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General Tso's Chicken - Deep-fried chicken in a sweet, savory and spicy General Tso's sauce. This recipe tastes like the best Chinese restaurants.
Chinese General Tso’s Chicken
General Tso’s Chicken (also called General Tso Chicken) is one of the most popular Chinese recipes and most ordered chicken dish in Chinese restaurants in the United States.
It’s made of battered and deep-fried chicken in a sweet, savory, and spicy General Tso’s sauce. It’s served at Chinese restaurants, buffets, and as a popular Chinese takeout item.
Many don’t even dare to ask “How to make General Tso’s Chicken?” because they assume that it’s difficult. But the good news is that it’s very easy to make at home.
Who Is General Tso
There was was a brave Chinese general by the name of General Tso (Zuo Zongtang 左宗棠) but the dish was invented by another chef. Learn more about the history and origin of the dish.
Secret Ingredients
The authentic recipe of General Tso’s chicken always calls for the following ingredients:
- Soy sauce. Use a good quality soy sauce.
- Dark soy sauce lends nice dark brown color to the dish.
- Chinese rice vinegar plays a vital role in lending the bold vinegary note to the sauce.
- Hoisin Sauce is the secret ingredient.
- Dried red chilies—an important ingredient in Hunan cooking, making the chicken and the sauce mildly spicy.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
How To Make General Tso’s Chicken
To make this chicken, you will need chicken meat – I prefer chicken breasts. Cut the chicken into cubes and coat the chicken generously with corn starch. Deep fry the chicken until they turn light to golden brown.
Next, stir fry the minced ginger, garlic, and dried chilies and pour the sauce and cook until the sauce thickens.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is only 398 calories per serving.
What To Serve With This Recipe
For a wholesome Chinese meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Other Recipes You Might Like
General Tso’s Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 oz (280g) boneless skinless chicken meat, thigh or breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- oil , for deep frying
- 1 1/2 tablespoons oil
- 3 slices ginger, peeled, finely minced
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 4-5 dried red chilies, rinsed and seeded
- 2 stalks scallion, white-part only, cut into 1-inch (2.5cm) lengths
Sauce:
- 2 1/2 – 3 tablespoons Chinese rice vinegar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon Shaoxing Wine
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken with Shaoxing wine and salt for 15 minutes. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and set aside.
- Coat the chicken generously with 1/3 cup cornstarch. Heat the oil for deep-frying. Fry the chicken until it turns light brown. Remove with a strainer, and drain the excess oil by placing the chicken on a dish lined with paper towels.
- Heat a wok with 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil. Add the minced ginger, garlic, and dried chilies, and stir-fry until you smell the spicy aroma of the chilies. Pour the sauce into the wok.
- When the sauce boils and thickens, add the chicken and stir to combine well with the sauce. Add the scallions and stir a few times. Dish out and serve immediately.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe sounds wonderful, but I am unable to find Shaoxing wine in our small town. What would you recommend as a substitute?
Skip or use sherry.
Sherry works well as a substitute
What do you mean by 3 slices of ginger, is that a measurement like tablespoons? You say 3 slices minced but I am unsure how to measure the ginger root in slices. I am very excited to try this but without the wine and adding a bit more spice.
Ginger root, peeled, and cut into 3 thin lices. In Chinese cooking, we used a lot of ginger slices.
You can buy the minced ginger in the stores that’s what I use.
Yet again another great recipe made this for my family this evening and they loved it doubled the sauce up and used fresh chilli’s but it was amazing you do have some fantastic recipes
Thanks please try more recipes!
Hi, Bee. It is okay if I omit the Shaoxing wine and Chinese rice vinegar?
Yes.
simply amazing
Hi Bee, greetings from a U.K. expat in Cyprus. Love the recipes, and use them regularly. Just one question, can I use fresh chillis instead of dried ones? Or is there a reason for the dried?
Yes you can use fresh chilies. Dried chilies are spicier and adds “dry heat” to the sauce and chicken. It’s different.
Made it last night. It was wonderful & delicious.
I Love, Love, Love this recipe! I also doubled the sauce and it was perfect to add with the sticky rice! I live on the small Caribbean Island of Roatan and you can not get Chinese food here so I started making my own all with your help! I have made your Wantons, Crab Rangoon and your fried rice! All AMAZING, I have shared your recipes with all my friends here and you have made us all extremely happy! I had to make a few adjustments to the recipe because there were just a few things I couldn’t get here! I used crushed dried red pepper flakes and powdered ginger. Still worked out amazing, I can’t wait to try more of your recipes! Thank you so much!
I just Love, Love, Love this recipe! I live in the Caribbean on a small island called Roatan and you can’t get take out or any type of Chinese food here. So I started making my own with a few changes.. I use crushed dry red peppers instead of the chilies and ground powdered ginger because I can’t get the others here. I doubled the recipe and it was just enough! I will add steamed broccoli next time. I can’t wait to try others, I have made your wantons, crab Rangoon’s and fried rice! I Love them all just as much!! I have shared your pages with all my friends on the island and you have brought us all great Joy! I can’t thank you enough!!
Hello, thank you for a wonderful recipe. Since I served with extra vegetables, I doubled the sauce. My entire family devoured it. Even the picky eater. Thank you for a well balanced supper.
Thanks for trying my recipe. Please try more recipes on my site: https://www.666630.xyz/recipe-index-gallery/
Came out great! None of my local places make a decent version, and this was awesome( I have been searching for a few years).
I also added mushrooms and quadrupled the sauce. Delicious!
Hi Tony, thanks for trying my General Tso’s chicken recipe. All my recipes are delicious and easy, please check them out: https://www.666630.xyz/recipe-index-gallery/