Sticky, saucy, and super crispy, you’ll love this General Tso’s Chicken recipe. This take-out favorite is super easy to make at home and will be done by the time it takes for it to be delivered from your favorite restaurant!
A thick sauce loaded with flavor, sweet with a slightly spicy kick, your family is going to love this homemade General Tso’s Chicken. It’s one of our favorite take-out recipes and making it at home could not be easier. I know there’s always concern about making chicken crispy enough to mimic the restaurant’s but I’m here to walk you through it!
Want more easy take-out style recipes? Try my Easy Orange Chicken Recipe or my Spicy Teriyaki Chicken with Broccoli.
Why You’ll Love This General Tso’s Chicken Recipe
- It’s so delicious. The sweet but spicy sauce overtop crispy chicken? Sign me up! It’s a household favorite for a reason.
- It’s quick. You won’t believe that you’ll make this easy General Tso’s chicken recipe in 30 minutes. It’s perfect for dinner on a busy weeknight.
- It’s healthier than take out. You know exactly what is going into this recipe and can skip extra added sugars. Plus you can whip up some extra vegetables to coat in the sauce as well.
What You’ll Need
For the Chicken
- Chicken tenderloins — cubed
- Corn flour
- Seasoning: paprika, black pepper, salt
- Flour
- Oil
General TSO’s Sauce
- Chicken broth — use low sodium chicken broth to avoid the sauce being too salty
- Chili in oil
- Go Chu Jang Chili sauce
- Soy sauce — again, use low sodium soy sauce
- Hoisin sauce
- Brown sugar
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Rice vinegar
- Corn starch
- Spanish paprika — optional to add color to the sauce
- Vegetable oil
Garnish
- Whole dry chili pepper pods
- Green onion
- Toasted sesame seeds
How To Make General Tso’s Chicken at Home
- Coat the chicken: In a bowl, toss the chicken cubes, flour, and salt together to coat well. Shake off any excess flour before frying.
- Fry the chicken: In a large frying pot, heat 3 inches deep of frying oil on medium-high heat and cook for about 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Line on paper towel to drain excess oil.
- Prepare the sauce: In a cup, mix together all the sauce ingredients except for the vegetable oil. In a large skillet over medium heat, add 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil and sauté the garlic and chili flakes together for about 30 seconds.
- Simmer: Add in the sauce and simmer on medium-low heat to cook the sauce until it thickens. Mix periodically so the sauce doesn’t stick or clump up.
- Coat the chicken with sauce: Once the sauce simmers and thickens up, add in the chicken to coat well with the sauce. Add in the dry chili peppers and green onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes and remove from the heat. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve.
Recipe Variations
- Chicken: you are welcomed to swap the chicken tenderloin for chicken thighs or breasts if you’d prefer.
- Go Chu Jang: if you cannot find go chu jang sauce, you can substitute with sriracha sauce.
- Make it more spicy: if you want it more spicy, you can add more chili flakes.
Tips and Notes
- Do not over cook the chicken or else it will become chewy. 3 to 4 minutes at the most as they’re diced into small bite sized pieces.
- Make sure you shake off the excessive flour before frying or you’ll get a bunch of burnt flour floating around in the oil, adding in a burnt flavor to the oil!
- Heat oil to medium-high heat, not high heat or temperature at around 380F for the chicken to fully cook and brown fast at the same time. Too high and the outside will burn while the inside isn’t cooked through.
- Avoid adding too much chicken into the oil as once as pieces will end up clumping together.
- A Dutch oven is great for frying this General Tso’s chicken as it holds the oil’s temperature well.
- Taste to adjust the salt before adding in the chicken to the sauce.
FAQs
Peanut oil, vegetable oil, and canola oil are ideal for frying food because of their high smoke points. You don’t want to use an oil that has a low smoke point as it’ll overheat.
This crispy General Tso’s chicken recipe is best to be eaten immediately as the sauce gets absorbed into the chicken’s coating and will lose its crispness over time. While leftovers will taste great, the chicken won’t have the same crunch to them.
Store any leftover chicken in airtight containers in the fridge and eat the rest as soon as you can. When reheating, you can help crisp it back up if you place it in the toaster oven or air fryer.
What Can I Serve With General Tso’s Chicken?
This chicken recipe is great with white or brown rice, you can also amp it up further with all kinds of yummy sides, here’s some ideas:
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Easy General Tso’s Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 lbs. chicken tenderloins cubed
- 1 tbsps. corn flour
- 1 tsp. paprika
- ¾ tsp. black pepper freshly cracked
- ¼ cup flour
- ⅔ tsp. salt
- Oil for frying
The Sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth low sodium
- 1 tsp chili in oil or more to taste
- 3-4 tbsps. Go Chu Jang Chili sauce
- ¼ cup soy sauce low sodium
- ¼ cup hoisin sauce
- 3 tbsps. brown sugar
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp. fresh ginger grated
- 2 tbsps. rice vinegar
- 2 tbsps. corn starch
- ½ tps. Spanish paprika optional to add color to the sauce
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil to sauté the garlic
Other
- 4-6 whole dry chili pepper pods seeds removed and cut into smaller pieces
- 4 stalks green onion sliced into 1 inch pieces
- 1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds for garnishing
Instructions
- In a bowl, toss the chicken cubes, flour, and salt together to coat well. Shake off any excess flour before frying.
- In a large frying pot, heat 3 inches deep of frying oil on medium-high heat and cook for about 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Do them in two batches if needed and do not over crowd the pan. Line a sheet pan with paper towel to transfer the fried chicken onto it to drain all excess oils.
- Prepare the sauce while the chicken is cooking.
- In a cup, mix together all the sauce ingredients except for the vegetable oil.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil and sauté the garlic and chili flakes together for about 30 seconds.
- Add in the sauce and simmer on medium-low heat to cook the sauce until it thickens. Mix periodically so the sauce doesn't stick or clump up.
- Once the sauce simmers and thickens up, add in the chicken to coat well with the sauce. Add in the dry chili peppers and green onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes and remove from the heat. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve.
Video
Notes
- Do not over cook the chicken or else it will become chewy. 3 to 4 minutes at the most as they’re diced into small bite sized pieces.
- Make sure you shake off the excessive flour before frying or you’ll get a bunch of burnt flour floating around in the oil, adding in a burnt flavor to the oil!
- Heat oil to medium-high heat, not high heat or temperature at around 380F for the chicken to fully cook and brown fast at the same time. Too high and the outside will burn while the inside isn’t cooked through.
- Avoid adding too much chicken into the oil as once as pieces will end up clumping together.
- A Dutch oven is great for frying chicken in as it holds the oil’s temperature well.
- Taste to adjust the salt before adding in the chicken to the sauce.
I love this dish it’s easy and fast to Prepare
Hi James,
Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe.