Stir Fry Sauce
on Jan 24, 2021, Updated Aug 21, 2024
This is the only Stir Fry Sauce recipe you will ever need! Making your own stir fry sauce at home is so easy and so much better than anything store bought.
This Stir Fry Sauce Is My Fave
The key to the best ever stir fry is in the sauce recipe. I have tried endless store bought sauces, and none of them ever tasted good enough to get that takeout taste that I was craving.
Why we love this stir fry sauce
- Only three ingredients
- Highly Concentrated: a little bit of this sauce goes a long way
- Pairs well with any kind of stir fry: Stir fry veggies, ramen noodles, chicken, tofu, pork, you name it. This sauce pairs beautifully with any kind of stir fry recipe
How to make stir fry sauce
- Add the corn starch, sesame oil, and soy sauce to a mason jar.
- Close the lid, and shake to combine
- Add the stir fry sauce to your stir fry to taste in the last 5 minutes of cook time
This sauce does not mess around. It is bold, so flavorful, and a little bit goes a long way. If you make the whole batch, it will be enough to flavor 6 – 8 generous servings of food.
What is stir fry sauce used for?
You can use stir fry sauce for just about anything, but commonly used best vegetables for stir fry include
- Mushrooms
- Carrots
- Sugar snap peas
- Broccoli
- White or yellow onion
- Bell peppers, any color
- Green onion
- Water chestnuts
- Baby corn
What should I put in stir fry?
- Vegetables: our go to vegetables include onion, garlic, ginger, brococli, mushrooms and bell pepper
- Protein: beef, chicken, tofu, chickpeas, tempeh
- Noodles or rice: white rice, brown rice, ramen noodles, brown rice noodles, pad thai noodles
Joy’s Tips
- Make the sauce first: Prepping this ahead makes it easier to add as you need it when making your stir fry. You can either cook your ingredients in this sauce, or add it at the end of cook time.
- Add a little bit at a time: If you are unsure of how much sauce to use, I recommend cooking your ingredients first in sesame oil, then adding this sauce to taste in the last 3-5 minutes of cook time to taste.
What can I add to stir fry for flavor?
I have one recommendation, and that is to always use this together with fresh garlic and fresh ginger. Do not skip this step.
These are not a part of the sauce, but they are part of the full recipe that you will make. I have found this to be the best way to bring out all of those flavors and I highly recommend doing this.
If you skip this step and tell me that the recipe is bland, it is because you did not add the garlic and ginger!
Corn starch in stir fry sauce
Corn starch acts as an easy thickener in this stir fry sauce recipe. It is is a great way to thicken sauces when you want a quick recipe.
There is no need to cook out a raw flour flavor like you would when cooking with a roux. Most sauce recipes use a corn starch slurry to thicken them. Instead of that, we are simply mixing it with the other ingredients and once well shaken it will thicken the same way.
“OMG Joy! I have been searching for the true stir fry sauce” for everything “ and this is it! Made shrimp broccoli and mushroom stir fry tonight and and I’m still licking up the sauce from the pan!”
“This recipe seemed to be too easy, but it works better than more complicated recipes. This will be my go to.“
3 Ingredient Stir Fry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Add the soy sauce, sesame oil, and cornstarch to a mason jar. Screw on the lid and shake to combine
- Be sure to use this stir fry sauce with fresh minced garlic and fresh minced ginger in your stir fry (cooked with your vegetables/protein), as stated in the post. This is what will give it the "wow" factor.
- Once your stir fry is mostly cooked, add the stir fry sauce and heat an additional 3 – 5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens and coats the stir fry ingredients. This is important, as the corn starch needs a few minutes to thicken up.
- READ THIS RECIPE NOTE – this is intended to cover around 8 servings of stir fry, served over UNSALTED rice or noodles. Otherwise it will be too salty. It is a highly concentrated sauce. A little goes a long way! If you are making a small stir fry, start by adding a few tablespoons of sauce at a time until desired saltiness.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It’s the best I’ve used and my family love my stir fry.
it’s an amazing stir fry sauce..I use it with unsalted roast veges and wraps..noodles..absolutely everything..taste great too .small amounts goes a long way..❤️
Agreed that this seemed too simple to be this good!
Heed author’s advice to use fresh garlic and fresh ginger (I do sometimes cheat and use the refrigerated stuff in a tube) during the cooking process. it was a given for me, but I’m sure the combination deepens the flavors !
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Can remaining be refrigerated?
I added this sauce to my stir fry!!! It hangs on to the veggies perfectly! phenomenal! You are brilliant!!!
I made this sauce with left over roast veges and noodles..it was amazing….more delicious the next day..definitely restaurant quality ..the good thing about this is that you can control the taste and the spice as you cook…❤️
Fantastic!!!
This sounds wonderful,
can the sesame oil be omitted, unfortunately we have an sesame allergy in the house
You can use another oil, but unfortunately it will affect the flavor. If anyone has tried it please comment here!
May I store leftover sauce in the fridge, and , if so how long?
Thanks!
I have never tried it myself, as I typically just make one batch for a meal. The only thing I would watch out for is separation caused by the oil or corn starch. You should be able to shake it to combine, but that could affect how long you can keep it in the fridge. I would think it would be ok for 3-5 days. Report back if you try it!
This is an awesome, easy sauce! I added the garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes. Excellent!