General Tso's Chickpeas | Vegan General Tso's Recipe (2024)

4.54 from 13 votes

For marinating the chickpeas:

• 1 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari for GF)
• 1 tbsp mirin (or dry sherry)
• 1 and 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (equal to 1 15-oz. can), rinsed and drained

For the General Tso's sauce:

• 6 tbsp low-sodium vegetable broth (1/4 cup + 2 tbsp)
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tbsp natural peanut butter
• 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce (or tamari for GF)
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 4 tsp coconut sugar (or other sugar)
• 2 tsp sriracha or other chili sauce
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp prepared mustard (grainier and nuttier mustards are better; if using the bright yellow mustard, reduce to 1/2 tsp)
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper or white pepper

For the General Tso's chickpeas stir-fry:

• 1 tbsp neutral oil (I used sunflower seed oil)
• 1/4 of a large onion (or 1 shallot), thinly sliced
• 1 large broccoli crown , cut into florets
• 1 red bell pepper , cut into thin strips
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• General Tso's sauce (above)
• marinated chickpeas (above)
• (optional) green onions, sesame seeds, and fresh red onion, for serving
• (optional) cooked rice, for serving

For marinating the chickpeas:

• Stir together the soy sauce and mirin in a bowl and add the chickpeas. Let sit for 10 minutes (I do this first and let them marinate while I prepare the sauce and veggies).

For the sauce:

• Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients and set aside.

For the stir-fry:

• If you plan to garnish your dish with extra diced red onion, put the amount you want for garnish in a small bowl with cold water now. This will help to mellow out its flavor.

• Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion, stirring continuously.

• Continuing to stir, add the broccoli, bell pepper strips, ginger, and garlic.

• Stir in the General Tso's sauce. Drain the chickpeas and stir them in too. Cook for 1-2 more minutes, continuing to stir frequently, or until the mixture is hot throughout and the sauce has coated the chickpeas and vegetables. Add more soy sauce or chili sauce to taste.

• Serve over rice if desired; garnish as desired with green onions, sesame seeds, and drained soaked red onion from above.

If your pan is large enough, you can keep the vegetables and chickpeas separate by pushing the vegetables to one side of the pan before you add the chickpeas. But I mostly just did that for presentation 🙂

For this recipe, it's important to do all of the prep work before you start cooking anything because you need to be stirring the whole time.

In a pinch, you can use rice vinegar instead of mirin or sherry.

Nutrition facts exclude rice.