This Easy Stir Fry Sauce recipe is made with just a few simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen. It’s perfect for any type of stir fry, whether you’re using chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, or vegetables. You can make the stir fry sauce in just minutes, or prepare it in advance to keep on hand for a quick weeknight meal.
Stir Fry Sauce – The EASY Way!
A good Stir Fry Sauce is one of my secrets for adding a TON of flavor to food, with just a tiny bit of time and effort.
This Easy Stir Fry Sauce recipe is one of my most used sauces on busy weeknights.
The great thing about homemade stir fry sauce is that it takes about 5-10 minutes to make (depending on how organized your pantry is!) and then you can pop it in an airtight container and it will stay good for UP TO A MONTH!
You can easily make a double or triple batch of homemade stir fry sauce in the same amount of time so you can always have it on hand.
Recipe Notes
This Easy Stir Fry Sauce recipe is as simple as promised! Just mix together some key ingredients and seasonings and you have the perfect stir fry flavors that taste just like take out, but faster than getting in the car.
In this section I am going to go through a few tips and tricks I use when making this recipe to get the absolute best and most delicious results.
Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the FULL recipe card.
Ingredients
- Soy sauce – you can use regular or low-sodium soy sauce, or substitute gluten free soy sauce to make the recipe gluten free
- Brown sugar– you can also use honey in place of brown sugar, but I prefer the depth of flavor brown sugar adds.
- Garlic
- Ginger – you can use fresh ginger or jarred minced ginger. If you are in a pinch you can use dried ginger as well.
- Sriracha– this is optional. It doesn’t add much heat, but it does add a nice layer of flavor, if you don’t have sriracha you can substitute 1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Cornstarch– this is necessary for helping the sauce to thicken and become sticky
- Water
This list is filled with pantry basics that come together to make dinner time magic. All of these ingredients are commonly found and there shouldn’t be anything you have to hunt down. You may even have every single one already in your kitchen!
Recipe Step by Step
I am going to highlight a few key steps in the recipe here, but make sure to jump down to the recipe card for comprehensive instructions on how to make easy stir fry sauce.
Combine all ingredients except the corn starch slurry in a mixing bowl. I like to use one with a pourable spout to make it less messy.
Add the corn starch slurry to the stir fry sauce and whisk until it is dissolved.
Pour the stir fry sauce over cooked stir fry in a hot pan.
Toss with the stir fry until everything is evenly coated and sauce is thickened.
Recipe Tips
- Key Ingredients! There are only a few ingredients in the stir fry sauce but they are all important! If you can use fresh ingredients like ginger and garlic, it will add more flavor, but if you need to speed it up, jarred works well too!
- Whisk to combine– Using a whisk is really helpful to make stir fry sauce because the sugar takes a minute to dissolve. The whisk works really well to get everything to combine. I like to continue to whisk until the bottom of the mixture no longer feels thick. You can also add all of the ingredients to a mason jar and shake, if you find that easier than whisking.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan– To make the best stir fry you will need enough space for the meat, vegetables and stir fry sauce to be in the pan without crowding. If you add too much food to the pan at once, it will steam instead of stir fry. If you have a lot of food, cook it in batches so that it doesn’t overcrowd the pan.
- Double, triple, or more! This recipe can easily be scaled up to make a big batch of stir fry sauce. This will allow you to keep it on hand for longer periods of time, especially when you start throwing it in everything as your “secret ingredient” like I do!
- Glaze too thick? If you find the glaze has gotten too thick while cooking, you can use a little chicken broth or vegetable broth to thin it out to your desired consistency.
How to use Stir Fry Sauce
The thing that makes Easy Stir Fry Sauce so great, is that it can add so much flavor to a recipe with so little effort! I use it in SO many ways, both for main dishes, and side dishes.
From seasoning meat, to stir frying vegetable sides, rice, and more there are so many ways to use this seasoning.
These are a few of my go-to uses- but if you have a favorite I missed, I would love to hear in the comments.
Main Dish Ideas
Stir Fry– The most obvious use for the stir fry sauce is making stir fry of course. I recommend using one recipe of sauce with about 2 pounds of meat and 4-5 cups of vegetables. You can reduce the amount of sauce if you want to make less than this, or increase the sauce to make more.
Marinate and season meat– You can also use this stir fry sauce recipe to marinate meat. Add about 1/2 cup of stir fry sauce per pound of meat then refrigerate to marinate.
You can do this with chicken, pork, lamb or beef. Grill it, bake it, or cook it up in a skillet like a traditional stir fry.
These are a few examples of using this Stir Fry Sauce with meat:
- Chicken Stir Fry
- Pepper Steak Stir Fry
- Ground Beef Stir Fry
- Ground Turkey Stir Fry
- Pork Stir Fry
- Vegetable Stir Fry
- Tofu
Side Dish Ideas
The stir fry sauce can also be used to make side dishes. Here are some great options:
- Asian Vegetable Stir Fry– Freshly chop veggies, or use a frozen mix from the store.
- Cabbage Stir Fry– This works great with freshly shredded cabbage, or coleslaw mix from the store!
- Rice – White or fried rice work well!
- Noodles – Like ramen stir fry, lo mein, or rice noodles
If you want a full stir fry recipe, check out some of these popular recipes:
Stir Fry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger, (1 teaspoon ground ginger)
- 1 teaspoon sriracha, optional
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and sriracha.
- Mix the cornstarch and water together until the cornstarch is dissolved, then whisk into the stir fry sauce.
Recipe Notes
- Heat a large, high-sided skillet with 1 tablespoon of oil over medium high heat.
- Once the pan is hot, add the protein to the pan. Once cooked through, remove from skillet and set aside.
- Add the remaining oil in the pan, then add the vegetables. Cook stirring occasionally for 4-6 minutes or until the veggies become tender.
- Add the meat back the pan and pour the stir fry sauce in and toss to coat in the sauce. Cook 1-2 minutes or until the sauce has thickened then remove from heat.
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