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.
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. Here you go!
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.
So many restaurants make theirs very sweet, so we don't order it out often at all, preferring to make my own at home. See my story below about this.
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.
Let's talk about how to make General Tso Sauce, shall we?
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 - the Recipe Method
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 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.
My Local General Tso Sauce Story
Patty and I visited a local Asian fusion restaurant recently. We enjoy the place and I ordered sushi. Patty ordered the General Tso Chicken and was sadly disappointed. As the dish cooled ever so slightly, the General Tso sauce began to thicken and harden on the plate and on the chicken, becoming overly sticky and almost taffy-like.
The cook obviously used far too much brown sugar or molasses, or whatever this person had selected as a sweetener. Sadly, this is our typical experience with many Chinese American restaurants when it comes to General Tso sauce, so I elect to make it myself at home so that I can control the amount of sweetness and other ingredients.
That's it, my friends. I hope you enjoy this quick and easy General Tso sauce recipe. Let me know if you make it. I'd love to hear how it turned out for you. Keep it spicy!
Recommended Cookbooks
If you love Chinese recipes and cooking, I recommend these books for the American cook. They're loaded with easy Chinese recipes that are full of flavor. I refer to them quite often.
- Easy Chinese Cookbook: Restaurant Favorites Make Simple, by Chris Toy (affiliate link, my friends!)
- The Essential Wok Cookbook, by Naomi Imatome-Yun (affiliate link, my friends!)
Try Some of My Other Popular Sauce Recipes
- Hoisin Sauce
- XO Sauce
- Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
- Homemade Szechuan Sauce
- Bulgogi Sauce
- Kung Pao Sauce
- Easy Thai Peanut Sauce
- Tonkatsu Sauce
- Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Homemade Sriracha
- Yakisoba Sauce
Try Some of My Other Popular Recipes
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Szechuan Chicken
- Cashew Chicken
- Dragon Chicken
- Bourbon Chicken
- Spicy Chicken Fried Rice
- Chicken Stir Fry
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
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!