This Stir Fry Sauce recipe can be used for vegetables, chicken, beef, shrimp, and pork. It is super easy to make and totally adaptable.
One of the easiest meals to make is stir fry and using a stir fry sauce makes it even easier because it has all of the seasonings you need.
In This Post
Tonia’s Notes
While in Florida with my mom and sisters, one of the meals we shared was a simple stir fry. We used bottled stir-fry sauce, and our meal was delicious!
I decided to make my own stir-fry sauce recipe and found that it was really easy to make and so delicious!
I love that you can use whatever meat you have. Chicken, beef, shrimp, and pork all work really well. Or skip the meat for an all vegetable option.
Grab some veggies, fresh or frozen, depending on what you prefer. Try using cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, snow peas, peppers, onions, corn, beans, and mushrooms. It’s a great way to use up extra vegetables. You can eat the stir fry with just the meat and vegetables or serve it over rice or noodles.
Stir Fry Sauce Recipe
Step One: Soy Sauce Mixture
Start by mixing together the soy sauce, chicken broth, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, honey, rice vinegar, sesame seed oil, and black pepper so that it is ready to add to the saucepan once the ginger and garlic are ready.
I chose to use barbecue sauce in this stir-fry sauce because I always have it on hand, but an equal amount of hoisin sauce can be used instead.
Step Two: Cornstarch Mixture
The thickener in this stir fry sauce recipe is cornstarch, but you can’t just add the cornstarch to the hot, boiling sauce since it will clump together.
To prevent this from happening, mix the cornstarch with cold water in a small bowl so that it is ready to use when you need it.
Step Three: Garlic and Ginger
Now, it’s time to start cooking the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and ground ginger and cook it for 30-60 seconds, stirring constantly.
Step Four: Liquids
Next, add the soy sauce mixture. Whisk in the mixture and cook over medium heat until it starts to boil.
Step Five: Add Cornstarch Mixture
Finally, add the cornstarch/water mixture to thicken the sauce. Be sure to add the mixture slowly while whisking constantly to prevent clumping. Cook until the sauce has thickened.
Make Ahead and Storage
- Make Ahead: You can use the sauce right away or make it ahead of time and store it in the fridge.
- Fridge: Allow the stir fry sauce to cool and then transfer it to an airtight container or jar with a lid. Store it in the fridge for up to two weeks.
- Freezer: Store the cool sauce in a freezer-safe airtight container for up to three months.
How To Use Stir Fry Sauce
You can use this stir fry sauce for vegetables, chicken, beef, shrimp, or pork.
- For one pound of chicken, use about two tablespoons of stir fry sauce. See my chicken stir fry recipe here.
- Use 1/4 cup for five cups of stir fry veggies.
- Try serving your stir fry with white rice, brown rice, fried rice, cauliflower rice, Chinese noodles, angel hair pasta, zucchini noodles, or quinoa.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use your favorite brand of barbecue sauce (we love Sweet Baby Ray’s), make homemade barbecue sauce, or use a tablespoon of hoisin sauce instead.
This recipe calls for sesame oil because it adds so much flavor to the stir fry sauce, but you can make it without it and add an additional tablespoon of olive oil.
For this recipe, I used chicken broth as the liquid. You can substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth or beef broth. Or change the flavor by using orange juice or pineapple juice instead.
Substitute the three teaspoons of minced garlic with 3/4 teaspoon of garlic powder. Also, if you love garlic, you can increase the amount of minced garlic in this recipe.
I made this stir fry sauce with dried, ground ginger because that is what I typically have on hand. It would be fabulous with freshly grated ginger though. Use 3-4 teaspoons of grated ginger instead. Again, if you love ginger, you can up the amount you use.
Add sriracha sauce, chili sauce, or red pepper flakes.
Yes! Collin commented below and said he added a couple of tablespoons of crunchy unsweetened peanut butter.
More Sauce Recipes
- Our Peanut Sauce recipe is perfect for dipping and drizzling!
- This Garlic Parmesan Wing Sauce is delicious on chicken wings and tenders.
- Use our homemade Teriyaki Sauce recipe on chicken, fish, veggies, and rice.
- You can make this Garlic Butter Sauce with only three ingredients!
Stir Fry Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 3 tablespoon spicy barbecue sauce or hoisin sauce
- 2 ½ tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ cup cold water
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 teaspoon minced garlic or use 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger or use 3-4 teaspoons of freshly grated ginger
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, broth, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, honey, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and black pepper. Set aside.
- In another small bowl, mix cornstarch and water together. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and ground ginger and 30-60 seconds, stirring constantly.
- Whisk in the soy sauce mixture and bring it to a boil.
- Slowly whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Cook for a few minutes until thickened, stirring constantly.
- Remove from the heat and allow the sauce to cool.
Video
Susan Corcoran says
When you state you can sub 1 Tbsp of hoisin sauce, is that to take the place of the 3 Tbsp of barbeque sauce? Or should I be using 3 Tbsp of hoisin as well?
Tonia says
You can substitute hoisin tablespoon for tablespoon so yes, you would want to use 3 tablespoons of hoisin sauce in this recipe.
marti says
What hoisin sauce?
Tonia says
Hoisin sauce is a dark, sweet, spicy sauce commonly used in Chinese cuisine. You can find it in the aisle with the soy sauce and chow mein noodles.
Stephanie says
I made this for my Turkish husband today and I was amazed at how good it is. He said he could eat this sauce on everything 🥰 thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
Steve says
I made a batch of it today using hoisin sauce and I guess that’s why it came out a lot darker than your picture. I’m making a chicken stir fry, so we’ll see how it goes.
Abby says
This sauce is FANTASTIC! Just enough for what I needed (8 servings of meal-prepped stir fry, and it probably could have gone further), and clings without being thick and sticky. I like to sprinkle a bit of crushed red pepper on my dish before eating, and you probably could sprinkle it into the sauce while cooking if you wanted too. Definitely my new go-to stir fry sauce recipe!
Tonia says
Thank you so much! You made my day!
Abby says
This sauce is FANTASTIC! Just enough for what I needed (8 servings of meal-prepped stir fry, and it probably could have gone further), and clings without being thick and sticky. I like to sprinkle a bit of crushed red pepper on my dish before eating, and you probably could sprinkle it into the sauce while cooking if you wanted too. Definitely my new go-to stir fry sauce recipe!
Gloria says
I just made a batch of this sauce and all I can say is “WOW”!!! I like things a bit spicy, Hubby not so much. This has just enough kick to please me, and not so much to make him cringe. I made the recipe exactly as written and, when I make the next batch, will not change a thing. Thanks so much for sharing!
Tonia says
Fabulous! I’m happy to hear that you like it as much as we do! ~Tonia
Mariella says
My daughter-in-law makes this all the time, but she subs out the soy sauce for coconut aminos as I’m allergic to soy. I love it! Tonight I made my own batch, doubled it. For about a third of it, I put peanut butter in it as someone suggested. Yum! I also used veggie broth and 100% apple juice concentrate for the brown sugar as I try to avoid table sugar. It turned out delicious and such a nice recipe, it can stand a few subs and still come out great.
Tonia says
Sounds fabulous! Thanks for sharing! ~Tonia
Jacqueline says
Mariella….could you give me the actual measurements for the substitution?
I would like to try it this weekend… thank you…
Mariella says
Oops, so sorry, didn’t see this comment until today. I did a 1:1 sub, so 2.5 T. of apple juice concentrate (not reconstituted w/ water – just straight from the frozen can). And I used veggie broth for the chicken broth – same amount that recipe uses. As for the peanut butter, I just took out about 1/3 of the sauce and blobbed in some pb. Probably 2 T. or so.
Stephanie says
I made this for my Turkish husband today and I was amazed at how good it is. He said he could eat this sauce on everything 🥰 thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
Birdie says
I saw this after I made the original which is really good but like the substitutes for cutting out table sugar and chicken broth. Thanks for tips and good to know it comes out just a well.
Mariella says
My daughter-in-law makes this all the time, but she subs out the soy sauce for coconut aminos as I’m allergic to soy. I love it! Tonight I made my own batch, doubled it. For about a third of it, I put peanut butter in it as someone suggested. Yum! I also used veggie broth and 100% apple juice concentrate for the brown sugar as I try to avoid table sugar. It turned out delicious and such a nice recipe, it can stand a few subs and still come out great.
Wayne says
Made this recipe for friends and family a campground gathering. Rave reviews all around and there wasn’t a morsel left. Best yet. Thanks
Jada says
The sauce did not turn out as expected. I added soybean paste since I did not have any hoisin sauce which ruined the flavor; and mixing it with rice vinegar made it too tangy. I will surely try it again and use hoisin. I did not rate the recipe because I changed up the ingredients.
Maureen Crawley says
Yum! Would I be able to can this sauce? Trying to put together gift baskets of homemade sauces.
Tonia says
Hi Maureen,
I have no experience with canning. Hopefully, another reader can provide some insights!
~Tonia
Tima says
Loved it. I made it as the stir fry sauce and tint for use later. My husband loved it. I will use more ginger and orange juice instead of water
Krystal says
Can you freeze this sauce?
Tonia says
Yes, you can freeze it. 🙂
Reenie says
Really loved this sauce. I did cut the soy and doubled the chicken broth-still tasty. Did a pork and veggie stir fry over brown basmati rice. Thanks for sharing.
Tonia says
Awesome! Stir frys are such a great way to get more veggies in and a good way to use of leftover vegetables. Thanks for stopping back to let us know how it turned out. ~Tonia
tno2007 says
i made this once… i subbed the chicken broth for veggy broth cos im vegetarian… my bottle lasted only 2 days cos it was so damn delicious.
Pam says
Can this recipe be canned?
Lauren C says
This sauce is very good. I just cook up enough for us two, and the rest is refrigerated until I need a sauce again (up to 2 weeks). I cooked up some blackened chicken and we used the sauce in the pan drippings to thicken up. Mine doesn’t look quite like the photo though.
Carla Ownwomon says
WOW. I made a few changes to your recipe. First, I doubled the ingredients. I omitted the sesame oil and honey, because I didn’t have either. I also cut the brown sugar in half, because I didn’t want it so sweet. I used half the soy sauce and made up the volume difference with more chicken broth. Lastly, I added twice the amount of minced garlic, from 4.5 tsp (double portion) to 3 tablespoons. Everything else was as directed, except I used ACV instead of rice vinegar. It’s cooling now, I plan to use it tonight, but I’m not sure I can wait that long. Any good cook tastes food in preparation to make adjustments as necessary, and this was so delicious, I wanted to eat it warm with a spoon! This is just too good not to share. Thank you! Will serve with chicken, asparagus stir fry mixture over quinoa made with chicken broth and onion powder. I’m already drooling at the prospect!
Tonia says
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
Sheryl says
This is my new go to stir fry sauce! So good! Have used with chicken beef and shrimp…yum! I used “fighting cock” barbecue sauce which has more kick to it. Anyway thanks so much for your recipe!#