P.F. Chang's General Tso Chicken Recipe (2024)

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Make our P.F. Chang’s General Tso Chicken Recipe at home tonight for your family. With our Secret Restaurant Recipe your General Tso Chicken will taste just like P.F. Chang’s.

P.F. Chang's General Tso Chicken Recipe (1)

Photo by jensteele

General Tso Chicken – Everyone’s Favorite “American” Chinese Dish

If you ask for General Tso Chicken outside the major cities in China (where the influx of American tourists have made it necessary to include on most menues) the waiter will probably look at you like you are crazy.

Why? Because General Tso Chicken is not a traditional Chinese dish. It was invented in American Chinese restaurants for Americans. And not only is the dish almost completely unknown in China, but the General that the dish may or may not be named after is such a minor character in Chinese history that most Chinese have never heard of him.

Imagine if one of your guests, out of the blue, were to asked you to make some Hagood Chicken for them and you get some idea of the confusion your waiter is feeling. (Johnson Hagood was a Brigadier General in the South Carolina State Militia during the American Civil War – and as far as I know there is no chicken dish named after him. Yet. 😉 )

Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of this page after you read (and make!)P.F. Chang’s General Tso Chicken Recipe. There are TWO MORE delicious General Tso Chicken Recipes for you to try.

P.F. Chang’s General Tso Chicken

P.F. Chang's General Tso Chicken Recipe

Make our P.F. Chang's General Tso Chicken Recipe at home tonight for your family. With our Secret Restaurant Recipe your General Tso Chicken will taste just like P.F. Chang's.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Active Time20 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Keyword: P.F. Chang's

Ingredients

Sauce

  • 1/2 cup Cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup Water
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh Garlic
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh Ginger
  • 3/4 cup Sugar
  • 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
  • 1/4 cup White Vinegar
  • 1/4 cup dry Sherry or White Wine
  • 1 can condensed Chicken Broth

Meat

  • 3 pounds boneless skinless Chicken, cut into chunks
  • 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
  • 8 small dried Red Chiles stems and seeds removed
  • 1 Egg beaten
  • 1 cup Cornstarch
  • 2 quarts Vegetable Oil for deep-frying plus 1 tablespoon for stir-frying
  • 2 cups sliced Scallions green onions
  • Fried Rice or Steamed Rice for serving

Instructions

Sauce

  • Put everything in a quart jar with a lid and shake it up, then put in the fridge. Just shake it up again when you are ready to use it.

Meat

  • In a large bowl, mix together the chicken, soy sauce, and hot peppers. Stir in the egg. Add the cornstarch and mix until all the chicken pieces are well coated. (It will look awful at this point.)

  • Heat the deep-frying oil to 350°F in a large pot. Cover a large platter with a few layers of paper towels.

  • Set aside the chiles. Deep-fry 7 or 8 chicken pieces at a time until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Repeat until all the chicken chunks are fried.

  • Place 1 tablespoon oil in a wok and heat until very hot. Add the scallions and chiles and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Shake the sauce to recombine, then pour it into the wok. Cook until thick. If it gets too thick, add water until it’s the right consistency. Add the chicken to the sauce and cook until everything is hot and bubbly. Serve with fried or steamed rice.

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Another “General Tso Chicken” Recipe for You to Try:

On Secret Copycat Restaurant Recipes Pinterest Page Food Network Star, Sunny Anderson, makes a killer version of General Tso Chicken. She calls it Airman Anderson Chicken – and you can find a link to it on our Pinterest Page (Click the Link Below). Be sure to “Follow” us while your are there for even MORE Recipes.

Click HERE now for Food Network Star, Sunny Anderson’s Airman Anderson Chicken on The Secret Copycat Restaurant Recipes Pinterest Page

And One More Homemade General Tso Chicken Video Recipe for You to Try:

P.F. Chang's General Tso Chicken Recipe (5)

Photo by avlxyz

Video Courtesy of Cooking With Kai

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  • … MORE Great Recipes Coming Soon!

Photo of P.F. Chang’s General Tso Chicken Home Recipe is by jensteele and is used by permission under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) License. Photo of General Tso Chicken is by avlxyz and is used by permission under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) License. Original Video can be found at How to make General Tso’ Chicken. Photos may be “representative” of the recipe and not the actual finished dish. All photo licenses listed were correct at the time of the posting of the page. Additional Information Courtesy of Wikipedia and is used by permission.

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P.F. Chang's General Tso Chicken Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is PF Chang's version of General Tso's chicken? ›

Have you ever eaten at P.F. Chang's? They have “Chang's Spicy Chicken” on the menu, which is basically their version of general tso's. It has the perfect balance of sweet and spicy, and the sauce is light in color, which indicates it's not overloaded with soy sauce.

What does General Tso Chicken contain? ›

General Tso's (pronounced tsow) chicken is a Chinese-American dish that features deep-fried chicken tossed in an irresistibly sticky glaze made with garlic, sugar, soy sauce, and chiles. The dish is named after 19th-century military leader Tso Tsung-t'ang.

What is the difference between General Tso chicken and General Tao chicken? ›

General Tso's chicken (also known as General Tao's or Tsao's chicken) is an iconic Chinese-American takeout of deep-fried chicken coated in a thick sweet sauce. You can also make it spicy for those who like a little kick.

What is closest to General Tso's chicken? ›

Sweet and sour chicken: The two are super similar. The main difference is that General Tso sauce has more ginger flavor, as well as a little more heat from the hot sauce or chili flakes. Kung pao chicken: The main difference between the two is how the meat is cooked.

What is the flavor of General Tso? ›

General Tso's Chicken is that perfect combination of sweet, savoury, spicy and tangy with crispy Chinese chicken bites. It's a Chinese takeout favourite that just pushes all the right buttons!

What is General Tso's sauce made of? ›

How to Make General Tso's Sauce: The sauce for General Tso's chicken is so simple to make with pantry staple ingredients: rice vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, water, sugar, and some corn starch to thicken the sauce. Simply add the ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine.

What is better Szechuan chicken or General Tso's? ›

Our experts say… General Tso's chicken is about the most dangerous Chinese dish on the menu—dark meat battered and deep-fried, then cooked with vegetables in a sweet, spicy sauce. Szechuan chicken, made with leaner, white meat and sautéed with vegetables, is a far better choice.

How healthy is General Tso's chicken? ›

Worst: General Tso's Chicken

Named after a Chinese war hero, this fat-laden dish won't help you win any weight loss battles. The breaded, fried chicken is smothered in a sugary sauce. One order clocks in at around 1,500 calories and 88 grams of fat, and it delivers more sodium than you should get in a day.

Why does General Tso Chicken taste different? ›

General Tso's chicken typically uses dark meat

Mashed's homemade General Tso's chicken recipe calls for chicken thighs diced into 1-inch chunks, noting that this cut is "slightly meatier and more flavorful" than chicken breasts. Dark meat does in fact have a more succulent texture and taste, and biology is to thank.

Which is hotter kung pao or General Tso? ›

What's the difference between General Tso and Kung Pao Chicken? General Tso's is sweeter with a milder spice, featuring deep-fried battered chicken. Kung Pao is spicier with stir-fried chicken, vegetables, and peanuts.

What is a good substitute for hoisin sauce? ›

Thai chili sauce and oyster sauce together are a particularly good substitute for hoisin sauce, especially when you add a little garlic powder and Chinese five spice to the mix.

How do you make General Tso Chicken crispy again? ›

I highly doubt you'll have any leftovers when you cook it. But just in case you do need to reheat the dish, here is a good way. You can preheat your oven to 350 F and spread the chicken onto a baking dish. Once the chicken is heated through, it will be pretty crispy again.

Is General Tso's supposed to be spicy? ›

General Tso's chicken is sweet, tangy, and mildly spicy. The chicken thighs are cut into bite size pieces, briefly marinated and fried until crispy and perfectly golden brown. It's one of the most popular Chinese takeout dishes and now you can make this at home in 30 minutes!

What is the different name for General Tso chicken? ›

The two claims may be somewhat reconciled in that the current General Tso's chicken recipe — where the meat is crispy fried — was introduced by Chef Wang under the name "General Ching's chicken", a name which still has trace appearances on menus on the Internet (the identity of its namesake "General Ching" is, however, ...

What is in PF Chang's kung pao chicken? ›

What ingredients are in P.F. Chang's Kung Pao Chicken/Kung Pao Shrimp? Your choice of sliced chicken or whole shrimp, potato starch, chili pepper pods, garlic, chili paste, scallion, spicy Kung Pao sauce, peanuts, celery, and sesame oil.

Are orange chicken and General Tso the same? ›

General Tso's chicken is typically spicier and has a more complex flavor profile, with a sauce that includes soy sauce, vinegar, and chili peppers. Orange chicken, on the other hand, has a sweeter and tangier sauce made with orange juice and zest.

Is Kung Pao Chicken the same as General Tso? ›

Kung pao chicken and General Tso's chicken are similar in that they are both chicken-based dishes with a hint of chili, but the primary difference is that latter is deep-fried and coated with a syrupy sweet and sour sauce, and the former is coated with a gentle, more balanced sauce.

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