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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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.
- Veggie 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 corn starch
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
Hi! I’m Natasha Kravchuk, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, food photographer, and writer. Here you’ll find delicious, reliable recipes made with simple ingredients, plus easy step-by-step photos and videos to help you cook confidently at home. 
I Love all yr cooking but this dish has way too much sugar 6 tablespoons I’ll make again with only 1 Its way too sweet
Not a beginner recipe, haven’t even eaten it yet and I know it’s not going to be right. coating is completely off the chicken as I obviously did not cook it right since there were no directions on how to prevent this 🙁
Hi Kari! I’m happy to help troubleshoot. You may try patting dry the chicken with a paper towel to remove excess moisture so that the cornstarch coating sticks well. Also, be sure to use a good quality non-stick skillet so it doesn’t stick, and allow your skillet with oil to fully preheat before placing the chicken. Allow the chicken to cook and get golden, only turn them as needed, if you handle them too much, the coating tends to fall off. I hope that helps.
WAY too much vinegar. Was so excited for this but as soon as I tasted it I couldn’t even eat it. I simmered the sauce and everything. Awful. 🙁
Waaaay too much vinegar. It’s almost all I could taste. Used leg meat as indicated since it can’t overcook like breast. In my opinion cut the vinegar in half or even third and the rest is fine (it does make a lot of sauce). I used a wok to make it so I could use less oil to make the chicken.
Hi Jonathan. I’m sorry to hear that. Make sure it’s not wine vinegar, we used Rice vinegar. Also, it’s very important to let the sauce come to a simmer. You can even cook it slightly longer if you prefer a more toned-down vinegar flavor but using less vinegar should help as well.
I swear this recipe used to be different and better…anyway, the comment’s are right, it’s too much rice vinegar. Also, too much sauce in general.
It’s too much vinegar indeed but the extra sauce is good for leftover to put on rice or just with another batch of chicken ( you don’t need to make the sauce again so it saves time)
Family favorite! I do add a little more heat with some Sriracha sauce and top it with some sliced green onion. And of course, some egg fried rice to go.
Sounds great! Thanks for the comments and feedback, glad to know that this is one of your favorite recipes at home!
OMG so enjoyed this recipe!!! Actually had ordered Chinese food from our favourite restaurant. Had lots of rice and noodles left over so wanted to make a chicken dish to pair up. We order General Tso chicken from Mandarin, but to tell you the truth the taste is great but the quality of chicken meat is garbage. We prefer breast meat. I saw this recipe, used breast meat and prepared and was soooo good! Sauce was great and every bit as tasty as the Mandarin and just loved that the meat was all white breast meat. Will definitely prepare again and will make our own home Chinese food as done ordering expensive rice and noodles.
Hello Donna, thanks for sharing your experience making this recipe. So happy to hear that you enjoyed it!
Love all of your recipes! I’d like to try this but I can’t use store bought hoison sauce because my husband can’t have moden wheat. Any homemade hoision sauce recipe suggestions?
Hi Crystal! I do not have a recipe for homemade hoisin sauce! You may be able to find a gluten-free version of hoison sauce at the store. Most likely at a whole foods store if not your local grocery store. Another possible alternative could be Tamari sauce..
It’s was a bit heavy with vinegar flavor added some sweet Thai chili sauce to help balance it out. Next time we will use less vinegar and add big chunks of onion and green bell pepper
I use Mr Yoshida’s sweet teraki mainade & cooking sauce, simmer, then add mixed 1/4 cup water and 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Add to simmering sauce and mix while boiling for 2 minutes.
Thanks for sharing, Lawrence! 🙂
Are there appropriate substitutions for the corn starch and soy sauce? Member of my household has extreme allergies to corn and soy.
Hi Joni! I think you could use flour instead of cornstarch and liquid or coconut aminos in place of soy.
Followed the recipe exactly, and it just wasn’t that good. I have used other General Tao recipes in the past that were more taste. It was overly thick with too much cornstarch and very strong.
This is my grandsons favorite dish. I made it today and we both loved it. We like spicy so I increased the amount of red pepper flakes. It was awesome. So quick and easy to make. We will probably have this again very soon.
That’s wonderful! Thank you for the review. I’m so glad it was enjoyed.
Awesome This was so easy to prepare and it taste much better than any carry out. This will be my go to recipe
I’m so glad you loved it! Thanks for the good feedback.
I made this dish today along with Lo mein, it was delicious. I only used two tables spoons of reg vinegar as it was all that I had in my pantry. i gave 4 stars because it was great!, I suggest tasting your sauce along the way and adjust the ingredients to taste. I mean we all know what it suppose to taste like. To see the pictures of my dish @monikastable on instagram
Why didn’t I read the comments before making this.? Way too sour and YES I used rice wine vinegar. Shame!
I don’t recall seeing anyone else say it was too sour – I wonder if maybe you used a different product? Here is the rice vinegar (affiliate link) that works well for this recipe. Make sure it’s not a wine vinegar and also it’s very important to make sure the sauce comes to a simmer. You can even cook it slightly longer if you prefer a more toned down vinegar flavor.
Followed the recipe exactly and if I could give zero stars I would. Six tablespoons of rice vinegar is TOO MUCH. All you can taste is an overpowering vinegar, sour taste. Two tablespoons would have been more than enough. I was trying to find a recipe like takeout and this one doesn’t come even close to that. I threw the leftovers out.
HI Sharon, I don’t recall seeing anyone else say it was too sour – I wonder if maybe you used a different product? Here is the rice vinegar (affiliate link) that works well for this recipe. Make sure it’s not a wine vinegar and also it’s very important to make sure the sauce comes to a simmer. You can even cook it slightly longer if you prefer a more toned down vinegar flavor.
Delicious! Added peanuts and cooked the white part of green onions with the ginger/garlic. Makes a lot of sauce but better too much than not enough!
Hi Jennifer! That’s great. So glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Too sweet. Had to counter with salt and hot sauce just to make it edible. Wasn’t bad after that, but wouldn’t make again personally.
Way to much vinegar im my opinion. Nobody ate it. Suggestion would be to add 1 tabs instead of 6.
Hi Chrissey! Yes, you can decrease the vinegar and that will help. Did you by chance use another type of vinegar and not rice vinegar? If so, this could have been the reason as well. One of my other readers used white vinegar but reduced it to 3tbsp and had good results.
It’s very good. I think it’s important to taste the sauce first just to make it fit your own preferences. Just because this recipe might not be perfect for everyone it’s meant to be played around with to make it suit everyone’s needs.
Thank you for the excellent feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe.