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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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.
General Tso sauce recipe is used to make one of the most popular “Chinese” dishes in America called General Tso chicken. Protein is deeply fried, then tossed in a wok with 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-
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
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.
Use it as desired either to make general Tso chicken or general Tso tofu or use it as a dipping sauce for egg rolls.
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.
Don’t worry; normally, the sauce will thicken further as it cools.
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📋General Tso Sauce
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
Nutrition
Created by Jyothi Rajesh
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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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