubanjiang, which is a Chinese chili bean paste. Gochujang can work, though the flavor is different. Use a simple chili-garlic sauce from the store, or make your own like I like to do. Sambal Oelek is also a potential option.
Storage
Let your general tso sauce fully cool to room temperature prior to storing in an airtight container in the fridge. Properly stored, it should keep well for up to a week!
Try Some of My Other Popular Sauce Recipes
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
General Tso Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce light soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chili sauce
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch use 3 teaspoons for a thicker sauce
Instructions
- Whisk together the soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, chili sauce, chicken broth, and cornstarch in a small bowl.
- Add to a sauce pan or pot and heat 3-5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.
- Use as desired
Notes
Nutrition Information
SANDRA TIDWELL says
Instead of using honey your comment said we can use brown sugar. Is the portion the same? Instead of 3 tablespoons honey use 3 tablespoons of brown sugar? I can't wait to make this! Thanks so much!
Mike H. says
Yes, you can do that. However, since brown sugar is not as liquid as honey, you might want to add a little bit of liquid to compensate for the moisture loss from not using honey. Start with a tablespoon or two and adjust to your desired consistency.
Rusty says
It looks like there is Pepper flakes in the sauce. Yes or no.
Mike Hultquist says
It is seeds from the chili sauce.
Peggy says
Made this sauce for dinner tonight. It was simple to make and come together very quickly. Doubled the recipe. We really enjoyed it. I will be making General Tso chicken a lot more now that I found the perfect sauce recipe.
Mike Hultquist says
Excellent!! Thanks so much, Peggy!
sara says
This is so spot on, Mike - thanks for sharing!
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks so much, Sara!
Sasha Frugone says
What kind of chili sauce please?
Mike Hultquist says
Use something like my Homemade Chili Sauce Recipe, Sasha: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/chili-sauce/
Bee says
Interested in Orange Chicken Recipe . ThnQ!
Mike Hultquist says
Hopefully I can do that one soon, Bee!
Kelly J Myers says
Amazing flavor profiles on this website. Always when I want something new I come here to Chili Pepper Madness!
Mike Hultquist says
Awesome! Thanks so much, Kelly! Glad you're enjoying the site! =)
Lorrie says
Hi Mike. Do I use Thai sweet chili sauce or do I use a ketchup-based chili sauce like Heinz? I'm so excited to try this.
Mike Hultquist says
Lorrie, use the Heinz type. Enjoy!
Sharon says
I’m looking forward to making this recipe vegan; it should be quite simple. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Mike says
Hey Sharon, how did it go?
Yehudis says
made some minor changes. this came out delicious!!
Mike Hultquist says
Glad you enjoyed it!!
Patricia Gnau says
I copied a recipe for 3 ingredient sauce. I wasn't completely happy with the flavor. I added crushed garlic and store bought ginger paste. Then I used chili garlic sauce as the recipe suggested. I then added a little honey. Much more to my taste. Now I find your recipe and this is the exact taste I wanted. Better than the local take out. Thank you so much. Now when I want takeout I don't have to remember the recipe, I'll just use yours!
Mike Hultquist says
Great, Patricia! Glad you enjoy my recipe! Yes, much more flavor here. I appreciate your sharing this!
Alan Crowder says
Hey Mike. Just made the sauce and it’s great. I did add a little more cornstarch and brown sugar cause I like it thicker and sweeter. Thanks for posting buddy. Alan
Mike Hultquist says
Great, Alan! Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing!
Elaine Smith says
Hi, how long will this sauce keep in the fridge please.
Mike Hultquist says
Elaine, this will last a month or longer in the refrigerator.
Gloria Niles says
I will tr by
Mike H. says
Enjoy, Gloria!
trisha Hanlon says
Is the chili sauce in the recipe found in the Oriental food isle?
Mike Hultquist says
Trisha, you can typically find General Tso Sauce in a bottle in the grocery store, yes.
Mike says
The question was about the chili sauce, not pre-made General Tso's sauce.
To Trisha: The author posted his own chili sauce recipe elsewhere in the comments: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/chili-sauce/
Mike Hultquist says
Yes, my bad! Thanks, Mike.
Russell grewe says
I make a special recipe with Mac and cheese and kabashi and General chow sauce,it was great I used to make it on a buffet in a Chinese restaurant but the Restaurant changed the recipe and it was very spicy and I can't eat spicy so I'm trying to recreate it without so much spice
Mike Hultquist says
I hope this recipe helps, Russell!
Lynne says
Mike and Russell, My family don’t like too much spice either, so I used Red Hot Sweet Chili Sauce (it’s sweet, not hot) instead of the Heinz-type chili sauce. I know it’s not what the recipe calls for, but it turned out great!
Mike Hultquist says
A perfect choice!
David says
Why are there no measurements for the ingredients?
Mike Hultquist says
David, all of the measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post (above the comments). Let me know if you can't find them.
David says
Wow I have no idea how I missed that. Thank you I found it
Janice says
I love this recipe it's the healthiest one that I have seen. It's also simple to follow
Mike Hultquist says
Glad you enjoyed it, Janice! Thanks for sharing!!
Saundra says
terrific recipe, I have made it twice now! thank you
Mike Hultquist says
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it!
Emily K says
I prefer not to eat cornstarch. I usually use arrowroot powder to thicken sauces. However, I usually add it to a bit of cold water and add it to an already simmering soup, stew, or other recipe. Can I just add it here in place of cornstarch? Have you ever tried it? Thanks for sharing.
Mike Hultquist says
You can surely use arrowroot or other similar thickener, Emily. No problem at all. Enjoy!
Linda Sanders says
Sorry, I just found the amount of the ingredients.
Mike Hultquist says
No problem, Linda, enjoy!
Linda Sanders says
I can not find the amounts of each ingredient, did I just miss them?
Mike Hultquist says
Linda, it's all in the recipe card at the bottom of the post, above the comments.
Linda Sanders says
I just found it. Thank you so much
Lacey says
I should have read the whole thing. Thanks
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
No problem, Lacey!
Lacey says
Any substitution for rice vinegar?
Dawn says
Try vinegar
Jennifer says
I was wandering if coconut aminos or braggs liquid aminos can be substituted for the soy sauce... And can you use a chili sauce like Huy Fong?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Yes, Jennifer, liquid aminos are good here. Also, yes on the chili sauce. Sriracha is good, too. Enjoy!
Rod Warren says
Two questions.
What is the shelf life of the sauce if kept in the fridge?
Can I freeze it?
Great website.
Rod from South Africa.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Rod, this should last a couple weeks or longer in the fridge. It may lose freshness, though. You can also freeze it, no problem. Enjoy!
Susie says
I want to make this but it lists Chili Sauce do you mean like Mae Ploy ??
Thanks Susie
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Susie, May Ploy will work great here. Use a nice sweet chili sauce, or a chili-garlic sauce, or something similar. Enjoy!