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.
I was skeptical that 3 ingredients could be flavorful enough. This sauce is perfect. I’m out of soy sauce and used coconut amino’s instead. I sautéed red onion, minced garlic, and minced ginger. Then added frozen stir fry veggies and cooked it on low until they defrosted. I turned up the heat to cook off some of the melted water from the veggies and then stirred in this amazing sauce for only a few minutes before removing from heat. I paired it with baked marinated tofu and seasoned jasmine rice. Thank you for the simple sauce recipe. Truly!
Actually I was worried with the amount of sesame oil
I said what the heck and followed the recipe. I added sugar garlic powder, white pepper, ginger powder and a bit of hoisin sauce ( No exact measurement just dropped and taste method) It was perfect. This is one of those things you can play around with. I will be using this recipe from now on.
I added the fresh ginger and garlic to the sauce. It sounds like I wasn’t supposed to but that’s the impression I got from your comment about adding it to for more flavor. So since I did that must I keep it in the refrigerator or will it still be OK in the cupboard even though there is fresh ginger and fresh garlic in the mix? Thank you, Looking forward to making this tonight.
I would refrigerate it if you are adding the garlic and ginger to it.
@Joy Shull,
Joy I think your right on regarding the refrigeration.
Saved the day! I changed it up a little, added some brown sugar, and my ginger and garlic I sauteed w the sesame oil, just till fragrant, then added soy sauce, and corn starch..with just a tad bit brown sugar! It came out perfect! I was so stumped on how to make the stir fry sauce, you saved my day, and dinner!
My husband hates stir fry so I usually just make my own in an 8″ wok. He smelt it, he tasted it and in the last 7 days we have had 3 yes three stir fry. He absolutely cannot get enough. Thank you so much for sharing. Jan xx
I love it! So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Thank you!! Thank you!! You are amazing!! This is fantastic.!! Thank you for sharing!! You are famous!!
Can I use ground ginger if I don’t have fresh?
I do not recommend it, the fresh flavor is a big difference.
What can you use in place of soy sauce?
@Terry,
I’ve been using coconut aminos and it turns out yummy. My son is allergic to soy and coconut aminos helps us be able to enjoy Asian food. Hope that helps!
@Roz, I got a bottle of Coconut Aminos at the “C” store and alternate between that and low sodium soy.
Your sauce is amazing and quick to make. Thank you
You say this sauce is not really complete without ginger and garlic, but you never mention how much to use or when to put them in.
I can’t recommend how much to use without knowing the quantity of your stir fry. I do say in the instructions to cook the garlic and ginger when you stir fry the vegetables and protein.. If you read my stir fry posts you can find examples of amounts. There are many stir fry recipes on my site using this sauce.