Easy General Tso's Chicken (With Shortcuts)
What do you do when you are craving your favorite Chinese chicken dish, General Tso's Chicken, and you can't get to a take out restaurant? You make your own in 20 minutes with ingredients you may already have in your pantry and fridge! Homemade sauce recipe in the notes.
Prep Time12 minutes mins
Cook Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr 27 minutes mins
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 390kcal
Cost: 7
Heat a large nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add oil. Add chicken cubes and quickly spread then out into a single layer. Do not stir at this point.
Cook about 3 minutes on this side or until browned. Turn each piece over with tongs or stir, then turn over the ones that are remaining. Cook about 2 more minutes or until chicken is browned on the other side and no pink remains in center.
Stir in bottle of sauce and cook 1 minute or just until thoroughly heated. Serve over cooked rice.
Quick & Easy Homemade Sauce for General Tso's Chicken
1 cup chicken broth (vegetable broth or even water with chicken bouillon cube)
1/4 cup ketchup or hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar (apple cider vinegar will work in a pinch)
1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce OR Siracha sauce with one pressed clove garlic (sweet chili sauce will work in a pinch with a minced clove of garlic) [If you don't like it very spicy, reduce this to 1 teaspoon and taste it first]
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper or 3 or 4 small dried chili peppers (omit if you like it on the milder side) It will still by spicy
3 tablespoons soy sauce (I had low-sodium)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Combine first 7 ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. While mixture is coming to a boil, combine soy sauce and cornstarch. Add the soy sauce slurry to the boiling mixture and stir constantly for 1 minute.
Calories: 390kcal