General Tao Chicken

  4.4 – 303 reviews  • Chinese

Butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon swirled into sweet and delectable buttermilk pancakes. They taste wonderful and take less time to prepare than authentic cinnamon rolls.

Prep Time: 25 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 50 mins
Servings: 6

Ingredients

  1. 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into bite-size pieces
  2. ¼ cup cornstarch
  3. 2 large eggs
  4. 1 teaspoon salt
  5. ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  6. 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  7. 1 teaspoon baking powder
  8. ½ cup vegetable oil
  9. ½ cup chopped green onion
  10. 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
  11. 4 teaspoons sesame oil
  12. ½ cup water
  13. ½ cup white sugar
  14. ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
  15. 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  16. 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  17. ¼ cup oyster sauce
  18. ¼ cup ketchup

Instructions

  1. Coat chicken pieces with cornstarch in a bowl; set aside.
  2. Beat eggs, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl until combined. Stir in flour and baking powder until no large lumps remain. Mix in chicken pieces until evenly coated.
  3. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Cook chicken in hot oil until golden brown and no longer pink on the inside, about 12 minutes. Set chicken aside; keep warm.
  4. Make sauce: Reduce heat to medium-high; add green onion, ginger, and sesame oil to the skillet. Cook and stir until onion is limp and ginger begins to brown, about 1 minute. Pour in water, sugar, and vinegar; bring to a boil.
  5. Dissolve cornstarch in soy sauce in a small bowl and stir into vinegar mixture along with oyster sauce and ketchup. Cook until sauce has thickened and is no longer cloudy. Stir in chicken; simmer until heated through.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 522 kcal
Carbohydrate 35 g
Cholesterol 148 mg
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Protein 35 g
Saturated Fat 5 g
Sodium 1055 mg
Sugars 19 g
Fat 27 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Jeremiah Hale
This recipe is awesome. Just need to adjust the batter recipe. Make the batter as it states but sub out oil for 4 oz of seltzer, soda or beer to the batter. Don’t soak the chicken in the batter just dip chicken in batter then put in to fryer. Using spatula gently move chicken around so it doesn’t stick to each other. When the chicken floats it’s done. Drain on rack and then mix into sauce gently
Amanda Collins MD
There’s a million ingredients, so gather all of them before starting. I went light on the ketchup and sugar. Definitely double the sauce. Didn’t exactly taste like restaurant General Tsos, but was still amazing! Definitely will make it again. Served with rice rice and grilled vegetables.
Steve Ray
It was really good. I used fish sauce instead of oyster i figured it was the same thing and that’s what i had…i will definitely be cooking this again
Dr. Brittany Roberts
I was surprised how it all came together. I didn’t think it would taste as good when I was cooking it. The only thing I’ll do next time is have all the ingredients measured all out, otherwise thought it tasted better fresh!
Jacob Garcia
Made this twice and it was a big hit. Didn’t change a thing other then add some broccoli to the final stage of the sauce when making before adding chicken in. Will definitely add this to my box of recipes.
Michael Howe
Delicious! The chicken was very moist and the sauce delicious. We used more oil to cook the chicken since we were using a large ceramic pot and not a wok. We used regular onion and added a green pepper. By mistake we did not follow the recipe instructions for the sauce but it still turned out great. Will definitely make again!
Kristen Guerrero
This recipe is delicious. I cut back on the green onion and substituted Hoison sauce but otherwise made it just like the recipe. I have very picky kids and they loved it. We did not have any leftovers.
Patrick Martin
so yummy and easy to make. instead of making the sauce, I bought the VH General Tao sauce. easier if you don’t always have all ingredients at home
Zachary Hill
Overall, this is a lot of work but it’s REALLY good. I know y’all go crazy when we change things without trying it first and I am guilty as charged. First, I used lots of onion because…well…I just like onions. Second – added a sliced sweet pepper – just because the best General Tso’s I’ve had included some as well. Finally, I had some of those kind red peppers laying around. You know – the hot ones? Yeah – threw those in too.
Maria Ruiz
So I basically made the changes RDEAN suggested and added some juice from mandarin oranges because I didn’t have an orange to use the zest. I’d say 1/4 cup and it came out GREAT! I live in Hawaii and surprisingly I can’t find a place that makes this so I’m happy I came across this recipe.
Julie Murphy
Turned out amazing! I ran out of oyster sauce so subbed in some Hoisin. I think it could do with a bit less sugar and salt, but that is just a preference.
Kelly Brown
I made enough for 10 people and everyone loved it. I mixed the egg, salt and pepper before I added the corn starch mixture. I also substituted the oyster sauce with Hoisin sauce and sweet chili sauce for the ketchup. It was so good!
Kelsey Santiago
I would recommend cutting that oyster sauce down by 1/4, as it was overpowering. And cut the sugar down, too. It was still good though! My youngest is a critic that spares no feelings, so I have her taste first and she said,”This is REALLY good”. When the youngest says something is good, that means I’ve accomplished something for the day.
Mathew Boyd
This was delicious! Followed the recipe. Like others said, double the sauce.
Heather Santos
Tasted just like the store bought sauce I had in the fridge. I didn’t have enough for dinner so, I made this. I’ll definitely make it again!
Chad Clements
This was the best General Tso chicken I’ve ever had. I didn’t bread it. I marinated it in sriracha, soy sauce and garlic powder for the afternoon. I baked it 400 for 10 min and 350 for 15. When I do it again I would bake it 400 for 7 min and 350 for 10 (or cut the pieces bigger). Then I put it in the sauce, steamed some broccoli and stirred that into the sauce. Then I put the whole pan into the warm oven until I made fried rice. Flavors blended and it was amazing. Baking it saved the calories. I also changed the white vinegar to 2 T apple cider vinegar. In my mind apple cider is for cooking, white vinegar is for cleaning. I reduced the ketchup to 2T, 4 cloves of garlic, 1/4 c soy sauce, 1/4 c red wine and crushed red pepper for a little bite! It was so good. I will make this again.
Stacy Navarro
Super easy, no need to order out for this.
Robert Steele
Even better than any restaurant. Followed the recipe and turned out great. Definitely doing it again.
Alec Yates
Made exactly as noted. Loved this recipe. Sauce was incredible. Served with vegetable fried rice. Not too many leftovers with this one.
Bruce King
Excellent recipe!
Jerry Ramirez
I used peanut oil to fry the chicken, it was a wonderful dish!

 

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