General Tso’s Chicken
This homemade version of General Tso’s Chicken is the closest recreation I’ve ever found! If this is one of your favorites when you order Chinese takeout, you HAVE to try it at home!
It wasn’t until I started dating my husband that I really started to fall in love with Asian cuisine. He introduced me to Thai, sushi, and amazing Chinese takeout. Most college kids rely on Chinese take out to get them through cram sessions and heartache, but I was always more of a pizza girl. I leaned on Domino’s and the local favorites.
I, of course, had tried Chinese before, but was never crazy about it. All of that changed when I started spending time at my husband’s place on the weekends. When he first mentioned ordering Chinese and I said that I had never found something I really liked, he said I had to get General Tso’s, and that I would love it. He knows me all too well, because I absolutely adored it. Between the crunchy, battered chicken, the thick sauce, and the generous amount of spice, I was completely smitten. It soon became my favorite take out option, and I found myself craving it.
We had talked about trying to make it at home, but it took me a long time to find a recipe that I thought sounded authentic enough. This one absolutely nails it, and we both love, love, love it.
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I was most worried about the chicken breading having that characteristic thick, crunchy coating that is so typical of General Tso’s. That was definitely achieved, thanks to including just a little bit of the marinade in the dry batter ingredients. Genius! Everything else came together perfectly. As I cooked the sauce, I couldn’t believe how absolutely identical it smelled to the General Tso’s sauce I have come to know and love. Once everything was finished and we dug in, we hardly spoke a word, except to grunt and groan about how phenomenal the food was. And how much it really did taste like General Tso’s chicken.
I like to serve this with simple white jasmine rice and steamed broccoli to replicate the takeout experience, and it’s absolutely delicious. If you’ve never used jasmine rice, you have to give it a try! The first time I made it, my husband asked what I did differently to the rice (nothing!) because it tasted so much better than “regular” rice.
This is significantly easier than you might think and doesn’t involve too much prep time, so if you have a hankering for General Tso’s chicken and want to give it a try yourself, you cannot go wrong with this recipe!
One year ago: Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles
Four years ago: Peach Crumble Pie
Five years ago: Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars
General Tso's Chicken
Ingredients
For the Marinade & Sauce:
- ½ cup (137.5 ml) hoisin sauce
- ¼ cup (63.75 ml) white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1½ cups (375 ml) water
- 1½ pounds (680.39 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) crushed red pepper flakes
For Coating & Frying:
- 3 egg whites
- 1½ cups (192 g) cornstarch
- ½ cup (62.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- 4 cups (872 ml) vegetable oil
- 1-2 (1) green onions, thinly sliced (optional, garnish)
Instructions
- Make the Marinade: Whisk the hoisin sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, and water in a bowl. Of this mixture, place 6 tablespoons into a zip lock storage bag and add the chicken; seal and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Set aside the remaining marinade in the bowl.
- Make the Sauce: While the chicken is chilling in the marinade, heat the 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Sauté the garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes until fragrant. Add 2 cups of the hoisin marinade to the skillet and simmer, whisking constantly, until the mixture is dark brown and thickened. Remove from heat and cover to keep the sauce warm.
- Prepare the Coatings: Whisk the egg whites in a shallow dish until foamy; set aside. Combine the cornstarch, flour, baking soda, and remaining hoisin marinade in a second shallow dish; mix until it resembles coarse meal.
- Prepare the Chicken: Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and from the marinade. Pat the marinated chicken dry with paper towels. Toss half the chicken into the foamy egg whites until well coated, then dredge the chicken in the cornstarch mixture, pressing to adhere. Transfer the coated chicken to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken.
- Cook the Chicken: Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat until the oil registers 350 degrees. Fry half the chicken until golden brown, about 3 minutes, turning each piece halfway through cooking. Transfer the cooked chicken onto a paper towel lined plate to drain. Return the oil to 350 degrees before frying again. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
- Finish: Warm the sauce over medium heat until simmering. Turn off the heat and add the fried chicken pieces. Toss to coat and serve with sliced green onions to garnish, as well. White jasmine rice and steamed broccoli are favorite sides here!
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This recipe was originally published on April 16, 2012.
We make a version of this, and it is SO good! Sure beats take out.
I live 1 hour from any chinese take-out so I’m excited to see this. I made GSC before but this recipe looks better, thanks!
The recipe looks yummy! I’ve nominated you for The Versatile Blogger Award – http://www.yummyinspirations.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/breakfast-in-jar-versatile-blogger.html
I need a piece of that right now!! It looks AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING!!!
This is so much my go to order when it comes to Chinese food. I need to give making my own a shot.
I adore General Tsos! There’s a local restaurant that throws in fresh jalapeno slices in the sauce to simmer. It’s out-of-this-world hot. And completely awesome.
thanks for this recipe and not for the suspected reason (though it DOES look delicious and I may try it when my younger son isn’t home).
GINGER! *smacks forehead* I bet that’s what causes his mysterious allergic reactions! But ….. (sorry, on a tangent here), I wouldn’t think there was Ginger in sesame seeded breads or Goldfish crackers. Can you by any chance email me what ingredients are in the hoisin sauce?
Hi Jenn, I think the ingredients vary by brand – when shopping the Asian aisle at the grocery store and comparing them, some sauces had plums, while some had molasses. They weren’t completely consistent. I already used up my jar and threw it away, or I would have included the ingredients for you. I would take a spin through the international aisle and pick up a couple of jars and check out the ingredients.
i love asian! this looks awesome. i’m so hungry now.
This is one of my favorite Chinese dishes. I can’t wait to try this. Thanks!
Can’t wait to make it-ooooh, ahhhhh!
General Tso’s has never looked so mouth watering! Amazing!
I can’t wait to try this, thank you.
Looks and sounds delicious. Love the crispy, sweet and spicy hot combination.
I was one of those college kids that ate a lot of Chinese food but lost a lot of my taste for it over the years due to poor quality. The idea of making it at home is much more appealing. :)
My BF loves General Tso’s chicken but has been a little disappointed the last few times he ordered it out. It has put me on the mission to find a great at home recipe for it. This one looks like a winner.
I’m pretty sure I could eat General Tos’s chicken every single day. I have a few go-to recipes but somehow I missed this one from CI. I need to make it happen asap, it looks awesome!!
We haven’t found a great Chinese place since moving almost a year ago and I’ve been missing my General Tso’s! I can’t wait to try this!
I love General-tso chicken! Love this recipe! I can see adding Rooster Sauce on it! Oh man, I’m hungry now!
This is one of my favorites!!
How spicy hot is this? For a mild version, would I just use 1/4 tsp of crushed pepper flakes?
Um – looking at a recipe for Hoisan sauce – that’s where the main heat comes from. Maybe I could just make a milder version of hoisan sauce. I’ll play with it and see how it works out. I loveeeeeeeeee General Chicken.
Hi Georgia, The hoisin sauce that I used didn’t really have any spice, it was sweeter. I would check some different brands and read the labels – mine didn’t have anything spicy in it. I would say on a scale from 1 to 10, this was probably a 3 or a 4 on the spicy meter. If you don’t like spicy, I would reduce or omit the red pepper flakes.
Ok – I’ll read labels on the ready to buy hoisan sauce. When I googled hoisan sauce, the recipes had peppers/sauces in the sauce to make it hot. I once told PF Chang’s that I wanted mild Gen Chicken and it was almost white with just a tinge of specks of red.
Thanks for responding.
I don’t care about it’s authenticity, I love general Tso’s and this one looks great.
This will be making an appearance on our menu very, very soon. It looks absolutely amazing!
Tso chicken is one of my favorite dishes, but I have never tried making it at home, this is my opportunity now since it doesn’t sound complicated!
I love Asian dishes but for some reason have always shied away from trying to create them at home. General Tso’s is one of my favorites!
I have never had General Tso’s Chicken before, but now I guess I won’t have to, since this recipe looks so delicious! Can’t wait to make this!
This recipe sounds great, I can’t wait to try it. Do you have any recommendations for what to serve with it? Rice for sure, but I always feel a little bad for making a meal that’s all carbs and protein and no vegetables. Any suggestions for a suitable vegetable side-dish?
Hi Jen, I have most often seen broccoli with General Tso’s. I would steam it and then toss it right into the sauce (or serve alongside).
Wow! Thanks so much for sharing this because most recipes that I have seen appear as though the sauce is very sweet, this one looks spot on to the one that I have always had. Very excited to make this!
Wow, this is the fist recipe I’ve seen that actually visually looks like what my wife loves so much. On the to-do list!
Ohh man does this look good. I love Asian food! I have never tried making it because I always thought homemade could never compare to take-out. Might have to give this one a whirl…
General Tso’s Chicken is definitely a favorite of mine. I’ve made several versions, but never a deep-fried version. I try to be a healthy person most of the time but I am definitely going to splurge a bit and deep fry these babies!