My husband has a “thing” for General Tso’s chicken. A relationship of sorts. On any given day when I’m in the mood for Chinese takeout, sit down Thai, or a Japanese steakhouse, he’s in the mood for … General Tso’s. He rarely goes outside the box and tries anything new because his love for the crispy, saucy chicken dish is so strong. If it’s on the menu, I can’t even sway him into sharing the beef and broccoli, pad thai, or dare I say it: sushi. When I spied Rebecca’s recipe for General Tso’s chicken, I couldn’t wait to make it for dinner knowing fully that he’d flip his lid. The only issue? I knew I’d be making it all the time!
I love making dishes like this at home because I know exactly what is going in them, as opposed to ordering greasy (albeit delicious) takeout in a box. This original recipe came from Food and Wine and it certainly did not disappoint! I have tried a few different versions of General Tso’s over the years and I must say that this ranks up there as my favorite. It’s as simple as can be and doesn’t require ingredients that I not only can’t spell, but can’t even find in my local grocery store. You likely have almost everything on hand!
To start, you need raw sugar (I’m sure you can substitute some regular or brown sugar here), chicken stock, soy sauce, cornstarch, sesame oil, frying oil of your choice (I used canola), chili garlic sauce, ginger, garlic, an egg white, green onions, and chicken. Rebecca’s recipe called for chicken thighs, but I happened to have chicken breasts on hand and was eager to try the recipe with them. It was a success!
Begin by adding the sesame oil, egg white and soy sauce in a bowl.
Whisk in the corn starch. Don’t worry if it gets a little “goopy.” That is exactly what it’s supposed to do!
Cut your chicken into pieces …
Then toss it into the mixture until it’s thoroughly coated. At this time, cover the bowl lightly with plastic wrap and let it sit in a cool, dry place to marinate for about 20 minutes, tossing it once or twice. Now you can also begin to prepare any dishes that you want to serve with your chicken—brown rice and broccoli, in our case.
While the chicken is getting flavorful, whisk together stock, soy sauce, cornstarch, chili garlic sauce and sugar in a bowl until combined. It’s time to make the sauce!
Add the tablespoon of oil to a saucepan. Once it’s hot, add in your garlic and ginger. I actually grated both my garlic and ginger with a microplane as it was easiest for me. If you do this, only cook the garlic and ginger for a minute or so until it’s fragrant. Don’t let them burn!
Add the sauce ingredients to the garlic and ginger, stirring until it becomes thick and shiny.
Once the sauce thickens, lower the heat and keep the sauce partially covered to stay warm.
To begin frying the chicken, heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a large skillet, preferably with higher sides since the oil may splatter a bit.
Add the chicken to the oil one piece at a time, making sure not to crowd the chicken pieces.
Cook until crispy and golden, about 4 minutes per side.
Transfer the chicken to a paper towel-covered plate to drain and continue frying the remaining chicken.
Once all the chicken is cooked and drained, add it directly into the sauce. You can also opt to drizzle or pour the sauce on top of each portion, but I found that adding the chicken to the sauce as the recipe calls for is perfect.
Stir, stir, stir! At this time, you can also add your broccoli or other side dish of choice to the sauce if you wish.
Serve some to your drooling friends and family …
Garnish with sliced green onions and dig in!
I can’t tell you enough how much we absolutely loved this meal. It is in the rotation and doesn’t appear to be leaving anytime soon. I highly recommend it for the General Tso’s Chicken lovers in your house. Thanks so much for the delicious dish Rebecca! Be sure to check out Rebecca’s incredible blog Foodie with Family where she shares all sorts of fabulous ideas from coffee milkshakes to mozzarella sticks. I’m hungry again!
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Description
Sweet and hot, crispy and tender, garlicky, gingery General Tso’s chicken is a mainstay of Chinese buffets and restaurants, but you can make it better, fresher and healthier at home!
Ingredients
- FOR THE CHICKEN:
- 1-½ teaspoon Toasted Sesame Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1 whole Large Egg White
- ¼ cups Plus 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- 1 pound Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
- Canola, Peanut, Or Vegetable Oil For Frying
- FOR THE SAUCE:
- 1 Tablespoon Peanut, Canola Or Vegetable Oil
- 2 cloves Garlic, Peeled And Minced
- 2 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Fresh Ginger Root
- 1 cup Chicken Broth Or Stock
- ¼ cups Soy Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Chinese Chile-garlic Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons Raw (turbinado Or Demerara) Sugar
- FOR SERVING:
- 4 whole Scallions, Thinly Sliced
- Steamed Rice
- Steamed Broccoli
Preparation Instructions
Prep your chicken:
In a mixing bowl, stir together the sesame oil, soy sauce, egg white, and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch until a thick slurry forms. It will look gummy but smooth.
Add the chicken pieces and stir until all are evenly coated. At first it may appear that it will not come together but it does!
Set chicken aside, covered lightly with plastic wrap, at room temperature for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Begin the sauce:
Add the tablespoon of oil to a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat. Stir the garlic and ginger into the oil and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining sauce ingredients until smooth. Pour into the garlic and ginger, stirring, until the sauce becomes thick and shiny. Once the sauce thickens, lower heat and keep the saucepan over a low burner partially covered to stay warm.
To fry the chicken:
Heat 1/2-inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed, high-sided frying pan or skillet over high heat.
When the oil is shimmering, add one piece of chicken at a time, taking care not to crowd the pan. Cook chicken for 4 minutes on each side, or until deep golden brown and crisp on both sides**.
Transfer the fried chicken to a paper towel lined plate and repeat the process until you’ve cooked all the chicken.
Then slide all of the fried chicken into the prepared sauce and toss to coat. (If desired, add some steamed broccoli to coat with the sauce also.) Increase the heat to medium, stir and cook just until hot all the way through.
Sprinkle with sliced scallions and serve immediately over white rice.
**A note: Chicken is a safe food for me. I know that just about anything done to it is going to yield something that is, at the very least, edible. This is especially true of boneless skinless chicken thighs. It’s really hard to mess those up! They stay tender and juicy and it’s very hard indeed to cook them to the point of chicken jerky. Be sure to cook them through, you definitely want that crisp, deep-brown coating to hold up to the sauce!
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Jessica Merchant is a personal trainer turned food writer and blogger. Her blog, How Sweet Eats, is where she proclaims her love for all things sweet, all things bacon, and everything else in between. She works her magic in her Pittsburgh kitchen, which she shares with her husband of 2 years.
50 Comments
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Laura D on 11.5.2011
This was excellent! Do NOT make same mistake as me and use a stainless skillet. Make sure to use NON-stick!!
Skinny Fat Kid on 9.6.2011
I’m not a huge frying fan but can usually get away with a bit of oil and a saute to get a close enough effect. They won’t be crispy and crunchy, but get just enough crisp that it makes it well worth not having to order out!
Will definitely be trying this recipe!
Sandi on 9.5.2011
As always Jessica – you do not disappoint!
Made this tonight and my gf who was over – said’ OMG – This is GOOD!’
I doubled the recipe and if came out perfect!
Served with brown Jasmine rice and fresh broccoli – just as the picture.
So amazingly yummy!!!
This is joining our rotation, for sure!
monika on 9.4.2011
I love chinese food and so does hubby. Off to the store i go to get me cookin this for tomorrow. yum!
sarah c. on 9.4.2011
We just made this for dinner tonight. I followed the recipe exactly. It’s just not that good–I was really bummed. It’s very easy, but it does take a bit to fry the chicken in batches, and after the time it takes to do that I wanted it to taste a lot better than it did. I love General Tso’s, but this does not taste like that. I felt the recipe was missing something….
Amy on 9.4.2011
Looks great!! I’ll definitely try this – I think it’s something both me and my hubs will enjoy!!
Sarah on 9.3.2011
Um, yum! Can’t wait to make it for dinner soon. Great step-by-step pics too!
Reshmi Nair on 9.1.2011
Made this for dinner tonight. Taste was bang on there! Great recipe. But I would agree, the sauce needs a little more cornstarch than said, to make the sauce thicker. And I don’t know if it was just mine, but the chicken splattered a LOT of oil while frying! It was fireworks in my kitchen! Thanks for sharing the recipe
Darlene on 9.1.2011
I made this last night and it turned out great! I was proud of myself for making a recipe with “intermediate” difficuly! Most everything I make has the word “easy” in the tile. Thanks for sharing!
Eva on 9.1.2011
This looks fabulous!! I will be making your recipe for enchiladas soon too!! Thanks for such great recipes.
Deb on 9.1.2011
Made this for dinner last night. It was AWESOME!
Meg Lee on 8.31.2011
Loooooving how EASY this looks! Thanks for highlighting this!!
Karen on 8.31.2011
I made this for dinner last night and it was awesome! I did have to add a bit of cornstarch/water slurry to the sauce to thicken it a bit, but that was my only change to the recipe. I managed to use all four burners of my stovetop, and nearly every pot I own, but my hubby, who does all the cleanup, declared it worth every one! His only negative comment … where’s the shrimp eggroll? Thanks for sharing this delicious and authentic recipe.
Debbie on 8.31.2011
Instead of frying the chicken, I wonder if you could just saute or steam it…
Amy on 8.31.2011
Made this for dinner last night and it was a huge hit with the hubby! I had some problems with my sauce thickening up, I may add a little more corn starch next time.
noodleheadthippi on 8.31.2011
Thanks for the step by step recipe Jessica! Your photos always make me so darn hungry
I’m excited to try this with roasted red chili peppers & sprinkles of sesame seeds..YUM!
Nolita @Morganic on 8.31.2011
We added this to our repertoire last night after getting the stamp of approval from everyone in my family. Very good stuff – thank you for sharing.
P.S. My house still smells like a chinese take out but we’re cool with that.
Heather on 8.31.2011
My husband and I made this last night for dinner and it was fantastic!
We too had a problem with the marinade for the chicken- it seized up and turned to cement. Our second go round- we used one less tablespoon of cornstarch and added one extra egg white and the results were much better.
Since we enjoy ‘spicy’ food- we added a few more tablespoons of the chili-ginger sauce and it was hot, hot, hot- but oh so good!
Overall: loved it!
Jan L on 8.31.2011
Made this vegetarian by using an egg replacement and cauliflower instead of chicken. Learning to think outside the box to replace meat and cauliflower works well to replace the chicken
Mandy M on 8.30.2011
Hubby and I made this recipe together tonight . It was a great time for him and I working together prepping and cooking, we like to work side by side. The recipe, well was out of this world! Hubby describes it as something one would order off the recipe, not on a buffet (that is, any where around here, ). I did have some trouble locating all the ingredients. With my 2nd stop, I was able to find the chili-garlic sauce, but well worth the effort might I add. This sauce wasn’t a hot, the smell made my mouth water! This one is a keeper for sure!
Jane Feebles on 8.30.2011
Dammit, now I’m hungry and it’s 9:30 in the morning! Looks delish
EatLiveRun on 8.30.2011
I can’t believe I’ve never tried this before! Making it this week…thanks!
sarah k @ the pajama chef on 8.30.2011
crazy, i made this a few weeks ago. it is so good! i just sauteed the chicken though as i’m not one to fry my food at home…:)
jlojohnson93 on 8.30.2011
I tried this from Food and Wine the day I received my magazine. I think it is phenomonal. The most true General Tso taste for sure.
Lisa on 8.30.2011
I made this last night and it was great. Every one ate it, even little Miss Picky (who I think lives on air).
It is officially in the rotation
callimakesdo on 8.30.2011
Oooh! I was just looking at this recipe last week and thought it looked wonderful. Thank you for such a lovely step by step. My husband loves General Tso’s too.
Venus on 8.30.2011
Well, that settles it. I know what we are having for dinner tonight. Great recipe, and thank you.
Lizzie B on 8.29.2011
This looks wonderful AND very easy to make it gluten free. Definitely going to try this in the next week.
Lauren Ziegler on 8.29.2011
I made this tonight and my husband and I loved it! The only problem I had was mixing the marinade for the chicken. I just dumped all of the cornstarch in at once and it got so thick, I couldn’t even stir it with a whisk! I added a little more sesame oil and soy sauce, and that helped a little. The chicken pieces were sorta stuck together when I was laying them one by one in the pan to fry (I basically sauteed and they were still golden and lovely!) Any thoughts on how to avoid the thickness so it is mixable?
I will definitely keep this in the rotation! Thanks Jessica!
Ann on 8.29.2011
This looks WAY better than General Tso’s chicken that I get with takeout! GREAT job!
VADEPAN on 8.29.2011
Looks delicious!!!!!
Miriam @ Overtime Cook on 8.29.2011
General Tso is my family’s favorite too- I can’t imagine how wild they would all go over a homemade version! Bookmarked!
-Miriam
Linda M. on 8.29.2011
Oh boy, my son has the same “thing”! I showed him this one & he said it sounds just like he likes. Thank you, I’ve been saved for another birthday dinner recipe!
Judy on 8.29.2011
This looks great and seems fairly easy to make. I love Asian food! My favorite is Sesame Chicken, which I think can be tweaked with this recipe, just by adding some sesame seeds to the chicken at the end. Yummy. I missed your premiere show on the Food channel this weekend, Ree. You and Irene came in at the same time…she was very, very pushy and had a larger presence.
Hopefully, next week I’ll catch it. Thanks for all the great recipes..I thoroughly enjoy your website, I’m certain your Food show will be just as entertaining and enlightening. 
LLG on 8.29.2011
Oh my word. This is going on my meal plan for this week *rummages freezer for chicken thighs*
Does the chicken-thigh version of the recipe require me to debone the meat?
WenDee Riffe on 8.29.2011
mmm~~jessica…looks great as always!!! i love the sauce–so i think i might just give this a try over the weekend!!!MMMM!!!
Amy @ A Little Nosh on 8.29.2011
One day I will be brave enough to fry. Until then, I’ll just salivate over your pictures.
Aileen on 8.29.2011
Oooh, yummy! You know the best part, I think? If you use Tamari soy sauce (not hard to find at my regular grocery store, it’s with the rest of the soy sauce) then this recipe is gluten free!! Awesome!
Michelle on 8.29.2011
My best friend makes wonderful general tso’s, it is the only time I will eat it. This sounds easy – I might just try it for myself!
carly {carlyklock} on 8.29.2011
Thanks for floating this recipe to the top, Jessica! Looks divine.
Barbi on 8.29.2011
This recipe looks awesome! Just a quick question, with those proportions…how spicy is the dish? Half my family loves spicy…but the other aren’t fans (chickens), so I would love to know if I should reduce the chili sauce a bit for them. Thanks!
TiffH on 8.29.2011
I’ve been wanting to make Rebecca’s recipe, however I will have to search for Chili Sauce with garlic, not an easy find in my small town, gonna have to go into the city for that one. Where do you find this?
TC Mullinax on 8.29.2011
Looks delicious!
Does the chicken stay crispy when added directly to the sauce? I was planning on making sweet and sour chicken tonight, but this is “what’s for dinner” now!
Travis Cotton on 8.29.2011
I made sesame chicken over the weekend which is very similar to this. Only the sauce is different. Ill try this for sure.
Im like you I love take out chinese but I prefer to know what’s going in it and I try and limit the MSG my kids eat. Also since I learned how to make some delicious Gyoza I rarely need to visit the takeout.
lauren in arkansas on 8.29.2011
Making this tonight!
Amber on 8.29.2011
We make General Tso’s all the time (it’s on the menu this week)! This one is a little different than the recipe I use, and has a little less sugar – I’m definitely going to give it a try. Thanks!
Heather (Heather's Dish) on 8.29.2011
um, i most definitely have a thing for general tso’s chicken…it’s so addicting!
Jean F on 8.29.2011
*drool*
I loves me some General Tso’s Chicken!!!!
Pass the chopsticks, please….
A. on 8.29.2011
Cook it at home one night, then suggest a take-away the following night and see if your husband is ready to be adventurous when it’s time to order.
Momma Louie on 8.29.2011
Thanks for the recipe…it looks fantastic!!!