Chinese

Serving

General Tso's Chicken

Name: General Tso's Chicken
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 3 servings
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1 lb Boneless, skinless chicken thighs (cut into 1-inch chunks); 1/2 cup Cornstarch (for coating); 6-8 Dried whole red chilies; 3 tbsp White sugar; 3 tbsp Rice vinegar; 2 tbsp Soy sauce; 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry; 1 tsp Cornstarch (for the sauce, mixed with 1 tbsp water)

Crispy cornstarch-coated chicken thighs tossed in a sweet, tangy, and spicy sauce of dried chilies, sugar, vinegar, and soy, a Chinese-American takeout classic.

40 minutes

Serves 3

Dinner

14 min prep

22 min cook

Contains common allergens

Soy Wheat

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Good to know

Crispy

Matched from this dish's own ingredients and timing. Browse more: crispy recipes

Instructions

6 steps

1
Batter the Chicken: Toss the chicken chunks with a pinch of salt and the 1/2 cup cornstarch until heavily coated. Shake off excess powder so they fry cleanly.
2
Fry the Chicken: Heat 2 inches of oil in a wok or deep pot to 375°F (190°C). Fry the chicken in batches for 4-5 minutes until deeply golden and crispy. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate.
3
Mix the Sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, wine, and the 1 tsp cornstarch slurry until the sugar is dissolved.
4
Aromatize the Chilies: Drain the wok, leaving only 1 tbsp of oil. Heat over medium heat and add the dried red chilies. Toast them for 15-20 seconds until they turn dark crimson and fragrant, but not burnt.
5
Thicken the Sauce: Pour the liquid sauce mixture into the wok. It will immediately begin to boil. Stir constantly for 30-60 seconds until the sauce reduces into a thick, bubbling, sticky syrup.
6
Glaze the Chicken: Add the crispy fried chicken back to the wok. Toss rapidly for 30 seconds to coat every piece in the sweet, tangy, and mildly spicy glaze. Serve immediately.

General Tso's Chicken — plated and served — Serving moment. How General Tso's Chicken looks plated and ready to eat — a representative photo, not a step in the recipe.

Listahan Family Score™

61/100

Works for many families

Allergen-friendly 80

Kid-friendly 27

Weeknight-easy 54

Budget-friendly 86

Great leftovers 65

Pantry-friendly 49

Score reflects how well this recipe fits a typical busy household. In the app, your Family Score is personalized to your household's allergens, kids, and pantry.

Nutrition

per serving

145

Calories

1 g

Protein

34 g

Carbs

0 g

Fat

Estimated per serving. Actual values depend on the brands and portions you use.

Listahan cooking guide

Chef notes & practical guide

Technique notes, ingredient swaps, serve-alongside ideas, storage guidance, and equipment for this recipe.

Cultural context

General Tso's Chicken has no confirmed connection to the 19th-century Hunanese military leader Zuo Zongtang, and the dish is virtually unknown in China. Food historian Fuchsia Dunlop and others trace its creation to Peng Chang-kuei, a Hunanese chef who fled to Taiwan with the Nationalist government and later emigrated to New York, where he created the dish in the 1970s specifically for an American palate that favored sweet, deep-fried, and mildly spicy flavors. It became one of the defining dishes of American-Chinese restaurant culture during the 1980s and remains one of the most ordered Chinese dishes in North America.

Listahan note

This version uses a double-fry to achieve the shattering crust that stays crispy under the sauce for long enough to make it to the table, which is the key quality gap between restaurant and home versions.

Technique cues

Double-fry the chicken for true crispiness: first at 325 F until cooked through but pale, then a 30-second blast at 375 F just before saucing -- the second fry drives off residual moisture and creates a crust hard enough to resist the sauce briefly.
The sauce must be made separately and added to the fried chicken in the wok off heat, tossing rapidly -- saucing chicken over heat with a starch-thickened sauce quickly creates a gummy coating rather than a glossy lacquer.
Balance the sauce so it is noticeably sweeter than you expect: the chicken absorbs much of the sugar during tossing, and a sauce that tastes slightly too sweet in the pan will taste balanced on the plate.

Kitchen flow

Parallel prep: Whisk and set aside the sauce while the marinated chicken sits; then the frying and tossing happen in rapid succession with no gaps.
Make-ahead: Marinate and coat the chicken up to 1 hour ahead; the cornstarch coating actually firms up slightly on refrigerated chicken and fries crisper.
Leftover move: Re-crisp leftover chicken in a 400 F oven on a rack for 8 minutes, then toss with a small amount of fresh sauce heated in a pan rather than reheating the sauced pieces directly.
Cleanup rhythm: Strain and save the frying oil through a fine-mesh sieve while warm; properly strained and stored, it can be reused 2 more times for frying.

Ingredient brief

Role, handling, and swap guidance for each key ingredient.

chicken thighs

primary protein

Purpose: Thigh meat remains juicy through double-frying while breast meat dries to a chalky texture at the same internal temperature and time.

Handling: Cut into 1.5-inch chunks, marinate briefly in soy sauce and Shaoxing wine, then toss in cornstarch just before frying.

Adaptation: Chicken breast can work if brined 20 minutes ahead; tofu cut into thick squares is a popular vegetarian version.

cornstarch

coating and crust builder

Purpose: A thick pure-cornstarch coating fries to a paler, lighter, and crisper shell than all-purpose flour and tolerates the sauce toss without immediately softening.

Handling: Shake excess off before frying -- too much starch creates a gummy, thick crust rather than a light shell.

Adaptation: Potato starch produces an even crispier result and is a direct substitute; rice flour is a gluten-free option that fries similarly.

dried red chilies

heat and aromatic

Purpose: Whole dried chilies fried in oil before the sauce add a smoky fruity background heat without making the dish dramatically spicy.

Handling: Fry briefly in hot oil for 30 seconds until darkened, then remove before they burn; the chili-infused oil carries the flavor.

Adaptation: Red chili flakes stir-fried briefly approximate the flavor; fresh chilies have a different aromatic profile.

hoisin sauce

sauce body and sweetness

Purpose: Hoisin provides the sweet-savory base that distinguishes General Tso's from plain sweet-and-sour -- its fermented bean complexity adds depth beyond plain sugar.

Handling: Whisk with soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and cornstarch in a small bowl; have it ready before the chicken is fried.

Adaptation: Sweet bean paste or a combination of soy sauce and brown sugar mimics the general profile but is less nuanced.

Technique notes

The sauce should be ready before the chicken goes into its second fry -- you have under 60 seconds between second-fry completion and tossing before the crust starts losing its peak crunch.
Fry chicken in small batches so the oil temperature does not drop below 300 F -- dropping below that temperature means the coating absorbs oil rather than crisping, producing greasy, dense pieces.
A light final toss in the sauce (no more than 10 seconds) is correct; over-tossing saturates the crust and you lose the textural contrast that justifies the double-fry effort.

Ingredient swaps

Gluten-free direction: Use tamari in place of soy sauce, rice flour instead of any flour-based coating, and verify that hoisin is gluten-free; many brands contain wheat.
Baked direction: Toss cornstarch-coated pieces in a light coat of oil and bake at 425 F on a rack for 20 minutes, flipping once; the crust is less shattering but still holds the sauce reasonably well.
Vegetarian direction: Double-fried firm tofu in cornstarch absorbs the sauce beautifully and crisps well with the double-fry method; use a full cube of tofu per person for adequate protein.

Serve alongside

steamed jasmine rice
garlic green beans
hot and sour soup
jasmine tea
cold Tsingtao beer

Serving suggestions only — check pairings for your household's allergens.

Storage & reheating

Best eaten immediately; the crust softens within 30 minutes of saucing. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 2 days and re-crisp by re-frying briefly or oven-heating on a rack.
Do not freeze the sauced chicken -- the crust dissolves entirely during freezing. If planning to freeze, freeze the fried unsauced pieces and make fresh sauce when reheating.

Equipment

deep heavy pot or wok for frying
kitchen thermometer
spider strainer
small saucepan for the sauce
wire cooling rack

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