General Tso's Chicken | Modernmealmakeover.com (2024)

This homemade General Tso’s Chicken is made with crispy pan fried chicken and coated in a sweet and slightly spicy sauce. A classic take-out dish that’s simple to make at home and tastes even better than your favorite Chinese restaurant.

My family loves Chinese food and I have set out to recreate all of our favorite dishes at home. General Tso’s Chicken is one of my favorite dishes to order at our local Chinese restaurant. I love the crispy chicken pieces coated in a sweet and slightly spicy sauce. This recipe is simple, tastes delicious, and was a huge hit with my husband and kids. If you love this Chinese chicken recipe, you are going to love our Homemade Orange Chicken, Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowl, and our Asian Glazed Meatballs

Ingredients for Generals chicken

• CRISPY CHICKEN
• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts: I like to use chicken breasts, but you can use chicken thighs if you prefer. Just make note that the cooking time will be longer.
• All Purpose Flour: A light coating of flour will make the chicken crispy when fried.
• Cornstarch: Pairing cornstarch with flour helps prevent gluten from developing which will make the flour coating crispier.
• Salt: Add more or less to your taste.
• Black Pepper: Add more or less to your taste.
• Egg Whites: Coating chicken in egg whites will help the flour and cornstarch mixture to stick better and form a more stable crust.
• Vegetable Oil: I prefer to use vegetable oil when frying.
• GENERAL TSO’S SAUCE
• Hoisin Sauce: Is a thick sauce commonly used in Asian dishes. It has a dark appearance and is sweet and salty in flavor.
• Rice Vinegar: Is commonly used in Asian dishes.
• Soy Sauce: I prefer to use low sodium soy sauce in my recipes to keep the salt content lower.
• Brown Sugar: Mixed with soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic, brown sugar adds just enough sweetness to balance the salt.
• Minced Garlic: I like to use the minced garlic in a jar. It’s easy to measure out and have on hand.
• Ground Ginger: I like to use ground ginger, but you can also use fresh ginger.
• Red Pepper Flakes: Red pepper flakes will add a little spice to your dish. Add more or less to taste.
• Cornstarch: By adding cornstarch to your sauce before cooking, it will allow the sauce to thicken.

How to make General Tso’s Chicken

• Prepare Sauce: In a medium size mixing bowl whisk together hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, minced garlic, ground ginger, red pepper flakes, and 2 tsp. cornstarch. Set aside.
• Prepare Breading: In a large ziplock bag combine flour, 3/4 cup cornstarch, salt and pepper. Shake the bag to mix the ingredients well.
• Coat Chicken In Egg Whites: In a medium size mixing bowl add cubed chicken and beaten egg whites. Give the chicken a good toss to coat it evenly.

• Prepare Skillet: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1/2 cup of oil.
• Bread Chicken: With a large slotted spoon scoop up chicken pieces and allow egg whites to drip off, then drop chicken into ziplock bag. Shake chicken until evenly coated.
• Pan Fry Chicken: Once oil is hot fry the chicken in batches (don’t overly crowd) until golden brown and chicken is cooked through. Remove fried chicken and place on a sheet pan covered in paper towels.
• Add Sauce: Once all the chicken has been fried, wipe skillet out with a paper towel to remove excess oil. Pour Sauce into skillet and simmer until it starts to thicken. Add Chicken to the skillet and toss to coat all the chicken evenly in the sauce.

• Serve: Serve immediately with white or brown rice and garnish with green onions.

Do I have to bread and pan fry the chicken?

No, you do not have to prepare crispy chicken by pan frying it. If you prefer a healthier version of this recipe, simply add 2 Tbsp. oil to a hot skillet and add cubed chicken. Cook Chicken breasts until brown and cooked through. Add the sauce to the skillet with cooked chicken pieces and simmer until sauce has thickened. Serve immediately with white or brown rice.

Tips for making General Tso’s Chicken

• Pan fry chicken in batches to prevent chicken from sticking or clumping together.
• To increase the spiciness of the chicken feel free to add more red pepper flakes, or you can add whole dried red chili peppers to your skillet.
• I would recommend serving this chicken immediately, as the coating will absorb the sauce and can become soft.

Have you tried this recipe?

RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience. Getting feedback from you helps me and other readers too!

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Other favorite recipes

• Best Teriyaki Chicken Casserole
• Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
• Asian Glazed Meatballs
• Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken

18 Comments

1. Dannii

   December 3, 2020 at 12:27 pm ·Reply

   
   We are always looking for new ways to use chicken and the flavours in this look amazing.

   • Shanna

     December 3, 2020 at 12:34 pm ·Reply

     It has such good flavor. I would love to know what you think after you try it.

2. Angela

   December 3, 2020 at 12:59 pm ·Reply

   
   I had never made this at home before. The sauce was so easy and delicious!

   • Shanna

     December 3, 2020 at 1:17 pm ·Reply

     I am so glad that you liked it.

3. Tara

   December 3, 2020 at 1:00 pm ·Reply

   
   Oh yum! Love all these flavors and that sauce looks absolutely amazing. What a delicious meal at home.

   • Shanna

     December 3, 2020 at 1:18 pm ·Reply

     See Also

     Bacon Roasted Potatoes Recipe

     It is definitely a family favorite.

4. Traci

   December 3, 2020 at 1:18 pm ·Reply

   
   Absolutely loving how easy this recipe is. Always delicious too! Thanks for another winner 🙂

   • Shanna

     December 4, 2020 at 11:54 am ·Reply

     I am happy to share!

5. Virya

   June 21, 2021 at 4:39 am ·Reply

   
   hi.. I’m interested in your recipe.. but I’m in Indonesia [country] in terms of chicken breast fillet, it’s difficult to get the standard scale, how many Ozs / pcs chicken breast fillet.
   Please explain in the recipe for 3-4 Pcs of chicken breast fillet, estimate how many Ozs or Grams.
   Thank you

6. Virya

   June 21, 2021 at 5:30 am ·Reply

   
   hi.. I’m interested in your recipe.. but I’m in Indonesia [country] in terms of chicken breast fillet, it’s difficult to get the standard scale, how many Ozs / pcs chicken breast fillet.
   Please explain in the recipe for 3-4 Pcs of chicken breast fillet, estimate how many Ozs or Grams.
   And You use 1/4 Cup of brown sugar liquid or granules
   Thank you

   • April King

     June 21, 2021 at 1:58 pm ·Reply

     You will need about 2 lbs. of chicken which is 3-4 pieces of boneless skinless chicken breasts. The recipe also calls for 1/4 cup of brown sugar granules. I hope this helps.

7. Vijaya

   August 7, 2021 at 10:22 am ·Reply

   I tried the recipe but it turned out too sweet. What can i do to reduce the sweetness

   • April King

     August 8, 2021 at 1:21 pm ·Reply

     You can reduce the brown sugar to 1/8 of a cup or omit it all together.

8. Cathy neary

   December 26, 2021 at 2:43 pm ·Reply

   Hi. Sounds amazing but just wondering if you can pre prepare this and reheat it ?

   • April King

     December 26, 2021 at 6:41 pm ·Reply

     You can prepare this ahead, but the chicken won’t be as crispy as it would be if it was served right after prepareing.

9. Janice

   December 22, 2022 at 8:09 pm ·Reply

   
   This was absolutely delicious. It was better than any general’s chicken we’ve had in a restaurant. The only change I made was sprinkling quite a few green onions on the top for color. Lovely

   • April King

     December 27, 2022 at 6:08 pm ·Reply

     Glad you love it.

10. Shannon

    March 27, 2023 at 7:33 pm ·Reply

    
    I’ve made this recipe so many times and it’s always a smash hit. I like to make a little extra sauce and add the veggies at the end with the finished chicken. Chef’s kiss and two thumbs up!