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This homemade General Tso's Chicken recipe is better than takeout, with crispy pan-fried chicken tossed in a sweet, savory general tso's sauce made with simple ingredients you already have on hand.
Better-Than-Delivery General Tso’s Chicken (Yes, Really!)
General Tso's Chicken is hands down one of my family's most-requested dinners, and once you try making it at home, you'll never want to order takeout again. This recipe isn't authentic (here is a more authentic recipe) but I love that the ingredients are simple ones I always have on hand and give you the same amazing flavor.
Tip for an even faster dinner: Make the General Tso's sauce ahead of time. You can also coat the chicken in egg and cornstarch a few hours ahead (store in fridge) so everything is ready to cook.
Try more of my Chinese-inspired favorites, like Kung Pao Chicken, Lettuce Wraps, Black Pepper Chicken, Mongolian Beef, and Chow Mein!
How to make General Tso Chicken:
Make Sauce: In a small mixing bowl, whisk all the sauce ingredients then set aside. If you like a more mild flavor, reduce the amount of red pepper flakes or omit them.
Coat Chicken: Combine cornstarch, flour, salt, and pepper in a large ziplock bag. Close it and shake to combine. In a large bowl, whisk egg whites. Dip chicken in the egg whites then let them drip off and drop it into the ziplock bag. Shake until all the chicken is coated.
Fry: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat then pour in half a cup of oil. Once the oil is hot, fry the chicken in batches (don't crowd it!). Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until it is golden brown and cooked through. Remove to a plate.
Combine: Pour sauce into the same pan and simmer until it's heated and thickened. Toss the chicken in the sauce just before serving. Serve with white or brown rice or Kimchi Fried Rice and garnish with green onions and/or sesame seeds. Enjoy immediately!
General Tso’s Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, , cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/2 cup oil, (vegetable or canola oil)
- hot cooked white rice, , for serving
General Tso's Sauce:
- 2/3 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar, , packed
- 3 cloves garlic, , minced
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger, , or 1 Tablespoon fresh minced ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Make General Tso's Sauce: Add the sauce ingredients to a bowl and whisk well to combine. Set aside.2/3 cup hoisin sauce, ⅓ cup rice vinegar, ⅓ cup low-sodium soy sauce, ¼ cup light brown sugar, 3 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
- Make breading: Add cornstarch, flour, and salt and pepper to a large ziplock bag and shake to combine. Whisk egg whites in a separate bowl.½ cup cornstarch, ½ cup all-purpose flour, salt and freshly ground black pepper, 2 large egg whites
- Coat chicken: Add chicken pieces to the egg whites and toss to coat. Spoon coated chicken pieces into the ziplock bag, allowing excess egg to drip back into the bowl. Shake the bag to coat chicken evenly in the cornstarch mixture.1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Cook chicken: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil. Once oil is hot, add some of the chicken (it's best to cook the chicken in 2 or 3 batches, so it browns better). Cook the chicken 2-3 minutes on each side, until the coating is golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. Remove to a plate. Repeat until all of the chicken has cooked, and set aside on a plate.½ cup oil
- Add sauce: Add the sauce to the pan and simmer until warm and thickened. Toss the chicken in the sauce just before serving.
- Serve with hot cooked white or brown rice. Garnish with chopped green onions.hot cooked white rice
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I originally shared this recipe February 2016. Updated August 2020, October 2023 and May 2026.
Two resounding thumbs up from the entire family! I upped the amount of chicken to 2 pounds, and still kept the rest of the ingredients the same. Absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Tried this but something was a little overpowering. Maybe a little less Hoison sauce?
Can I substitute gluten free flour?
I haven’t tried it myself, but I think it would work fine!
Follow this recipe to a T!! Absolutely amazing. My husband always asks for it LOL. Delicious! Just the right amount of flavor, Thank you!!
Sauce is good, but there is a lot of dark stuff in it so when I make it again I will be adding lemon juice to kind of bring the flavor back up. May also do half brown sugar half honey
Hi – we are trying to watch carbs here but love Chinese! I was wondering if I could just cube my chicken and put it in the sauce in the crockpot? I know it wouldn’t be the exact same thing as being fried but it might be a compromise. Love to hear your thoughts! Thanks
Absolutely! While frying the chicken gives it that classic crispy texture, you can definitely adapt the recipe to be lower in carbs. Cubing the chicken and cooking it directly in the sauce will give you a tender, flavorful result. You’ll still capture the essence of General Tso’s flavor! If you want a bit of a “fried” texture without the carbs, you can briefly sear the chicken cubes in a hot pan with a touch of oil before adding them to the crockpot. This will give them a nice browned exterior.
This was fantastic!! All 7 of us gave it 5 out of 5. Will make again!
I made this and loved it! It’s tangy and sweet, and pretty easy to make. I added peanuts and served it on lettuce leaves instead of rice, more of a lettuce wrap? It was delish!
We’ve made 4 different recipes from this website that were all easy and tasty and all had good reviews. They really do taste better from scratch! So we were skeptical when making this recipe because of the mixed reviews. I don’t think I’ve ever had General Tso before (just Kung Pao or sesame) but this recipe was good! It wasn’t too salty as others said. I think it was well balanced between sweet, salty, and spicy. We added extra pepper flakes and had cracked pepper instead of freshly ground. We also used 2 chicken breasts, not sure if it was 1 1/2 lbs. Anyways, we’d def make it again 🙂
This was too salty for me. Looking for a sweeter recipe.
I followed the sauce recipe to the letter, it was terrible. I found it way to salty and the hoisin sauce added waaay too much flavour. I did use the chicken prep instructions which resulted in a very nice crisp result. To replace the sauce I used the recipe from Ricardo’s tofu general Tao .
The chicken prep was great, but unfortunately the sauce didn’t taste anything like general tso.