This Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken is the perfect, healthy, homemade dinner in under 30 minutes. This spicy Chinese takeout favorite is simple and quick to prepare with just the perfect balance of sweet and tangy.
Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken
General Tso’s chicken is a favorite, one that everybody loves. If you’re wondering what exactly this dish is, don’t worry I’ve included a little section below to explain. For those of you who have ordered this dish before, you know that it is the perfect mix of sweet and sour.
I decided to do a healthier spin on Tso Chicken today using my oh so handy instant pot. That means that I had this dish served up in less than 30 minutes! Healthy, tasty, and quick? Now who doesn’t love that.
What Is General Tso Chicken?
Now while this dish is one of the most popular orders in Chinese restaurants here at home, it’s not exactly authentic. Westernized versions are also known as orange chicken if that’s a little more familiar. It is usually served deep fried over a mountain of white rice, but today I decided to cut back on some of the calories and axe the frying. So let’s get into it! Break out that Instant Pot and let’s get cookin.
Ingredients In General Tso Chicken
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Chicken – I used chicken breast today but chicken thigh is a tasty alternative, just keep in mind it’ll need to be cooked a minute or two longer than breast.
- Soy Sauce – Low sodium so we can control the sodium level in this dish. I also used a bit of dark soy sauce for that umami flavor.
- Sweet – I used both brown sugar and honey to get some rich sweetness and an ooey gooey sauce, you’ll thank me later.
- Aromatics – Garlic and ginger, fresh is preferred!
- Rice Vinegar – The tangy key to this General Tso Chicken recipe. If you don’t have any on hand apple cider vinegar is a great substitute!
- Red Pepper Flakes – We need a little heat in this dish and red pepper flakes are the perfect addition.
- Tomato Paste – The perfect little acidic base for our sauce, it will also give the dish a nice rich color.
- Hoisin – If this thick sauce isn’t already a staple in your fridge, it should be. Pick some up as it’s so crucial in lots of Asian dishes!
- Cornstarch – We’re going to make a slurry with cornstarch and a little bit of water to help our dish thicken.
How To Make Instant Pot General Tso Chicken
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Saute the sauteables: Turn your Instant Pot on the saute setting and add the chicken first. Then add the rest of the ingredients (save for our cornstarch slurry) and stir well. Close the lid and set the Pot to the poultry setting.
- Finish the sauce: Allow the pressure to naturally release before removing the lid. Transfer only the chicken to a bowl and switch to the saute setting before adding the slurry. Cook this sauce for an additional 2 minutes till it has thickened and dump the chicken back in before giving it a good stir.
- Garnish and serve: Serve this dish over a nice mound of hot white rice. I love to garnish this dish with some toasted sesame seeds and fresh green onion!
Other Ways To Make General Tso Chicken
Slow cooker
This dish is perfect made in your slow cooker! Just sear the chicken a bit on the stove before adding to the slow cooker. Whisk all of your sauce ingredients together separately (save the cornstarch slurry) and pour over the chicken. Cook all of this on low for 3 – 4 hours. Incorporate the slurry in the last 20 minutes of cooking or until thick and serve over rice!
Stove top
If you’d like to make this over the stove just saute up your chicken before removing and cooking your aromatics and chili flakes till fragrant. Add all your sauces and slurry and allow to cook for a few minutes till the sauce is thick. Add the chicken and combine well before serving!
How To Store Leftover General Tso Chicken
In the fridge this chicken recipe will last up to 4 days as long as its container is airtight. It can also freeze beautifully for up to 3 months, just be sure to thaw completely in the fridge and before reheating over the stove.
Craving More Instant Pot Recipes? Try These Dishes:
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Chicken Shawarma
- Butter Chicken
- Mongolian Beef
- Pasta E Fagioli
- Swedish Meatballs
- Beef And Broccoli
- Beef Stew
- Mac and Cheese
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Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breast skinless and boneless, cut into bite size pieces
- ¼ cup soy sauce low sodium
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger fresh, grated
- 3 tablespoon rice vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
Optional Garnish
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 2 green onions chopped
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. (See your manufacturer’s guide for detailed instructions on how to use your instant pot.)
- Add the chicken pieces to the Instant Pot then dump the rest of the ingredients to it, excluding the cornstarch and water. Stir everything well with a spoon.
- Close the lid (follow the manufacturer’s guide for instructions on how to close the instant pot lid). Set the Instant Pot to the Poultry setting and set the timer to 5 minutes.
- Once the Instant Pot cycle is complete, wait until the natural release cycle is complete, should take about 10 minutes. Follow the manufacturer’s guide for quick release, if in a rush. Carefully unlock and remove the lid from the instant pot.
- Switch the Instant Pot to the saute setting (do not put the lid on). Transfer the chicken to a bowl using a slotted spoon.
- In a small bowl whisk the cornstarch and water together then pour over the sauce and stir. Cook for about 2 minutes until the sauce thickens. Add the chicken back to the Instant Pot and turn off your Instant Pot by pressing the cancel button.
- Garnish the chicken with sesame seeds and green onions. Serve over rice.
Video
Recipe Notes
- I strongly recommend reading the manufacturer’s guide for instructions on how to use your Instant Pot before attempting this recipe.
- Substitutes: Boneless skinless chicken thighs may also be used with the same cooking time. Rice vinegar can be substituted with cider vinegar. Red pepper flakes can be replaced with cayenne pepper. Hoisin sauce is a delicious sweet and spicy mix and a must for many authentic Asian meals. A simplified shortcut to using something else instead would be mixing sweet barbecue sauce with sriracha and five-spice powder.
- For less sweetness, feel free to reduce the honey or brown sugar.
- Nutrition: Nutritional information does NOT include rice. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
I don’t have tomato paste and wanted to throw it together for tonight what would you do leave it out or sub marinara or diced tomatoes? 🤷🏻♀️
I would use tomato sauce instead, ratio should be 1 to 3, so for every tbsp of tomato paste use 3 tbsp of tomato sauce.
Delicious! Way healthier than ordering Chinese and gave me the same satisfaction! Used some ingredients I typically don’t use, and most of them don’t expire, so I plan to try many more Chinese flavorings in my insta pot.
My sauce didn’t thicken much if at all, but served over rice it’ll be delicious! Not sure if I needed more time or more corn starch
This recipe is amazing!! One of the best dinners I’ve had in a while, and it was so easy!
Great recipe! I’m going to add some lightly sautéed coarse-chopped red, yellow and orange bell peppers, and onion at the end with the chicken. I’ll also double the red paper flakes to give it some kick.
I’m excited to make this recipe – General Tso’s is my husband’s favorite! Question for you – how necessary is the dark soy sauce? I make lots of Asian dishes and have never used it before. Kind of hate to buy a whole bottle for 1 tsp unless it really makes a difference! Thanks!
It’s not really necessary, it’s usually just used for color, to darken the sauce, so you can skip it if you don’t have it.
Any chance I can make this with frozen chicken pieces/tenders?
You sure can, just add another minute to the cook time, so 6 minutes should be more than enough.
The first step says to set it to saute, but it doesn’t look like we’re actually sauteing anything before pressurizing it?
That’s right, I just turn it on so that it starts warming up the IP.
I truly enjoy your blog. All recipes that I have tried have been great. I am a gadget girl & love my Instant Pot (I have 2 multi-cookers – 6-quart Fagor & 8-quart Instant Pot). The Instant Pot recipe for General Tso’s Chicken references the poultry function button. My multi-cookers do not have this pre-set function button………..please advise how to prepare this; many thanks!
If you don’t have the poultry button, just use the manual, high pressure button which is basically the same, so for the same amount of time.
Thanks for your prompt response
I truly enjoy your blog. I love Instant Pot recipes. I have 2 multi-cookers (6-quart Fagor & 8-quart Instant Pot). Your recipe above indicates using the Poultry function button. Please advise the appropriate setting to use; thanks!
I used the poultry setting on mine, but I strongly recommend reading the manufacturer’s guide for instructions on how to use your Instant Pot before attempting this recipe!
Hi! I am using my instant pot for the first time and this is the recipe I really want to try! I do have a question though, how spicy does this end up? I know some restaurants have a very spicy general tso and some aren’t as spicy. If it is more on the mild side, any tips to bring up the heat a bit without ruining the meal?
This is very mild in term of spiciness because you’re only using 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes, but you can adjust that to your taste.
Hi Jo
Im using my instant pot for the first time. I was confused about whether or not to saute the chicken first before adding the rest of the ingredients (minus the cornflour). The notes at the beginning and the instructions seem to contradict. I decided to saute the chicken first and then added the rest and set the poultry setting. The chicken was a little overcooked. Im thinking that I should not have sauted. Please help a newbie!
No, you don’t need to saute it first. You just add all the ingredients to the instant pot.
Thanks will do that next time!
So this chicken dish doesn’t need to marinade overnight?
No.
Yummy!! Should have made a bigger batch though. Fed 3 of us and it’s all gone! My wife wants it again and that’s all I need to hear. Had it with zoodles and rice and that sauce is the boss! Thanks.
How would I adapt this for an 8 qt instant pot?
You shouldn’t have to do anything different.
The recipe looks incredible but, I have never used the instant pot before. I was curious, there doesn’t seem to be enough liquid in the recipe to maintain pressure. Do I have to add water to make the 2 cup minimum for my 8qt pot.? Thanks for any info
I don’t think it’s necessary, if you add more water you’ll dilute the flavor of the sauce. As the chicken cooks it release a lot of liquid in the instant pot, if you look at the video you’ll see at the end that there’s quite a bit of sauce leftover. You can if you want double the sauce ingredients, but I wouldn’t just add plain water.
I made it in my 6 quart as is. i wondered the same. The juice from the cooking chicken and the liquids in the sauce ingredients was sufficient.