Healthy General Tso Chicken | Better Than Takeout!

Love takeout, but hate the grease and high sodium?  This Healthy General Tso Chicken recipe is better than takeout! High-protein chicken breasts are coated in garbanzo bean flour and almond meal and then sautéed in olive oil instead of being deep-fried. It’s a clean-eating, gluten-free meal for any night of the week!

this RECIPE

Guys, I'm very excited to share this healthy version of General Tso's Chicken with you today because it's been one of the MOST requested #makeithealthy recipes on Instagram <-- you should totes follow me BTW.

BUT there was one kinda big problem.

Confession: I had never tried General Tso's Chicken before.  Yep, like ever.

I know.  Weird, right?  So many people look at me like I'm crazy when I say that.

It's the same look I used to get when I told people I had never seen "Grease" or all of the "Star Wars" movies.

Pure and utter disbelief.

Since so many of you requested that I make a healthy version of General Tso's Chicken, though, I knew it was finally time to remedy this ridiculous secret.

And by "remedy," I really mean "go to the nearest Chinese restaurant and get me some General Tso's Chicken to test."

BTW I seriously love my job 🙂

Next, I enlisted the help of Dustin who, thankfully, didn't judge me too harshly once I shared my secret.  Plus, this meant he got to eat Chinese food with me.

He loves my job, too.

The Research.

We tried a few different General Tso's Chicken recipes across Austin and came up with a game plan for how to make it healthy at home.

All in the name of research, people.  This was serious.

My first impressions of General Tso's Chicken were the following:

• yum!
• nice flavors
• great texture
• fried. bummer.
• this is TOTES perfect for a #makeithealthy recipe

Let's break it down.  Obviously the biggest issue with your typical take-out General Tso's Chicken recipe is that it's deep-fried. Which means lots of bad oils.  And all the breading.  Which means all the refined flours.

It's okay, though.  We got this.  Let's just swap the heavy oils and deep frying with a light amount of olive oil.  Awesome.

Then, let's replace the high/empty carbs in the breading with (amazingly awesome) high protein/fiber garbanzo bean flour and almond meal.

Yaaas!

Aaaaaand this brings me back to clean eating.  Can I just take a moment to say how much I LOVE clean eating?

It's just so super duper awesomely cool to me that we can take the foods we love and make them into something that's actually good for us.

Like cheesecake.

And pancakes.

And ice cream.

Hooray!

That being said, I want to thank you all for sending in your requests to make a healthy version of General Tso's Chicken.  I absolutely loved this challenge and the opportunity to take a comfort food for so many of you and turn it into something you can enjoy.

Super. Freaking, Awesome.

If you have a recipe that you'd like for me to #makeithealthy, I would SO love to hear from you.  Last time, we made a Healthy Mac & Cheese and now a General Tso's Chicken.  Looking good, peeps!

Either let me know on Instagram or reply in the comments below!

WHAT IS GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN?

General Tso’s Chicken is typically bought as a favorite Chinese takeout meal or served in a restaurant. The chicken is savory, and the sauce is spicy, sticky, and sweet. 

Once I tried it (better late than never, I say!), General Tso Chicken became one of my favorite dishes when we went out for Chinese. Because I loved the flavors so much, I knew I had to make a healthy version so that I could enjoy it as often as I wanted.

That’s what you’ll see in this recipe. And I guarantee you are gonna love it!

HOW TO MAKE GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN HEALTHY

General Tso’s Chicken is usually made with chicken thighs that are breaded and deep-fried. That means the dish typically has a high amount of fat and contains refined flour. I’ve taken care of all of that in my recipe, though. 

This yummy dish is clean-eating and less heavy than the recipes you normally see. Here is how I did it:

• Replace chicken thighs with chicken breasts. Both are high in protein, but breast is less fatty.
• Instead of refined flour, use garbanzo bean flour and almond meal. Both of these alternatives are gluten-free.
• For a paleo alternative to refined flour, choose either amaranth or cassava flour.
• Use arrowroot starch for thickening the sauce instead of cornstarch or refined flour.
• Be sure to use a low sodium chicken broth instead of the regular type. It’s better for the heart.
• Low sodium soy sauce should also be used as opposed to regular soy sauce.
• Coconut sugar replaces refined white or brown sugar. Coconut sugar is natural and made from coconut palm sap.
• Use olive oil to cook the chicken instead of deep-frying to save the consumption of unhealthy fats.

HOW TO STORE AND REHEAT GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN

Store your General Tso’s Chicken in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

• In the Oven: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place the chicken in a baking dish and cover with foil. Fold the foil around the edges to make an airtight seal.  Reheat 8-10 minutes, depending on the quantity of chicken in the dish. For the last few minutes of reheating, remove the foil.
• In the Microwave: The chicken, vegetables and rice can be microwaved together or separately for 2-3 minutes, or until heated through.

DELICIOUS SIDES TO SERVE WITH HEALTHY GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN

What to serve alongside this yummy chicken dish? I like to have veggies with every meal, and rice goes well, too!

• Jasmine rice
• Cauliflower rice
• Basmati rice
• Brown rice
• Thyme roasted carrots
• Steamed broccoli
• Roasted broccoli
• Lemon roasted asparagus
• 10-minute sugar snap peas with lemon

MORE HEALTHY TAKEOUT RECIPES

Looking for more healthy takeout style recipes? These are some of my favorites:

• 15-Minute Go-To Healthy Beef and Broccoli
• Ground Beef Enchiladas
• Crock Pot Shredded Beef Tacos
• Salmon Fish Sticks
• Baja Fish Tacos
• Healthy Nashville Hot Chicken
• Grilled Chicken Wings With Yogurt Ranch Dip
• Healthy Baked Zucchini Fries
• Sweet Potato Soft Pretzel Bites

Healthy General Tso's Chicken | Better Than Takeout

Lacey Baier of A Sweet Pea Chef

Mouthwateringly delicious, this Healthy General Tso’s Chicken recipe is the best you’ll ever have. High-protein chicken breasts are coated in garbanzo bean flour and almond meal and then sautéed in olive oil instead of deep-fried. It’s a clean-eating, gluten-free meal for any night of the week!

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Side

Cuisine Chinese American

Servings 4

Calories 491 kcal

Equipment

• mixing bowl
• Skillet

*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

FOR THE CHICKEN:

• ▢ 1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
• ▢ 1 ½ cups Garbanzo bean flour divided
• ▢ 1 cup almond meal
• ▢ 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch plus more for sauce
• ▢ 3 eggs beaten
• ▢ 2-4 tablespoon olive oil plus more as needed

FOR THE SAUCE:

• ▢ ½ cup low sodium chicken broth
• ▢ ½ cup hoisin sauce
• ▢ ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
• ▢ 3 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
• ▢ 1 ½ tablespoon coconut sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoon arrowroot starch
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fresh ginger minced
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 6 dried red chilies

TOP WITH:

• ▢ 2 green onions sliced
• ▢ 2 teaspoon sesame seeds

Instructions

 

• Prep three medium mixing bowls to create the coating. In one, add just ⅔ cup garbanzo flour. In the next one, add 3 eggs and then beat them together. In the final bowl, combine the remaining ⅔ cup garbanzo flour with the almond meal, and 1 tbsp. arrowroot starch.
• Prep your skillet by heating it over medium-high heat and adding the olive oil.
• Once the oil is hot, create an assembly line with the chicken.
• Start by dredging the chicken into the garbanzo flour, followed by the egg, then the garbanzo-almond meal mixture, Then, place into the hot skillet. Repeat with about half of the chicken, making sure to leave enough space in between the chicken to cook evenly.
• Cook for 2-4 minutes on the one side, or until golden-brown, then turn over and brown the other side. Once browned, remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside. Repeat with the remaining chicken. (If you need, you can add a little extra olive oil to help keep the chicken cooking evenly.)
• To make the sauce, combine the low sodium chicken broth, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, low sodium soy sauce, coconut sugar, the remaining 2 tsp. arrowroot starch, minced fresh ginger, minced garlic, and dried red chilies in a skillet and cook over medium-high heat until it begins to thicken, about 3-5 minutes.
• Return the cooked chicken to the pan and toss to coat evenly. Cook for an additional couple minutes to heat the chicken through.
• Serve with steamed brown rice, if desired, and topped with sesame seeds and sliced green onions.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 491 kcalCarbohydrates: 24.3 gProtein: 43.8 gFat: 23.5 gSaturated Fat: 3.1 gCholesterol: 193.9 mgSodium: 829.7 mgFiber: 3.3 gSugar: 13.3 g

Keyword healthy general tso chicken, healthy general tso chicken recipe, sugar free general tso sauce

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