General Tao Chicken Recipe

I have been searching for THE General Tso (Tao) Chicken recipe, and have tried numerous recipes to no avail. This one still was not quite it, but with some changes it was the closest I've come yet. I'd give it a 5, but I had to modify the recipe significantly - still though, the results were DELICIOUS. Perhaps it isn't fair to take off a star if I didn't even follow the recipe exactly, but I wanted to avoid the negative results other reviewers had. Here are my changes: reduce vinegar to 3 Tbsp and ketchup to 2 Tbsp, to get rid of the sour and ketchupy tastes. Reduce ginger to about 1 Tbsp (that's just personal preference) and add a couple of cloves of garlic (this is the first General Tso's chicken recipe I've seen that didn't have garlic). Increase soy sauce to 1/4 cup. Add 1/4 cup of sherry. And I like it hot, so I added a Tbsp or so crushed red pepper and a few red chiles. Also, the oyster sauce is important - don't skip that ingredient. I stir-fried broccoli and sugar snap peas with the green onions and served on white rice. Like I said it still wasn't exactly restaurant quality but it was very close. My gf and I were VERY happy with how it turned out. EDIT: To the people complaining about the batter - I've found the chicken is better baked and MUCH EASIER. Marinate for ~3 hrs in sriracha, soy, and garlic powder. Bake covered for 10 minutes at 400, then another 15-20 at 350. Don't let it get too dry. This can result in a lot of extra sauce, so make plenty of rice.

This was the best General Tso chicken I’ve ever had. I didn’t bread it. I marinated it in sriracha, soy sauce and garlic powder for the afternoon. I baked it 400 for 10 min and 350 for 15. When I do it again I would bake it 400 for 7 min and 350 for 10 (or cut the pieces bigger). Then I put it in the sauce, steamed some broccoli and stirred that into the sauce. Then I put the whole pan into the warm oven until I made fried rice. Flavors blended and it was amazing. Baking it saved the calories. I also changed the white vinegar to 2 T apple cider vinegar. In my mind apple cider is for cooking, white vinegar is for cleaning. I reduced the ketchup to 2T, 4 cloves of garlic, 1/4 c soy sauce, 1/4 c red wine and crushed red pepper for a little bite! It was so good. I will make this again.

I've been experimenting with General Tao's Chicken for some time now and am always interested in trying any variations that will make it better. This recipe hits on some great points. Except: I always use garlic. Period. Two or three cloves for 2 pounds of chicken is perfect. White vinegar? Way too acidic and no flavor profile. Use rice wine vinegar. More expensive, but well worth it. Cooking green onions until they are soft is a bad idea. Cooking ginger until it browns...worse. Stir-fry these just until the aroma/flavor begins to release, then remove. Add back in with the chicken. Using ketchup in Asian cooking is not a horrible idea, but one does need to cook out the ketchup flavor. Add the ketchup and oyster sauce and simmer for about five to ten minutes, then add the cornstarch-soy sauce slurry, slowly, just until the sauce thickens. Anyone using white sugar in savory dishes misses out on the complexity that using brown sugar adds. My wok only sees two oils, EVER. Peanut and sesame. Unless there is someone in the family with a peanut allergy, peanut oil performs much better than vegetable oil in the high heat needed for stir-fry. More expensive, but your wok and guests will thank you for it! That said, this is not a bad place to start with this dish as someone making it for the first time.

This recipe is awesome. Just need to adjust the batter recipe. Make the batter as it states but sub out oil for 4 oz of seltzer, soda or beer to the batter. Don’t soak the chicken in the batter just dip chicken in batter then put in to fryer. Using spatula gently move chicken around so it doesn’t stick to each other. When the chicken floats it’s done. Drain on rack and then mix into sauce gently

so yummy and easy to make. instead of making the sauce, I bought the VH General Tao sauce. easier if you don't always have all ingredients at home

It was a great recipe and I followed it with a few changes. I substituted chicken for sliced pork, omitted the oyster sauce and added garlic cloves and sesame seeds and red pepper flakes. Finally, I served it with white rice and stir fried broccoli and mushrooms. Everyone loved it!

I made this recipe for dinner tonight and it was a huge hit! I followed many of the adjustments made by RDean (like others on this thread) but I also substituted white wine for the water in the sauce. I baked the chicken (using thighs instead of breasts), added steamed broccoli, and still had an abundance of the sauce. I was very impressed with the flavor of this sauce and will use this again, going forward. It’s really delicious!

This was a very good recipe which I followed with just a minor change. As others mentioned it lacked the heat and the garlic, so I subbed chili garlic sauce for the ketchup ( which didn't sound too Chinese to me to begin with) and it was great! It will make it spicy so adjust as desired. Also mixed all the wet ingredients together at the end instead of adding separately to save time...no real need for the extra steps.

I made this dish for my husband who enjoys a lot of spice. I added 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes and a jalepano for his benefit. The flavor (minus the spice that is still burning my lips) was excellent.

Oh My Gosh! I love this recipe. I followed RDean's ideas and changed things like him/her. I added 1/2 bag of frozen broccoli and 1can of sliced waterchestnuts. RDean said to use 2tbs of crushed red peppers. I used just one tbs and I think I will cut it back to 1/2. If you can't find RDean, here are the changes that he/she made. 1 tbs ground ginger.(I used 2Tbs) 3 tbs of distilled white vinegar. 1/4 cup of soy sauce. 2tbs of Ketchup. Added 2 cloves garlic. I am going to make some changes the next time I make it. I'm going to try it without any of the breading. I hope that will make it more saucy and not so thick. I didn't mind how thick it was, just prefer more sauce and less breading. I feel the fresh ginger and the oyster sauce are the key to this recipe! My family loved it!!

Made exactly as written but doubled the sauce recipe since I had close to almost 3 pounds of chicken. I was able to get a knob of fresh ginger at my local supermarket for 10 cents and used all I bought. Tastes exactly like the local Chinese would make. I wouldnt change a thing. My wok had hard time handling all the chicken, so maybe next time I would do it in batches to make it crispier. The batter was very very thick, too thick to dump 3 pounds of chicken in, so I added a little water to make it a little thinner like waffle batter. Made it over white rice with fresh string beans. Had plenty left over for a second meal and tastes even better the next day. Excellent recipe, this will go into the regular rotation. Thanks.

Even my picky brother asked for seconds.

I substituted the ginger with fresh diced Jalapeno. Yummy! I will make this again.

There's a million ingredients, so gather all of them before starting. I went light on the ketchup and sugar. Definitely double the sauce. Didn't exactly taste like restaurant General Tsos, but was still amazing! Definitely will make it again. Served with rice rice and grilled vegetables.

It was really good. I used fish sauce instead of oyster i figured it was the same thing and that’s what i had…i will definitely be cooking this again

I was surprised how it all came together. I didn't think it would taste as good when I was cooking it. The only thing I'll do next time is have all the ingredients measured all out, otherwise thought it tasted better fresh!

Made this twice and it was a big hit. Didn’t change a thing other then add some broccoli to the final stage of the sauce when making before adding chicken in. Will definitely add this to my box of recipes.

Delicious! The chicken was very moist and the sauce delicious. We used more oil to cook the chicken since we were using a large ceramic pot and not a wok. We used regular onion and added a green pepper. By mistake we did not follow the recipe instructions for the sauce but it still turned out great. Will definitely make again!

This recipe is delicious. I cut back on the green onion and substituted Hoison sauce but otherwise made it just like the recipe. I have very picky kids and they loved it. We did not have any leftovers.

Overall, this is a lot of work but it’s REALLY good. I know y’all go crazy when we change things without trying it first and I am guilty as charged. First, I used lots of onion because...well...I just like onions. Second - added a sliced sweet pepper - just because the best General Tso’s I’ve had included some as well. Finally, I had some of those kind red peppers laying around. You know - the hot ones? Yeah - threw those in too.