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Low Fat Baked General Tso’s Chicken

General Tso’s Chicken is a favourite Chinese take out dish that you can make even better at home & with less fat than the deep fried version. One of our TOP TEN recipes ever.

General Tso Chicken close up photo for featured image

General Tso Chicken

A favourite Chinese take out dish that you can make even better at home and with less fat than the deep fried version. This recipe has received many great reviews from readers who have tried it.

General Tso Chicken photo served on rice with title text added for Pinterest

Original 2009 photo.

The real secret to this General Tso’s Chicken sauce is getting the caramel base correct, once you master that the rest is a breeze. I have had many readers tell me over the years that this recipe is better than any restaurant version they’ve ever tried.

Raw chicken thigh meat. Stock Photo

Remove the skin & trim all of the visible fat from the chicken thighs and they are almost as lean as breast meat and more budget friendly too. I also think they have more flavour than breast meat and easier not to overcook.

Making the sauce for General Tso Chicken

Here’s a short video which shows what the caramel should look like before you add the rest of the ingredients.

You can see why it is so important to do this with care. The caramel is so very hot and the addition of the other ingredients causes a big release of steam. This all calms down rather quickly but take care not to cause a burn.

Originally published March 31, 2009. April 2020 Update to include a new print page and demonstration video.

General Tso Chicken on a white serving plate with rice and chopsticks

General Tso Chicken

If you liked this recipe you may also like to try our General Tso Chicken Wings.

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Oven Baked General Tso Chicken photo wiit title text added for Pinterest

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General Tso Chicken close up photo for featured image
Yield: 6 servings

Low Fat Baked General Tso Chicken

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Low Fat Baked General Tso Chicken - a favorite Chinese take out dish that you can make even better at home and with less fat than the deep fried version. This recipe has received many great reviews from readers who have tried it.

Ingredients

  • 2 -3 pounds boneless chicken thighs or breasts, cut in strips
  • 1 egg + 2 tbsp water whisked together to make an egg wash
  • 1 cup flour
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper cayenne pepper
  • 3 tbsp ground ginger
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce
  • 4 tbsp rice wine vinegar, white wine vinegar is fine in a pinch
  • ¼ cup water water
  • 2 tbsp toasted sesame seed oil
  • 2 tbsp hot chilli paste or sauce, use more or less to taste if you don’t like it very hot
  • ½ tsp salt salt
  • 2 tsp corn starch
  • 3 cloves minced garlic
  • 3 tbsp freshly grated ginger
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup water

Instructions

  1. Combine the 1 cup flour, ½ tsp black pepper, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, 3 tbsp ground ginger, 2 tsp salt.
  2. Dip the chicken pieces in the egg wash then dredge them in the flour mixture.
  3. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and lightly drizzle or the tops with a little more olive oil.
  4. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 25-3o minutes. Flip the pieces at half way through the cooking time.
  5. While the chicken is baking, prepare your sauce. Don’t walk away from this sauce; it gets very hot when making the caramel base and can burn easily so pay careful attention while cooking it.
  6. In a small bowl, mix together the 4 tbsp soya sauce, 4 tbsp rice wine vinegar, ¼ cup water, 2 tbsp toasted sesame seed oil, 2 tbsp hot chilli paste or sauce, ½ tsp salt, 2 tsp corn starch, 3 cloves minced garlic and 3 tbsp freshly grated ginger. Set this mixture aside.
  7. In a medium saucepan boil together the 1 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water.
  8. Boil this over medium heat, watching constantly until the caramel starts to turn a light amber color and you can begin to smell the caramel. When it reaches this stage, give the other ingredients in the bowl a quick stir to make sure the corn starch is dissolved then add it all at once to the hot caramel. (Careful: This mixture is very hot!)
  9. Be careful at this stage because this sauce can foam up considerably for a few seconds and it is very hot. Simmer for only few minutes and remove from the heat and allow to cool down slightly.
  10. Toss the sauce with the cooked chicken pieces and serve over plain steamed rice or Chinese noodles.

Notes

-

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

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Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1 serving

Amount Per Serving Calories 470Total Fat 11gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 130mgSodium 572mgCarbohydrates 42gFiber 1gSugar 34gProtein 49g

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

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Shirley

Tuesday 15th of November 2022

I have not found a version of your recipes that includes the video. Seems it was there once, but now that space is labelled ‘private’. Im nervous about the Carmel of course.

Bonnie

Friday 10th of December 2021

Can this recipe be made in half?

Lynn Parsons

Saturday 11th of December 2021

Sure

Theresa

Saturday 25th of September 2021

This recipe is a keeper. The sauce is great. You can use any vegetables you love.

Kayleigh Duggan

Monday 17th of August 2020

This was absolutely delicious. I cooked my chicken in the air fryer and used Swerve sugar substitute to cut down on the sugar count. Omitted the ginger just because I didn't have it on-hand, I'm sure it would be even better with it but it was still delicious without. Served over white rice. Perfect!

Phyllis Doulaveris

Sunday 21st of January 2018

I made this for the family and it was delicious. Actually WAY better than the takeout that's all breading around a tiny piece of chicken. Plus, it's not loaded with grease. When making the sauce, I had a moment of panic. When I added the sauce to the caramel the cold sauce hit the caramel and turned into a rock! But the heat started to melt the rock quickly and all was well. However, next time I might warm up the sauce in the microwave prior to adding to the caramel. Like others, I steamed some broccoli and added sauce to the chicken and broccoli. This recipe is fantastic - you must try it!

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