Lighter General Tso’s Chicken
A completely lightened-up, baked version made with half the calories. And it tastes even better than the original!
I love playing around with “lightened-up” recipes. You save on so many calories, and if it tastes half as good as the original, I’m a happy camper. But this general tso’s chicken tastes nothing like a skinny version. If anything, I think it tastes even better than the original!
So how is this version lightened-up? Well, for starters, nothing is deep fried. Everything gets baked right in the oven. And if you’re worried about losing that amazing crispness, well, have no fear. With the use of crushed up Corn Flakes, the chicken comes out amazingly crunchy and crisp! You’d be amazed that this was actually baked in the oven.
So there you have it – a Chinese take-out favorite completely lightened up and baked to absolute perfection. It’s so good, no one would believe it’s a homemade “skinny” version!
Lighter General Tso's Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunk
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 2 cups crushed Corn Flakes
For the sauce
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- ¼ cup hoisin sauce
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Coat a cooling rack with nonstick spray and place on a baking sheet; set aside.
- Working in batches, dredge chicken in flour, dip into eggs, then dredge in crushed Corn Flakes, pressing to coat.
- Place onto prepared baking sheet and coat with nonstick spray. Place into oven and bake until golden brown and crisp, about 13-15 minutes.
- In a large saucepan over medium high heat, combine chicken broth, hoisin, rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and cornstarch until thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in chicken and gently toss to combine.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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I made this dish tonight for the first time. I used the ingredients for the chicken, but had to use an extra egg, flour and corn flakes. The chicken was very crispy and delicious. I used a prepared sauce,.(Trader Joe’s) Next time I’ll make the sauce in the recipe. I’ll definitely make this again, but will experiment with sauces.
First time visitor- just wanted to say thank you for this awesome recipe!! My boyfriend and I both agreed this was the best General Tso’s we’ve had.
Also added some red pepper flakes and minced garlic to the sauce. He’s already asking when we can have it again!
So. I put a cooling rack on top of a pan and then put the chicken on the cooling rack to bake it? And do I spray with cooking spray again once the chicken is on the cooling rack/pan?
Yes, that’s exactly right.
Oh man, I was really rooting for this recipe. There are zero decent Chinese restaurants within a 50 mile radius from me, so I wanted to try to make it at home. But alas, this was way too sweet for me. I tried adding more rice vinegar, sriracha, and even a squirt of lemon juice to try to cut the sweetness, but it was still tooth-achingly sweet. And for some reason I couldn’t get the chicken to get super crispy, despite following the recipe to a T. 🙁
I will definitely give some of your other recipes a try! And I’ll tinker with this one too to see if I can cut back on the sweet.
Just made this and it was AWESOME! The cornflake breading gives the chicken a great crispy crust, they were really good before I even added the sauce. I’m going to start making chicken nuggets this way. I played with the sauce, added a couple drops of sesame oil, a little crushed red pepper and a pinch of ground ginger which really brought it together. If someone else had served this to me, I would never have known it was baked. Great recipe! Thanks for sharing.
Where’s the heat? Shouldn’t there be chilies or something in the recipe? They’re in the picture…
I used dried peppers strictly for a garnish. For added heat, you can add Sriracha as needed. Hope that helps!
Wow! just made this while my kids were eating lunch. Not only easy but super tasty! Thanks
just wondering how this is th next day- like how mushy could it get? Thanks so much!!!
This is really best when served immediately as the crispness does lose out over time.
About how many calories is this dish?
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, it is best that you use free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information.
Would the dish work if I substituted panko instead for the corn flakes? Any difference in flavor or would it just be in the crispness of the chicken? Thanks! I am trotting off to leave a very good comment for the noodles…
Panko should work but I have found that the crispness is really best when corn flakes are used.
That recipe looks great and just made me hungry – even though I just ate lunch. I’m always skeptical of “healthafied” re-makes but this looks pretty solid. I will have to give it a try!
Wow. This was fantastic. I’ve made it twice, once subbing orange juice for chicken stock, and it was fabulous both times. Thanks for a great recipe!
This might be a dumb question but I’m a recent college grad figuring out how to not make easy mac — can I make this vegetarian with cauliflower? I know I can make the sauce but will the cornflakes stick to it? Being an adult is hard.
I personally have not tried it myself but I have seen quite a few general tso’s recipes recipes using cauliflower.
I’m fairly new with cooking. I made this exactly as it says, really likes the textures and such, but we found it incredibly salty.any thoughts on what I did wrong? Maybe the brands of soy sauce and chicken broth I used?
Roo, it is best to use reduced sodium soy sauce. Also, if you are not a particular fan of Hoisin sauce (which is both salty and sweet), then this recipe may not be your cup of tea. This dish should also be consumed with rice, as it should not be served by itself due to its heavy salt content.
Chungah, Thanks for this great recipe, I simmered broccoli and cauliflower florets in the sauce before adding the cornstarch and served it all over a wild rice blend – absolutely delicious!
My husband and I loved your sweet and sour chicken recipe and want to try the generals. What would you add to make it spicy since for this particular dish as that is what we expect?
You can add Sriracha as needed for added spiciness.
Great recipe! Trying it tonight!
One question though…. Where does the cooling rack fit in?
Brian, the cooling rack is placed inside the baking sheet:
Coat a cooling rack with nonstick spray and place on a baking sheet; set aside.
Once your chicken is coated and ready to be thrown in the oven, you will place the chicken pieces on top of the cooling rack (which is already sitting inside the baking sheet).
Place onto prepared baking sheet and coat with nonstick spray.
If the chicken is cooking on rhe rack, why coat the pan?
Theresa, the pan is not coated per se – the chicken is coated prior to baking.
I just tried this recipe tonight. Very yummy! I love the corn flake/baking method! I’m thinking we could make boneless buffalo bites this way. Yummy and very low fat!
Do you think I can use Panko instead? No Corn Flakes in the pantry. 🙂
You can certainly try substituting Panko but without further recipe testing, I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish. Using a substitution may also result in a mediocre outcome.
Winner Winner, chicken dinner