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
Low Fat Baked General Tso’s 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.
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.
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
If you liked this recipe you may also like to try our General Tso Chicken Wings.
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Low Fat Baked General Tso Chicken
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
- Combine the 1 cup flour, ½ tsp black pepper, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, 3 tbsp ground ginger, 2 tsp salt.
- Dip the chicken pieces in the egg wash then dredge them in the flour mixture.
- Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and lightly drizzle or the tops with a little more olive oil.
- Bake at 375 degrees F for about 25-3o minutes. Flip the pieces at half way through the cooking time.
- 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.
- 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.
- In a medium saucepan boil together the 1 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water.
- 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!)
- 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.
- 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
6Serving Size
1 servingAmount 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.
This recipe is amazing! The fresh ginger really makes it taster fresh, and it does taste better than fried chicken. I stir fried some broccoli and added to it as well. 🙂
As I was missing this American “Chinese” dish desperately in Switzerland where I live, this fully satisfied me to the point of yelling “this is IT” in my house. I also added broccoli and sesame seeds to the sauce like my local fav restaurant in Boston did. Thanks -Michelle
This was delicious! I have a stomach problem that keeps me from eating a lot of my favorite foods if they are fried, and this was the perfect solution!
I made this and my picky husband and son loved it. Will make again.
I’ve been eying this recipe for a month and so I’m giving it a try tomorrow. The ingredients are all pantry staples and this is my favorite Chinese dish with the exception of Singapore Noodles. If you can find me, or create for me a terrific recipe for those little darlin’s then by golly I’ll truly call you the kitchen God:)
Singapore noodles……my mostest favourite!!!!! Please find us a recipe!!!!
This was ridiculously awesome! Never ordering it out again.
Can hardly wait to try it~~(^_^)
Does it really call for 2tbs of sesame oil, that seems an awful lot as it has quite a strong flavour.
I like the flavor but yes it is quite strong. Feel free to start with a lower amount.
Where can i get chili paste? Looked in my local market and none to be found!
Try the Asian markets.
Walmart carries it. Sirachi sauce. Its in a clear bottle and has a picture of a rooster on the front.
This looks amazing! I know my bunch would love this! Im going to have to add it to our meal plan for this week!
I used sambal olek as my chili paste, and my this was delicious. The baked chicken makes a huge difference. Usually recipes require you to fry in a pan. At my first attempt I scorched the caramel, but the second attempt I succeeded. It was good.
This is the best. I may never get takeout again it’s so awesome. Thank you!!! I, too, added broccoli and sesame seeds. The chicken comes out perfect and the sauce is better than the Chinese restaurants serve.
I can’t wait to try this. It is rare to hear of people liking a baked one as well as a fried one. Its on my list! Thanks!
I am 12 years old and have a mother who is kind of super healthy. She does not often let me make things like this but since the chicken isn’t fried she is totally fine with the recipe.I LOVE to take on some challenging recipes so I am super excited to try this out with my mom. Thanks!!
This is great. Left out the eggwash and the sesame oilas BF is allergic to both and substituted rice flour. It was still amazing.
Made this for dinner tonight, absolutely loved it my only complaint would be that I had enough sauce for all my chicken but not enough for extra glaze on top of the rice!
Will definitely make again and maybe make more of the sauce.
Does anyone know the calorie count and other nutritional facts for this recipe?
Hi Barry, I found this recipe on Pinterest and made it for dinner last night – DELICIOUS! Thank you. I have bookmarked your blog and look forward to checking in regularly – especially if all your food is as good as this one recipe 🙂
Just wondering if anyone figured out how much per serving the calories are and how many servings this makes. I did make it though and it was excellent!!
For some reason my caramel didn’t really come out- it was looking great at first, but just as it seemed like it was going to start to brown, instead it sort of dried up, and it was like the sugar wasn’t even melted. Does anyone know why this happened?
I had trouble with the caramel stuff. Made it twice and both times cooked it too long almost to the hard candy stage. The third time I mixed the sugar and water and all the other ingredients plus an extra tbsp of cornstarch. Then I boiled it for a little over a minute, stirring constantly, and let it cool. It wa the right consistency and tasted great. I really like this recipe except I just couldn’t get the caramel stuff right but my modification worked just fine.
Made this last night- it was awesome!! I think my sauce was a teensy bit watery, but I’ll definitely, definitely be making this again as a part of our regular monthly meals.
Thank you so much for posting this! I made this for my husband for his birthday. He has soy, wheat, and peanut allergies and can no longer eat Chinese, and he was missing it terribly. With the discovery of Coconut Amino and some rice flour I was able to produce a safe version for him that tasted great!
I made this recipe using stevia in place of sugar and it was crazy good with a fraction of the carbs.
This was spicy & delicious! I think I did something wrong, though because my sauce was runny too, not glazelike. I will make again!
I had a challenge with the caramel sauce as well. The water evaporated and left me with dried sugar. I added more water twice, and then more sugar. It still didn’t turn to caramel and made more of a sugar sauce than a sticky sauce. Any ideas?
Sounds to me like you are boiling this too fast on too high a heat setting. Try simmering it at a lower setting. Don’t stir the caramel, this can cause crystallization.
I made this tonight. I added a bit of Mirin so it had a touch of sweetness, and while it was pretty spicy it was GOOD! My family and I are all foodies (the kids are 10 and 13)…we crave big flavor and this fit the bill! I expected the sauce to thicken a bit more but it did not. I suspect next time I will add a cornstarch slurry. But we all liked it! Thanks for the recipe!
I really liked this recipe! I might use a little less fresh ginger in the sauce next time but overall this one is a keeper.
This was yummy!
Yum, made this and we loved it! I personally could have used more ginger and garlic but that’s just my personal taste.
is there anything I can use as a substitute for the rice wine vinegar? I have regular white vinegar, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, white wine, or chicken broth.
I’d substitute the white vinegar
or red wine vinegar.
This is delish! I made it as written but added broccoli (definitely recommend doing this). I had some trouble getting the sauce to thicken – even after some more cornstarch and water to thicken it. but either way its SOOOO good!
I made this foes dinner one night this week and it was fantastic!!!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I used half the sugar and water called for in the caramel step and it was still great.
This chicken looks awesome. I love the General Tso from the Chinese restaurant down the street but find it to be too greasy. A baked version would be much healthier:)
I made this last weekend and my family loved it. My husband liked it so much he went to work talking about it and they all want the recipe. Thanks!
Ok, this looks amazing and I want to try it, but I have a clarification. I know I’m going to sound stupid, but does it truly call for “soya” sauce or is it really soy sauce with a typo? I’m new to Asian ingredients, so I didn’t know. Thanks!
~Marysue
it is indeed soy sauce.
This was very good! I added bell peppers to mine. Next time I am going to nix the ginger and use a different oil in the hope that I can make it taste more like my favorite restaurant’s.
This recipe was so easy and tasted awesome. Pan fried some prawns and tossed with this sauce. This is a keeper.Rock Recipes, rock.
Hi any suggestions what to use in place of chili paste? I have all the ingredients except the chili paste… They never had it at the grocery store I went to and I never had time to go to another one!! Really want to cook this tonight!! Looks YUM YUM!!
Chili flakes will do. Just use less.
Thanks for this recipe. I made it tonight and it was fantastic.
I used 500gms of chicken thigh fillets and substituted the cayenne pepper for paprika as I didn’t have any cayenne. I then halved the rest of the ingredients. I made it serve 4 and it came in at 366 cals.
I served it over sautéed onion, garlic and cabbage and it was a nice decent serve.
Very enjoyable!
The sauce can definitely be tricky, but last time we made this, we made extra sauce and put it in the fridge. Last week I diced up zucchini, summer squash, garlic and onions, stir fried them, then tossed them with the sauce. So delicious!! This sauce is my new addiction!
Does the recipe really call for 3tablespoons of ground ginger? That is almost a quarter cup to 1 cup of flour?
Yes, I like the warmth of the ginger but you can use less.
I made this for a lunch group of 20 today and EVERYONE liked it a lot. I served it over brown rice with a stir-fry of broccoli, red peppers and onions.
That’s great to hear Janet. Not shy about cooking for a crowd are you!? Well done.
I made this again yesterday and substituted 5 spice powder for the ginger and it was also very good.
We made this last night & loved it. It’s very similar to my favorite General Tso chicken at the local Chinese restaurant. I might even up it to 1/4 cup of grated ginger next time, we loved the ginger that much!
I made this today for the same group of 20 for Chinese New Year but used shrimp and served it over rice noodles with stir-fry veg YUM!!
I made this last nite and it was awesome. I swapped out the boneless chicken parts and used chicken wings. I have been looking for a new wing recipe and decided this sauce would be perfect. This is my new Chinese version of buffalo wings.
I did everything the same and it was OUTSTANDING! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Great idea to make them with wings. I’m going to try that!
This recipe is amazing! An absolute hit with my family. It tasted like the best version of what I was hoping for (just like the picture and very tasty) – a BIG bonus when it’s the first attempt at a new recipe.
Thank you for the easy-to-follow instructions and for having ingredients that I usually have in stock!
Will definitely make again and check out your other recipes and cook book 🙂
Looks absolutely delicious
Can I use Siracha in place of chili paste? And is it soya sauce or soy sauce? They sell both, and are 2 different types of sauces. I read the comments and you said it is soy sauce but wondering why it says soya sauce in the ingredients? Haha sorry just confused! And not sure which one to buy.
Sriracha will give a slightly different flavour but still good I think. It is regular soy sauce that I mean, the kind used all the time in Asian dishes. In Britain they sometimes use “soya” sauce to mean the same thing. Perhaps we are talking about 2 different things.
Delicious. Made this tonight and it was awesome. The only thing I’ll be changing next time I make it is to reduce the amount of grated ginger, was to much for my liking, I think I’ll reduce it to 1 tbsp and it will be perfect.
I make a recipe similar to this. So good!!
Really delicious!
Rockrecipes Rocks!
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!