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Home > Dips & Sauces > General Tso Sauce

General Tso Sauce

Published: Oct 20, 2022

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homemade General Tso sauce with text

General Tso sauce is a rich, spicy, sweet, and tangy sauce that is perfect to make General Tso chicken, General Tso tofu or any stir fry dish that needs an extra kick.  Made with simple ingredients – in less than 10 minutes! This Asian sauce can be used as a condiment or dip.

homemade general Tso sauce
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  • General Tso sauce recipe
  • Ingredients needed
  • How to make general Tso sauce
  • How to store general Tso sauce
  • FAQS
  • OTHER SAUCE RECIPES
  • 📋General Tso Sauce

General Tso sauce recipe

This sauce is made with soy sauce, hoisin sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger; red chili sauce, red chili flakes, corn starch, and chicken stock all mix together and simmer for 5 minutes until thickened! It’s loaded with flavors.

This sauce recipe is used to make one of the most popular “Chinese” dishes in America the General Tso chicken stir fry. Protein is deeply fried, then tossed in a wok with a sweet and spicy, tangy sauce.

This sauce is what gives the dish its complex flavors. It’s garlicky, tangy, intense, sweet, spicy, and salty, all flavors balanced beautifully.

It’s a versatile sauce and you can adjust ingredients according to your palate. If you love to have a hint of spiciness, just add more dried red chilies and chili sauce to it.

Ingredients needed

Here’s what you’ll need-

all ingredients for general tso sauce
  • 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
  • 1 tablespoon garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon ginger minced
  • 1 tablespoon red chili sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Chinese wine Shaoxing wine or any sherry
  • 1 ½ teaspoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoon brown sugar
  • ⅓ cup chicken stock
  • 2 teaspoon corn starch
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
  • Salt and pepper (if needed)
  • Scallions (optional)- for added flavor

Soy sauce – light soy works great in this recipe although you can use dark soy too.

Hoisin sauce – adds saltiness and sweet flavors.

Brown sugar. Or use honey.

Ginger & garlic – I prefer fresh minced garlic and ginger in my General Tso sauce recipe.  Ginger powder and garlic powder will work too.

Red chili sauce – use any type of chili sauce, highly recommend you use homemade Asian chili sauce for this recipe.

Vinegar – I used rice wine vinegar. If you have access to Chinese wine Shaoxing wine go for it.

Chicken stock – you can use any stock, chicken, vegetable, or even beef stock.

Corn starch – thickening agent, to thicken the sauce.

Please note – add salt only after tasting the sauce, most probably you will not need any salt at all as soy sauce and hoisin sauce will have enough saltiness.

How to make general Tso sauce

  • Into a saucepan add light soy sauce, hoisin sauce, minced ginger, minced garlic, red chili sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, freshly squeezed lemon juice, red chili flakes, salt and pepper (if needed), cornstarch and chicken stock.
  • Whisk it well together.
making general Tso sauce in sauce pan
  • Place the saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Heat the sauce with constant stirring until sauce thickens.
  • Done! General Tso sauce is ready. Use it as desired either to make general Tso chicken or general Tso tofu or use it as a dipping sauce for egg rolls.
thickening tso sauce
  • Cool sauce thoroughly and then store in airtight containers.
  • Note: it’s normal that the sauce will thicken further as it cools.

How to store general Tso sauce

Allow the sauce to cool thoroughly in the saucepan itself. Once cooled pour into airtight containers and store in the fridge or freezer.

You can store it in the refrigerator for 3 weeks.

To store longer, freeze measured portions of the sauce in smaller airtight containers or zip-lock bags. You can keep the sauce for up to 3 months.

FAQS

How does general Tso sauce taste like?

This sauce tastes garlicky, tangy, pungent, sweet, spicy, and salty, all flavors balanced beautifully.
When you use it with protein stir fry, the sauce thickens and hardens further and becomes sticky.

How to use this sauce?

Use it as desired either to make general Tso chicken or general Tso tofu or use it as a dipping sauce for egg rolls.

I’m allergic to corn starch, can I use other alternatives?

If you are allergic to corn or don’t prefer to eat corn starch use arrowroot powder instead. Arrowroot powder will help thicken the sauce.

Is it normal for sauce to thicken more?

Don’t worry; normally, the sauce will thicken further as it cools.

a jar of Asian stir sauce

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homemade general Tso sauce
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📋General Tso Sauce

Jyothi Rajesh
General Tso sauce is a rich, spicy, sweet, and tangy sauce that is perfect to make General Tso chicken or tofu or any stir fry dish that needs an extra kick.  Made with simple ingredients – in less than 10 minutes! This Asian sauce can be used as a condiment or dip.
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Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 5 minutes mins
Course condiments, Dips, Sauces
Cuisine American Chinese
Servings 4 servings
Calories 65

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
  • 1 tablespoon garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon ginger minced
  • 1 tablespoon red chili sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Chinese wine Shaoxing wine or any sherry
  • 1 ½ teaspoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoon brown sugar
  • ⅓ cup chicken stock
  • 2 teaspoon cornstarch
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
  • Salt and pepper if needed
  • Scallions optional- for added flavor

Instructions
 

  • Into a saucepan add light soy sauce, hoisin sauce, minced ginger, minced garlic, red chili sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, freshly squeezed lemon juice, red chili flakes, salt and pepper (if needed), cornstarch and chicken stock.
  • Whisk it well together.
  • Place the saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Heat the sauce with constant stirring until the sauce thickens.
  • Done! General Tso sauce is ready. Use it as desired either to make general Tso chicken or general Tso tofu or use it as a dipping sauce for egg rolls.
  • Cool sauce thoroughly and then store in airtight containers.
  • Note: normally, the sauce will thicken further as it cools.

Notes

Nutritional Info – Please keep in mind that the nutritional information provided is only a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.

Nutrition

Calories: 65kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 2gFat: 0.5gSaturated Fat: 0.1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 904mgPotassium: 99mgFiber: 0.5gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 101IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 15mgIron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Follow @CurryTrail and tag #CurryTrail to share your creation!

Created by Jyothi Rajesh

Thank you for stopping by.

Jyothi Rajesh is the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail. She lives in Bangalore, India and is the mom of two beautiful kids. Her passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. She’s been blogging since 2007 and many of her recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.

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Jyothi - Author of Curry Trail.

Welcome, I'm Jyothi

My food philosophy is simple, fresh and full of flavors! I love ‘spicy’ food. In fact so much so that I can skip dessert for extra spicy savory food!

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