General Tso's Chicken Recipe

General Tsos Chicken served on a big skillet.

5 from 9 votes

This General Tso's Chicken recipe is crispy bites of chicken stir fried in a sauce that's both sweet and spicy. So easy to make and better than takeout! Perfect for the spicy food lover.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Chinese

Keyword: chicken, soy sauce, Stir Fry

Servings:

Calories: 292kcal

Author: Mike Hultquist

Ingredients

FOR THE GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN SAUCE

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

FOR THE GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN

2 pounds boneless chicken cut into bite-sized pieces
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 hot peppers chopped (Use Chinese peppers, Thai peppers or others that are available to you)
3 cloves garlic minced
2 teaspoons fresh minced ginger
6 scallions chopped
For Garnish: Fresh chopped scallions, sesame seeds, spicy chili flakes, extra sliced peppers

Instructions

MAKE THE GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN SAUCE

Whisk together the soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, chili sauce, chicken broth, and cornstarch in a medium sized bowl. Set aside until ready to use.

FOR THE GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN

Toss the chicken pieces in a bowl with the cornstarch and salt and pepper to taste. Be sure to evenly coat each piece.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large wok or pan to high heat and swirl to coat. Add the chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring often, until the each side of the chicken forms a crispy brown crust. Don't let it stick to the bottom of the pan.
When the chicken is nearly cooked through, remove it from the pan and set it aside.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the hot peppers, garlic, ginger, and scallions. Stir fry for 30 seconds.
Add the reserved sauce and reserved chicken to the wok and bring to a simmer. Toss to combine. Cook another 2 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
Garnish and serve! It is best with rice!

Notes

Calories estimated without the rice.

The Chili Sauce. There are many options available to use. I love to use 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. Sambal Oelek is great as well.

The Chicken. Use either chicken breast, chicken thigh, or a combination of both for this recipe. You can bread then fry the coated chicken for super crispy chicken bites, but this stir fried version is healthier, easier to make with less mess and still quite crispy.

The Heat Factor. Medium. General Tso's Chicken isn't meant to be overly spicy, and the sauce offers more sweet than heat, though you'll get a bit of heat. You can easily up the heat factor with extra spicy chili flakes, hot sauce, a hotter chili sauce, and especially hotter peppers. Thai peppers can be quite hot.

Nutrition