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Stir Fry is only as good as the sauce that its cooked in and this Chinese Stir Fry Sauce Recipe is so GOOD! There are many different variations of stir fry sauce, and this one is a fabulous, all-purpose sauce that goes with just about any combination of protein and vegetables. It is well balanced featuring sweet, spicy, garlic, and ginger flavors. Whisk it together while your veggies are cooking and then pour it over the top to create your sauce. It’s that easy!
Serve this sauce with Pork Potstickers, Chow Mein, Fried Rice, and of course my Stir Fry Recipe with Frozen Vegetables!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This sauce is the ultimate secret weapon for busy weeknights. It’s fast, flavorful, and works with whatever you have on hand—broccoli, snow peas, chicken breast, shrimp, or tofu…you name it. You can customize it to your own taste, making it as light or rich as you’d like. Plus, it’s more nutritious and affordable than any store-bought stir fry sauce. With its long shelf life in an airtight container, you’ll always have the best stir fry sauce ready to go.
Ingredients Needed for Chinese Stir Fry Sauce
This recipe has a bit of a small list of simple ingredients, but all add important elements that make this sauce so delicious. Here’s what you will need:
- Soy Sauce: I just used regular soy sauce for that salty bite. You can use low-sodium soy sauce and adjust seasonings to your liking.
- Broth: use chicken, seafood or beef broth (or stock), depending on the protein you’re adding or not adding. Veggie stock is fine too!
- Brown Sugar: used to help coat and caramelize the stir fry.
- Sesame Oil: for that delicious toasted, nutty flavor.
- Cornstarch: to thicken the sauce as it cooks. You can use potato starch or arrowroot powder for similar results.
- Fresh Garlic: for flavor of course!
- Ginger: freshly grated for best results. You could also substitute ground ginger if in a pinch.
Stir Fry Sauce Variations
Make this basic sauce your own with these easy swaps:
- Replace brown sugar with maple syrup or agave nectar for a natural sweetener.
- Add a splash of hoisin sauce or oyster sauce for a richer, more complex flavor.
- Use homemade bone broth for ultimate nutrition and deliciousness.
- Stir in a small amount of rice vinegar or shaoxing wine for tanginess.
- Like it spicy? Sprinkle in some red pepper flakes or a pinch of white pepper.
Pro Tip: use a microplane for grating your ginger and garlic.
How to Make Stir Fry Sauce
The beauty of this homemade stir fry sauce is it’s a cinch to make! You literally measure and pour all the ingredients into a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk it all together and pour it over your stir fry right before you’re ready to serve.
It takes about 1 minute on high heat to get the sauce to bubble up and thicken creating that classic salty-sweet stir fry sauce goodness that coats the meat and veggies. After that, you’re ready to serve! For full recipe details, including ingredient measurements, see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
1. Make the Sauce
In a small bowl measure and whisk together soy sauce, broth, brown sugar, cornstarch, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and black pepper. Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed.
Pro Tip: If you like thicker sauces, whisk in an extra 1/2 to 1 tablespoon cornstarch. This is the thickener in the stir fry sauce, so add more if you’d like more.
2. Stir Fry Veggies + Protein
Stir fry your veggies and protein on medium-high heat with a tablespoon of oil (like sesame).
Pro Tip: This sauce recipe is enough for about 1/2 pound of meat and 2 cups of veggies. If you like things more ‘saucy’ or want to have extra sauce to pour over your rice, feel free to double this recipe.
3. Pour Sauce Over Stir Fried Veggies and Protein
After you have stir fried your veggies and protein to your liking on high heat, pour sauce overtop your ingredients and stir. After about 1 minute, the sauce should thicken and coat all ingredients.
4. Serve
Serve over white rice or noodles, and enjoy!
You are the master of your Stir Fry domain!
Here are a few tasty veggies and other stir fry ingredients that taste great with this sauce. The sky is basically the limit when it comes to creativity and the beauty of this recipe is it tastes delicious regardless of the combination of ingredients you come up with.
- onions, shallots, garlic, green onions
- carrots
- celery
- broccoli, cauliflower
- bell peppers
- snow peas, sugar snap peas
- mushrooms
- zucchini, yellow squash
- green beans, shaved Brussels sprouts
- water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, baby corn (with the canned vegetables)
- chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, tofu
- chow mein noodles, cashews, chopped almonds
Storage Directions for Chinese Stir Fry Sauce
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. After that time, the texture of the veggies really starts to change and get mushy.
Making the Sauce Ahead of Time
If you want to make the sauce ahead of time before you add to any veggies or protein….you totally can! Whisk the sauce ingredients together and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.
To Freeze
If you want to store the sauce for a longer time, pour into a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge before use.
Love speedy dinners? Try these other family favorites:
- 3-Ingredient Alfredo Sauce
- Parmesan Baked Cod
- Parmesan Garlic Linguine Pasta
- Southwest Chicken Salad
- Ramen Stir Fry
With this easy stir fry sauce recipe, you’ll never need a store-bought option again. It’s quick, customizable, and full of flavor. Perfect for all your favorite Chinese recipes and weeknight meals! The printable recipe card is below! Have a great week, friends! 🙂
If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.
Chinese Stir Fry Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup soy sauce regular or low-sodium
- 3/4 cup broth kind of broth is dependent on the protein you're using in your stir fry
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger fresh, grated
- 1 tablespoon garlic fresh, minced
- salt to taste*
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl measure and whisk together soy sauce, broth, brown sugar, cornstarch, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and black pepper.
- Taste for seasoning, then add salt if needed.
- After you have stir fried your veggies and protein to your liking on high heat, pour sauce overtop your ingredients and stir.
- After about 1 minute, the sauce should thicken and coat all ingredients.
Sounds easy and very tasty!!
I didn’t love this sauce because I felt that it lacked flavor. It is a very mild sauce and did not thicken as much as I was hoping. It is an adequate base sauce and I think if I were to make it again I would bump up the soy sauce, use more sesame oil and/or possibly add some oyster sauce or hoisin sauce for extra flavor. Bumping up the amount of ginger and garlic might help some too. I can see where a sauce like this would be good for fish or seafood because it wouldn’t overpower. But for our pork dish tonight it did somewhat disappoint.
Great basic sauce! I only used 2 tsp of cornstarch though. I found 1 T made the sauce too thick.