Better than takeout General Tso tofu with a sweet, savory and slightly spicy glaze. Ready in 20 minutes from start to finish. Impossible to resist!
There’s something irresistible about fried tofu cubes, with their crispy exterior and silky soft interior. Suddenly, a block of bean curd becomes one of the best things you’ve ever had – it’s magic!
I cook a lot with tofu and this is by far my favorite preparation. The light and crispy outer layer makes it the perfect vehicle to coat with a thick, gooey sauce – such as in this General Tso tofu recipe! The sauce is a little hot, sweet and acidic and marries perfectly with the crunchy scallions and crisp-pillowy tofu. If you liked my honey sriracha tofu recipe, this general Tso tofu is right up your alley!
Tofu can be a lot of fun to cook with and makes a nutritious substitute to meats and seafood.
I include tofu regularly into my diet and not only because I love its versatility, but also because of its strong anti aging properties.
Tofu is one those amazing foods that do wonders for the skin! It preserves skin-firming collagen and acts as a glue that holds everything together.
If you ever wondered why Japanese women look so young, the secret isn’t only in how they care for their skin, but also in what they eat. Including tofu into your diet on a weekly basis will improve your skin’s elasticity, making it more supple.
With recipes like this General Tso tofu, it won’t be hard to make tofu a regular staple in your diet! You will see how easy it is to cook delicious low fat and calorie meals, without having to skimp on flavor!
You can make the General Tso sauce ahead of time and keep it refrigerated until it’s time to use it. However, I don’t recommend pre-frying the tofu cubes since they get soggy after 20-30 minutes. It’s best to serve this General Tso immediately after the tofu has been fried.
Other delicious tofu recipes:
Did you like this General Tso Tofu Recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!
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General Tso Tofu Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 people 1x
- Category: Tofu
- Method: Stir frying
- Cuisine: Chinese
Description
Better than takeout General Tso tofu with a sweet, savory and slightly spicy glaze. Ready in 20 minutes from start to finish. Impossible to resist!
Ingredients
For the tofu
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 14 ounces medium firm tofu
- 4 stalks scallions (sliced on the bias)
- cornstarch or potato starch for dusting
For the sauce
- 3/4 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegans)
- 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
Optional
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- Drain tofu and wrap in paper towel or tea towel to remove excess water. Repeat 3 to 4 times until the tofu is drier. Slice tofu into 1 inch cubes and transfer to a plate.
- Dust each tofu cube with cornstarch or potato starch until all sides are coated.
- In a large pan over high heat, add oil and swirl to coat all sides. When the oil is hot, add tofu and fry all four sides until golden (5-7 minutes).
- Transfer to a paper towel and drain.
- Put all the ingredients – except for cornstarch – for the sauce in a pan and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and slowly whisk in the cornstarch and water mix. Keep on whisking until the sauce thickens.
- Turn the heat off and stir in sesame oil, dried chiles and half of the scallions into the sauce.
- Sprinkle leftover scallions on top of the fried tofu cubes and pour half of the sauce over.
- Pour what’s left of the sauce into a bowl and serve it next to the general tso tofu. Add more sauce if needed.
Notes
This General Tso Tofu Recipe Is:
High in calcium
Very low in cholesterol
High in iron
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 439
- Sugar: 15.4 g
- Sodium: 1072.7 mg
- Fat: 23 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 30.8 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 27.2 g
- Cholesterol: 9.1 mg
I made General Tso’s Chicken today, but it wasn’t this recipe. I was looking for this recipe and couldn’t find it. My daughter loves the reddish sauce and I have been looking high and low until I just found it. I hope to use it soon. I was rather frustrated as so many recipes are sooo very similar yet they’re aren’t the reddish variety preferred by my family. Thanks so much for your versatility and vast knowledge and tastiness. Appreciate your site very much.
Thank you Lucy, I hope you like the recipe! 🙂
Last time I made this, it was fantastic. This time the cornstarch coating ended up tasting burnt and gross. It didn’t look burnt, but all I could taste was burnt. Any suggestions as to what I could have done wrong? The first time made me and hubby tofu lovers by the way, so thank you so much for the recipe!
Hi Larissa, did you use a different oil to cook it?
Hi there, thanks for posting the recipe! Any tips for the corns starch clumping together and not mixing in? Also, in the sauce ingredients, it says “corn starch mixed with 2water”. How much water?
Thanks!
Hi Karen, some of the measurements didn’t transfer well in the new recipe plugin I’m using, thank you for pointing that out, I’ll make the changes. To prevent the corn starch from clumping, always use cold water and slowly add it to the corn starch, while stirring. Right before adding the mixture to the dish, stir again (if it sits around, the mixture hardens) and quickly mix it into the dish.
Caroline, I’m cutting back on fat, is there any way to prepare the tofu without frying? Thanks!
Hi Kim! You can bake the tofu – follow all the basic steps (drain, dry on paper towel) but do not dust with cornstarch. Preheat your oven to 400Fº. line a cooking tray with parchment paper and add the tofu cubes. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tofu is brown. Let me know how it turns out!
Thanks so much Caroline! I will let you know! I’m relatively new to the tofu thing and really looking forward to trying this!