General Tsos Chicken
This Chinese chicken builds chicken breast, starch and duck sauce into a comforting meal you can have ready in about 100 minutes. You'll find the full ingredient list (with a scaler to change the servings), 13 steps of method, substitutions, and ideas for what to serve alongside.
You'll mainly reach for frying pan / skillet and saucepan. At involved difficulty across 13 steps, it's worth setting aside proper time for.
What you'll need
Shopping list (5)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
How to make it
- DIRECTIONS:
- SAUCE
- In a bowl, add 2 Cups of water, 2 Tablespoon soy sauce, 2 Tablespoon white vinegar, sherry cooking wine, 1/4 Teaspoon white pepper, minced ginger, minced garlic, hot pepper, ketchup, hoisin sauce, and sugar.
- Mix together well and set aside.
- MARINATING THE CHICKEN
- In a bowl, add the chicken, 1 pinch of salt, 1 pinch of white pepper, 2 egg whites, and 3 Tablespoon of corn starch
- DEEP FRY THE CHICKEN
- Deep fry the chicken at 350 degrees for 3-4 minutes or until it is golden brown and loosen up the chicken so that they don't stick together.
- Set the chicken aside.
- STIR FRY
- Add the sauce to the wok and then the broccoli and wait until it is boiling.
- To thicken the sauce, whisk together 2 Tablespoon of cornstarch and 4 Tablespoon of water in a bowl and slowly add to your stir-fry until it's the right thickness.
- Next add in the chicken and stir-fry for a minute and serve on a plate
You'll use: Frying pan / skillet · Saucepan · Whisk · Wok · Deep fryer / pot
Watch how it's made
Hosted on YouTube — pressing play loads content from YouTube.
Ingredient substitutions
- Soy Sauce
- tamari (gluten-free) · coconut aminos
- Honey
- maple syrup · agave
- Rice Vinegar
- apple cider vinegar · white wine vinegar
What to serve with General Tsos Chicken
- Kung Po Prawns Seafood
- Ma Po Tofu Beef
- Wontons Pork
- Sweet and Sour Pork Pork
Tips & common questions
How long does General Tsos Chicken take to make?
About 100 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 13 steps and 20 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of soy sauce?
Try tamari (gluten-free). See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
How should I store leftovers?
Cool leftovers quickly, refrigerate in an airtight container, and eat within 3 days. Reheat until piping hot throughout.
Related recipes
Recipe data for General Tsos Chicken via TheMealDB (open database). ▶ Video. Original source. Consomee adds the scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure — how we source recipes.