General Tso Chicken (Better than Takeout!)
My favorite Classic Chinese Takeout dish is for sure General Tso Chicken. Super crispy chicken coated in a sweet and savory glaze, you need to give this General Tso Chicken recipe a try! Get your chow mein or fried rice ready because this General Tso Chicken recipe is a banger! Easy to make at home, with simple to source ingredients. If you are KETO, I also have a Keto-friendly General Tso Chicken recipe on my blog!
Better Than Takeout General Tso Chicken
General Tso Chicken is my all-time favorite thing to order at Chinese Takeout.
It is sweet, tangy, savory, and slightly spicy; every bite is a party in your mouth.
General Tso Chicken is easy to make at home, and you can also add in vegetables of your choice, such as red peppers, broccoli, and baby corn, for the perfect stir-fry.
General Tso Chicken Ingredients
- 6 pieces Boneless Chicken Thigh cut into bite-sized pieces
- ⅓ cup Rice Flour
- ¼ cup Corn Starch
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
- Salt and Pepper to season
- ⅓ cup Soda Water
- 1 Egg
General Tso Sauce:
- 2.5 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1.5 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
- 3-4 tbsp honey
- 1.5 tbsp Minced Garlic
- 1 tbsp Freshly Grated Ginger
- 1.5 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper more if you like it spicy
- 2 tbsp Corn Starch
- 3 tbsp Cold Water
Homemade General Tso Sauce
The key to restaurant-quality General Tso Chicken at home is the SAUCE.
Believe it or not, it is SUPER easy to make General Tso Sauce at home.
All you need is soy sauce, honey, minced garlic, freshly grated ginger, rice vinegar, hoisin sauce, and a few red chili flakes if you like it spicy.
If you don’t have hoisin sauce at home, you can replace it with oyster sauce instead.
My Secret To Crispy Batter Every Time
Let’s talk about the CRISPY CHICKEN and my secret method to ensure it is crispy every single time.
My secret tip is SODA WATER and RICE FLOUR. This combination guarantees the chicken to be crisp and light at the same time and has been my secret tip for all fried batters.
A batter is also less messy compared to coating; therefore, the oil stays clean, making it easier to reuse in the future.
How To Make General Tso Chicken
- Marinate the chicken with soy sauce, minced garlic, salt, pepper, corn starch, rice flour, soda water, and egg.
- Massage everything together; you want a thick but slightly runny consistency; add more rice flour or soda water if needed. Rest for 20 minutes.
- Mix 2.5 tbsp of soy sauce, 1.5 tbsp of Hoisin Sauce, 3-4 tbsp of Honey, 1.5 tbsp of minced garlic, 1 tbsp of freshly grated ginger, 1.5 tbsp of rice vinegar, 1 tsp of crushed red pepper.
- Add in oil (enough to cover the chicken) in a pan, and turn the heat to medium-high. Once the oil is hot, add in the chicken and deep fry for 6-7 minutes or until golden brown.
- Optional: remove the chicken, set aside. Turn the heat up to high, add back in the chicken, and deep fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the sauce mixture to a separate pan, and let it simmer on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Combine 2 tbsp of corn starch with 3 tbsp of cold water. Pour in the corn starch mixture into the pan, and simmer for another 30 seconds.
- Add in the crispy chicken, sesame seeds, and toss on high heat for 1 minute.
Do you want more Chinese Takeout Recipes? Here are some of my go-to recipes that you will LOVE!
- The BEST Chow Mein
- Classic Egg Fried Rice
- Better than takeout Mongolian Beef
- Orange Chicken (must try!)
General Tso Chicken
By Tiffy Cooks
Ingredients
- 6 pieces Boneless Chicken Thigh cut into bite-sized pieces
- ⅓ cup Rice Flour
- ¼ cup Corn Starch
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
- Salt and Pepper to season
- ⅓ cup Soda Water
- 1 Egg
General Tso Sauce:
- 2.5 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1.5 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
- 3-4 tbsp honey
- 1.5 tbsp Minced Garlic
- 1 tbsp Freshly Grated Ginger
- 1.5 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper more if you like it spicy
- 2 tbsp Corn Starch
- 3 tbsp Cold Water
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken with soy sauce, minced garlic, salt, pepper, corn starch, rice flour, soda water, and egg.
- Massage everything together; you want a thick but slightly runny consistency; add more rice flour or soda water if needed. Rest for 20 minutes.
- Mix 2.5 tbsp of soy sauce, 1.5 tbsp of Hoisin Sauce, 3-4 tbsp of Honey, 1.5 tbsp of minced garlic, 1 tbsp of freshly grated ginger, 1.5 tbsp of rice vinegar, 1 tsp of crushed red pepper.
- Add in oil (enough to cover the chicken) in a pan, and turn the heat to medium-high. Once the oil is hot, add in the chicken and deep fry for 6-7 minutes or until golden brown.
- Optional: remove the chicken, set aside. Turn the heat up to high, add back in the chicken, and deep fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the sauce mixture to a separate pan, and let it simmer on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Combine 2 tbsp of corn starch with 3 tbsp of cold water. Pour in the corn starch mixture into the pan, and simmer for another 30 seconds.
- Add in the crispy chicken, sesame seeds, and toss on high heat for 1 minute.
I love your food! Can you make this pinable to Pinterest? I save most of my recipes there.
Thank for all the delicious food recipes.
I can’t wait to try this.
This is the 2nd recipe of Tiffy’s that I’ve made & it too, was delicious! These flavors were spot on & the chicken was crispy. I only had 4 thighs, but they were large & followed the recipe measurements for 6, but it was perfect! That sauce, is a WOW sauce…I didn’t use as much crushed red pepper tho; think I only used 1/2 tsp, was afraid to use a whole tsp to start lol, but it was as good if not better than any restaurant General sauce that I’ve had.
I have also made the one pan, chicken & mushroom recipe. OMG, it too was soooooo good & flavors are spot on! A lot of heart & practice has gone into perfecting these recipes. Thank you, TiffyCooks! 🙂
Looks good! Can I stir fry it instead of deep fried?
Hi Samantha! The sauce would cling on better deep fried, but if you’d like to stir fry it, I’d suggest simply marinating the chicken and dusting it in corn starch instead of adding the full rice flour batter. This way, you can have some crispiness but not a thick gummy mess of batter.
Tiffy