Slow Cooker General Tso’s Chicken is the easiest recipe for a favorite Chinese dish! Sweet and tangy chicken, perfect for serving over rice!
From main dishes made easier like this crockpot chicken, Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken, and Slow Cooker Orange Chicken, you can recreate all the flavors of your favorite Chinese Chicken Dishes at home. These easy recipes will be your new weeknight favorites.
Why You’ll Love This Slow Cooker General Tso’s Chicken?
- Delicious, tender chicken pieces in a spicy, sweet, and tangy sauce!
- Prep in 15 minutes, toss it in the slow cooker, and enjoy more time with the kids or handling other tasks!
Sabrina’s Slow Cooker General Tso’s Chicken Recipe
When it comes to easy meals, you can’t beat a good Slow Cooker Dinner that has little prep work and doesn’t take all day to cook. This slow cooker version of a Chinese takeout favorite is sure to be on your go-to list of crockpot dinners! Cooking the traditional recipe in a wok can be a bit tricky at first because food cooks very quickly at a high heat. I love this slow cooker version because you don’t have to worry about burning anything plus it frees up your stove and oven (and time!) to make your side dishes.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger , fresh, minced
- 2 pounds chicken thighs , skinless, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup green onions , thinly sliced
Instructions
- To your slow cooker add the rice vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes, garlic, and ginger.
- Add in chicken chunks and mix well.
- Cook on low for 4 hours.
- Mix water and cornstarch and add to slow cooker with green onions, stirring in gently.
- Cook on high for 30 minutes.
Nutrition
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Note from Sabrina
Looking for more freezer meal ideas? This Chicken recipe is a great meal prep dish that you can make right from the freezer, no need to defrost first. To make this a freezer meal, add the chicken pieces to a large freezer safe bag. Whisk all sauce ingredients, except cornstarch and water, in a bowl and pour in the bag to coat the chicken. Freeze the bag flat on a baking sheet until solid so it’s easier to store. Cook from frozen in slow cooker for 5-6 hours on low, breaking in half if needed to fit in crock pot.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
The juicy, flavorful chicken is smothered in a sticky, sweet sauce that makes General Tso’s Chicken so tasty but there is almost no hands on time. You just combine everything in the slow cooker and let it cook while you go about your afternoon until dinner time. Not only is making this chicken in the slow cooker so much easier, it is a little bit healthier and you get tender chicken every time.
Ingredients
- Chicken Thighs: Chicken thighs are great for slow cooking because they are dark meat with a higher fat content. They don’t dry out easily and are more flavorful than chicken breast. You can also use bone-in thighs but you’ll need to increase the cooking time.
- Rice Vinegar: Rice vinegar is slightly sweeter than regular vinegar, and it also has salty notes. The closest substitute would be apple cider vinegar.
- Soy Sauce: There is added salt from the hoisin sauce and rice vinegar so it’s best to use soy sauce with low sodium.
- Hoisin: Hoisin sauce tastes almost like a cross between soy sauce and garlicky BBQ sauce. It has a deep savory flavor and just 2 tablespoons will add a lot of depth and flavor to the sauce.
- Sugar: The sugar balances out the heat from the ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes, and the salty umami flavors of the soy sauce and vinegar.
- Red Pepper Flakes: This is normally a spicy dish, so you’ll need ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes. It might not seem like a lot, but a little goes a long way. Taste the sauce before adding more.
- Garlic: Garlic is a signature seasoning in most Asian dishes. The fresh garlic works great for slow cooking because it will release its flavor slowly for a more deeply flavored dish.
- Ginger: Fresh ginger packs a big punch of bright flavor and a slightly spicy zing without needing too much. For a quick peeling hack – use the sides of a regular spoon to scrape away the root covering.
- Green Onions: For a little pop of freshness and to add some more Asian flavor, you add sliced green onions at the end with the cornstarch slurry.
- Cornstarch Slurry: Combine 2 tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to make a cornstarch slurry that helps thicken your sauce at the end.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
Slow Cooker: You’ll need a standard 5-6 quart slow cooker for this recipe to easily fit the chicken thighs and sauce. It’s okay for the chicken to overlap a bit. You don’t want to use a small slow cooker because it won’t cook as evenly.
Serving Ideas
Make a healthier takeout-inspired dinner by serving this General Tso’s Chicken with Baked Brown Rice or Chinese Steamed Rice and veggies. Panda Express Steamed Veggies or Roasted Broccoli are easy and tasty kid-friendly veggies. If you want even more spicy heat, try these Spicy Sichuan Green Beans.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Absolutely! After cooking, let it cool completely, then transfer it to an airtight container. It will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to three days, or you can freeze it for up to three months. When you’re ready to enjoy it, simply thaw it overnight in the fridge, and reheat it gently in a skillet over medium-low heat until it is warmed through.
How to Store
- Store: You can keep General Tso’s Chicken in the slow cooker on warm for up to 4 hours, or at room temperature for up to 2 hours. Once cooled, store chicken with sauce in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Reheat: Reheat in a skillet over medium-low heat until hot.
- Freeze: Cool completely and transfer cooked chicken and sauce to a sealed container. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating on the stove top.
Stove Top Method
- In a large skillet, combine the rice vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes, garlic, and ginger over medium heat.
- Add chicken chunks into skillet making sure to coat them evenly in the sauce.
- Cover the skillet and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and water to make a slurry. Slowly incorporate the mixture into the skillet and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes. This will allow your sauce to thicken.
- Stir in your green onions just prior to serving.
Frequent 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.
Yes, normally General Tso’s Chicken is a pretty spicy dish. This recipe is a bit more family friendly, but there is still some heat. The nice thing about making this dish at home is that you can make it as spicy or mild as you want.
No hoisin sauce? You can mix ¼ cup molasses (or honey) and 2 tablespoons each soy sauce, creamy peanut butter, rice vinegar. Season with ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, ½ teaspoon sriracha, and 1 ½ teaspoon cornstarch and mix until combined.
Variations
- Chicken: You can use any kind of chicken pieces, including chicken breasts or bone-in chicken. If you use bone-in skin-on chicken, brown chicken before adding to the crockpot. Instead of chicken, try boneless pork loin or chuck roast cut into pieces.
- Sauce Seasonings: Sauce swaps and additions you can use are brown sugar, cayenne pepper, apple cider vinegar, ground ginger, chili paste, or oyster sauce. For an extra Chinese sweet barbecue flavor, use a ½ cup hoisin sauce or use regular barbecue sauce.
- Spicier Version: This General Tso’s Chicken is only slightly spicy, but you can increase the heat with Sriracha, more red pepper flakes, or diced dried chiles (like in Kung Pao Chicken).
Related Recipes
More Asian-Inspired Slow Cooker Recipes
Photos used in previous versions of this post.
