Keto General Tso Chicken
A classic American – Chinese dish
Being from India I’m not familiar with General Tso or his chicken. However I did a deep dive into the recipe and after watching a few of my favourite chefs share their version of this dish, I was certain I could do a Keto version. So I embarked on a quest to make a Keto General Tso Chicken. As I did with my Keto chicken nuggets recipe I decided to go with my favourite psyllium husk for the breading. This dish was very similar to the Indian chilli chicken dish that I’ve done as well. I just love how every country has their own version of Chinese food and how it’s all pretty darn good! Anyway enjoy!
Tips & Tricks
So if I’m being honest. In the video I felt that the amount of sauce I made was a tad less than I needed for the amount of chicken. Therefore I’ve edited the written recipe accordingly. It was still great though. However I felt like it needed more sauce in hindsight. I was trying to keep the use of the soya sauce to a minimum. However you can always substitute it with coconut aminos that are a better alternative to soya sauce for Keto and can be used more generously.
If you have any trouble with the psyllium husk you can alternatively use pork rinds to coat the chicken. I know there are folks who use both almond flour and coconut flour as well to bread things but honestly I just find that unappealing in both texture and taste.
Nutrition Info (Per serving)
Nutrition Info (Per serving)- Calories: 230
- Net Carbs: 2g
- Carbs: 2g
- Fat: 12g
- Protein: 27g
- Fiber: 0g
This recipe makes 4 servings. Get this recipe on myfitnesspal. These macros do not include the psyllium husk since it’s extremely hard to note down the exact amount used. Either way it’s basically just fiber that you will not digest so we can omit it.
Keto General Tso Chicken
Ingredients
- 500 grams Chicken Thighs You want to use boneless and skinless chicken
- 5 grams garlic
- 5 grams Ginger
- 50 grams Spring Onion Separate the white part and the green part.
- 1 Egg
- 2 Tbsp Soya Sauce Try this one
- 1 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar Try this one
- 1/2 Tbsp Sesame Oil Try this one
- 1/2 Tsp Sesame Seeds
- 1 Tbsp Chinese Cooking Wine Try this one
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Psyllium Husk (as required) I use this
- 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder Try this one
- Oil/Lard/Ghee/Bacon Fat for deep frying
- 1 Tbsp Chicken Fat
- 1/4 Cup Chicken stock Try this one
- 4 Dried Red Chillies Try this one
- Stevia or preferred sweetener to taste
Instructions
- Start by cutting the chicken thighs into small bite size pieces. Then in a large bowl add the chicken, season with salt and pepper and marinate with 1/2 tbsp soya sauce, 1/2 tbsp vinegar, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil, baking powder and 1 egg.
- Then individually dip and coat each piece of chicken in the psyllium husk. Once done breading the chicken heat your oil for deep frying. You can alternatively shallow fry as well.
- Once the oil is hot fry the chicken in batches. It should take 3-4 minutes to cook each batch. Since I cook by intuition I cannot give you a temperature for the oil. But to test it I add a bit of the batter in and if it floats up the oil is generally hot enough.
- After frying the chicken set it on paper towels to drain of any excess oil.
- In a frying pan heat up the chicken fat or any Keto approved cooking fat and fry the garlic, ginger, chillies and spring onions.
- Fry until the garlic starts to turn golden brown and then add in the chicken stock, 1/2 tbsp vinegar, 1 1/2 tbsp soya sauce and stevia and cook till it starts to reduce a bit and get syrup like. You can also add the cooking wine if you have access to that and also add some hot sauce if you want to make it spicier. If the sauce looks too little compared to the chicken add in some more chicken stock.
- Once the sauce has reduced a bit then add in the chicken and give everything a good mix. Once the chicken is fully coated garnish and finish with the green part of the spring onion.
Just so you are aware, the baking powder you suggest has cornstarch in it. There are those that are allergic to the corn starch – or any starch for that matter. What you can do is either use baking soda and cream of tartar (1:1) or if you can find it the aluminum compound with the same proportions. You *might* be able to use konjac powder for cutting the baking soda or aluminum powder as well. (I have not tried that, but it should work.)
I have tried the psyllium husk. It adds a bad flavor. Any suggestions for an alternative?
That’s odd, perhaps it’s the brand you are using because it really had no taste on it’s own. An option is pork rinds which is everyone’s fav alternative. Otherwise I’d just say skip the breading part altogether.
What can I use instead of rice wine vinegar and Chinese cooking wine ? I don’t consume or cook with alcohol
You can just use regular white vinegar and skip the cooking wine completely.
I’m pretty sure there’s no alcohol left when wine turns to vinegar. If there is it certainly evaporates off over the heat
You’re aware there is literally no alcohol left when cooked off past 212F, which you most certainly will in this instance.
Hi Sahil.. I cant find this recipie on MFP. Pls help. Love you my Keto God
I googled “Keto General Tso’s Chicken – Headbanger’s Kitchen”, and the recipe appeared.
I made this tonight with changes. I put chili paste in the marinade. I didn’t bread it – I pan fried it and the egg marinade created a thin batter on the chicken. I doubled the liquid for the sauce and it was perfect. I didn’t have whole chilis so I used a little sriracha. It was great, and I was told to save the recipe.
Sounds great!!
Could I use xantham gum instead? Also could I air fry?
To coat the chicken? I’ve never tried that, no idea how we will react to that much Xanthan Gum either. But yes you can air fry the chicken no worries.
When you make the liquid that is used to change Chicken nuggets into Gen. Tso’s Chicken, how much liquid does your recipe make?
I made this and it’s friggin delicious. Nothing like the General Tso Chicken from my favourite Chinese restaurant but delicious none the less. I was a little skeptical on the psyllium husk as a coating for frying as I read on other sites that it can get slimy. This is definitely not the case. Do not use psyllium husk powder! If you live in Canada the best psyllium husk if from Bulk Barn.
I will be making this again. Maybe try a few variations on the marinade and sauce to get more the of the General Tso flavour that I am use to.
Third time I’ve made this and I have a family begging for a fourth! The Phsyllium husk breading is a genius find tried it on turkey escalopes too.
I cooked this tonight and made it exactly like the recpie. It was amazing! Thankyou so much!
So, I started keto like two weeks ago and this, this is delicious! I substituted the chicken for cut tofu because I’m also a vegetarian, and it was soo good!!!!
This recipe is absolutely delicious!! Thank you!
I’ve made this a couple times now. The first time just about the exact recipe, though the sauce was quite watery (yet still tasty). The second time I replaced the psylium husk with crushed pork rinds and almond flour – you must omit the salt on the chicken if you do that. Anyway, this recipe is really good. On my keto list for sure!
Its taken years to figure our Keto breadings. I agree.. Psyllium Husks sucks – for just about everything. Coconut Flour, Almond Flour, Pork Rinds, etc. None of those items work at all in terms of breading for fryings. Try dipping your raw chicken in Vital Wheat Gluten – Shake off the excess – Dip in Egg Wash and then either finish with homeade keto break crumbs (Dry our and pulse Sami’sBrand Keto Bread) or another Coating of Vital Wheat Gluten. This particular combination fries up beautifully.
I found the sauce really lacking on this recipe, not in flavor but just volume and its very watery. I reread the recipe a few times to make sure I wasn’t missing a liquid ingredient.
hey sorry about that, I guess the watery feeling is because there is no thickener. I guess you could double the volume for more of it and reduce it a bit more to make it thick. You can also try a Keto thickener like xanthan gum. Hope that helps.
Cannot find chicken fat at any local store? Is there something I can use in place of chicken fat?
Absolutely any cooking fat is fine depending on what diet you following. If it’s Keto then fats like olive oil, butter, ghee, duck fat, tallow etc are all good.