Gluten Free General Tso’s Chicken

Gluten free general tso’s chicken is tossed in a sweet and tangy sauce. The whole family will love this homemade Chinese takeout classic version.

General Tso’s chicken is a popular dish at Chinese restaurants across the United States but is an Americanized version of the original dish. Traditional Huanese flavors are sour, salty, and hot while the American version is more of a sweet sauce.

The original creator of General Tso’s chicken was a Chinese chef named Peng Chang-Kuei, who named the dish after a nineteenth-century general by the name of Tso Tsung-t’ang (or Zuo Zongtang). Although general Tso is well-known in the Hunan province, the fried chicken dish is not.

Ingredients

• Boneless skinless chicken breasts – you can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs, but you’ll need to cook them longer.
• Egg – this allows the cornstarch to stick to the chicken.
• Corn starch, potato starch, or tapioca starch – used to create the crispy coating. You can also use arrowroot powder.
• Homemade General Tso’s sauce ingredients – a mix of avocado oil or olive oil, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, tomato paste, coconut aminos or low sodium gluten-free soy sauce, chicken stock/broth (or water), rice vinegar, honey, and toasted sesame oil as well as a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce.
• Toppings – sliced green onion and toasted sesame seeds for a delicious crunch.

Grab the full recipe in the recipe card.

How to Make Gluten Free General Tso’s Chicken

Step 1. Get two shallow bowls. Mix the cornstarch, white pepper, and kosher salt in one bowl. Beat the egg in the other bowl.

Step 2. Dip the chicken pieces into the egg, shaking off any excess, and then dredge them in the starch mixture. Transfer the coated chicken pieces to a plate and continue with this process until all the chicken is coated.

Step 3. Heat a large skillet or frying pan over medium heat with enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook the chicken for a few minutes on each side until golden brown, crispy, and cooked through to an internal temp of 165ºF/74ºC. Transfer the cooked pieces to a wire rack and continue with this process until you’ve cooked all the chicken.

Step 4. Heat the avocado oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, add garlic, ginger, and red chili flakes. Stir for 1 minute until fragrant.

Step 5. Add in the coconut aminos, chicken broth or water, tomato paste, rice vinegar, honey, and toasted sesame oil. Whisk together until combined and reduce the heat to medium-low.

Step 6. Make the slurry by adding the starch to a small bowl with the cold water. Whisk until the starch has completely dissolved. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and continuously whisk until the sauce has thickened about 1-2 minutes.

Step 7. Turn off the heat and add the cooked chicken pieces to the sauce mixture. Toss to coat in the sauce. Serve with rice, chopped green onions, and toasted sesame seeds.

Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations

Please remember that recipes are just a starting point.

How can you make this gluten-free general tso’s chicken recipe using what you already have? Here are some ideas…

• No avocado oil? – use refined coconut oil for no coconut taste.
• No fresh garlic? – you can also use 1 teaspoon garlic powder.
• No fresh ginger? – use 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger.
• No coconut aminos? – use low-sodium soy sauce or tamari to keep it gluten free, but increase the amount of honey since these options aren’t as sweet as coconut aminos.
• No honey? – use brown sugar or coconut sugar instead.
• Make it vegetarian – use tofu instead of chicken and vegetable broth or water.
• No white pepper? – sub black pepper.

How to Serve

When you order General Tso’s chicken from a restaurant, it’s typically served with white rice or brown rice, but I like to include vegetables whenever possible.

So when you make it at home, I suggest mixing in cauliflower rice with Jasmine rice or serving it with a vegetable side such as roasted broccoli or brussels sprouts, quick sauteed broccoletti, sauteed cabbage or bell peppers, or salads such as raw carrot salad, simple butter lettuce salad or spicy Asian cucumber salad.

How to Store

Store the sauce and the crispy chicken pieces separately in an airtight container and eat by the next day. Reheat separately then toss in the sauce to coat before serving.

More Gluten Free Chicken Recipes

• Adobo Chicken Tacos
• Gluten Free Chicken Parmesan
• Coconut Lime Chicken
• Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Chicken