General Tso Sauce
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Skip the Chinese takeout and make homemade General Tso sauce right in your own kitchen! This sweet, tangy, and slightly spicy sauce is perfect for tossing with chicken, drizzling over veggies, or using as a dipping sauce. Made with simple pantry staples, this recipe comes together in 5 minutes and delivers that bold, restaurant-style flavor you love without ever leaving home.
Why you’ll love this sauce
I first introduced this sauce on the blog in 2015 in this recipe for General Tso’s Chicken. It’s been a hit for over a decade, and in fact, it’s received such rave reviews that I’ve also tossed it with chicken wings, cauliflower, shrimp, and noodles.
Here’s what reader Olivia had to say about it: “This was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! I only did 1/2 tsp of sriracha and my picky 2.5 year old even enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I am going to make it at-least once a week from now on!”
I continue to receive comments about doubling and tripling the sauce recipe, because people love it so much, and I know you will too! It’s sweet and spicy with bold flavors that compliment several different dishes.
Try it on chicken first, then I guarantee you’ll start tossing it with just about everything you can get your hands on. I’m a big fan of tossing it with chicken wings. For me, this is a must-try!
Ingredients
Here I explain the best ingredients for this General Tso sauce recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For the exact ingredient measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Vegetable oil – I’ve also made this recipe with canola oil and avocado oil. Feel free to use whatever you have on hand.
- Soy sauce – to make this recipe gluten free, simply use gluten-free soy sauce or tamari.
- Rice vinegar
- Sriracha – adjust to taste depending on how spicy you want the sauce to be. I’ve heard mixed reviews from readers saying that it’s too spicy, and some saying that the spice is just right. Only you know your preference for spicy food. If you’re sensitive to spice, I recommend starting with less sriracha, then adding more to taste.
- Honey – readers have also commented that they’ve used brown sugar with good results.
- Garlic
- Ginger – I recommend grating fresh ginger for the best flavor. But do you know the easiest way to grate fresh ginger? By freezing it first. I always have a knob of ginger in the freezer. This way, I can just pull it out and use a microplane to freshly grate ginger whenever I need it.
- Chinese five spice – this fragrant spice blend adds sweet, savory, salty, and spicy flavors to this dish. It typically includes star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichauan peppercorns, and fennel seeds, and it really adds a complex flavor to the sauce. In a pinch, if you don’t have the spice blend at home, you can combine 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice instead.
- Crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl.
- Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Ways to use it
Use the sauce to make General Tso’s Chicken (pictured above). Follow the link for my homemade recipe, or to make a short-cut version, use frozen breaded chicken bites, like these from Just Bare Chicken.
Cook 1 pound of the chicken bites according to the package directions. Pour the sauce in a large skillet or wok on the stove over high heat and bring it to a boil. Add the cooked chicken bites to the sauce and toss until they’re fully coated.
You can also use the sauce in these delicious recipes:
- General Tso’s Chicken Wings (pictured above)
- General Tso’s Cauliflower
- Vegetarian Noodle Stir Fry with General Tso’s Sauce
- General Tso’s Broccoli and Shrimp
Or drizzle it over cooked rice or vegetables, or use it as a glaze on smoked pork chops or pork tenderloin.
More sauce recipes
Add more flavor to your meals with all of these easy sauce recipes!
General Tso Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, or canola oil
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon Chinese five spice
Instructions
- Whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- To make this sauce gluten free, replace the soy sauce with gluten-free soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos.
- This sauce has a spicy kick. If you want to reduce the spice, I recommend starting with just ½ teaspoon of Sriracha for just a little heat. Taste the sauce, then add more Sriracha if you want, for more spice.
- To thicken the sauce, pour it into a small saucepan on the stove over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water to make a cornstarch slurry. Once the sauce starts to bubble in the pan on the stovetop, add the cornstarch slurry and stir to combine. Let the sauce simmer for 3-5 minutes, then remove it from the stove and spoon it over steamed broccoli, stir fry vegetables, or cooked rice.
- This recipe makes enough sauce to coat 2 pounds of chicken wings or to coat 1 pound of chicken breast pieces for a traditional General Tso’s chicken recipe.
Nutrition Facts
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