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General tso’s chicken is a popular Chinese menu pick, recognized for it’s glossy coating and sweet and somewhat spicy flavors. This recipe is SO EASY and simple to make with no complicating steps or ingredients!
General Tso’s chicken could be a tasty Chinese menu pick but there are other variations like Sesame chicken and orange chicken among the sweet family. The process of making General Tso’s chicken can seem like an overwhelming cooking task with all kinds of different condiments and complicated steps, but not so here.
General Tso’s chicken should be a simple process to make if take-out places make tons of orders! This chicken got to a wedding menu and a lady from my church gave me the recipe! Due to the big portion, I narrowed down the recipe and decided to add some heat. It’s rare to believe ketchup could be an ingredient among the sauces but it balances out from the other ingredients. As a result, DON’T resist messing with the proportions because reducing an ingredient can overpower another, so it’s best to stick to the recipe for the best results.
DID YOU KNOW? Apple cider vinegar makes an awesome rice vinegar substitute? It was not until I ran out of rice vinegar for sushi that I tried apple cider vinegar and don’t really purchase it anymore when I get as good of results with apple cider vinegar!
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN AND SESAME CHICKEN?
Sesame chicken is usually slightly more brown in color and topped with sesame seeds. General Tso’s chicken is typically sweeter, redder, and spicier.
WANT SOME MORE ASIAN RECIPES? Check out these recipes;
- Asian chicken fingers
- Easy Asian beef stir-fry
- Easy Chinese Noodles Recipe
- Honey Sriracha Chicken bites
- Lo Mein (Take out Copycat)
- Sushi rolls recipe (restaurant copycat)
- Sushi Rice
- Spicy Mayo
- Teriyaki wings
INGREDIENTS FOR GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN:
- 2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch chunks (2 lbs)
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup oil for frying
- 1/3 cup cornstarch for breading
HOW TO MAKE GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN:
1. Toss the chicken with the cornstarch and set aside.
2. Heat a large skillet over med-hi heat and add oil.
3. In a small bowl whisk together the ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper flakes, and sugar. Set aside.
4. Fry chicken pieces until done. Pour in the sauce and boil over high heat for 30 seconds stirring to coat chicken pieces. Transfer to a serving dish.
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General Tso's Chicken
Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes minutes
Servings: 8
Author: Alyona's Cooking
General tso's chicken is a popular Chinese selection recognized for it's glossy coating and sweet and somewhat spicy flavors. This recipe is SO EASY and simple to make with no complicating steps or ingredients!
Ingredients
2 large chicken breasts cut into 1 inch chunks (2 lbs)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil for frying
1/3 cup cornstarch for breading
Instructions
Toss the chicken with the cornstarch and set aside.
Heat a large skillet over med-hi heat and add oil.
In a small bowl whisk together the ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper flakes and sugar. Set aside.
Fry chicken pieces until done. Pour in the sauce and boil over high heat for 30 seconds stirring to coat chicken pieces. Transfer to a serving dish.
Notes
Rice vinegar can be used for the apple cider vinegar.
Nutrition per serving
Serving: 1gCalories: 321kcalCarbohydrates: 33.3gProtein: 24.9gFat: 9.7gSaturated Fat: 0.9gCholesterol: 73mgSodium: 769mgFiber: 0.2gSugar: 27.5g
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Categories
- Main Dish
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29 comments
- nico
This was really good!! at first i didnt trust the sauce ingredients at first but then they actually tasted good. I didnt like the thought of just tossing the chicken in cornstarch and cooking it so i added flour and some seasonings, they were super good!
- Reply
- Alyona Demyanchuk
Glad you tried it out:)
- Reply
- Ellen
Loved the flavor of this ! The only problem I had was my sauce was very very thin . Suggestions ?
- Reply
- Alyona Demyanchuk
Hi Ellen, this is a cook-type sauce so, it needs to be simmered down to thicken.
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- Maureen
I love this recipe! Quick easy and tasty!
- Reply
- Alyona Demyanchuk
Thanks, Maureen!
- Reply
- Jodi
This is definitely an easy recipe but found it called for way too much vinegar for our liking ! I would recommend comparing to other recipes to adjust or check if the amount of vinegar lusted was a typo. The sauce thickens and coats well.
- Reply
- Alyona Demyanchuk
Hi Jodi, thank you for trying our recipe! The vinegar amount is supposed to balance out with the sugar and this recipe calls for lots of it. I could imagen if you tweak the sugar and add less the vinegar taste would likely be overpowering.
- Reply
- Tanya
As a General Tso’s Chicken connoisseur (lol), this is the best recipe that I have tried and true to your word, it was EASY! The best part about making this, is that I had all of the ingredients on hand. I can’t even imagine the amount of testing you had to do to get the proportions just right. I actually doubled the recipe and was nervous that it wouldn’t taste right but it was even better than Chinese takeout. Thank you so much for sharing this!
- Reply
- Alyona Demyanchuk
Wow Tanya, what an awesome feedback! Glad to hear it’s the best recipe!!I’m so glad to hear you had successful results!
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- Kim
Can you deep fry the chicken instead of doing it in a pan?
- Reply
- Alyona Demyanchuk
Hi Kim, you sure can but I wouldn’t want to use so much oil:)
- Reply
- Shawn
Way too sweet! Will try it again but will adjust sugar by half and maybe add a salty, crunchy element like cashews or peanuts.
- Reply
- Alyona Demyanchuk
I’ve thought about reducing the sugar too but don’t want to compromise on the ratio of sour to sweet. Let me know what proportion worked for you.
- Reply
- Kate
SO GOOD AND EASY! I substituted with coconut sugar and coconut aminos as I have a diabetic in the family. Everyone loved the taste with the changes! Will DEFINITELY be making again.
- Reply
- Alyona Demyanchuk
Oh nice, Kate! Glad to hear it worked out even with the substitutes!
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- JoEllen Lee
This was very vinegary. I used rice wine vinegar. Could that be why? I’ll use a little less next time.
- Reply
- Alyona Demyanchuk
Hi JoEllen, If you decreased in any of the other ingredients that could of been a reason the vinegar was over powering. However, if you did use rice vinegar that could of been a reason too.
- Reply
- Maria Menz
Great recipe! Much easier than the baked versions, with plenty of flavor. My family is definitely wanting a repeat. Only thing I varied on was that I added garlic. ;’)
- Reply
- Al
Thank you Maria, glad to hear it’s a repeat:)
- Reply
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