A cheaper and healthier alternative to Chinese takeout – homemade General Tso’s Sweet Chili Chicken Rice Bowls with broccoli, red bell pepper, and mushrooms.

Adulting is hard. Very hard.
I found out in June that I need to buy a new car by July 2017, which means I need to start saving money. As an adult, that’s pretty hard to do because there are bills to pay and groceries to buy. I’ve never budgeted before, so for these past few months I’ve been reading up on it. It’s a little tougher for me because being self employed means my paycheck varies each month, but for now I picked a number and am tracking what I’m buying each month. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start. If you have advice on budgeting especially if you freelance, I’d love to hear them.
One category I noticed I spend heavily in is eating out. It’s no secret I love coffee houses, but I also tend to buy Chinese food a lot. And by Chinese food, I mean general tso’s chicken because that’s all I really order. Even when I try something different, I take one bite and go “this isn’t general tso’s.” As much as I love deep fried spicy chicken, I can’t keep spending $14 a month on it, sometimes $28 if I buy it twice (yikes). The next best way to get my general tso’s fix? Making it homemade with General Tso’s Sweet Chili Chicken Rice Bowls. It has all of your favorite elements – the sauce, the chicken, the rice – but is cheaper and healthier because the chicken isn’t deep fried and there are plenty of vegetables. I’m usually the odd one out saying this, but they never give you enough broccoli at the restaurants.

Sure, this isn’t deep fried chicken, but let’s face it – it’s all about that sauce. My sauce is a bit different than traditional because I added a secret ingredient – sweet chili sauce. I also added plenty of vegetables – fresh broccoli, red bell pepper, and mushrooms (ok not a vegetable, but I love mushrooms so much).

The hardest part about making homemade general tso’s chicken is getting all the components ready at the same time. It’s just me in the kitchen, so by the time I finish making the chicken and sauce, the last thing I want to do is drag out another pan for the rice and wait 20 minutes for that to cook. My kitchen is tiny, so to use up three burners takes up quite a bit of room for me (my stove doubles as counter space when the burners aren’t in use). That’s where Veetee Rice comes in handy. It’s microwavable rice that’s ready in 2 minutes. Two minutes. It’s convenient and fast, making it ideal for when you’re pressed for time, whether it’s with back to school season coming up, running out to the door with evening plans, or you’re simply tired from a long day of work. Veetee has several varieties you can choose for these rice bowls – white long grain rice, whole grain brown rice, and even chicken flavored rice. To find their products near you, check out their store locator.

A cheaper and healthier alternative to Chinese takeout – homemade General Tso’s Sweet Chili Chicken Rice Bowls with broccoli, red bell pepper, and mushrooms. Meal Planning Tip: To save even more time during dinner, chop the vegetables and make the sauce ahead of time. Store the sauce in the refrigerator and reheat before using.General Tso’s Sweet Chili Chicken Rice Bowls
Ingredients
Sauce
Rice Bowls
Instructions
Notes
HS says
I would make orange chicken to go with rice.
Carla says
Mmm orange chicken sounds good!
Cyndi B says
Looks really good!i have actually used this rice before and love it!
Carla says
Isn’t it a great rice? I love that it’s ready in 2 minutes.
Barbara Bradford says
We have curries at least once a week. Rice is our staple. Having it ready so quickly would make my recipes so much quicker. The General’s chicken does sound so good!!!
Carla says
Oh curry is a good one! I make curry probably once a month and I agree – Veetee rice in 2 minutes would make it much easier.