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.
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Ooh I think I have most of these ingredients! I was just wondering what we were going to do with the chicken breasts we have in the fridge – this sounds like the perfect way to use them up!
Damn girl! This looks fantastic! If anything, baking the chicken might result in even jucier and tender meat 😀 x
I love every recipe of yours that I’ve tried. This one’s next. I love the idea of baking the corn flake crust for crispiness. But what kind of peppers did you use for the garnish?
I used dried chile peppers as a garnish.
I’m trying this tonight for dinner. It looks delicious!
Your lightened up version looks incredible, love the corn flake coating!
Amazingly delicious!
I must say, every recipe we have tried has been Damm Delicious. We look forward to trying the Lighter General Tso’s Chicken.
I’m with you on the corn flakes. I used to use them before when bread crumbs were tough to find. Recently made tuna and cheese croquettes with crushed corn flakes too! I love how it’s so forgiving to being baked instead of fried, and yet, still crispy! Just need to make sure it’s heated up in the toaster oven instead of the microwave to maintain the crispiness 🙂
All I can think about when looking at these pics is jumping in a grabbing a few chicken bites and running away with them! They look so delicious. General tsos is one of my fave Chinese dishes and now it’s awesome being able to enjoy it without the guilt!
Yum!! I love this idea for healthier takeout. Pinned!!
Yum! In addition to making it healthier by baking rather than frying, it also saves us the time of standing over the stove to fry the chicken – yay! This looks like a great new version, and I can’t wait to try it.
This looks amazing. I was just wondering what kind of peppers are in the photo. We love heat, and I wondered if you used them as a part of the dish, or as a garnish?
I used dried peppers strictly for a garnish.
I MADE this today
And my husband and i loved it! Definitely a keeper thanks for sharing
The fact that you lightened it up and it tastes BETTER than the original is quite a feat but I am not surprised! You are so talented with all these great dinner ideas!