If you're looking for a shortcut to making an incredible Asian dish - you're going to love this recipe. I have many Asian stir fry recipes up my sleeve. Many of them involve combining ingredients like traditional soy sauce, rice vinegar, oyster sauce, Indonesian soy sauce, sesame oil, Sambal, Sriacha, gochujang, and others. I've always enjoyed playing with these combinations. However, like many of you, sometimes I need to take short cuts. Today, I bring you General Tso's Chicken with a Trader Joe's Hack you're going to love.
General Tso's Chicken Made Easy (Thank You Trader Joe's)
Trader Joe's has become quite popular throughout the United States. I believe there are only a handful of states that do not have Trader Joe's at this point. They have a wide selection of items especially when it comes to appetizers, elevated pizzas and various jarred sauces. I took a particular liking to their General Tsao's sauce years ago. On a whim, I tried to make a scaled down version of General Tso's Chicken - one of my favorites when I order take-out Chinese.
Very much to my surprise, the sauce was absolutely incredible! You can elevate it if you want: add some diced garlic and ginger or throw some onions in there. I went with garlic for this recipe, but if you have more time you can add more ingredients if you like! I wanted to keep it as simple as possible for this post.
This Hacked Version of General Tso's Chicken Has a Ton of Flavor
This dish is fun and easy to make mostly because you probably already have most of the ingredients on hand. Ingredients. Let's define that for a minute. As I'm writing recipes for my posts, guess what I write over and over again? Salt. Pepper. Oil. Flour. Garlic powder. Eggs. Rice. I feel like those items shouldn't apply to the total ingredient count since most everyone has all these things. Always. Right?
So other than broccoli, scallions and Trader Joe's General Tsao's sauce - you probably have everything you need to make this tonight and be the hero of your household! So go forth and cook! I guarantee this one will be a hit and it's totally kid-friendly!
Do You Love Food with an International Flair? No Problem - Here's a Jumping Off Point For You:
- Mie Goreng (Indonesian Fried Noodles)
- Anthony Bourdain's Macau-Style Pork Chop Sandwich
- Dan Dan Noodles
- Chili Oil w/Sediment
- Cashew Chicken Stir Fry
- Delicious Crispy Thai Pork Toast
- Mrs. Mann's Steak & Sausage Pie
- Ralph's German Meatball Soup (KOENIGSBERGER KLOPSE)
General Tso's Chicken (Trader Joe's Hack)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 portions 1x
Description
You won’t believe how easy it is to make General Tso’s chicken with this simple Trader Joe’s hack! You'll be the hero of your household!
Ingredients
- 12 chicken tenderloin strips
- 1 bottle Trader Joe’s General Tsao’s Sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups steamed broccoli, optional
- ¼ cup chopped scallions, optional garnish
- 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 2-3 cups of vegetable oil
For the flour dredge
- ½ cup corn starch
- ½ cup white AP flour
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, beaten
Basmati Rice (follow package instructions)
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Start cooking your rice first. By the time the rice is cooked, everything else will be ready. Follow the package instructions. I do always make sure I rinse the rice thoroughly. I also add butter and salt.
- Cut your chicken tenderloins into pieces. The pieces should be about ½” to ¾” in size. Season with salt and pepper and set aside for now.
- Finely dice the garlic.
- Cut the broccoli into bite-sized pieces and put them in a pot with some water and a steamer insert. If you don’t have a steamer insert, steaming/boiling it directly in water works too. Plan your timing. Cook on high heat until the water is boiling. Put the lid on, turn the heat to low-medium, and steam until al dente. Should take about 7-10 minutes. A good time to turn the broccoli on is right when you start cooking the chicken.
- Chop the scallions if you’re using them.
- Get the dredging station ready. Put the flour, corn starch, salt and garlic powder in a bowl and mix with a fork. Yes, you can use all corn starch or all flour for this. I usually have both so I do a 50/50 split.
- Beat two eggs in a bowl until well blended.
- Start adding the chicken pieces into the beaten eggs. Make sure all the chicken is covered in egg. Next, start transferring the chicken pieces into the flour mixture and coat them completely. Shake the excess flour from the chicken pieces and transfer to a sheet pan so you’re ready to start frying them. Do this for all the chicken pieces.
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan. This is a shallow fry so the pieces won’t be submerged in oil. The amount of oil you use depends how big your pan in.
- Once the oil is nice and hot, start adding in the chicken pieces. Don’t crowd the pan or touch the pieces until they are ready to be turned. You’ll probably need to cook the chicken pieces in two batches. Heat should be at medium and the chicken should be cooked for 2-2 ½ minutes, then turn the pieces and cook for 2-2 ½ more minutes until crispy and cooked all the way through.
- Place the cooked chicken on a sheet pan.
- After all the chicken is finished, I washed the pan and used the same pan again for the final assembly. I added maybe a teaspoon of oil in the pan and then the garlic. Cook garlic for a minute or two – just until fragrant.
- Add all the fried chicken to the pan and mix around to combine with the garlic.
- Pour the General Tso’s sauce into the pan and mix to coat all the chicken.
- Serve with basmati rice, broccoli and garnish with scallions.
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