General Tso's Tofu is a delicious vegan recipe comprised of crispy extra firm tofu cubes that have been coated with a sweet and spicy sticky sauce. This flavorsome favorite is served on top of a fluffy bed of white rice with steamed broccoli.
The sweet and spicy flavors of general tso's tofu sauce are sure to be a favorite and one your family will ask for again and again. This Chinese food take out recipe is easy to make right at home, making it better than take-out from American Chinese restaurants.
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❤️ Why I Love This Recipe
✔️ General Tso's Tofu is loaded with mouthwatering sweet-heat flavors!
✔️ This is a great meal to make for Meatless Monday or to serve your vegan friends!
✔️ The sticky-sweet sauce can be adjusted according to your heat tolerance.
🥘 Ingredients
Extra-firm tofu holds up the best when frying and provides a nice chew to each bite.
Corn starch coats the tofu and provides a nice crunchy outer layer.
Olive oil for frying
Brown sugar brings sweet, caramel notes savory-sweet sauce
Hoisin sauce, an cantonese condiment made with fermented soybean paste and spices.
Ketchup adds sweet and sour sauce elements.
Soy sauce adds saltiness and umami elements to the sauce.
Sesame oil adds aromatic, nutty notes to the General Tso's Tofu sauce.
Green onions for garnish
Fresh ginger often used in asian cuisine, adds a peppery sweet heat.
Dried chili peppers for added spicy heat.
🔪 Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with olive oil until hot.
- Add the cornstarch to a shallow bowl and coat the tofu with cornstarch on all sides. Fry the tofu in hot oil for 2 minutes on each side, until tofu coating is golden brown. Remove from the frying pan with a slotted spoon and set aside and place on a layer of paper towels to absorb any grease.
- In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, hoisin sauce, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, and water until combined. Set aside
- In the same skillet the tofu was fried in, heat sesame oil over medium-high heat until hot. Stir in the white part of the green onions and the ginger. Fry for 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Add the general tso's sauce mixture to the skillet along with the dried chili peppers. Bring the sauce mixture to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken.
- Add the fried tofu back to the sauce mixture and toss to coat. Serve garnished with green part of the onion.
🙋 Recipe FAQ's
General Tso's Sauce is a spicy sweet sauce made with soy sauce, chili sauce, some sweetener, and vinegar.
Traditionally whole dried Sichuan chili peppers are used. Regular red pepper chili flakes work in place of the whole peppers.
Potato starch or rice flour works similar to cornstarch and will create a crispy outer shell on the tofu pieces.
💭 Tips
- Squeeze the block of tofu of excess water by placing it between a thickness of paper towels and sitting a heavy large skillet on top. I use about 3-4 thick paper towels folded about 3-4 times. Let sit 20-30 minutes. Or, use a tofu press.
- Slice the pressed tofu into ½" slices, then cut each slice into thirds for rectangular tofu pieces, or cut in the slices in half lengthwise, then each half cut diagonally for triangles
📖 Variations
- Maple syrup can be substituted for brown sugar.
- Rice vinegar or cider vinegar can take the place of white vinegar.
- Sriracha sauce or red pepper flakes can be substituted for the whole dried chili peppers.
- Garnish with toasted sesame seeds to add another layer of flavor
🍽 Equipment
Cast iron skillet: for frying the general tso's tofu.
Skimmer spoon: to move the tofu with.
Chef knife: for cutting the tofu and green onions.
Cutting board: a surface to cut the tofu and green onions on.
Mixing bowls: to mix the ingredients in.
Splatter screen: to prevent grease splatters
🏫 What I've Learned
Tofu can be made crispy with or without the cornstarch coating. However, there is a difference in the type of crispy. Tofu coated with cornstarch will have a super crisp exterior layer with a tender bite of tofu on the inside.
You can skip the cornstarch coating and use less oil, using the dry fry method where the tofu is fried in a large nonstick skillet until crispy and brown on all sides.
If you wish, you can break out the air fryer to make Air Fryer Tofu instead of frying it. Just air fry, cook the sauce as directed and toss the tofu
Serving Suggestions
Serve over a bed of brown rice or Cauliflower Fried Rice or with a delicious bowl of Garlic Scallion Noodles.
For an appetizer try these vegan Air Fryer Egg Rolls!
Storage
General Tso's Tofu leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days. I do not recommend freezing this recipe.
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If you love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating
📖 Recipe
Crispy General Tso’s Tofu
Ingredients
For the Tofu
- 2 pounds extra firm tofu
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup olive oil
For the Sauce
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 3 tablespoons white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons sugar-free ketchup
- 1 tablespoons soy sauce
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 4 green onions sliced, white and green parts separate
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
- 5 whole dried chili peppers
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with olive oil until hot.
- Add the cornstarch to a shallow bowl and coat the tofu with cornstarch on all sides. Fry the tofu in hot oil for 2 minutes on each side, until tofu coating is golden brown. Remove from the frying pan with a skimmer spoon. Place on a layer of paper towels to absorb any grease. Set aside.
- In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, hoisin sauce, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, and water until combined. Set aside.
- In the same skillet the tofu was fried in, heat sesame oil over medium-high heat until hot. Stir in the white part of the green onions and the ginger. Fry for 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Add the general tso's sauce mixture to the skillet along with the dried chili peppers. Bring the sauce mixture to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken.
- .Add the fried tofu back to the sauce mixture and toss to coat. Serve garnished with green part of the onion.
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious
You know what? I love all of your tips, including exactly how to cut the tofu into triangles. It makes a difference in how the dish looks!
Toni | Boulder Locavore
It looks really good! I can't wait to try!
Colleen - Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck
This is my type of general tso's!!!
Lindsay Cotter
We need to make this for dinner soon! I think it will be a big hit!
jo koch
I made this recipe last night for myself as my family are meat eaters.....there was not enough to go around.....fabulous!
Shelby
Happy to hear it!! It is a definite favorite here in our home too and two people easily eat the whole thing with no problem and still wish we had more! Thanks for stopping back to let me know!
Nicole
This looks amazing. I was going to make tofu lettuce wraps tonight, but I think I will switch up to this dish.
Laura
This is absolutely the best new recipe I've made in months. We loved it. The children (four and six) fought over who got the last of it!
Shelby
So happy you came back to let me know Laura! This is one recipe that even Grumpy will request I make (that has tofu in it!) 🙂 Thank you!
Felicia
Just tried this! Amazing!!!
Debi Wayland
This looks great! I've pinned, yummly, and SU it. Thanks for sharing.
klom180
I'm a little late to the game on this recipe, but I just recently stumbled upon it on Pinterest. Made it for dinner tonight and it's incredible! I plan on using it to convert one of my friends to a tofu-lover. 🙂
Thanks so much for this!
klom180
I'm a little late to the game on this recipe, but I just recently stumbled upon it on Pinterest. Made it for dinner tonight and it's incredible! I plan on using it to convert one of my friends to a tofu-lover. 🙂
Thanks so much for this!
Gtrude
Made this dish for dinner tonight. Quite frankly, it doesn't even need the brown sugar. I left it out completely in the interest of saving calories and found that the catsup gives the dish plenty of sweetness. I really like the substitution of tofu for chicken. It is a good Lenten dish for meatless Fridays.
Kristen
Made this tonight with slight modifications just to avoid going to the grocery store, and it was delicious! This is definitely going in our 'favorites' folder!