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General Tso’s Chicken Pizza [Recipe Idea for Your Leftovers]

General Tsos Chicken pizza recipe
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After making General Tso’s Chicken with fried rice the day before, I found myself with some delicious leftovers. Since it’s been a long time since my last pizza, the decision was clear: I will make General Tso’s chicken pizza! Don’t worry, I will also explain how to make General Tso’s chicken if you are not stuck with the leftovers like I was.

I decided to turn to my sister, the best pizzaiolo I know, for her incredible pizza dough recipe. I must admit that I still have a long way to go to reach her level of expertise, but I tried my best to replicate her masterpieces. Now, let’s see how things are done!

What to Know Before Making General Tso’s Chicken Pizza?

Time is key. If you are making everything from scratch, be prepared to invest some time in the process. Having General Tso’s leftovers sped up my cooking process significantly.

You need to have patience with the pizza dough. The dough needs time to rise and is best when made a day in advance.

Finding hoisin sauce was not easy for me. This proved to be the most challenging ingredient to find in supermarkets, so I had to make it from scratch. You can refer to my other recipe article for instructions on how to make hoisin sauce.

Customize your pizza! Feel free to adjust the recipe to your taste. Experiment with different toppings and find the perfect combination for you.

How to Make General Tso’s Chicken Pizza?

Like with any other recipe, make sure you have all the necessary ingredients. And please, don’t make this long list discourage you. After tasting this pizza, you will see it was worth it! 🙂

For General Tso’s chicken:

  • Chicken breast
  • Soy sauce
  • Hoisin sauce
  • Rice vinegar
  • Sugar
  • Chili sauce or chili paste
  • Chicken broth
  • Cornstarch
  • Grated ginger
  • Chili flakes
  • Grated garlic
  • Black pepper
  • Oil for frying

For the pizza dough:

  • Flour
  • Yeast
  • Salt
  • Sugar
  • Warm water

Tip: Use store-bought pizza dough to make the process faster.

For the topping:

Step 1: Making the pizza dough

Pizza dough needs some time to rise. I like to make it the day before, but if you don’t have that much time, one to two hours will do the trick.

Place pizza flour (type 0 or type 00) into a bowl for raising the dough. Add salt to the flour and mix. Create a crater in the middle, and add sugar, half of a cube of fresh yeast (about 15 grams), and warm water into it. Let the yeast rise for 10-15 minutes.

Water is the best liquid for pizza dough, but be careful not to make it too hot. It should be slightly warmer than the human body temperature. If it’s too hot, the yeast won’t rise.

Now take a mixer with dough hooks and mix everything until you get a nice smooth dough. The dough shouldn’t be too firm and stable. It’s fine if it’s a little sticky.

You can now cover the bowl and let the dough rise for at least an hour.

letting the dough rise

Step 2: Preparing the chicken

Now, I will roughly explain how to make General Tso’s Chicken. I won’t write the exact ingredient quantities here, as I will list them at the bottom of the article in a printable recipe. One thing I want to mention is that you will not use all of the cornstarch immediately. Part of it goes into the marinade, and we will use the rest for coating the chicken before frying. Also, chili flakes are not added to the sauce/marinade but are fried in a little oil before cooking the sauce.

We will start with making the sauce because we will use part of it as a chicken marinade.

Cut the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and use the rest of the ingredients for the sauce. Simply combine all the listed ingredients together (except oil which will be used for frying and chili flakes).

Separate one-third of the sauce and mix it with the chicken. Leave the chicken in the marinade for about half an hour.

Take a deep frying container and pour frying oil (vegetable oil or sunflower oil) into it to be about 2 fingers deep. Heat over medium heat.

While the oil is heating, take the chicken and sprinkle about half of the cup of cornstarch on it. Mix well so that all the chicken is covered.

When the oil is ready, carefully add the chicken pieces, making sure they don’t stick together. Fry for about 3 minutes on each side, then remove and place them on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Once you have fried all the chicken, remove the oil. Leave just enough oil to fry some chili flakes. Then add the remaining sauce and cook until thickened. Turn off the heat and add the fried chicken to the sauce. Let it sit until you roll out the dough.

preparing the General Tsos Chicken

Step 3: Assembling the pizza

Prepare a pizza pan and preheat the oven to 450 °F (210 °C). Dust a sheet of parchment paper with flour (I used corn flour because it’s a bit coarser) and use your fingers to stretch the dough into a circular shape. The dough should be thin, as it will rise further in the oven.

Make the pizza sauce by mixing all the necessary ingredients. The sugar is there to neutralize the acidity of the tomato passata. Of course, you can use store-bought pizza sauce or chopped canned tomatoes instead of tomato passata, but this recipe here is the most delicious pizza sauce I’ve ever tasted!

Spread the prepared sauce on the dough and sprinkle with grated Gouda cheese. Add the chicken pieces on top and place the pizza in the oven. As you can see, the pizza is not overly loaded. Too many toppings can simply result in a soggy pizza, which we don’t want. The key is moderation and balance.

assembling the pizza

Ingredients that you can potentially add and are proven to be tasty include pieces of bell pepper and yellow onion cut into strips. However, I also want to emphasize that we don’t want a salad, but a delicious thin pizza. So, don’t go overboard!

After 15 minutes, the pizza should be cooked. Let it cool down slightly and sprinkle with spring onions before serving.

General Tsos Chicken pizza baked
General Tso Chicken Pizza

General Tso’s Chicken Pizza

Author: Laura Bais
Amazing idea for General Tso's chicken leftovers!
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Resting Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 55 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Chinese
Servings 4 people
Calories 1706 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 Rolling Pin
  • 1 frying pan
  • 1 pizza pan
  • 2 baking papers

Ingredients
  

Pizza Dough

  • cups pizza flour (350 g)
  • tsp salt
  • 0.5 oz fresh yeast (15 g)
  • 3 tsp sugar
  • cup warm water (190 ml)

General Tso's Sauce/Marinade

  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
  • ½ tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 tsp chili sauce or chili paste
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • ½ cup chicken stock/broth
  • dash of black pepper
  • tsp grated ginger
  • 1 clove garlic (grated)
  • ½ tsp chili flakes (for frying)
  • 1-2 cup vegetable oil

General Tso's Chicken

  • 0.7 lbs boneless and skinless chicken breast (300 g or 10.5 oz)
  • ¾ cup cornstarch

Topping

  • 1 cup tomato passata
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp dry oregano
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • ½ finely sliced spring onion
  • 3 cups grated Gouda cheese (250 grams)

Instructions
 

Pizza dough

  • Add pizza flour (type 0 or type 00) to a bowl designated for the dough. Mix in salt, form a hole in the center, and place sugar, half a cube of fresh yeast (around 15 grams), and warm water into it. Allow the yeast to rise for 10-15 minutes.
  • Use a mixer with dough hooks, and combine the ingredients until the dough is smooth. A slightly sticky, rather than firm, texture is acceptable.
  • Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for a minimum of one hour

Getting the chicken ready

  • Cut the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces, and mix the remaining ingredients together (excluding the oil for frying and the chili flakes).
  • Set aside one-third of the sauce and combine it with the chicken. Marinate the chicken for about 30 minutes.
  • Pour frying oil (vegetable or sunflower oil) into a deep frying container until it is approximately 2 fingers deep. Heat the oil over medium heat.
  • As the oil heats, coat the chicken in half a cup of cornstarch.
  • When the oil is ready, carefully add the chicken pieces, ensuring they don't stick together. Fry each side for around 3 minutes, then transfer the chicken to paper towels to drain excess oil.
  • After frying all the chicken, remove the oil, leaving just enough to fry the chili flakes. Add the remaining sauce and cook until it thickens. Turn off the heat, stir in the fried chicken, and let it rest while you prepare the dough.

Assembling the pizza

  • Set up a pizza pan and preheat the oven to 450 °F (210 °C).
  • Lightly flour a sheet of parchment paper or baking paper (corn flour works well due to its coarser texture) and shape the dough into a circle using your fingers.
  • The dough should be thin since it will rise further in the oven.
  • Make the pizza sauce with tomato passata, sugar, oregano and olive oil.
  • Apply the sauce to the dough and top with grated Gouda cheese. Add the chicken pieces and bake the pizza.
  • After 15 minutes, the pizza should be fully cooked. Allow it to cool slightly, then garnish with spring onions before serving.

Notes

General Tso’s Chicken pizza is the tastiest when served immediately. However, if you end up with some leftovers, cold pizza will be good, too. If you want to reheat it, the best method to do that is to preheat the oven to 450 °F (210 °C) and warm it up for 4-5 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 1706kcalCarbohydrates: 109gProtein: 72gFat: 108gSaturated Fat: 40gPolyunsaturated Fat: 33gMonounsaturated Fat: 28gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 253mgSodium: 3320mgPotassium: 861mgFiber: 4gSugar: 18gVitamin A: 1394IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 1281mgIron: 6mg
Keyword Asian chicken pizza, Chinese pizza, What to make with General Tso leftovers?