This post contains affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
My General Tso’s Tempeh recipe is sure to satisfy your takeaway cravings!
Jump to Recipe
This is non fried version of the General Tsos saucy Tempeh with a citrusy twist. Add some blanched Broccoli or bok choy to it for a bigger portion and some greens. You know who reads my blog on her Iphone these days? My mom! She has one from her visit here in october and she is adept at all things I- … Ipad, Iphone. She reads the blog and gets her own creative ideas and makes things.. She saw my Naan post and made some with baking powder, yogurt and whole wheat flour and surprised Dad!
Also, Thank you Laura from GlutenfreePantry for the Liebster award!
Some other versions to help use Tempeh to sub meat.. Try the Tempeh Seekh Kebab patty, its a long recipe, but with all the spices and crumbled tempeh, there is no beany taste or texture! Or Try some of the Indian curries like Kadhai Tempeh and Cauliflower.
General Tso's Tempeh

Ingredients
- 3/4 cup of cubed Tempeh, 4 oz
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon orange juice, I used freshly squeezed Satsuma juice
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon raw sugar
- 1 teaspoon of oil
- 2 garlic cloves , chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce/tamari
- 2 teaspoon raw sugar
- 2 teaspoons orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes , or Sriracha to taste
- 1 teaspoon white wine , or rice vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon sherry, optional
- 2-3 teaspoons vegan hoisin sauce to taste, I used just about 2 tsp
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch mixed in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of water, depending on your preference of quantity and consistency of sauce.
Instructions
- In a deep medium pan, add the tempeh, water, soy sauce, orange juice, ginger powder, garlic powder and sugar
- Mix well and cook covered on low heat, until all liquid is absorbed(12-15 minutes).You can also marinate the tempeh in the mix for half an hour before cooking.
- In another medium pan, add 1 teaspoon of oil and heat on medium heat.
- Add the cooked tempeh and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes until some sides are brown/crisp.
- Add garlic cloves, ginger and cook for half a minute.
- Add the following; soy sauce, sugar, orange juice, chilli flakes, white wine, sherry, hoisin, sesame oil and cornstarch
- Mix well to coat and cook on low-medium heat until the sauce thickens(5-7 minutes). Adjust spice and Sauces if needed to taste.(depends on the sauce brands, each has different flavor depth)
- Serve hot with a cup of white or brown rice, topped with chopped green onions/scallions and a slice of mandarin orange.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.













Oh my word, this was amazing! The perfect balance of spicy and sweet. I added a head of bok choy. I almost wish I hadn’t steamed it, so it would have been nice and crunchy. There were a lot of ingredients to this but it was really quite easy. Definitely going to be adding this into my regular rotation.
Awesome to hear, thank you for the positive review! Bok choy can be tricky for sure!
Made this tonight, and it was so good! My tempeh came in 6 ounce packages so I used two and tripled everything else in the recipe. I sautéed up some bok choy, broccoli and shredded carrots. The tempeh took about a half hour to soak up, just fyi. This was sooo good. My 5 year old LOVED it!
thank you. wow – I’m glad that he loved it
I made this for dinner tonight and it’s so tasty! Really recommend! Easy and quick.
Many Chinese dishes are very oily, heavy, and are focused on flavor. I personally like the taste of tempeh, so this recipe was perfect for me! I didn’t have any hoisin sauce or ginger, but I used a miso ginger paste. Since I doubled the recipe (for 8oz of tempeh), I used a whole garlic bulb (I really like garlic!). I added less than a half cup of water and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. The result? A delicious, flavorful tempeh stir fry! The sauce was thick like the Chinese dishes I would order at restaurants and the flavor was not overbearing. It was so delicious, thank you for this recipe! I served my tempeh over black lentils and steamed vegetables! Yum!
Thank you for trying it out and liking it!.. I like mild flavors and less oily chinese food too!
Thank you for trying it out Andrew and the feedback.. I corrected the water content for the sauce.
It is a bit different that the real gen tsos. a less oil and thinner sauce version!
Turned out really good, although not necessarily what I would describe as the typical “General Tso’s”… This was less sticky and sweet. But good. Also, I did have to add more cornstarch, and seeing that the sauce called for so much water, I scaled that back by about half. All in all, very successfully tasty, though.
I love this! I just pinned it on Pinterest so I’ll remember to make it! 🙂
Richa, you inspire me to cook more! Your dinners always sound so wonderful
Thank you Misty, CrazyEarthMama!
Thanks for trying it out Jeff and thank you the feedback. My tastes are a bit milder..I am glad you adjusted the sauces and made it your own!