General Tso’s chicken is a fascinating dish. There’s no denying its deliciousness and popularity, yet it isn’t an authentic Chinese meal at all. Instead, the meal is likely an attempt to create a Chinese-inspired main that appeals to American flavor preferences. That might explain why Americans love it so much.
The popularity of General Tso’s Chicken and similar dishes shows that the idea has clearly been a success. But, it raises an important point, how do you decide what to serve with General Tso’s chicken?
Some possible General Tso’s chicken sides include white rice, fried rice, Chinese steamed buns, and spring rolls. There are some more surprising options as well, including a green salad, mashed potatoes, and grilled eggplant.
You’ll generally be looking for a mild side, as General Tso’s chicken has plenty of bold flavors of its own. However, bold sides occasionally work well, especially if their flavors complement your chicken.
Some experimentation may be needed to find the best side for you. After all, each of us has different flavor preferences. The flavors of General Tso’s chicken can also vary depending on who prepares it and the ratios of ingredients they use.
What To Serve With General Tso’s Chicken (12 Sides To Try)
Rice
Rice is one of the most common sides for General Tso’s chicken. It’s a logical choice too, given that starchy sides always go well with flavorful protein rich meals.
You could simply turn to white rice. This has little flavor of its own, which is perfect for your chicken. It’s also inexpensive and easy to prepare.
However, sometimes you might want something a little more complex, such as brown rice or wild rice. There are also flavored versions, such as coconut rice, which adds a surprisingly complementary tropical flavor. If you’re following a low carb diet, try cauliflower rice instead.
Alternatively, why not mix some ingredients into your rice? You could try quinoa for some extra protein, toasted sesame seeds for a texture and flavor contrast, or perhaps sliced green onions.
Crispy White Rice With Ginger And Scallion
This Crispy White Rice with Ginger and Scallion proves that white rice doesn’t need to be boring. As the name suggests, this isn’t your typical soft and fluffy white rice. Instead, the rice has been fried to make it surprisingly crispy.
Some planning is needed here, as the recipe relies on rice that was prepared at least a day previously. Preparing the rice ahead of time ensures it’s dry and will crisp up nicely.
The recipe also uses a collection of ingredients to add to the flavor, including vegetable broth, peanut oil, fresh ginger, and garlic. These make the dish much more interesting than regular white rice.
Asian Slaw
General Tso’s chicken often doesn’t include many vegetables in the meal itself. So, you’ll often want a vegetable heavy side dish, like some type of salad. Some type of slaw is a great choice, as this is much more robust than a traditional lettuce salad.
While you could go with any type of slaw, an Asian coleslaw is even better. This way, the flavor profile of your salad perfectly complements the chicken. The style is more interesting than traditional coleslaw anyway.
Crunchy Asian Coleslaw
This Crunchy Asian Coleslaw is a fantastic place to begin. It uses cabbage, carrots, red onions, ginger, and cilantro as the base ingredients, giving you plenty of color and flavor.
Then there’s the dressing, which includes sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and chili flakes. Not surprisingly, this gives you a complex and stunning flavor profile. You might even use the same dressing with different vegetables.
The recipe is designed to use a combination of red cabbage and green cabbage. Doing so provides a fantastic visual contrast, but isn’t essential. You could easily make the salad using just one type of cabbage.
Mashed Potatoes
Like white rice, mashed potatoes are a starchy side with a mild flavor. This combo of features is perfect alongside a flavorful meal like General Tso’s chicken.
Potatoes are also a versatile ingredient. They work well with many different flavoring ingredients. You could even incorporate some of the same spices from the chicken, such as garlic and ginger.
If mashed potatoes aren’t your thing, why not experiment with another type of potato dish instead? Baked potatoes are an easy option. Or, perhaps you could roast some potatoes alongside other vegetables.
Creamy Garlic And Herb Mashed Potatoes
These Creamy Garlic and Herb Potatoes are more flavorful than regular mashed potatoes, but the flavor isn’t intense enough to distract from your chicken. The recipe calls for rosemary, sage, chives, and parsley as the herbs of choice, but you can easily substitute these for your own favorite fresh herbs.
However, there’s more to this recipe than just the ingredients. Some of the discussed techniques are just as important to the mashed potatoes. For example, much of the flavor profile comes from boiling the potatoes with the chosen herbs. Ricing the potatoes is also important for getting the best possible texture.
Egg Fried Rice
We’ve already talked about regular rice, but fried rice is too good to pass up. Frying it makes the flavor profile even better and this style also works well with extra ingredients for flavor.
Egg fried rice is one of the best approaches here, as you get flavor and extra protein from the eggs. You can also experiment with herbs and spices or perhaps extra vegetables to make the rice even more engaging.
Including vegetables is fantastic nutritionally, as you’re not getting that many veggies in your General Tso’s chicken. Sure, you could make a vegetable-based side as well, but why not include vegetables and rice together?
Chinese Egg Fried Rice
This Chinese Fried Rice has plenty going for it. For one thing, it’s an easy to prepare side. It just takes 10 minutes from start to finish and there are hardly any ingredients to worry about.
This is another recipe that relies on leftover rice to provide the right texture. This is then flavored with toasted sesame oil and soy sauce. Green onions are the only vegetable added, but the author includes a list of others that you can add if you choose to.
Indeed, the long list of possible additions highlights the versatility of fried rice. Even a few changes in ingredients creates what can seem like an entirely different meal.
Lettuce Wraps
While carb-based sides are delicious, they’re not always the right choice (especially if you’re following a low carb diet!). You could simply serve vegetables on the side, but why not try something less common instead, like lettuce wraps?
There are two themes to consider here. The first is where you are making simple wraps using lettuce and a few vegetables. These could then be served alongside your chicken.
The other option is to use the wraps as a way to eat your chicken. So, you might fill them with vegetables and a few pieces of General Tso’s chicken, then eat them like that. Doing so gives you vegetables with every bite, plus a delicious contrast between your chicken and the wraps.
Thai Lettuce Wraps
What do you think of these Thai Lettuce Wraps? They’re a fantastic showcase of how you can include different flavors with vegetable wraps and even offer a delicious peanut sauce to make the wraps even tastier.
You could easily make your own version of these wraps by swapping General Tso’s chicken for the Thai chicken in the recipe. You’d still get plenty of amazing flavors, especially with the recipe’s peanut sauce and grilled pineapple.
Stir Fried Noodles
Instead of rice, why not try noodles with your chicken? They’re just as easy to prepare and can be even tastier than serving rice.
The recipe can be as simple or as complex as you like. For example, some people stick with fairly simple fried noodles, which allows the main dish to dominate. Others include more intense flavoring. It’s even possible to make your stir fried noodles taste much like General Tso’s chicken.
15-Minute Vegetable Stir Fry Noodles
These 15-Minute Vegetable Stir Fry Noodles are a fantastic way to combine noodles and vegetables. They include a simple umami sauce that relies on soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup, ginger, and chili, plus the noodles themselves and plenty of vegetables.
There endless flexibility when it comes to the vegetables. Basically, anything that works as part of a stir fry is going to be exceptional here. As such, you can tweak the ingredients based on your personal favorites and what is in season.
Chinese Steamed Buns
General Tso’s chicken isn’t an authentic Chinese dish, but you can easily include Chinese sides with it. Chinese steamed buns are a fantastic place to begin, as they’re easy to find and you can even make them at home.
There are two styles to choose from. The first is often known as Mantou, which are unfilled buns that are fluffy with a neutral flavor. They’re fantastic with richly flavored dishes like General Tso’s chicken.
Then there are the filled buns, which have the name baozi instead. These can include a variety of different fillings, which make the buns richer and more flavorful. Savory fillings include chicken, beef, pork, and many others, while sweet focus include red bean paste, custard, and the like.
The Best Scallion Buns
The Scallion Buns are a delightful variation on traditional Chinese steamed buns. They still have many of the same features, such as having a mild flavor and being soft. However, there are also some interesting layers, along with the scallions, which add some color and flavor to the buns.
An even more exciting feature is that these rolls are easy to prepare. There are only six ingredients to worry about and the proofing just takes an hour. This makes it easy to get them ready along with your chicken. Who knows? You might serve these rolls on other occasions as well.
Sautéed Mushrooms
What about mushrooms? They’re a fantastic side for many meals, including those with Asian flavor profiles.
Mushrooms are also easy to work with. It’s often as simple as sautéing mushrooms in a pan with a little butter and oil. You could also add a few herbs or perhaps some garlic to improve the flavor profile.
You might even consider herbs and spices that are popular in Chinese dishes, including star anise, cloves, bay leaves, ginger, and fennel seeds. Such spices create parallel flavors between your mushrooms and main, creating an even better meal.
Mushrooms are especially good if you combine them with a starchy side. For example, you might serve General Tso’s chicken with mushrooms and white rice, for an excellent balance of flavors and textures.
Sautéed Garlic Mushrooms
These Sautéed Garlic Mushrooms are both simple and delicious (a truly stunning combination of features!). Seriously, you need just five ingredients for the mushrooms and they’re ready within 20 minutes. It’s hard to get better than that.
The recipe isn’t just fantastic because of the ingredients or flavor profile. It also teaches you all you need to know about sautéing mushrooms, including how you can get the best texture and flavor every time.
In the recipe, Maya mentions that you can use any type of mushrooms you like. But, a combination of types will work the best. This makes sense, as two or more types of mushrooms gives you an interesting balance of textures and flavors, making the side even more delicious.
Grilled Eggplant
Grilled eggplant isn’t an incredibly common side. It should be, though, as the eggplant ends up with a smoky flavor that complements many dishes.
There are two general approaches here. The first is to cook the eggplant whole, which takes somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes and gives you a surprisingly smooth interior. Or, you can grill eggplant slices instead. These have a crisper texture and also cook faster than an entire eggplant.
Either way, you end up with a delicious side that shouldn’t be ignored. You can also add herbs or spices to bring the flavor profile closer to your chicken.
Garlic And Herb Grilled Eggplant
This Garlic and Herb Grilled Eggplant recipe is important for two reasons. First, and crucially, it features some wonderful flavors that you’re certain to love.
The recipe also steps you through every aspect of making delicious grilled eggplant. This information is incredibly valuable, as eggplants are a little tricky to grill. Part of the process is to salt the eggplant slices, which helps to draw out the bitterness.
There’s also a fantastic garlic and herb oil that imparts flavor while stopping the eggplants from drying out. You can even serve the grilled eggplant pieces warm or cold, making them a truly versatile side dish.
Spring Rolls
Fried spring rolls are often served alongside Chinese-American meals, including General Tso’s Chicken. They’re a great choice, as they’re both crunchy and delicious, making the meal much more exciting. You’re even getting a few veggies in the rolls.
That said, fried spring rolls certainly aren’t healthy. They may also be a little too heavy or greasy alongside your chicken. If that’s the case, try summer rolls instead. These have a translucent wrapper made from rice paper and are typically served cold.
Not only are summer rolls healthier than fried spring rolls – they’re also more refreshing. This might be exactly what you need when serving a flavorful meal like General Tso’s chicken.
Fresh Thai Spring Rolls
These Fresh Thai Spring Rolls are vibrant, light, and healthy. They include a variety of crunchy vegetables, along with peanuts and cilantro. There’s even a peanut dipping sauce included in the recipe, although you mightn’t need this due to the flavors of your main course.
As the author points out, the recipe is highly customizable. You can include your own favorite vegetables in the mix and ignore any the author suggests that you don’t like.
The most valuable thing about this recipe is the techniques shown anyway. The step-by-step photos show you how you can easily make these fresh rolls at home, even if you’re completely new to the idea.
Broccoli Or Green Beans
You’ll often want to serve some type of vegetable alongside your General Tso’s chicken. What could be better than broccoli or green beans? Both types of vegetables are vibrant on the plate and come with a delicious crunch when cooked well.
There are also countless cooking techniques for both vegetables. For example, you can steam, boil, sauté, roast, or grill broccoli. You can even cook it via sous vide! There are just as many options with green beans.
Then you can experiment with flavoring, like by using different herbs, spices, or sauces to make the vegetables truly stand out. For example, green beans could be seasoned with garlic and lemon, with fresh herbs, with smoked paprika, or perhaps with some nutritional yeast.
Grilled Broccoli With Lemon And Parmesan
Isn’t this Grilled Broccoli with Lemon and Parmesan stunning? The combination of lemon and parmesan is unusual for broccoli, yet these ingredients work together incredibly well.
This is also an easy recipe. You just need the broccoli, a lemon, olive oil, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. That’s it. You probably have most of those ingredients at home already.
Denise also includes details for three different flavor variations: Chili lime, Asian sesame, and balsamic feta. These all sound delicious and would be well worth trying.
Fresh Salad
Finally, we have fresh salads. These are one of the easiest ways to add veggies to a meal, as you don’t need to cook anything.
There’s also an insane amount of space for variation. You can change the base vegetables, the dressing, and play around with any added ingredients you like. Some salads keep things simple, with just a handful of fresh ingredients.
Others are much more elaborate. You may even see nuts, seeds, fresh fruit, feta cheese, and more in some salads. Each ingredient adds to the texture and flavor profile, sometimes resulting in a truly exceptional side.
Marinated Cauliflower Salad
Beth from Budget Bytes describes this Marinated Cauliflower Salad as a refrigerator salad. This means it holds up well in the fridge and provides delicious leftovers throughout the week.
In fact, the salad actually tastes better after it has been in the fridge for a while, as the cauliflower soaks up more of the delicious dressing and the flavors all meld together better over time.
The most unexpected thing is that the salad does contain a little parmesan cheese. This helps with the flavor profile, but isn’t essential at all. You can easily skip the parmesan or replace it with nutritional yeast.
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