Super Easy Slow Cooker General Tso’s Chicken. Cooked in a slightly sweet and tangy Chinese-inspired sauce. Way better (and healthier) than takeout! Serve with my Chinese Fried Rice, Lo Mein, or Chicken Chow Mein to make it a meal!
If you are short on time and want to have dinner on the table in under 30 minutes try my Easy 30-minute General Tso’s Chicken, with a side of Garlic Fried Rice!
General Tso’s Chicken is my all-time favorite take-out dish. It’s my go-to whenever I order Chinese takeout. This General Tso Chicken recipe turns out incredibly tender and juicy way better than the takeout version. It is coated in a sweet and tangy sauce. It tastes just like the General Tso’s Chicken you get at a restaurant!
You can also feel better about eating this dish because it is healthier than the takeout version! There is no deep-frying in this recipe just a little oil is used to sauté the chicken. You can also control the sweetness, saltiness and spice level when you make this at home!
To add an extra depth of flavor to this dish I brown the coated chicken in a hot pan. This gives the chicken a nice caramelization on the outside and helps it stay tender and juicy while cooking in the slow cooker. The cornstarch also helps to thicken up the sauce.
If you like this recipe then try out my other Crockpot Chicken Recipe!
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email below & we'll send it straight to your inbox! You will also receive other new recipes in your inbox weekly!
Ingredients
- Chicken Breasts: Cut into bite-size pieces. You can substitute chicken thighs as well.
- Cornstarch: This helps to thicken up the sauce.
- Hoisin Sauce: Can be found in the International Isle in the grocery store. It is thick, sweet, and slightly salty. It makes the perfect addition to the sauce!
- Rice wine vinegar: Can also be found in the International Isle in the grocery store. Resist the urge to substitute with another vinegar. I find that rice wine vinegar works the best in this recipe.
- Light brown sugar: Adds the perfect amount of sweetness to the sauce. Feel free to reduce the amount of sugar if you do not like it as sweet.
- Sesame oil: Also found in the International Isle in the grocery store or at Asian supermarkets. Sesame oil has a wonderful nutty flavor. A little goes a long way!
- For serving: I sprinkle the chicken with black and white sesame seeds and green onions! For a kick add some crushed red pepper flakes or a drizzle of Sriracha or chili garlic sauce!
How to make Slow Cooker General Tso’s Chicken
- Cube chicken thighs: Into bite size pieces.
- Coat in cornstarch: Add chicken and cornstarch to a large ziplock bag. Toss to coat the chicken with the cornstarch.
- Brown chicken: Heat oil in a large skillet or wok. Saute chicken until golden brown on both sides about 2 minutes on each side. (Note the chicken will not be fully cooked and that is ok)
- Add the ingredients to the slow cooker: Add the chicken to the slow cooker. Combine hoisin sauce, vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil in a medium. Pour the sauce onto the chicken and stir to coat the chicken.
- Cook on low for 2-3 hours. Or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees and is heated through. Depending on how big you cubed your chicken it might take more or less time.
- Serve: With green onions and sesame seeds for serving, if desired.
What to serve with General Tso Chicken
- Authentic Chicken Lo Mein
- Chicken Chow Mein
- The BEST Fried Rice
- Garlic Fried Rice
- Air Fryer Fried Rice
- Cauliflower Fried Rice
- White or brown rice. For a low-carb option try cauliflower rice.
- Steamed vegetables
- Crunchy Asian Broccoli Slaw
- Air Fryer Egg Rolls
- Garlic Green Beans
- Zucchini Noodle Stir Fry
- Japanese Cucumber Salad
storage instructions
- Reheat: Leftovers (chicken and sauce) in a saute pan over medium-high heat until rewarmed. You can also rewarm in the slow cooker as well!
- Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze in an airtight container or zip-top bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw completely before reheating as above.
kelley’s tips
- You can use different meat! Try adding chicken thighs, pork, or beef instead, and increase the cooking time to 3-4 hours depending on the cut of meat.
- Vegetarian? No Problem! Cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers, zucchini, and carrots are all delicious in this recipe! Use what you have on hand. You can dust the vegetables with cornstarch, or make a cornstarch slurry by adding it to water and then pouring it straight into the sauce.
- Enjoy a little heat? Me too! Sprinkle some crushed red pepper flakes in, or as a few dashes of sriracha for a little kick of spice.
frequently asked questions
What is Chinese General Tso Sauce made of?
It’s made of 4 simple ingredients that you may already have in your pantry. General Tso’s Chicken sauce includes hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, light brown sugar, and sesame oil. The meat is coated with cornstarch which thickens the sauce up beautifully.
How long do you cook boneless skinless chicken in the crockpot?
For this Slow Cooker General Tso Chicken recipe, I cooked the chicken along with the sauce for 2-3 hours in the crockpot. It turns out super tender and the chicken is absolutely bursting with flavor.
Is General Tso Chicken the same as Orange Chicken?
Not quite! Orange Chicken Sauce has marmalade, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and crushed red pepper flakes. On the other hand, General Tso Chicken contains hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, light brown sugar, and sesame oil. They are very different flavor profiles! One is orange-tasting, and the other has hoisin sauce which is made from fermented soybeans.
Is General Tso Chicken spicy?
This recipe for Slow Cooker General Tso’s Chicken is not spicy at all, however, if you like a kick of heat I recommend adding in crushed red pepper flakes or a few dashes of sriracha. A little spice is delicious in this recipe!
Here are more Chinese Takeout Recipes you can make at home!
- 20 Minute Beef and Broccoli
- Easy Kung Pao Shrimp
- Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken
- Easy Pepper Steak
- 30 Minute Sweet and Sour Chicken
products i used
Slow Cooker General Tso’s Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup hoisin sauce
- 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 4 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- green onions for serving, if desired
- sesame seeds for serving, if desired
Instructions
- Add chicken and cornstarch to a large ziplock bag. Toss to coat the chicken with the cornstarch.
- Heat oil in a large skillet or wok. Saute chicken until golden brown on both sides about 2 minutes on each side. (Note the chicken will not be fully cooked and that is ok) Add the chicken to the slow cooker.
- Add hoisin sauce, vinegar, sugar and sesame oil to a medium bowl and whisk until combined. Pour the sauce onto the chicken and stir to coat the chicken.
- Cook on low for 2-3 hours.Serve with green onions and sesame seeds for serving, if desired.
Nutrition Information
Did you make this?
I’d love to hear your feedback! Leave a review and make sure to share your pictures on social media! Don’t forget to follow @thechefsavvy.
Stephanie
Oh my this recipe is AWESOME!!!!!???. Will definitely make again, especially since it’s so easy!!!!
Shirley Fenstermaker
I’m interested in making this however I have never heard of hoisin sauce. What is it and where can it be found
Kelley
Hi Shirley,
Hoisin sauce is a thick dark sauce that is full of flavor and is commonly used in Chinese cuisine. You can find this in the grocery store in the international foods isle by the soy sauce.
Thank you!
Kelley
Jerry Robertson
You can also order Hoisin sauce from Amazon.com. I haven’t tried this recipe (YET) but I plan on it within the next few days.
Deb
How much chicken approximately by weight are we talking about?
Kelley
Hi Deb,
It will be about 2 pounds.
Thanks!
Kelley
Kirsten
This was delicious! It was done after 2 hours. My only issue was that it was starting to dry out and the sauce was starting to stick, so I just put some chicken broth in. It produced plenty of sauce that way but still stayed thick b/c of the cornstarch. Awesome recipe!
April
This was beautiful, I would say better than takeout too because I knew what was in it AND it was delicious. Cooked the chicken in grapeseed oil before putting in crock pot because I didn’t have veg, but otherwise followed the recipe exact. It took about an 1:40 for mine because I had small cuts, thanks so much for sharing! This is a keeper for sure.
ana@cibo4food
I have to say this recipe looks delicious!! It looks really appetising can’t wait to try it out
April
This was delicious, have made it twice this month. I use small pieces of chicken so it only takes an hour and a half in my cooker. This is brilliant, thanks so much for sharing!!
Rachel
We made this tonight and after we tweaked the recipe quite a bit it turned out awesome. All due respect to Kelley and her version. Other seemed to have a lot of luck with it but we just found it needed a little something more.
For starters- we cooked it for 2 1/2. For the last 1/2 hour we added sliced bell pepper and white onion. Delish 🙂
After following the recipe exactly we found that it lacked a big punch of flavor and the sauce was still sort of thin. And the color was also a really weird brown- sort of like gravy. Not sure why that happened…
We added crushed red chili pepper flakes to bring some heat because traditional General Tso is usually spicy. Then we added about 3/4 tsp salt because it was greatly needed! After that we put some sesame oil in our wok and got it nice and hot and threw everything right in, then added an extra tablespoon of brown sugar. We let it bubble a little, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. This got it to that nice thicker, sticky, sweet yet spicy General Tso sauce that we had originally expected. The result was great!! Honestly super comparable to the local places we’ve ordered from. Served it over jasmine rice with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds.
Terri
This was a great hit!!! Thank you!
Anthony
I made this and it got destroyed at the table! Excellent recipe! Served over white rice. A buddy and I are kinda hot heads…no not that way lol we like spicy…really spicy so we have our own blends of home made hot sauces and dried ground peppers and we decided a little of the dried ground habaneros shaken over the dish on the plate were the ticket to spice this dish up! The rest of my family, being normal people loved it holey as posted. Great work! Thanks for the post