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This General Tso’s Chicken Recipe is a crowd favorite! Save money on takeout with this Chinese restaurant style chicken. Crispy, sweet, and slightly spicy.
Homemade General Tso’s Chicken
This General Tso’s Chicken is near and dear to my heart. It’s actually the first meal my husband, Jared, ever made for me back when we were dating. How lucky am I to have a husband that loves to cook and makes a great chef! With a recipe as good and easy as this, you won’t ever have to, or want to, order-out for Chinese food again. Jared actually worked for a Chinese take-out restaurant when he was in high school. He learned how to make a bunch of the dishes, so keep a look out for some of his recipes when you are browsing Favorite Family Recipes. General Tso’s Chicken was his favorite to make and to eat when he worked there.
What is General Tso’s Chicken?
This dish is named for Chinese military general Zuo Zontang, or General Tso, from the Hunan Province in China. Famous Chinese Chef Peng Chang-kuei is said to have made this chicken dish in his honor. Since then it has been somewhat Americanized but still tastes delicious! Crisp, lightly fried pieces of chicken are soaked in a sweet and spicy sauce mixture and generally served over rice. The sweet and spicy flavors blend beautifully in the pan as you cook it and taste even better as leftovers the next day!
How do you pronounce “Tso?”
Some people aren’t quite sure how to pronounce “General Tso.” Some say “General Cho”, others I have heard say “General Sow,” or even “General Toes.” I have always pronounced it “General Soh”, but Jared has always called it “General Chow.” I always thought he was way off but I have come to find out he is technically right. At the Chinese restaurant where he worked, it was pronounced “Chow” and the owners of the restaurant assured him that this is the correct way of saying it. There is the Americanized way of saying and the correct Chinese way of saying it, which is indeed “Chow.” No matter how you say it, people will figure out what you are trying to say sooner or later!
Additions and Substitutions
- We love cooking this dish up with a bowl of our Restaurant Ham Fried Rice and some steamed veggies on the side.
- Add sesame seeds or some scallions on top for extra texture and garnish.
- You can also add pineapple, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower or other veggies right in with the chicken to make it go further.
- It is also delicious to add bell peppers or chili peppers in with the chicken. Do what you think your family would like best!
- Add a tbsp or two of hoisin sauce for a deeper color and flavor in the sauce.
- For more of a kick, add a bit more cayenne pepper or even a shake or two of hot sauce. By the same token, if you want it less spicy, only add a bit of cayenne.
- Toss in a dash of rice wine vinegar, rice vinegar or Chinese rice wine for extra flavor.
How to Fry chicken for this recipe
Getting the perfect fried chicken for General Tso’s chicken is really easy! Just follow these simple steps:
- First, make sure to cut the chicken into 2-inch pieces so they will all cook evenly. You can use chicken breasts or boneless skinless chicken thighs.
- Next, dredge the chicken in flour or a mixture of flour and cornstarch. Use a medium bowl to hold your flour mixture.
- Then, deep fry or fry in a pan on the stovetop. You can use all kinds of oil: sesame oil or vegetable oil. Toasted sesame oil is very strong so you may want to use just a little bit along with vegetable oil for flavor.
- Work in batches and fry on medium high heat so the oil stays hot during the whole cooking process.
- Allow the pieces of chicken to rest on some paper towels to absorb some of the oil.
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Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1-2 cups flour for dredging
- oil for frying
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup pineapple juice unsweetened
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger finely grated
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water
- 4 green onions sliced
Instructions
- Dredge chicken in flour.
- Fry in oil over medium heat (in a wok or a skillet) until golden brown and crispy. Drain excess oil. Sprinkle cayenne over the chicken and keep warm on low heat. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine sauce ingredients (sugar, soy sauce, pineapple juice, vinegar, garlic, and ginger) and heat gently.
- When sauce is smooth and sugar has dissolved, SLOWLY add cornstarch mixture and stir constantly until sauce has thickened to desired thickness. Pour sauce in the wok and stir to coat chicken. Stir in green onion and hot red pepper flakes (optional). Remove from heat and serve with fried rice.
Nutrition Information
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AMAZING!!!! My boyfriend and I are nuts for Asian cuisine. We have had trouble reproducing restauraunt quality dishes, but this recipe is outstanding!!! We make jasmine or basmati rice to go with it and inhale it all. If you’re looking for an easy and brag worthy dish, this is it! Thank you for sharimg this with us! 🙂
I’m so glad you liked this! We love it too! Thank you for your comment!
My 14 year old daughter, comes from a long history of family cooks. She made this tonight for dinner, all by herself, and kicked it’s arse!!!! My NEW favorite generals chicken. And by the way…..I AM NOT A CHICKEN FAN!!!!!!! Go my future attorney/chef!!!!!!
So gad you liked it! Wow, way to go having a 14-year-old that is so into cooking! That is impressive!
Delicious and so easy! It has been three years since my husband and I ate Chinese take out and we vowed never to do it again. We were longing for Chinese food lately and still didn’t want to eat take out. I haven’t attempted to cook anything like this because I am unfamiliar with it, and it’s out of my comfort zone. This was so easy! The next time I make it I will probably dredge the chicken in egg first so the flour will stick better. I also bought a ginger paste from the grocery store that I used instead of fresh ginger. It was cheaper, and I knew I wouldn’t use the whole ginger root, and I can save the paste for next time in the fridge. I used 4 lbs of chicken, and i quadrupled the sauce recipe, but I ended up having way too much extra. I also had trouble getting the sauce to thicken, so I added in more cornstarch mixture and I turned up the heat on high and constantly stirred until it reached the desired consistency. I will definitely be making this again! Thank you for sharing.
We use that ginger paste all. the. time! It is THE best!!! So glad you liked this recipe! It is one of our favorites! We have a crock pot version too 😉 /crock-pot-general-tsos-chicken.html
Can you do any of this ahead of time? I am having a huge crowd for Thanksgiving and everyone is coming in on the Sunday before. I would love to try this the night they arrive.
You could probably make all the chicken up and then freeze it– then when company comes you can bake it in the oven to re-heat and add the sauce? I have never done it before but that is how the Chinese chicken at Costco works so I am guessing you can do it at home 🙂 Let us know how it turns out!
Absolutely delicious and so easy. My picky teenage daughter said it tasted just like the restaurant ! Thanks so much!
Now THAT is a win! lol I am so glad she liked it! 😀
This was so delicious!
I made a few substitutions and it still came out great. I panfried the chicken without flour to be a little healthier. I only had pineapple and orange juice for the sauce. I added about a 1/2 cup of sugar and to make it more spicy I used about 2 tablespoons of chili paste.
You are so right about the cornstarch though! I didn’t realize the heat had to be on low so with my first batch of the sauce I actually cooked the cornstarch. I believe I added 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to make it extra thick in the second batch and it came out just like I hoped!
I don’t have any pineapple juice on hand. What would be some acceptable substitutions?
I want to try this but in my small town u couldn’t find lite soy sauce only the kikkoman naturally brewed soy sauce. Will it work!?
That should work fine, you can use regular soy sauce.
Is this dish spicy? Was wondering if the cayenne pepper will be too spicy for my kids (all 5 and under).
It is a spicy dish, but feel free to reduce or even leave out the cayenne, it will still be good!
I out the pepper and it tasted Great!! My husband loved it!!
I’m glad you adapted the recipe to your taste. Thank you for sharing!
I made this for dinner the other night and it turned out really fantastic – i’m wondering though if you have ever tried to freeze the sauce and if so how did it turn out when reheated?
I haven’t but I’m sure it would be fine!
Does this freeze well? Would it be a good make ahead meal I could just refry for a fast weeknight meal?
I would freeze the chicken and the sauce separately and then freeze. Hope this helps!
I didn’t have pineapple…but had all ready started! So, I substituted peaches in juice. Family nearly licked the bowl clean….for those of you (like me) who start before checking the pantry! Great recipe! 🙂
I made this for my husband and he LOVED it! He now requests it on a regular basis. Thanks for the great recipe!
This is the best generals chicken I make it all the time for my family. My husband does not even like chinese food and he loves this and the mongolian beef. I have to say I love this website every recipe we have tried from here we love. I use ground ginger in mine because I did not have fresh ginger you just don’t use as much. Great Great Great!!!! Thank you for sharing your recipes.
@Kathy- You can still use ginger powder, just use like 1/3 of what the recipe calls for for fresh. You definitely want some kind of ginger flavor in it!
I only have Ginger powder on hand. Can you just use the same amount as the fresh? Or is it a bad idea to substitute in this dish?
I buy 1 piece of ginger.. skin it, and chop it up.. then freeze it in a baggie.. Then whenever a recipe calls for fresh ginger, I just break of some from the freezer.. Otherwise you buy ginger, use a little bit, and the rest ends up going to waste. This way, you always have it on hand! I do the same w/ chilpotle adobe.. I only use a Tbs. at a time of chiplote.. so it gets frozen too.. and i just break off a small piece to add to dishes.
I've got chow mein down but I would love to know how to make this favorite. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to try it this week.
Anonymous,
Here is a great fortune cookie recipe.Enjoy!
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/02/fortune-cookies.html
Dang, I want to make this RIGHT NOW, it looks so good, but I don't have all the ingredients!! 🙁 I need to go get some pineapple juice and ginger PRONTO so I can eat this soon!
Same here
I just made this for my family tonight and it was a huge hit. So delicious! It is definitely going into my regular rotation!
What a glorious dish. It exceeds all expectations! Can you come up with a fortune cookie recipe? I have tried, but I burn the fortune papers in the oven.
You take the cookies out of the oven then put the fortune in and fold the cookie. Allow them to cool and they will hold their shape. You do not put them back in the oven with the papers.
I think that was the joke…