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 the sauce and bring to a simmer then add 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
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup corn starch
- 1/4 cup extra light olive oil, for frying, plus more as needed
- 2 tbsp minced ginger, from a 2-inch piece of ginger
- 3 cloves garlic, or 1 Tbsp grated or finely minced
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or added to taste
- 1 tsp sesame seeds, optional for garnish
General Tso's Sauce
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 5 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar, or more to taste
- 1 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Cut chicken into 1-inch cubes. Toss chicken in batches with cornstarch, tapping off the excess. Set dredged chicken on a platter and set aside.
- In a separate dish, combine all the ingredients for your sauce and whisk to combine.
- Preheat a non-stick skillet with oil. Cook chicken in 2 to 3 batches, sauteeing until golden on both sides and cooked through then remove the chicken from the pan and transfer to a bowl. Repeat with the remaining chicken, adding more oil as needed. Leave at least 1 Tbsp oil in the pan.
- Add the garlic, ginger and pepper flakes. Sautee for about 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add the sauce to the skillet and bring it to a simmer while stirring. Let it simmer for 1 minute to cook off the vinegar a little. Taste the sauce and add more soy sauce or rice vinegar to taste if desired. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Serve garnished with sesame seeds if desired.
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Tasted great! Maybe just a little less soy sauce, I used what the recipe called for but it was still pretty salty. Overall, we loved it.
This recipe was really good and it turned out really well. I made it for me and my family and they all loved it
How much soy sauce should be used? For those who said it was too much
Hi Natasha! I made this recipe and it was very yummy and everyone loves it. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe and I always love following your recipes and you’re really awesome. Keep up the good work Natasha. ❤️🙏
Hi Rhea! Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback.
Soooo good. Next time I make it I may add a touch of brown sugar to the liquid but my kids and husband (and I) gobbled it up!! Love all your recipes!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Christine!
Perfect. I followed the recipe exactly. Next time I may double the sauce. It was so good I wanted more!
I’m so glad you loved it, Elizabeth!
I always love your recipes but for MY taste this was not the GT chicken taste I’m use to. Too heavy of a soy sauce taste and not sweet. My husband loves soy sauce and he enjoyed it
I want to make this delicious looking recipy but was wondering if I can deep fry the chicken instead of pan fry ?
Hi Christine! I’m sure that would work too if you wanted to use fried chicken and then continue on with the recipe as instructed for the sauce.
We made this for dinner last night and were super impressed! Very easy recipe to follow, so glad I found it!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Sarah!!
Hi Natasha, I would like to make this recipe today but I don’t have any rice vinegar on hand, I have white, apple cider, red and balsamic, could I use one of those instead and would it change the taste much?
Thanks
One of our readers shared this comment “I made this tonight and it was fabulous. I didn’t have rice vinegar so I used white vinegar and decreased it to 3 TB. Also didn’t have fresh ginger so used ground. This is a great recipe!” Hope that helps.
I made this yesterday, and I was amazed that it was actually better than any General Tso’s Chicken that I have ever had at anywhere at a restaurant. My sister also tried it, and said that it was the best she’s ever had. Thank you so much for posting this recipe.
Hi Kim! That’s awesome. Thank you for sharing.
EXCELLENT!!! My husband doesn’t usually like chicken, but he thoroughly Loved this dish Thank you!
That’s great to hear, Nancy!
This recipe was great but made some changes – honey instead of white sugar. Key to the recipe are the garlic and ginger with red pepper flakes sautéed with the sauce. Going in, I wasn’t impressed with the taste of the sauce but it magically changed after the saute and thickened. It all turned out great!
Hi Pam! Thank you for sharing that with us. I’m glad you liked the recipe.
I generally love the recipes here but this is one I’ll never make again! No one really cared for it.
Hi Mina, I’m sorry to hear that. It’s a poplar one on our site. Did you change anything or make any substitutions?
Hi Natasha!Did you change the recipe recently?I made this recipe at least 10 times and my husband loved it!He is a very picky eater.But today after I made this recipe both of us were disappointed.It didn’t taste the same.I did follow the recipe as usual.We loved the old recipe!
Hi Olga, we updated this recipe in January of 2023. We discovered a significant oops in the measurements so I had to update. There was 6 times the amount of hoisin sauce which made it crazy salty. That’s really the only difference in quantity of sauce though (about 4 1/2 Tbsp so it shouldn’t have made a significant impact on amount of sauce). I hope that helps.
Natasha,thank you for your quick response.It has to be a mistake on my side then because I cooked this recipe at least 5-6 times last year.I thought it was changed again but it looks like I did something wrong.I will make it next month again!
No worries, hope you get it right on your next try. I recommend reviewing the recipe again just to be sure you didn’t miss anything.
OMG, We loved this!!! It was just as good, if not better than what I have ordered. I followed it exactly except that I substituted 3 tbsp regular soy sauce with 2 tbsp water for the low sodium soy sauce. Thank you so much Natasha.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Silvia!
Hi ! I plan on making this tomorrow, can I use arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch? Thank you! I enjoyed your chicken fried rice recipe.
I haven’t tested that substitution to advise. If you do an experiment, we’d like to know how it goes!
Hi Natasha! Just wondering if you think this recipe would still work with chicken breast instead of thighs. Thanks!
Hi Livia! Yes- it will work, it just will be more dry since chicken breast is leaner.
This recipe is fantastic, but I prefer the version that came before it was updated at some point! I was thought I was going insane when I was mixing the sauce and none of the proportions seemed to match up to the memories of making this recipe dozens of times in the past.
Keep up the amazing cooking, Kitchen Staff!
Thank you for sharing. Glad you like it!