Ground chicken is the key to making a Shortcut General Tso’s Chicken that cuts out extra chopping and deep-frying steps without compromising on the sweet tangy sauce and satisfyingly craggly texture!
We have a simple step-by-step recipe as well as a YouTube video showing you how to make it!
Ground chicken to the rescue!
When I buy a package of ground chicken, it’s usually destined for something I’ve made countless times, like chicken meatballs or maybe Sarah’s perennial classic, Thai Basil Chicken. There wasn’t too much deviation beyond that I’m sorry to report.
So when I made my Shortcut Mongolian (Ground) Beef recently, I thought to myself—why not simplify another beloved Chinese restaurant dish with easy-to-reach-for ground meat?
While my dad / Bill has a great recipe for the ideal General Tso’s Chicken, I have to say, on an average day on my own in my apartment, it’s a pretty tall order for me to get out a pot of frying oil!
This shortcut General Tso’s Chicken solves that issue. It’s got all the flavor of a great General Tso’s Chicken with the ease of coming together in one pan, with no leftover frying oil and no double-fry! Bill tried this himself and declared the flavor to be just right!
What Gives General Tso’s its Distinct Flavor?
To be honest, there are so many sweet fried American Chinese takeout chicken dishes out there. They can start to blur together a bit, from orange chicken to sesame chicken to General Tso’s chicken, to sweet and sour chicken. (We have separate recipes for all of those by the way—find Sesame Chicken in our cookbook.)
The key flavor for General Tso’s Chicken is of course the sweetness, but also the contrast of tangy rice vinegar. If you don’t put enough, you’ll get a sweet, almost boringly bland sickly sweet sauce. But with the right amount of rice vinegar, suddenly you’re noshing on a great bowl of General Tso’s Chicken!
The other key is letting the sauce cook down and really adhere to the chicken. The sugars caramelize, and it gets that sticky quality. There should be no standing sauce in the pan!
What About the Broccoli?
In my mind, General Tso’s is best when you’ve got a bite of broccoli to go with it. After a little bit of testing, I realized I prefer the broccoli steamed on the side, like when you go to the restaurant and they arrange a perfect ring of broccoli around a pile of crunchy chicken pieces.
To steam the broccoli, just add the broccoli to the steamer right after the chicken is done browning, and steam for 4-6 minutes until crisp tender. It should still be bright green.
Watch our YouTube video for extra tips and tricks, or just to see the dish come together from start to finish!
Recipe Instructions
In a medium bowl, mix the ground chicken with the Shaoxing wine, salt, white pepper, and sesame oil. Set aside to marinate while you prep the other ingredients. (Or if making ahead, cover and refrigerate overnight.)
Next, make the sauce. To a measuring cup, add the chicken stock, brown sugar, light soy sauce, rice vinegar, and dark soy sauce. Set aside. Set water to boil for steaming the broccoli.
While that’s happening, add the flour and cornstarch to a shallow dish, stirring with a fork or whisk to combine. Break up the ground chicken into pieces on top of the cornstarch, then use your fingers to break up the ground chicken into nuggets/large chunks and toss them in the cornstarch flour mixture.
Heat your wok or skillet over high heat. Add the oil and ground chicken in a single layer, and fry until golden. Once a golden crust has formed, use a wok spatula to flip the chicken and let it brown once more undisturbed. Repeat until the chicken is uniformly seared. Remove from the wok, leaving behind any oil.
Add the broccoli to the steamer and steam for 5-6 minutes until crisp tender.
With the heat on medium-high, add the red chili peppers and cook for 1 minute. Add the garlic, and cook for another 30 seconds to a minute.
Stir up your sauce and add it to the pan. Bring to a simmer.
Add the chicken, tossing until the chicken is coated and the sauce is caramelized and sticky. There should be very little standing sauce.
Serve immediately with the steamed broccoli and steamed rice!
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Recipe
Shortcut General Tso’s (Ground) Chicken
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
For the sauce:
- ⅓ cup low sodium chicken stock
- 3½ tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2½ teaspoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
For the rest of the dish:
- 3 cups broccoli florets (about 8 ounces)
- 4 tablespoons neutral oil
- 3-5 dried red chili peppers (optional)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix the ground chicken with the Shaoxing wine, salt, white pepper, and sesame oil. Set aside to marinate while you prep the other ingredients. (Or if making ahead, cover and refrigerate overnight.)
- Next, make the sauce. To a measuring cup, add the chicken stock, brown sugar, light soy sauce, rice vinegar, and dark soy sauce. Set aside. Set water to boil for steaming the broccoli.
- While that’s happening, add the flour and cornstarch to a shallow dish, stirring with a fork or whisk to combine. Break up the ground chicken into pieces on top of the cornstarch, then use your fingers to break up the ground chicken into nuggets/large chunks and toss them in the cornstarch flour mixture.
- Heat your wok or skillet over high heat. Add the oil and ground chicken in a single layer, and fry until golden. Once a golden crust has formed, use a wok spatula to flip the chicken and let it brown once more undisturbed. Repeat until the chicken is uniformly seared. Remove from the wok, leaving behind any oil.
- Add the broccoli to the steamer and steam for 5-6 minutes until crisp tender.
- With the heat on medium-high, add the red chili peppers and cook for 1 minute. Add the garlic, and cook for another 30 seconds to a minute.
- Stir up your sauce and add it to the pan. Bring to a simmer. Add the chicken, tossing until the chicken is coated and the sauce is caramelized and sticky. There should be very little standing sauce. Serve immediately with the steamed broccoli and steamed rice!
