General Tso’s Chicken is a favorite Chinese food takeout choice that is sweet and slightly spicy with a kick from garlic and ginger.
If you love the sweet and tangy flavors of General Tso’s Chicken, you’re going to relish the flavors of Garlic Hunan Beef, the tanginess of PF Chang’s Orange Peel Chicken, and the Spicy Tangerine Beef with Carrot Ribbons.
General Tso’s Chicken that can be found at Chinese restaurants and is a favorite late night Chinese takeout. The spicier, zestier, less popular cousin to the ever popular Orange Chicken, General Tso’s Chicken is a fantastic option when you’re looking to change up your Chinese food routine.
Other General Tso’s Chicken recipes can sometimes have cooking directions that are really complicated and with many different breading steps. These are all eliminated by going to a simple cornstarch coating. You can definitely do a thicker typical breading if you would like, like what is done in our Orange Chicken recipe. Also, the addition of the hoisin sauce may seem small and you may want to skip it because it isn’t a normal pantry item unless you are used to doing Asian cooking, but the flavor is that specific General Tso’s Chicken flavor that you’ll miss without it.
When you’re ready to serve your chicken, you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of white rice, brown rice, or a noodle dish, like Chow Mein.
How to Make General Tso’s Chicken
This is such an easy dish to make, and is so flavorful, your family will want you to make it time and time again! Check it out!
- Step One: Coat chicken in the cornstarch mixture. Let each piece of chicken sit while you make the sauce.
- Step Two: Mix the sauce together and set to the side to thicken while you cook the chicken and get a crispy coating.
- Step Three: Fry the chicken in batches in a deep skillet on medium-high heat until they are golden brown on all sides. Set to the side in a colander or other strainer and place that on paper towel to collect the dripping oil. Don’t put the crispy chicken directly on paper towel or it will get too soggy.
- Step Four: With most of the oil drained from the pan, put in the fresh ginger and garlic and pepper flakes and cook on medium heat until fragrant.
- Step Five: Finally, add in the chicken pieces and then the sauce mixture. Mix together until it’s steaming hot. Then serve hot with steamed broccoli. Enjoy!
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Frequently Asked Questions
The legend says that there was an actual General from Hunan Province in China who was well known as a general and military leader. An immigrant from China created the dish in New York in the 1950’s where it was popularized and spread across Chinese restaurants around the USA. He named the dish in honor of that famous general.
As a Chinese-American dish, General Tso’s Chicken is prepared by frying chicken and coating it with a sweet and salty glaze made from brown sugar, garlic, soy sauce, and pepper flakes. The tang of ginger and Hoisin sauce in our recipe is irresistible and delicious!
General Tso’s Chicken and Orange Chicken are both distinct Chinese stir fries that offer unique flavors. General Tso’s Chicken is made with golden fried chicken pieces in a sweet, salty, and sticky sauce, which has added savory flavors from soy sauce, chili flakes, and Hoisin sauce. Orange chicken is characterized by its sweet flavor and orange zest.
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Key Ingredients in General Tso’s Chicken
Everything can easily be found at your local grocery store or Asian market.
- Chicken: We’re using boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the recipe. But you can use skinless chicken breasts, or even chicken tenders.
- Rice Vinegar: Rice vinegar is a pretty inexpensive vinegar in the grocery store and an amazing flavor boost for salads as well as many Asian recipes. You won’t regret the purchase. Rice wine vinegar works too.
- Hoisin Sauce: This is a staple Asian pantry item. It has an awesome depth of flavor and is sometimes referred to as Asian BBQ sauce. This fermented soybean-based sauce is traditionally made with Chinese five spice blend for a distinctive flavor beloved by many. You’ll immediately recognize the flavor when you try it and the one bottle will make many delicious dishes. Don’t skip it.
- Sesame Seeds: Presentation counts. A little sprinkling of sesame seeds, chopped chives or even red chili pepper will instantly add flair to your meal.
- Sugar: You can use any kind of sugar. We are using brown sugar in our recipe.
- Oil: You can use vegetable oil, peanut oil, or canola oil for deep frying your chicken. You can also add a tablespoon of sesame oil while frying for extra flavor.
Substitutions for General Tso’s Chicken
- Rice Vinegar: It can be tempting to swap out items, like white vinegar or white wine vinegar for rice vinegar. Every time you make a substitution it is going to taste less like what you remember ordering out.
- Hoisin Sauce: This distinctive semi-sweet sauce shouldn’t be substituted, for best taste. However, if it simply cannot be found, you can get a similar flavor with plum sauce, tamari sauce, or garlic teriyaki.
- Cornstarch: This thickener can be substituted with arrowroot powder, tapioca starch, or wheat flour.
- Pepper Flakes: If the chili is too spicy, you can easily keep it out without compromising flavor. If you would like more spice, just add double the chili flakes, or substitute with Sriracha which is a spicy sauce.
Air Fryer General Tso’s Chicken
- Step One: You can easily cook the chicken in the air fryer. This is actually a great way to cook the chicken to a perfect crisp while working on another dish for the meal. Using this method, prepare the chicken by coating in the cornstarch. In a single layer in the air fryer, spray the top with a light coat of cooking oil and cook on 400ºF for 8 minutes. Set a time and flip the chicken over at the 4 minute mark to cook both sides. Cook in batches to ensure a crispy chicken.
- Step Two: While the chicken cooks, modify the recipe only in frying the garlic and ginger and pepper flakes and then adding in the already made sauce. Stir it up and let it thicken and get nice and hot.
- Step Three: Once the chicken is done cooking, you can add it directly to the sauce and serve hot!
More Yummy Chicken Recipes
How to Store General Tso’s Chicken
- Serve: Serve hot and don’t keep the chicken out for more than two hours.
- Store: Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat on the stove.
- Freeze: This is a great meal to freeze. Store extras in the freezer for up to 6 months in an airtight container. Thaw overnight when ready and reheat until completely hot.
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 1 pound chicken thighs , cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- vegetable oil , for frying
For the Sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
To Finish
- 1 tablespoon ginger , minced
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
Instructions
- Toss the chicken thighs with the quarter cup of cornstarch and let sit while you mix the sauce ingredients.
- Add the rice vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, water, sugar and tablespoon of cornstarch in a small bowl and whisk together.
- Add the chicken to a pan with the oil and fry until crispy.
- Remove chicken from the pan and drain all but a tablespoon of the oil. Next, add in the chili flakes, ginger and garlic.
- Cook the aromatics until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
- Add in the chicken and toss, then add in the sauce.
- Stir for about 30 seconds, or until thickened.
- Serve immediately over rice or noodles.
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Nutrition
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Photos used in a previous version of this post:
My boyfriend asks me to make this everytime he craves it! This recipe is so easy to make and it tastes so good! I usually only use 1 tablespoon or 1 and a half tablespoon of rice vinegar because the smell and taste is too strong for me. Overall I always use this recipe to make General Tso’s Chicken! Thank you for this!!
This is perfect! I’ve made it twice this week. Easy,fast,delicious. Thank you
You’re welcome, Deb!
I wanted to like this recipe, but it didn’t come out that great. The breading is basically non-existing. It doesn’t look anything like what is pictured. This is basically frying chicken with breading on some parts of the chicken, because the chicken absorbs it before it’s time to cook. You also need better instructions on how much oil is needed for frying. Deep frying is probably best (so you don’t lose the little breading you have) or a good amount of oil is needed (such as half a cup). And the rice wine vinegar and soy sauce takes over. I think if I did half the recommended doses it will come out way better. You can also taste a lot of the ginger and garlic. I actually consider this hot and sour ginger chicken, because it taste nothing like any general tso’s i have ever tasted. At the end, I ended up eating the chicken but swiping the sauce off. The sauce was too much, but the chicken with only a touch of sauce was way better.
Well, like everyone else, I will tell you it looks really good. Having said that, I will also tell you that I just made about two pounds of this for my family and it is fantastic! I wasn’t put off by the vinegar but I increased the pepper flakes, garlic and ginger. It’s very good. I won’t be needing to go out for this anymore. Thanks.
So glad you all enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know.
I love the look of this recipe, but like so many Chinese recipes, it uses cornstarch. Although corn is not, and never will be, classified as an allergen, a lot of people, including me, are very allergic to it. I have a lot of other possibilities, including the two big ones of cream of tartar and potato starch. I know it will affect the flavor, but I’m just looking for a reasonable approximation. Based on your experience, do you have any suggestions as to what would be the best substitution? Thanks so much!
I personally haven’t tried any substitutions but I do know that potato starch or even flour are usually the go-to when doing so. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out. Thanks!
Followed the recipe exactly, and it’s ok, but the vinegar is a little much. Also, could use a little extra sweetness. Next time I will substitute the vinegar with sake and use brown sugar. Good recipe overall.
This recipe was straight ?. To say it tastes like the takeout would be an insult, it’s 1000 times better.
Thanks so much!!! Its going into my favorites book.
Yay!!! Thanks so much for the huge compliment, Heather!
This is fantastic and my picky son absolutely loved it. Thank you!
Yum yum it was like eating this from a Chinese restaurant full of flabour. Thank you ?
I’ve always been a little Chinese cooking illiterate. However, this recipe was really easy and turned out amazing. I will make it again for sure.
Haha, so glad you decided to try!
Hi, Sabrina. This recipe looks delicious! Is this version spicy at all? And if so what ingredients make it so? I love spicy food and would love to make this with an extra spicy flair.
It does have a slightly spicy kick to it but if you’d like more, you can add more ginger and red chili flakes to increase the spiciness. Enjoy!
Made this dish. The directions were easy to follow. My husband loved this
General’s chicken quite good,but your not telling us how you get the classic color orange.Please Please share this information in the coloring of the chicken . In restaurants the generals chicken is orange has you have showing in your picture. Do you use food coloring please let us know . Thank You Tree
No secrets here. I used exactly what is in the recipe card. It could be that our coloring differs because of the brands we used are different than yours??
I made this last night. I followed the recipe as is. The only different thing I did was double the sauce. It turned out incredible! Everyone loved it. Thank you!
This is a short cut, and not the true Chinese restaurant way of doing it. I manage a Chinese restaurant and kitchen for many years. The first thing chefs do is make a cornstarch slurry in which they dip the chicken into and fry ahead of time. If you pay close attention as to how they do the chicken, they go into a fridge and pull out chicken that is already pre cooked without the brown sauce seasoning. Now, the second thing that the chefs have on hand is a bowl with a corn starch slurry. This is used with all of their dark and light sauce dishes. When the meat and vegetables are put in the pan with heat, the ad the dark sauce, then the corn starch slurry and cook. As the heat rises the corn starch slurry thickens and mixes with the sauce and sticks to the sauce and vegetables. That is how it get sticky and how everything adheres to the vegetables after being cooked. Once it is cooked completely, there should be very little runny sauce on the plate. Watch the chefs next time you order at your local Chinese restaurant. Watch when they take their ladle and dip it in a pan of white slurry. This is the corn starch slurry used in cooking. Chinese are all about prep. They prep most everything before cooking. They even do prep work during slow times. Everything is cut, pre cooked, etc. before making the dinner. I hope this clears everything about how Chinese dinners are really made. I have the recipe for their sweet and sour sauce they used when serving their sweet and sour chicken if you like.
Thank you
Alterations… I used chicken breast tenders and I used chicken stock in place of the water. I also doubled the sauce to have enough for the rice. Everything thing else is exact. It was spicy, but not overly if you like spice. Would definitely make again!
Thanks for the suggestions, Jean! I’m glad you loved it!
What could I use instead of ginger in this recipe
Changing it or omitting it will change the flavor of this dish. Knowing that, you can substitute allspice, cinnamon or nutmeg.
Hi! I’ve been eyeballing this recipe for a while now and I finally plan on making it! However, I was curious if you’d recommend using jarred ginger? I would hate to buy fresh ginger and have it go to waste… unless you have a suggestion for storing it? I am so excited to try it!
I’ve never used the jar ginger because we always keep fresh ginger around. If you decide to try fresh, you can always peel, mince or grate the unused portion and freeze it in a freezer bag to use for later recipes as to not have any go to waste. It’ll last up to 6 months in stored properly. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious! I added some red bell pepper. I’ve been looking for an easy tasty recipe and am so glad to have found this one. Thank you for sharing! My whole family loved it.
Thanks for coming back to let me know how much you all enjoyed it, Linda!
Look up a recipe for tempura batter with corn starch, flour, and egg instead of following their cornstarch directions. Plain cornstarch does not work. The sauce is great. I cooked it separately in a saucepan so I could toss and coat the chicken lightly
Seasoned or unseasoned rice vinegar?
I use seasoned. Here’s the link to the one I use.
http://amzn.to/23toXqO
This taste Exactly like take out!!!!!!! My family loved it. I omitted the chili flakes, because the children do not like spicy, and it was still very satisfying.
Turned out GREAT!!! Delicious 🙂
So glad you enjoyed it Sheila!
I like this recipe it was really good and super easy thank you for posting it. Personally, I enjoy pineapple on my General Tso’s chicken so I added some pineapple juice and a little extra cornstarch. but it was good even before that. I would recommend this recipe. thank you for posting it.
Awesome dinner option and verry simplementation nothe time consuming at all! Awesome dish!
Thanks for the 5 stars Julia! So glad you enjoyed it!
FIrst time fixing this recipe…
I used Crushed Red Pepper, Ground Ginger & Garlic Powder-ingredients
I had on hand. No hoisin sauce…
Delicious!!
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this last night. It was very good and easy. I browned the garlic,the temp was a bit high, and thought I had lost it, but it was very good. I used a bit more red pepper than was called for but I like a bit of heat. An easy recipe that tolerates slight modification well.
My family really enjoys general tso’s chicken. Can this dish be made with beef?
Also, I absolutely love your recipes. You make me want to cook.
Absolutely! Glad you’re enjoying the site!
Very simple recipe to follow and you’ll be amazed at the flavorful and satisfying results.
Thanks Frank!
I tried this last night! Took the advice of some others and only used half the serving of rice vinegar also added a bit of sesame oil with my vegetable oil when frying the chicken. My chicken came out darker than the pictures due to the soy sauce amount. Definitely a good recipe! Will just use less soy sauce next time.
This was pretty good and I’m sure it will be even better once I have the exact ingredients as you advised. It had the good full bodied flavors of the Chinese herbs and spices and wasn’t bland or watery like so many other Chinese food recipes I’ve tried by folks with food blogs. And the sauce was satisfyingly sticky.
I substituted ground ginger for the fresh, and used that other vinegar you mentioned, which I shall not name. But your recipe was excellent even with my slight alterations.
The only thing I would do differently is add more garlic, but that is a personal taste preference.
Fantastic! I used fried TOFU instead of chicken. I absolutely loved it! TY!
I made this, and remember in the commentary there was mention of sesame seeds. After going shopping for all the ingredients and serving the dish. I then remembered there was meant to be the seeds, but there were not on the ingredients list. 😉
LOVED it. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
You’re welcome!!
I am a 25 yo man who just graduated college and I can say that I have had a lot of chinese food in the past 4 years. Being broke and still in love with chinese food, I decided to try out this recipe, slightly skeptical that it would be any good because of my past experiences trying to make asian cuisine.
I have to say, without a doubt this is as good if not better than what I have had at some of the restaurants in town. Thank you for posting the recipe, it is GREAT!
I’m so happy you decided to give it a try! Thanks for the 5 stars!!
Made this tonight and it was amazing! Swapped out hoisin for chili sauce and it was a repeat for sure!
Made this last night for dinner and it was absolutely delicious. I doubled the sauce and changed some of the measurements but definitely a keeper for my recipe box.
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this last night. In hindsight, I know that I cooked the chicken longer than I should have because I had no idea how long to cook it so better safe than sorry. You said in the recipe ‘fry until crispy’ and mine was literally crispy on the inside as well. Can you provide a range of time that would be safe for 1 inch chunks just to give an idea?My biggest problem was that it was very. VERY dark (almost black). I can’t understand how the sauce is orangy in your pictures with ingredients like hoisin and soy sauces. I read all the comments above and no one is questioning that part and for the life of me, I can’t figure out what I’ve done wrong.
For one inch chunks, you’ll want to fry about 4-6 minutes.
Thanks for the timing. I’ve made this a couple more times since my initial question but everytime it comes out black due to the hoisin and soy sauces. I can’t figure out how yours is orange…any ideas?
I’m not sure why it would be so much darker. My only thought would be the brand you’re using might be affecting it?? Here are the links to the specific brands I use for hoisin sauce http://amzn.to/1VTHvdI and soy sauce http://amzn.to/2igdZj2.
Your recipe sounds delicious and easy. My question is I love general tso chicken but always order not spicy because my stomach doesn’t like it lol, would I delete the red pepper and the hoisin sauce ? Thanks can’t wait to make this.
You can either omit the red chili flakes or at least cut the amount used in half. Hope you enjoy it!
Wowed! Made this tonight, a HUGE hit! So delicious !!!!! A keeper!
Thank you so much Bev! So glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe is amazing!! It turned out perfect!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Fabulous recipe and easy as pie to follow, did all my prep work first so that I could just man the wok and let it stay super hot. I only had dark soy and added a couple splashes of fish sauce. Awesome!
So glad you enjoyed it Dave!
Made this for dinner it was amazing, wonderfully delicious, crunchy full of robust flavor omg. I double the recipe to have left overs and I tweaked the sugar content needed less than what was called for. So I double it called for 6 tablespoons I cut it to 4 tablespoons was great not to sweet. I wanted to taste Chile, garlic, ginger, soy sauce mission accomplished.
So glad you enjoyed it!
I’m not used to using chicken thighs. What’s the difference between using thighs as opposed to breasts? I tried General Tso’s for the first time a few days ago, and I’m ready for more. ?
Chicken thighs have a higher fat content so the meat stays really moist while cooking. I think it has a deeper flavor to it also and I tend to use thighs for most of my recipes.
My Husband made this and we loved it. He is big in to different Asian foods. We really enjoyed the balance. It isn’t too sweet and the rice vinegar gives a pleasant kick. We had to use ground ginger because it was what we had on hand. A quick google search said to use 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger to 1 tablespoon of fresh minced and that worked really well. I’m not sure how it could be much better so I look forward to trying this with fresh minced ginger.
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Hi there! I’m making this dish for class and I was wondering what you meant by oil for frying. Is that deep frying or more of a stir fry and how much?
Sorry if it was confusing! I usually add about 2 tablespoons of oil for frying, you may need more or less depending on how big your pan is. It’s more of a stir fry. Hope this helps!
This recipe was delicious, easy to prepare, and healthy! Thank you. The only thing I did differently was to add a bit of fresh orange zest. The entire family loved this meal and I’ll definitely make it again!
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it!
Thank you very much for this recipe. It was amazing !!! My sauce was darker than shown On the picture But everybody loved it ??
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
SO excited to have found your blog. Just made this and it was amazing!!
I do feel a bit ashamed because I did use substitutions. I was out of my usual Asian pantry items, but really wanted this, so I made my own hoisin sauce and used 3 Tb Apple cider vinegar with 3/4 tsp sugar to replace the Rice Vinegar. I also had to leave out the sesame seeds.
I also found that when I let the sauce sit with the cornstarch for a while (I left it in the fridge overnight because I prepped the sauce and made the chicken the next day) it thickened better for me than when I made the sauce and chicken on the same day (I actually made this 2 days in a row haha!).
Even with the modifications I made, I was SO happy with the result! I can’t thank you enough! I made it with a favorite Chow Mein recipe from another website, but I just saw you have one on this website, so I definitely have to try it!
Of course I’m excited to make this recipe with the Rice Vinegar and Sesame seeds, because I’m sure it will be even better, but I’m still easily giving this 5 stars. THANK YOU for sharing!
You totally made my day! I’m so glad you made it and then came back to tell me about it! I look forward to seeing you around the site!
Made this recipe tonight and it was delicious ….super easy to make !
Thanks!
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!