This General Tso’s chicken recipe is so delicious, you’ll never want to order it for take out again! After trying this recipe, you’ll be able to make your favorite Chinese takeout meal without leaving your house OR paying for delivery. What’s even better? You probably already have most of the ingredients in your kitchen right now. You might even slip this into the regular rotation, it’s just that easy.
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Some of the best meal preps are ones that mimic what we’d normally eat when ordering takeout. That’s why this General Tso’s chicken recipe is more than just delicious, it’s satisfying to the soul as well. It’s also great to make takeout meals at home because you know exactly what goes into them, whereas restaurant cooking can be a little mysterious at times
Ever wondered about the origin of General Tso’s chicken and how it became so popular in the United States? The history of General Tso’s chicken is pretty interesting.
How to Customize This General Tso’s Chicken Recipe
- You can easily swap out chicken or tofu for shrimp, beef, tempeh and even chickpeas (I’ve tried it, it’s awesome–just a different texture than what you’re accustomed to). And if you’re plant-based but don’t like legumes or soy, try it with chopped cauliflower. No, cauliflower isn’t necessarily a protein element BUT it’s a filling vegetable that offers a nice texture to this dish.
- You can easily substitute white rice for a grain of your choice, including quinoa or farro, for example. Note that white rice has a better texture for meal preps than brown rice—it tends to be a little bit sturdier—but brown rice still totally works. Cauliflower rice would work, too!
- Want to get fancier than frozen mixed veggies? broccoli, snap peas, bok choy, baby corn, bell peppers, zucchini, chopped green beans, and white mushrooms would all work well in this dish.
What is General Tso’s Sauce Made Of?
The sauce is the star of the dish! Typically, General Tso’s is on the spicier side. If you don’t like spicy food or can’t handle a lot of heat, keep reading 🙂
It may surprise you, but this delicious sauce is made with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry and fridge!
- 1 tablespoon sriracha, or add more if you like spicy
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (can use low-sodium if needed)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup water (to thin)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water (for mixing with cornstarch to create a slurry)
For the sauce, you’re looking for a thick texture, but it needs to be thin enough to toss your protein in. The easiest way to make the sauce is cooking it in a smaller saucepan (as the recipe is written) but if you’re feeling more confident, you can pour the sauce into the pan with your cooked protein (after it’s cooked) and let it thicken in that pan to avoid dirtying another dish. Easy!
If your sauce isn’t thickening enough, add more cornstarch. Conversely, add a little more water if your sauce feels too thick. You want it to be able to coat everything but not be gloppy.
If you don’t love heat, add more sugar! It is a balance.
How to add more volume or double this recipe
To double this recipe, simply double the ingredients.
To add more volume, start with the veggies. My go-to would be to add broccoli or snap peas. Or you can just add 1 to 2 extra cups of veggies in the recipe as it’s written. Then, consider increasing the rice or grain portion. Increasing the veg/rice portions to add more volume is easier and more cost-effective than increasing the protein, but that’s always an option, too. You can play with these ratios, too, to suit your needs.
It’s also perfectly reasonable to serve a steamed or sauteed veggie on the side with this dish if you want something that works well with the flavors of General Tso’s, but want a bit of a break from the heat. We like steamed sugar snap peas, sauteed broccoli with a little drizzle of sesame oil, or even just a bit of soy sauce. Carrots would be a sweet counterpoint, too. Here’s where having a bag of frozen mixed veggies comes in handy!
How to Store General Tso’s Chicken
This meal lasts for up to four days in the fridge. You can also save any extra sauce in the fridge for up to 6 days. It’s also ok to freeze leftover rice if needed, but if you freeze the chicken the texture may suffer a bit.
You can reheat this General Tso’s chicken in the microwave (at your preferred power level and duration), or on the stovetop over medium-low heat. It’s useful to add a little bit of water or sauce when you reheat this recipe. The rice especially can get dehydrated easily and things then tend to stick together (or stick to the pan).
Happy prepping!
Don’t forget to try our other delicious free recipes
- Orange Chicken Recipe (Trader Joe’s Copycat)
- 30-Minute Beef Stir Fry With Soba Noodles
- Easy Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe for Meal Prep
- Easy Chicken Satay Recipe With Stir-Fried Veggies
- Korean-Inspired Bibimbap Bowls (Vegetarian)
- Thai Coconut Curry Soup With Chicken (One-Pot!)
- Vegetarian Meatballs Made With Chickpeas and Miso
Better-Than-Takeout General Tso’s Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast cut into small chunks
- 1 TBSP cornstarch
for the sauce
- 3 tsp Sriracha add more if you like heat
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 TBSP granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup water (to thin)
- 2 TBSP rice vinegar
- 1 TBSP cornstarch
- 1 TBSP water (for mixing with cornstarch)
for the veggies and rice
- 2 TBSP olive oil divided
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 tsp ginger minced
- 3 cups mixed frozen veggies
- 3/4 cup rice of your choice
- Salt and pepper to taste
for garnishes
- sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
- 1 cup green onion chopped, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Toss the chicken in 1 TBSP of cornstarch in a bowl or zip top bag. Set aside.
- To a small bowl, add the sriracha, soy sauce, sugar, water and rice vinegar. Whisk well and taste; adjust the sauce as needed (add more sugar to make it less spicy, add more Sriracha to make it spicier) and set aside. In a separate small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of water and cornstarch and set aside.
- Add 1 tablespoon oil to a skillet over medium heat, followed by the garlic and ginger. After a minute, add the frozen veggies with salt and pepper to taste and cook uncovered until heated through, stirring occasionally, about 7 to 10 minutes (depending on how long they've been out of the freezer). Then remove the veggies from the pan and set them aside.
- Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the same skillet over medium heat. Then add the chicken. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook on each side for about 5 to 7 minutes, until the edges of the chicken look crispy. Flip once or twice. When finished, turn off the heat, but keep the chicken in the pan for now.
- While the chicken cooks, cook the rice according to the package.
- Pour the soy sauce and Sriracha mixture in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until it reaches a gentle boil. Give the cornstarch and water a quick stir, then slowly add it to the saucepan while whisking. Cook until the sauce has thickened (about a minute) Then, turn off the heat and pour it over the cooked chicken/tofu and toss the pieces to coat them in the sauce.
- Divide the cooked rice among three meal prep containers, followed by the veggies. (I mixed my rice and veggies together). Then add the chicken on top. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onion, if desired.
Grace Harmon says
This recipe is SOOO GOOD. I’ve made (meal prepped) it twice in two weeks!
The second time around I made about a 1/4-1/2 size batch of the sauce and marinaded the tofu for ~an hour and it was a lot better. Not that the recipe is at all flawed, it’s so damn delicious, tofu is just way better when marinaded in general.
I also didn’t have sesame seeds but I put a little sesame oil in the sauce. If you have some I’d put a little splash in, yumm.
Kylee says
I made this tonight. The sauce was VERY salty, I’ll definitely be using reduced sodium soy sauce next time. I doubled the sauce recipe though because 1 wasn’t enough for us. It just wasn’t that flavourful other than salty. Kind of disappointed. wasn’t as tasty as it looked honestly.