Making your own stir fry sauce is so easy! This recipe is perfect for making delicious oriental inspired dinners at home. All you need is just 3 ingredients and the flavor is so much better than any store bought stir fry sauce!
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.
What I discovered was that all of those sauces were far too watered down.
By mixing three basic sauce ingredients together, this highly concentrated stir fry sauce was born.
All you need for bold flavor is soy sauce, sesame oil, and corn starch.
Full amounts and instructions can be found in the recipe card, but keep reading this post for important tips and tricks.
How do you make stir fry sauce from scratch?
Making stir fry sauce from scratch is as simple as adding the corn starch, sesame oil, and soy sauce to a jar.
Close the lid, and shake to combine and you are done!
If you do not have a mason jar, simply whisk the ingredients together in a bowl.
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 my stir fry?
The classic flavors of this sauce go with any kind of stir fry recipe.
Truly, the possibilities are endless!
Choose your protein (beef, chicken, tofu, chickpeas, tempeh, etc), and choose whatever your favorite stir fry vegetables are.
You can use this sauce to make any kind of stir fry recipe.
I often make the sauce before I start cooking my stir fry, so that is ready to go when I need it.
You can either cook your ingredients in this sauce, or add it at the end of cook time.
If you are unsure of how much 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.
Start with a few tablespoons and add from there.
Again, this is a very concentrated 3 ingredient sauce, and a little bit will go a long way!
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!
How to thicken stir fry sauce
Cornstarch 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.
I have tested this easy recipe time and time again and it is always incredibly delicious.
“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.“
More Stir Fry recipes
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3 Ingredient Stir Fry Sauce Recipe
Making your own stir fry sauce is so easy! This delicious sauce recipe is just 3 ingredients and comes together in seconds. Perfect for making flavorful stir fries at home.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup + 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce or tamari
- ¼ cup sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Add 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 sauce thickens. 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.
Notes
To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten free soy sauce or tamari.
To see examples of how much food this sauce will cover, check out several of my recipes using this sauce. Cabbage Stir Fry, Stir Fry Vegetables, Ramen Noodle Stir Fry
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 66Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 131mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g
Diane B
Friday 24th of March 2023
I am allergic to sesame oil. Is there another type of oil I can substitute?
J-Dub
Sunday 26th of February 2023
This was my 1st using this sauce and it I'd a game charger. I did not use the ginger or garlic because I used a little bite of the season from the Ramen noodle. It was still delicious.
Lisa
Tuesday 7th of February 2023
From the color of the oil in the video it looks like you used toasted sesame oil (vs. refined). Is that right? For other readers: toasted oil sesame oil is darker in color and has a lot more flavor, whereas the refined oil is a golden color and is very mild.
Joy Shull
Wednesday 15th of February 2023
Yes, I used toasted sesame oil. But I have used both kinds and they both will work
Lynn
Saturday 21st of January 2023
Hi: Plain sesame oil, or toasted sesame oil. Thanks.
Deb
Monday 31st of October 2022
This simple sauce made an amazing stir fry! Hubby thought it could use a bit of sweetness, so I added 1/2 tsp. brown sugar to the sauce I'll store in the frig for our next stir fry. This recipe is definitely a keeper. I did broccoli, red pepper, purple cabbage, mushrooms, onions and shrimp over rice. And YES, be sure to include fresh ginger and garlic!