This stir fry sauce is great with beef, pork, shrimp, chicken or just plain vegetables. One easy sauce, many delicious dinner possibilities!
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Finding quick and easy recipes is important if you want to serve your family home-cooked meals, even on busy weeknights. Asian inspired dishes are great for this.
If you have what you need on hand, you’re more likely to get dinner ready and skip the drive through or take out. Start with getting together a good supply of ingredients that will help!
Put together an Asian food pantry
We make Asian food regularly, so we have the ingredients for this stir fry sauce recipe in our pantry. But, if we were to buy all them at one time, it could be a little pricey.
Think of it as an investment. Actually, the price of one take-out meal will more than pay for the ingredients.
These items will last you a long time, and a little goes a long way. Keep the sauces and the sesame seeds in the refrigerator to get a longer shelf life out of them.
Here’s a list of pantry items that will combine to make this stir fry sauce, and other delicious Asian inspired meals.
- Low sodium soy sauce – this is the most commonly used item in our house. Try it in our bacon and eggs fried rice recipe, and shrimp lo mein. We even use soy sauce in non-Asian inspired meals like these fall-off-the-bones oven sweet and sticky ribs.
- Sesame oil – is used in sauces, dressings and stir fries. Try it in our sesame noodles recipe or sesame noodles with shrimp.
- Sesame seeds – are used as garnish and to add a little flavor and texture to dishes.
- Ginger powder – a substitute for fresh ginger, used in soups, stir fries, fried rice and just about anything you want to add a little zing to. If you buy fresh ginger, freeze the unused portion if you don’t use it often; just make sure to wrap it well.
- Hoisin sauce – it’s a thick, strong tasting sauce that’s used in sauces, stir fries, as a glaze for meat and as a dipping sauce.
- Cornstarch – commonly used to thicken sauces, always dissolve corn starch in water (or other liquid) before adding it in to any dish.
- Brown sugar – adds a sweet touch to Asian recipes and helps to balance the salty and umami flavor in dishes.
- Rice vinegar – used in sauces and dressings and adds a unique flavor that’s decidedly Asian. Try rice vinegar in our grilled chicken Asian salad with orange marmalade dressing or Asian chopped salad with sesame dressing.
- Chili oil – will add a spicy kick to sauces, also used for dipping but use it sparingly.
- Crushed red pepper – used in sauces, dressing and stir fry dishes to add a little kick, use it sparingly too.
- White rice – is a basic side dish that will stretch your food dollar and goes well with a variety of meals. Try our white rice recipe with tips on how to make it great!
Once you put together a decent pantry of Asian ingredients you can whip up a delicious meal that will make you forget about take-out.
This stir fry sauce doesn’t use all of the ingredients listed above but it’s a great place to start building your pantry.
Stir fry sauce ingredients
- ¼ cup Water
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- ¼ cup Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
- 2 tablespoons Hoisin Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
- 2 Large Garlic Cloves, grated – I like to use a microplane zester/grater to break down the garlic. If you don’t have one, finely mince the garlic
- 1 teaspoon Ginger Powder, use fresh if you have it on hand (grated or minced)
- Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper, or to taste – leave it out if you don’t like spicy
Make the stir fry sauce
I like using small canning jars, to make the sauce. I keep several sizes on hand. They’re super convenient for mixing sauces, marinades and dressings.
To make the stir fry sauce start by adding the water and cornstarch to a jar or a medium bowl.
Use a fork or a small whisk to stir the mixture until the cornstarch dissolves. Then add the:
- Soy sauce
- Hoisin sauce
- Brown sugar
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Crushed red pepper (if using)
Stir the sauce vigorously until well combined.
If you are not using the stir fry sauce right away make sure to give it a good stir right before cooking. The cornstarch will settle at the bottom so get in there and stir well until it is incorporated again.
Use very little salt in recipes using this stir fry sauce. The soy sauce and hoisin sauce both contain a good amount of salt already. You can always add it in at the end if needed.
Use the stir fry sauce in these delicious recipes:
Stir Fry Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Water
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- ¼ cup Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
- 2 tablespoons Hoisin Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
- 2 Large Garlic Cloves grated or minced
- 1 teaspoon Ginger Powder use fresh if you have it on hand (grated or minced)
- Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes or to taste
Instructions
- Add the water and cornstarch to a jar or to a medium bowl.
- Use a fork or a small whisk to stir the mixture until the cornstarch dissolves.
- Add the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and crushed red pepper (if using).
- Stir the stir fry sauce vigorously until well combined.
- If you are not using the stir fry sauce right away make sure to give it a good stir right before cooking. The cornstarch will settle at the bottom so get in there and stir well until it is incorporated again.
This sauce was great! Tried it tonight with shrimp and rice noodles and it was a hit with the hr family!
Hi Sara,
Thank you, I’m really glad you enjoyed it. The shrimp and rice noodles sounds delicious!