General Tso’s Chicken Recipe
General Tso’s Chicken is saucy, juicy and crispy. The signature sauce is thick and loaded with flavor. If you are a die-hard orange chicken fan, you must try this dish! Make it all in one dish in the comfort of your home for a sweet and spicy treat!
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Hi there! My name is Natalya and I run the blog Momsdish. If you already follow me, you know I can’t get enough of easy meals that require simple ingredients. My family loves ordering in Chinese takeout, but lately, I’ve been having a blast recreating my favorite dishes at home.
Not only is homemade “takeout” healthier, but you’ll save money. That’s a win-win in my book. Let’s get started!
General Tso’s Chicken
General Tso’s Chicken is a Chinese-American dish of fried chicken pieces that are breaded and tossed in a tangy sauce. This dish is very similar in style to sesame or orange chicken. But, like in much of Chinese food, it’s the sauce that makes each dish unique.
Typically, General Tso’s Chicken is served with a bed of steamed rice and a side of steamed broccoli. If you want to make a full spread of takeout favorites, try your hand at making some chow mein too. Don’t forget the chopsticks!
How to Make General Tso’s Sauce:
The sauce for General Tso’s chicken is so simple to make with pantry staple ingredients: rice vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, water, sugar, and some corn starch to thicken the sauce. Simply add the ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine.
How to Prepare General Tso’s Chicken
Don’t be intimidated about making your own General Tso’s Chicken! It’s so easy, you’ll never call it in again. Follow these easy steps to nail it every time:
- Cut chicken into 1-inch size cubes. Toss the chicken with corn starch.
- Cook your chicken until all sides are golden brown.
- Remove the chicken from the pan.
- Saute garlic, ginger and pepper flakes in the pan.
- Add in both the sauce and chicken.
- Toss the chicken, making sure to evenly coat each piece. Serve hot to hungry people!
Tips for the Best Tso’s Chicken
- Prepare ingredients ahead of time. This recipe will have you moving fast. Prep all your ingredients ahead of time so you can add them on the fly.
- Adjust the Spice. Add more or less red pepper flakes according to your spice preference.
- Use Fresh Ginger and Garlic. It might be tempting to use the powdered stuff, but great Chinese food is defined by the freshest ingredients.
- Opt for Low Sodium Soy Sauce. I always purchase low-sodium soy sauce just in case I want to tweak the salt levels before serving. It’s just perfect for this recipe, as it also calls for hoisin, a salty, and garlicky sauce used frequently in Chinese cooking.
- Chicken Thighs Bring the Most Flavor. Chicken thighs make for the juiciest pan-fried chicken. I find chicken breast tends to be too dry for this recipe.
- Don’t Overcrowd the Pan. Cook chicken in small amounts or use a very large pan. Be sure to give the chicken a good stir here and there to prevent it from sticking.
- Use a non-stick pan. The coating can be a bit delicate, so use a non-stick to ensure it stays intact.
- Hot Tip: Serve and enjoy General Tso’s Chicken immediately. The sauce tends to absorb into the crispy outer layer, leaving it a bit soggy if it sits around too long.
More Asian-Inspired Dishes:
- Beef Stir Fry: This simple stir fry is perfect for a hectic weeknight with a sneakily high serving of veggies.
- Chicken Stir Fry – easy, saucy and loaded with veggies and cashews
- Chicken Fried Rice – a genius way to use up leftover rice and frozen vegetables
- Yakisoba Noodles: This quick-and-easy noodle dish is always on my rotation.
- Lo Mein: Your vegetarian friends will love you. These noodles are great hot or cold.
General Tso’s Chicken Recipe
General Tso’s Chicken is a Chinese takeout go-to. Make it all in one dish in the comfort of your home for a sweet and spicy treat!
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken thighs cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup corn starch
- 1/4 cup oil for frying
- 2 tbsp minced ginger
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 4 cloves garlic minced
Sauce
- 6 tbsp rice vinegar
- 6 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
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Cut chicken into 1-inch cubes. Toss each piece with cornstarch. Set aside.
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In a separate dish, combine all the ingredients for your sauce together.
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Preheat a non-stick skillet with oil. Cook each chicken piece until all the sides are golden brown. Remove the chicken from the pan. Leave about 1 tbsp of oil in the pan for cooking.
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Add the garlic, ginger and pepper flakes. Sautee for about 30 seconds.
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Add the sauce and chicken back into the skillet. Toss to coat. Serve right away!
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Natalya Drozhzhin
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Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Great !! it easy to make and the taste is great !! Thanks for the recipe!
You’re so welcome. I’m so happy that you loved it!
I’m making this today for dinner! I’m so looking forward to it!! I will post review later!!
Great choice! I hope you liked it and yes please share with us how it goes.
Oh, Natasha… my husband loved it! I used breast meat cause I didn’t have thighs. I will definitely make this again! Thank you for all the recipes they are all amazing!
So wonderful to hear that!
Oh, Natasha… my husband loved it! I used breast meat cause I didn’t have thighs. I will definitely make this again! Thank you for all the recipes they are all amazing!
Yay that is so awesome! So great to hear that your husband enjoyed this and my other recipes.
Me again I think I had too much liquid as I only used 1 lb of chicken and half the other ingredients. But not complaining. Next time will use less of the water. just for your info.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Hi Natasha. Planning on making this recipe this week. Do you think that using Maizena for corn starch will work just as good?
Hi Marisa, without testing that I cannot say. If you experiment I would love to know how you like that.
Hi Natasha made the General Tso’s tonight it was so yum. better than in a restaurant.
The sauce sweet savory and sticky what can I say. delish.
Will make this again and again.
That’s just awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe Jessie!
I am going to try by pierogi and cabbage rolls. Am from European background and mum used to make will try yours, very similar to the polish version.
I hope you love this recipe, Jessie!
absolutely love your recipes. First place I go to for inspiration.
Thank you for your great feedback, we appreciate it!
Soooo good and sooooo easy to do! So much better than the restaurant one! Un vrai délice!
Merci Natasha
I’m so happy you enjoyed that Rita! Thank you for that wonderful review!
Made this last night (I’ve been making one of your recipes every night). As always, 10/10!
I’m so inspired to read this review, Adriana! Thank you for that wonderful review!
Do you have to use rice vinegar in this recipe or will white vinegar do?
Hello Jeanie, I highly recommend using rice vinegar as the flavors are very different
Hi Natasha my husband made this dish today and it was delicious! Will definitely make this more often (or rather ASK him to make this dish more often😜haha)
I am so glad that you both enjoyed this recipe. I hope you love every recipe that you will try!
Hi Natasha,
How can I substitute hoisin sauce in this recipe. My daughter is celiac.
Thanks for all your amazing recipes.
Hi Mary, I haven’t tried a substitution but garlic teriyaki may work here per research online.
That would have gluten too unless it is soy free. Mary, you may have to use a coconut amino acid teriyaki sauce.
there is gf hoisin . my son is also celiac. u can get it at many stores like walmart
too much advertisements from google
Hi Hugo, thanks for your feedback. The only way we can continue providing free recipes is by having ads on our site so we are not able to remove those at this time. We find that most people would rather see the ads than pay to see the recipes.
Natasha I so enjoy all your recipes and have given them to my son who belongs to a group of six who share a meal once a month. Your General Tso’s recipe went over with a bang, all enjoyed it so much. Thanks again and would love if you put out a cook book it would go over so well.
Hi Doris, I’m so glad you entire party loved the General Tso’s chicken. Thank you for the wonderful review!
Hi- I love this take out dish and want to try it at home now. What kind of oil do you use?
Thanks! (PS Love your videos!)
Thanks, Terry. I used this extra light olive oil.
All I have to say is WOW!! Better than takeout ! Thank you Natasha for sharing , I’m a huge fan of yours!!
You are so welcome! Thank you for your excellent review.
I can’t wait to try this. Since it is just me I am going to try to do a 2 serving recipe. Before I saw the size converter, I tried dividing by 4 to see if that worked on all the ingredients. A few of the ingredients when done with the converter came out slightly different. Is this an exacting recipe or should I be ok with my conversion that is easier to understand (fractions rather than decimals)?
Hello Judy, you can give that a try but you would have to experiment on your conversion to see if you would like it. Please let us know how it goes!
All of the food u cook look tasty and yummy. Thank you! I also love to cook.
You are welcome, Jen. Thank you too for giving this recipe a good review!
Hi Natasha
I just made this recipe yesterday and it was delicious and so flavorful. As always I love your recipes and videos. Can’t wait to try another. Thanks again!
Karen😊❤
Hi Karen, I am so happy to hear that you loved the General Tso’s Chicken. Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Natasha nailed the sauce! This turned out amazing. Thanks for sharing this recipe with us!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it Liz!
It was delicious! My kids loved it. Thank you!
You’re welcome! I am so glad you loved it.
This was a huge hit fir dinner at my house!
That’s so great Toni! Thank you for that wonderful review!
Dinner last night was AMAZING!!! this turned out so good.
I’m so glad you enjoyed that!
Delicious recipe! It tastes just like my restaurant takeout. P.S. Commenting about another reviewer, I don’t mind the ads at all for a free recipe!
Thank you so much for your great comments and for understanding the ads, Trang. We really appreciate your support.
Hi! This looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it! I’m the type who absolutely LOVES sauce. I ask for extra sauce in everything. My question is, what should I do to double the amount of sauce for this recipe? I wouldn’t want to change the taste in anyway, but I would like to have extra sauce to eat with the rice. Thank you kindly in advance.
Hi Taina, I haven’t tested this to advise but you can try doubling up on the sauce ingredients. If you experiment please let me know how you like that.
Love to try this but i dont have hoisin sauce.. is there any substitute for that??
Hi Priya, I haven’t tried a substitution but garlic teriyaki may work here per research online.
Hey Natasha can you please stop posting ad vids of u cooking on ur blog please its just I can’t even exit those vids it becomes a distraction when Im cooking.
Thank you for sharing your concerns and feedback.
The only way we can continue providing free recipes is by having ads on our site so we are not able to remove those at this time. We find that most people would rather see the ads than pay to see the recipes.
I appreciate your feedback and I hope you love every recipe you try.
i love it
I’m so glad you enjoyed that!
Thank you natasha for listening to my suggestion . You will love this recipe tell me when you try it.
this look so yummy