Low Fat Baked General Tso's Chicken
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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.
Originally published March 31, 2009.
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.
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.
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.
April 2020 Update to include a new print page and demonstration video.
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 tablespoon water whisked together to make an egg wash
- 1 cup flour
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper cayenne pepper
- 3 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoon soy sauce
- 4 tablespoon rice wine vinegar, white wine vinegar is fine in a pinch
- ¼ cup water water
- 2 tablespoon toasted sesame seed oil
- 2 tablespoon hot chilli paste or sauce, use more or less to taste if you don’t like it very hot
- ½ teaspoon salt salt
- 2 teaspoon corn starch
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 3 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- Combine the 1 cup flour, ½ teaspoon black pepper, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 3 tablespoon ground ginger, 2 teaspoon 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 tablespoon soya sauce, 4 tablespoon rice wine vinegar, ¼ cup water, 2 tablespoon toasted sesame seed oil, 2 tablespoon hot chilli paste or sauce, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoon corn starch, 3 cloves minced garlic and 3 tablespoon freshly grated ginger. Set this mixture aside.
- In a medium saucepan boil together the 1 cup of sugar and ¼ 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.