Air Fryer General Tso’s Chicken is a lighter take on the classic take-out recipe that you’re going to love. All the same flavors you crave but without all the oil. Now you can enjoy this delicious chicken dinner any night of the week, as much as you like!
Why We Love This General Tso’s Chicken Recipe!
We love this air fryer General Tso’s (sounds like SO) chicken recipe because it tastes amazing. Period. However…we also love a revamped recipe that’s a little bit better for you than the original.
- Skip the deep frying: While we love a good, crispy, fried chicken recipe, it’s not what we’re looking to eat all the time. This air fryer recipe produced the same flavor and texture without using oil.
- Weeknight friendly dinner: Because we’re not heating up big pots of oil (tends to be a messy situation) this chicken dinner is easy enough for dinner any night of the week.
- Control the ingredients: When you make take out recipes at home, you can control the ingredients and be in charge of what goes into your food.
How To Make
A few step by step photos here for visual aide. For complete instructions, scroll to the recipe card at the end of the post.
- Add the chicken cubes and eggs with a splash of water to a bowl and toss to coat. Add the cornstarch into another bowl. Grab a few pieces of chicken at a time, letting the excess egg drip off and then toss in the cornstarch. Place on your air fryer rack that’s been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Repeat with however much chicken that you can fit onto your air fryer rack in a single layer.
- Air fry at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Check to make sure the chicken is at 165 degrees and then remove from the air fryer. Place the chicken on a plate but do not cover. Repeat the breading process and cooking process with the remaining chicken.
- During the last 5 minutes of the chicken cooking time you can make the sauce. Whisk the ingredients together for the sauce in a skillet and bring to a simmer. Cook for 3-4 minutes to thicken.
- Add the crispy chicken to the skillet and toss to combine with the sauce until coated.
What If I Don’t Have An Air Fryer?
No worries, we have also included oven instructions in the recipe card below. Using an air fryer will make the chicken pieces the crispiest, but a hot oven will do the trick too.
Can I Make This Air Fryer Recipe Ahead Of Time?
Because you want that super crispy texture, this chicken is best made and eaten right away. However, leftovers of this Air Fryer General Tso’s Chicken will never get thrown away at our house. It still tastes amazing reheated in the microwave over rice the next day – IF you have any leftover, which we typically do not.
Is The Sauce Spicy?
You can make this sauce as spicy or as mild as you like, but as the recipe is written, it’s not spicy. If you want more heat, add more chili garlic sauce to your liking. If you’re a no spice family then leave the chili garlic sauce out, simmer the sauce until thickened and then taste.
At this point if you want a little spice you can add some chili garlic sauce or any kind of heat you like. Sometimes we add sriracha if we’re out of garlic sauce, or even traditional hot sauce – but taste as you go!
How To Serve General Tso’s Chicken
Our favorite way to serve this chicken recipe is spooned on top of rice so that the rice catches all the sauce. Of course you can add a side of steamed broccoli or any other steamed vegetable too. Our boys love when we order dumplings with our Chinese food take out so sometimes we even make these homemade Pot Stickers!
Looking For More Chicken Dinner Recipes?
- Creamy Chicken Marsala
- Chicken Fajita Meatballs
- Bang Bang Chicken Sliders
- Crock Pot Root Beer Chicken
- Bacon Ranch Chicken Crescent Rolls
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Air Fryer General Tso’s Chicken Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeThis lighter version of the classic take out dish will shock you! Air Fryer General Tso’s Chicken has all the flavors you crave but without all the fat from frying. Juicy chicken with a mega crispy coasting tossed in a sweet and tangy sauce. Serve it over rice to soak it all up!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs, diced into roughly 1″ pieces
- A sprinkle of kosher salt and ground black pepper to season the chicken
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- Kosher salt and fresh black pepper
For the Sauce:
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste (or fresh finely chopped ginger)
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- Chopped scallions and sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. Add the eggs and a splash of water to a bowl and whisk with a fork. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
- Add the cornstarch into another bowl. Grab a few pieces of chicken at a time, letting the excess egg drip off and then toss into the cornstarch, tapping off the excess. Add the coated chicken onto your air fryer rack that’s been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Repeat with however much chicken that will fit in a single layer.
- Spray the chicken with an oil spray (we like using avocado or olive oil spray) and then air fry at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Check to make sure the chicken is at 165 degrees and then remove from the air fryer. Place the chicken on a plate but do not cover, the steam will make the coating soggy instead of crispy)
- Repeat the breading process and cooking process with the remaining chicken if needed.
- During the last 5 minutes of the cooking time, you can make the sauce. Whisk the chicken broth, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, ginger paste, honey, rice wine vinegar and cornstarch in a bowl until combined. Add a tablespoon of oil to a large skillet and then cook the garlic for 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the sauce, while whisking until combined and then bring to a simmer. Simmer the sauce for 3-4 minutes until thickened and then turn off the heat.
- Add the cooked chicken to the skillet and toss to combine with the sauce until well coated.
- Garnish with sesame seeds and chopped scallions if desired and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
Oven instructions: After you coat the chicken in cornstarch, place it on a sheet pan that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Spray the chicken with an olive oil based spray and then bake at 450 degrees for 8 minutes. turn the chicken over and cook another 5 minutes. Follow the rest of the instructions starting with the sauce.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Air Fryer
- Cuisine: American
Made this recipe but there is way too much soy sauce, it overpowered everything and was very rich but not in a good way. Family was not able to eat the dinner and said it was extremely salty and could only taste soy sauce. Would suggest maybe 1-3 tblsp of soy sauce rather than a whole cup which in the UK is about 240ml !!!
I think you might have made a mistake. This recipe only calls for 1/2 cup of soy sauce!