This easy Homemade Stir Fry Sauce adds amazing flavor to your favorite Asian stir fry recipes! But don’t just save it for stir fry, it can be used in many different ways. Delicious on chicken, shrimp or pork dishes, even on meatballs!
Why You’ll Love This Homemade Stir Fry Sauce
Homemade Stir Fry Sauce may sound like a complicated thing to make, but it’s not. There’s nothing to it besides adding all the ingredients to a bowl and whisking to combine. We also have a “cooked” version to try – also very easy – if you’re using this sauce to toss on already prepared foods.
It’s definitely worth taking a few minutes to make this sauce recipe, it adds incredible flavor to even the simplest dishes!
Ingredients You’ll Need
There are a few ingredients you’ll need to gather together to make this sauce, but once you have them on hand it’ll be a breeze to make.
- Low sodium soy sauce: We prefer using low sodium soy sauce so the final flavor of the sauce isn’t as salty tasting.
- Chicken broth: You can use low sodium broth or regular.
- Freshly grated ginger or ginger paste: Peel and grate fresh ginger (or use a ginger paste like shown in the photo below).
- Minced fresh garlic or garlic paste: Again, you can buy garlic paste just like the ginger paste to save some time.
- Rice wine vinegar: You can also use dry sherry, but we usually keep rice wine vinegar on hand in the pantry.
- Toasted sesame oil: Toasted sesame oil has a delicious, nutty flavor.
- Sugar: To sweeten the sauce, it can be omitted if desired.
- Oyster sauce: A thick, Asian flavored sauce.
- Cornstarch: To thicken the sauce.
How To Make
All you need to do to make our homemade stir fry sauce is whisk the ingredients together in a bowl. That’s it. The cornstarch will naturally separate as it sits in the refrigerator, so it will need to be whisked again before using. Once the sauce is added to your favorite dishes, it will thicken as it’s heated.
You can also heat the sauce in a pot until it simmers, then whisk in the cornstarch to thicken. Let the sauce cool and then store it in the refrigerator. This method works well if you’re tossing the sauce into an already cooked recipe like our chicken and broccoli meatballs.
- Combine the soy sauce, chicken broth, ginger, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and oyster sauce in a saucepan. Whisk together and bring to a low simmer.
- Make a cornstarch slurry in a small bowl by combining cornstarch and water with a whisk or a fork. Pour into the simmering sauce and whisk until thickened.
- Simmer the sauce over low heat for 2 minutes. Let the sauce cool completely before storing in the refrigerator.
Ways to Use
Follow your favorite chicken stir fry or a tasty beef stir fry recipe and use this sauce in place of the sauce listed in the recipe. This way it’s already made and ready to go, so you’re getting dinner on the table even faster.
We also love using this stir fry sauce with our Asian Chicken and Brussels Sprouts recipe, which has become one of our favorite repeat dinners. Our boys ask for it ALL the time, it’s a great way to get a different type of vegetable into the rotation.
One of our newer favorite stir fry recipes is this Pork Stir Fry. Tender pork strips with a slightly crispy exterior and tons of sweet peppers.
It would be almost impossible to list all the ways we use this sauce at home, any protein like chicken, fish, pork or shrimp is an obvious choice.
How Long Does Homemade Stir Fry Sauce Last In The Fridge?
We keep this sauce in the fridge and use it all week long. Just make sure if you’re following the uncooked method that you whisk the sauce together again before adding to your dishes.
The sauce will definitely keep fresh for up to 5 days, as long as your chicken broth was fresh when you made the sauce.
Variations
We like to stir in sesame seeds and scallions if we have them on hand for texture and flavor. Other flavor ideas to try are a splash of pineapple juice or orange juice for a citrus twist.
Crushed red pepper flakes will add just a touch of heat. Hot sauce like sriracha or garlic chili sauce will also add a mild heat, depending on how much you use. Start off small and then add more as you like.
We’ve updated this recipe after years of enjoying it, making it even easier to put together (now we have a no cooking option).
More Delicious Stir Fry Recipes
- Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry
- Shrimp and Cashew Stir Fry
- Pork Stir Fry Recipe (pictured in post)
- Spaghetti Squash Stir Fry with sausage and peppers
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Homemade Stir Fry Sauce
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: No Cook
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 2 Cups 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeOur easy, Homemade Stir Fry Sauce is ready in seconds! Use this bright and flavorful sauce in your favorite stir fry recipes and so much more.
Ingredients
- 1 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth (can use low sodium if desired)
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger or ginger paste (see photo in post)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (or garlic paste)
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- Sesame seeds, red pepper flakes and scallions for garnish and flavor (optional)
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a bowl or a container with a tight lid. Whisk the ingredients together and/or shake until combined.
- Use the sauce in your favorite stir fry recipe or store in the refrigerator for up to a week. Make sure to whisk the sauce back together if it’s been sitting in the refrigerator before using. Note: The sauce will thicken as you add it to a hot skillet and it comes to a simmer.
Cooked Version (will stay thick in refrigerator for tossing with already cooked foods)
- Add the soy sauce, chicken broth, ginger, garlic, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and oyster sauce into a small saucepan. Whisk to combine and bring to a simmer.
- Make a cornstarch slurry by combining the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk into the simmering sauce and cook over low heat for 2 minutes. If you’re not using the sauce right way, let it cool before transferring it into the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
Store: Store stir fry sauce in an air tight container or mason jar in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Freeze: You can also freeze stir fry sauce for up to 6 months in the freezer. A great way to do this is to freeze in ice cube trays or Souper Cubes. That way you can take out a small portion for individual use.
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Aisan
I was looking for recipes that use my short cut of a rotisserie chicken and stumbled into your site. I used low sodium soy, grated my own ginger and garlic and added just under 1T of sugar (I’m a savory vs swee eater :-) ).
This was CRAZY GOOD! I made jasmine rice with chicken broth and about a 1/4 C of this added to the broth (keeping the liquid to rice ratio in tact) and it was AMAZING.
I prepared the chicken & broccoli stir fry recipe and thought it was perfect! I usually use a recipe as a “guideline”, but not in this case. I did add some mushrooms and chopped peanuts to the stir fry ….. and I like heat, so I sprinkled in some potent finely ground red pepper flakes! mmmmmmm with the peanuts, again I cut the salt with dry roasted, unsalted.
Love the recipes! Just what I was looking for, simple, healthy with flavor!
Way too salty, even over rice. I added brown sugar and that helped a bit.
Did you use low sodium soy sauce?
I liked it though I added a bit more sugar and some garlic chili paste. I think it’s a bit salty and heavy on soy. I would make this again, but cut the soy sauce down to 1/4 cup. Otherwise good.
YES! Way too much Soy. Cut in half. Otherwise really good!
Just remember that this is a sauce for stir fry, so to taste it straight up might be a bit strong. However, once tossed into a stir fry the flavor is perfect. Also if it’s too strong of a soy flavor you could try using a low sodium soy sauce as well.
Hi, can you recommend or share which brand of dry sherry you use?
Thanks
Really any brand will do. Just make sure it’s real sherry wine, not a cooking wine.
Can I use some type of vinegar instead of the sherry?
You can, but the flavor will be different.
This home-made stir fry sauce is surely a must try! I chose a low-sodium soy sauce and it really is great. So love it! Glad my alternative ingredients are always available at Karman Foods. Recipes always turned out great. Thanks for sharing!
How long can this be stored in the refrigerator? Can it be frozen?
I have not tried freezing this sauce but if you do, let me know! I imagine it can be frozen so give it a try. You can keep this sauce in your refrigerator for up to a week.
The recipe says it makes 1.5 cups, but then the serving size says 1/2 c., 4 servings. Does that mean there are 12 servings in a batch? I’m confused.
There are (5) 1/2 cup servings, that was a mistake in the recipe card.
I’m still confused. 1 c broth + 1/2 c soy sauce is 1 1/2 c. The small amounts of the remaining ingredients are insufficient to yield an additional cup.
This suggests it makes 1 1/2 cups to serve 3 (1/2 c) servings.
It’s 5 1/2 cup servings, not 3.
WAY too salty !
It is a stir fry sauce with all Asian ingredients that are salty in nature. Did you try the sauce on its own or mixed with stir fry ingredients?
I used low sodium soy sauce and it was great! I also do not add additional salt when cooking dishes like this due to the salt in the soy sauce, et.
Very easy to make. Will make this stir fry sauce again!
Is this sauce suitable for boiling water bath canning?
I don’t really know anything about canning so I can’t say for sure. It does last in the refrigerator for about a week!
So “freshly grated ginger”, is that a dry hunk of ginger root or do I buy the wet stuff that comes in a jar that I see in the asian aisle at the grocery store?
Forgive my ignorance, I’ve never cooked with ginger before.
You can buy either! Actually there’s a tube of it too, which I find pretty helpful. Fresh ginger is amazing though if you haven’t ever tried cooking with it. You can peel it and then cut it into pieces and freeze it, then shave it with a grater or microplane right from frozen!
You can peel ginger root, put it in a container filled with Dry Vermouth, and store in the fridge almost forever! Slice or shred when needed, the ginger will infuse the Vermouth, and you can put a couple of teaspoons in scrambled eggs with scallions and that is awesome!!!
Great tip Lynn, thank you!