Homemade General Tso’s Chicken Meatballs Recipe

Homemade General Tso’s Chicken Meatballs are an easy, healthier version of the traditional fried, Chinese takeout favorite. It has all flavor and none of the guilt.

Chinese Takeout Food Is So Good!

Our whole family loves Chinese takeout. And, a Chinese takeout favorite of our family is General Tso’s Chicken (and Chicken Sub Gum, and Sesame Chicken, and Pork Fried Rice, and, and, and,….let’s just say we have a lot of favorites!).

The problem is, from a healthy eating perspective, it’s not exactly a lot of lean meats and steamed veggies! Rather, there’s generally a lot of sodium and let’s be honest, the best stuff is the fried stuff.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t still crave it from time to time. But, what about if you could make a healthier version, at home, of one of your favorites, like General Tso’s Chicken or these Orange Chicken Meatballs.

Make It Healthier. Keep It Tasty.

How do you take a popular Chinese takeout dish and make it healthier? Here’s the secret, you make the same delicious sauce, but you control the amount of sodium you put into it and the quality of the ingredients you use.

Then, instead of fried chicken chunks, you pour the homemade sauce over much healthier baked chicken meatballs. You still get all of the flavor, but not all of the extra fat and calories. Basically, a great way to strike a perfect balance between a delicious recipe and a healthier approach to takeout Chinese food.

Making the General Tso Sauce

Pulling together a homemade General Tso’s sauce is pretty simple. There’s hardly any chopping and you are mainly mixing in the few ingredients and letting it simmer while you make the meatballs. Very little chopping, a little simmering = easy recipe for this sauce.

The other great thing about this sauce is that you likely have the ingredients on hand. If not, they are easily found in your local grocery store.

Making the General Tso Meatballs

As with the General Tso sauce, the homemade chicken meatballs are pretty easy to make. In a large mixing bowl, you will combine the few simple meatball ingredients.

The fun part is mixing together these ingredients with your hands! Feel free to use gloves if you don’t want to get in there bare-handed.

The secret here is to not overwork the meatball ingredients as you are combining. Just mix until everything is combined and stop. If you overwork the meatball mixture, the texture of the meatballs will be tough.

I know you probably love the crunch that you get from the fried chicken. My secret for giving the meatballs a little crunch is to add in chopped water chestnuts. Crunch minus the guilt!

Garnish and Serve

Overall, this General Tso’s Meatball recipe makes for an easy dinner. As a main dish, I love to serve them over either jasmine rice or cauliflower rice. They also are a great party appetizer and your guests will love them.

Next time you’re craving Chinese takeout, give these General Tso’s Chicken Meatballs a try. They only take about an hour from start to finish and most of that time is simmering and baking time. I promise you’ll love them!

How to Freeze Meatballs

You can absolutely freeze these meatballs. Simply make up a batch of these meatballs, let them cool a bit and then put into an airtight container. You can freeze them safely for at least three months.

This is great to do if you know you are going to serve a lot of people and want to make an extra batch or two. Freezing is a perfect way to make things easier on the day of your event.

On the day you are going to serve them, take them out of the freezer and let them thaw. My go-to is to then put them in a pan on the stovetop and heat them up over medium-low to medium heat. You can then transfer to a crock pot on a warm setting for when they are being served.

Tips and Tricks

• Don’t skip the water chestnuts. They give a nice crunch to the meatballs that mimics the crunch you’d get with fried General Tso’s chicken.
• Either regular ground chicken or ground chicken breast work for this recipe.
• If you don’t have access to ground chicken or ground chicken breast, you can use ground turkey.
• These are great served on their own (without rice) as a party appetizer.
• The sauce for the meatballs is moderately spicy. If you’d like a more spicy sauce, add a bit more crushed red pepper.

Ingredients Needed to Make General Tso’s Meatballs

Full instructions can be found below in the printable recipe card

• Peanut oil
• Garlic
• Red pepper flakes – These are also called crushed red pepper.
• Chicken broth
• Sesame oil – Make sure you store an opened bottle in the refrigerator to help prevent it from going rancid.
• Reduced sodium soy sauce – I like to use reduced sodium so that the sauce and the meatballs don’t become too salty.
• Rice wine vinegar – If you don’t have this on hand you can substitute white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar.
• Honey – I prefer the taste of honey in this dish, but agave nectar can be substituted if that’s what you’ve got on hand.
• Ketchup
• Cornstarch – You will mix this with water to create a cornstarch slurry mixture.
• Water chestnuts – Chopped water chestnuts added to the meatballs give them a nice crunch.
• Ginger paste – I find ginger paste more convenient than having to grate fresh ginger root.
• Fresh green onions – These are used both in the meatballs and as a finishing garnish.
• Ground chicken
• Breadcrumbs – Plain breadcrumbs work best and you can use either regular or panko bread crumbs, whichever you have on hand.
• Sesame seeds – These are optional, but do add a nice finishing touch.
• Cooked rice 

How to Make General Tso’s Chicken Meatballs

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

To Make the Sauce

• Heat peanut oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
• Add garlic and sauté until garlic becomes fragrant, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in ginger paste and red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds more.
• Stir in chicken broth, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey and ketchup.
• Bring mixture to a boil.
• Stir in cornstarch mixture.
• Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, prepare meatballs.

To Make the Meatballs

• In a large bowl, combine water chestnuts, ginger paste, green onions, chicken, breadcrumbs, soy sauce and garlic.
• With your hands, mix until ingredients are well-combined.
• Form mixture into 1 inch meatballs (use a small ice cream or cookie scoop).
• Place meatballs in a single layer in an oven safe skillet or baking dish that’s been coated with olive oil (or cooking spray).
• Bake meatballs for 15 minutes.
• Remove from oven and pour sauce evenly over the meatballs.
• Bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Garnish and Serve

• Garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.
• Serve immediately with cooked rice.

More Easy Meatball Recipes

• Classic Swedish Meatballs
• Lamb Curry Party Meatballs
• Instant Pot Cranberry Barbecue Meatballs
• Osso Buco Soup with Veal Meatballs
• Mexican Meatballs in Chipotle Sauce

ENJOY!