With this easy General Tso's chicken recipe, let's learn all the restaurants' secrets to making the most favorite Chinese food takeout (without vinegar and Hoisin sauce). It's incredibly delicious and loaded with flavor: tangy, sweet, and spicy in one fantastic dish.
General Tso's chicken is a much loved and famous Chinese-American takeout dish; for a good reason, it's loaded with addictive flavors. Sweet, tangy, savory, and spicy with a kick from ginger and garlic.
Are you looking for more easy Chinese food recipes? Why not also try my sesame chicken, vegan sesame tofu, salt, and pepper chicken nuggets, and salt & pepper shrimp?
Why you'll love this easy recipe
- Lips smacking sauce: this General Tso sauce is delicious. Unlike other recipes, no vinegar or hoisin sauce was used. Instead, it is a mix of pineapple juice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and sugar - together, they make such an obsessional sauce.
- Great texture: the chicken comes out as a Chinese restaurant-quality chicken: tender inside and super crispy outside.
- Crowd pleaser: with such unique flavor, this can satisfy even the pickiest eater in the world.
What is General Tso's Chicken?
The dish is named after the Qing dynasty's military leader Zuo Zongtang. It is made of deep-fried battered chicken in sweet, sour, and spicy sauce. Typically, General Tso's sauce uses rice vinegar and Hoisin to add sourness & saltiness to the sauce. However, I found another ingredient to replace the rice vinegar, which probably not so many people could get a hand on.
Essential ingredients for the sauce
The sauce is what makes this Chinese American dish so famous. It is easy to make with all ingredients that are probably already available in your pantry.
- Light soy sauce - the main ingredient for General Tso's sauce. Make sure you get the light one and not the dark or heavy soy sauce.
- Pineapple juice - the restaurant's secret ingredient. Pineapple juice is easier to work with compared to rice vinegar. It's also easier to buy for some folks.
- Garlic & ginger - the stars of the sauce where most of the flavor comes from. Cook them in the sauce and let them steep in the flavor for an hour to have such perfect General Tso sauce.
- Corn starch or potato starch - I use potato starch to thicken and add shine to the sauce.
- Whole dried chilies or fresh chilies - As a rule of thumb, General Tso's chicken has to be spicy. The not spicy version is typically known as sesame chicken or orange chicken.
How to make this dish
- Make the batter: In a large mixing bowl, combine all batter ingredients, mix well and let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Cut chicken: cut boneless, skinless chicken thighs into small bites (2x2 inches cubes), marinate with salt and pepper for 30 minutes.
- Deep fry chicken: fill a large frying pot with 2-3 cups of vegetable oil. Dip chicken cubes in batter, then carefully put them in hot frying oil. Fry for 8-10 minutes. Don't overcrowd the pot.
- Make the sauce: In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients for General Tso sauce, bring to the boiling point, then simmer for 5 minutes. Slowly add the slurry mixture, and cook for one more minute. Then turn off the heat, and set the sauce aside for later use.
- Cook broccoli: in a medium cooking pot filled with water, bring to boil, add broccoli and cook for 3-4 minutes. Take the broccoli out and save them for later.
- Make General Tso's chicken: in a large cooking pan, add about ¼ c of the sauce with 2-3 pieces of red chilies over medium-high heat. Then add ten pieces of crispy fried chicken to the pan. Give the pan a few shakes to coat the chicken thoroughly with the sauce.
What to serve this with?
This easy General Tso's chicken dish (with no vinegar and no Hoisin) is typically served with steamed broccoli on the side and a hot bowl of steamed rice. You can also serve it with a bowl of simple egg-fried rice.
You might find these Asian-inspired recipes, that are good with rice, very interested:
FAQs
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are the best pick for this recipe. You can also opt for chicken breast; if so, remember to reduce the frying time (probably 6-8 minutes).
To avoid soggy chicken, first, the frying oil has to reach 350F. Second, you should not overcrowd the frying pot/pan. There must always be extra room for the chicken to float around. I fried 1lb of chicken in 3 batches, and each batch had 8 to 10 chicken pieces.
Yes, you can. Always ensure the oil is hot enough (at least 350F), and the second fry should be around under 5 minutes, or the chicken will become soggy.
Yes, you can. Add about 1 cup of tapioca starch to the chicken and mix, and ensure all pieces are fully coated. Also, remember to shake off any excess before adding them to the frying oil.
If you decide to do so, you must know that the chicken will never be as crispy as the batter method used in this easy General Tso's chicken recipe.
Did you make this recipe? If so please leave a rating and let me know how it went in the comment section. Also, don't forget to tag me #cookmorphosis @cookmorphosis on social media.
Easy General Tso's Chicken Without Vinegar & Hoisin
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken thighs boneless, skinless, cut into bites size (2x2 inches)
- ¼ tsp Kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
Beer Batter
- 1 ¼ c cold beer or sparkling water/club soda
- ¼ tsp Kosher salt
- 1 c AP flour
- ¼ c cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
General Tso Sauce
- ½ c light soy sauce
- ½ c water
- ½ c pineapple juice
- ½ c sugar
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 piece ginger 2x2 inches piece, minced
Slurry
- 1 tbsp potato starch or corn starch
- ¼ c water
Others
- 1 head small broccoli cut into bite sites, boiled or steamed
- 6 whole dry chilies or fresh chilies
- steamed rice as needed
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
Make the batter & marinate chicken
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all batter ingredients, mix well and let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Marinate chicken with salt and pepper in a medium mixing bowl for 30 minutes.
Make General Tso sauce
- In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients for General Tso sauce, bring to the boiling point, then simmer for 5 minutes.
- Carefully add the slurry mixture into the sauce, slowly stir and cook for one more minute. Then turn off the heat, and set the sauce aside for later use.
Fry chicken
- Fill a large frying pot with 2-3 cups of vegetable oil. Dip chicken cubes in batter, then carefully put them in hot frying oil. Fry for 8-10 minutes. Don't overcrowd the pot.
- Drain fried chicken pieces on a large plate lined with oil-absorbed paper.
Make General Tso's chicken
- Add about ¼ c of the sauce to a large cooking pan with 2-3 pieces of red chilies over medium-high heat. Then add ten pieces of crispy fried chicken to the pan. Give the pan a few shakes to coat the chicken thoroughly with the sauce.
- Serve General Tso's chicken immediately with broccoli and steamed rice. Enjoy!
Notes
Storage instructions
- Store leftover General Tso sauce in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Store leftover fried chicken (without coating with the sauce) in a zip loc or container in the refrigerator for up to two days.
- It is not advised to store General Tso's chicken overnight; thus, the sauce can make the chicken really soggy and not taste good. It's best to eat them right away.
Tips for making the best General Tso's chicken
- To avoid soggy chicken, first, the frying oil must reach 350F. Second, you should not overcrowd the frying pot/pan. There must always be extra room for the chicken to float around. I fried 1lb of chicken in 3 batches, and each batch had 8 to 10 chicken pieces.
- Coat the chicken with the sauce as fast as possible, then serve immediately. The quicker you are, the crispier the chicken will stay.
Gluten-free option
- Skip the batter. Instead, add about 1 cup of tapioca starch to the chicken and mix, and ensure all pieces are fully coated. Also, remember to shake off any excess before adding them to the frying oil.
- The chicken will never be as crispy as the batter method.
OK, I’m divin’ in. I’ll let ya know afterwards how it went and how I liked it.
Hi Jeff,
I'm looking forward to your feedback. Thanks a lot.
As I mentioned yesterday, I was ready to dive in. First of all I cook and bake a lot, but I have a confession to make, I have NEVER fried anything in a pot of oil. I have always shied away from frying because of the anticipated mess. I’m glad that I took the plunge. I started by making the sauce. There was no comparison between this sauce and restaurant sauce. The restaurant sauce is always goopy and cloying, this was not at all. I then cut up the chicken and in the future I would make the pieces bigger. They suggested 2” cubes and for some crazy reason I did 1” pieces. I tossed the chicken with the salt and pepper and chilled it while I mixed the batter. It was simple enough. I then cut up the broccoli. I filled my Dutch oven with 3 cups of oil and heated it up. I highly recommend having a thermometer to check the temperature. I know how important the oil temp is to prevent soggy chicken. I dipped the chicken in the batter and fried it. It went very smoothly. I also streamlined everything by using Trader Joe’s microwave Brown rice. 3 minutes and it’s done. I put the sauce in a pan, heated it up, added the chicken and broccoli and tossed it before putting it on the rice. It was delicious. I will do it again. I served 4 of us for the price of 1 takeout order, 1/2 as much breading, and a sauce that blows them outta the water.
I am so glad that you and your friends love the sauce. It is so good, isn't it? Thanks again for letting me know your feedback. I really appreciate it.
Hi Michael!
I mentioned the sauce itself in General Tso Chicken is vegan for anybody wants to use it with tofu/broccoli/other veggies instead. I don't use vegan sauce to put on chicken, the sauce in General Tso's chicken has always been vegan: made with soy sauce base and spice. It's not only my recipe, most of other General Tso sauce recipes are vegan thou. People just don't mention it a lot.