General Tso chicken is a classic dish that can be found on the menu of just about any Chinese restaurant.
If you have leftovers from last night’s dinner that you need to reheat, then you have a couple of options available to you.
In this article, you will learn about the different reheating methods that can be used to warm up General Tso chicken and the good news, when done properly, it will have it tasting just as good the second time around.
So, with that said, let us get right into it.
4 Best Methods to Reheat General Tso Chicken
As we mentioned earlier, there are a couple of methods that can be used to warm up leftover General Tso chicken.
The methods that can be used are
- The oven
- The air fryer
- The skillet
- The microwave
Each are good at ensuring that reheated General Tso is steaming hot, however, they all have their pros and cons.
We will now take a deeper look at each of these reheating methods below.
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How to Reheat General Tso Chicken in the Oven?
While the oven is not the quickest way to reheat General Tso chicken, it is another fool-proof way to get this popular dish warmed up.
It can take 10-20 minutes to have the chicken warmed up properly, but despite the long wait, the chicken will come out crispy and piping hot, close to how it was originally made.
Steps
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or 180 Celsius
- Spray a pan or Pyrex dish with cooking spray and spread out General Tso chicken evenly across it.
- Cover the pan/dish with aluminum foil.
- Place into the preheated oven for 15 minutes (or until heated through)
- Check to see if thoroughly heated. If so, remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving.
How to Reheat General Tso Chicken in the Air Fryer?
The air fryer is an excellent way to reheat General Tso chicken as it is able to retain the chicken’s crispiness, without turning it soggy.
Steps
- First of all, take the General Tso chicken out of the refrigerator and place it inside the air fryer basket.
- Set the air fryer’s temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Reheat the chicken for about 3-4 minutes, then check to see if it’s reheated to your liking.
- If it needs some more time, close the air fryer and reheat for another 1-2 minutes.
- Once heated, remove, let cool and then serve.
How to Reheat General Tso Chicken on the Stovetop?
You are not limited to reheating your General Tso chicken in the oven, air fryer or microwave.
You can warm this meal up in a skillet or pan. This method will not take a long time and you should have everything heated and ready to eat in under 5 minutes.
Steps
- Spray a pan or skillet with cooking spray or add a teaspoon of cooking oil.
- Allow the pan/skillet to heat up over a medium flame on the stovetop.
- Once the pan is heated, add the General Tso chicken.
- Continuously stir the chicken in the pan/skillet for around 2-3 minutes, ensuring that it’s evenly heated.
- Once done, remove the chicken and serve
Bonus Tip: To make a quick and healthy meal, you can stir fry vegetables for 5-7 minutes. Half way through, add the General Tso chicken, so that it can heated up.
How to Reheat General Tso Chicken in the Microwave?
The microwave is the quickest way to reheat General Tso chicken, but it can also be a little tricky.
General Tso is generally fried, before a sauce is added to it. Microwaving fried foods is generally not recommended as crispy/fried foods that are heated up in the microwave, tend to get soft and soggy.
There is a significant change in the taste and texture of the dish, and for that reason we have put the microwave as a reheating option is not at the bottom of the list.
However, if you just want warm food and do not care too much about the change in texture, here are the steps to take.
Steps:
- Place General Tso chicken in a microwave safe plate or container.
- Heat for 30 seconds to one minute at 50%/medium power. The time can vary, depending on how much chicken you are reheating.
- Once the microwave is finished, check to see if dish has been heated to your liking.
- If not, continue heating in 10-15-second intervals until the General Tso is heated all the way through.
- Once heated, remove the meal from microwave and serve immediately.
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Wrapping it up
Now that we’ve reached the end, you should have a better understanding as to the best methods that can be used to reheat General Tso chicken.
Hopefully, you were able to use this post as a guide, especially with the detailed instructions available for each method.
Let me know how you plan to reheat your General Tso chicken by leaving a comment below.
