How To Make an All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce

published about 1 hour ago

Credit: Photo: Joe Lingeman; Food Styling: Ben Weiner

I turn to stir-fries a lot when I need a simple dinner. I love that the proteins and veggies cook together, and that I can serve it on steamed rice I make in the rice cooker. Part of what makes a good stir-fry is a tasty sauce, but I’m usually lazy and just pour whatever condiments I find in the fridge straight into the pan without measuring — sometimes with success, but more often with only mediocre results.

This year I decided it was time to level up my stir-fries, so I set to work developing an all-purpose stir-fry sauce that could be used in stir-fries ranging from protein and vegetable combinations to noodles. A good stir-fry sauce has a balance of savory flavors, with a little bit of acid and sweetness and some complexity from ginger and garlic. Mixed with the juices of whatever proteins and veggies you’re cooking, it should coat everything nicely and tie all the disparate ingredients together.

The sauce I landed on is made with eassy-to-find ingredients and comes together in less than five minutes. Once you have a batch made, just pour what you need into the pan at the end of cooking and you’re done. No need to pull out all the condiments and measuring cups and spoons again until you run out of sauce and need to make more.

Credit: Photo: Joe Lingeman; Food Styling: Ben Weiner

What You’ll Need to Make All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce

Here are the ingredients you’ll need.

Chicken or vegetable broth: Adds savory, complex flavors and richness.
Tamari or soy sauce: Lends umami and salty notes.
Shaoxing wine or dry sherry: Adds depth and complexity.
Brown sugar: Brings a touch of sweetness.
Rice vinegar: Its acidity balances out the savory and sweet flavors.
Garlic and ginger powders: Add the signature flavors found in most stir-fries.
Sesame oil: Lends toasty goodness.
Hot sauce (optional) : Adds spicy heat.
Cornstarch (optional) : Use it if you’d like to thicken the sauce.

For a gluten-free sauce, make sure to use gluten-free soy sauce or tamari. For vegans or vegetarians, use veggie broth.

Why Dried Garlic and Ginger?

It might seem strange to use powdered garlic and ginger here, but dried instead of fresh means the sauce will last much longer in the refrigerator or the freezer. Also, because the sauce is cooked just briefly at the end of stir-frying, fresh ginger and garlic wouldn’t cook long enough to lose their raw texture and flavors. For an extra punch of ginger and garlic, stir-fry some fresh ginger and garlic until softened before adding the sauce at the end.

Credit: Photo: Joe Lingeman; Food Styling: Ben Weiner

How to Use All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce

Once you have a jar of stir-fry sauce made, the cooking can begin! Here’s a general rule of thumb for how much sauce to use.

You’ll need 1/2 cup sauce for every:

2 pounds of protein and vegetables
12 ounces fresh or 8 ounces dried noodles + 1 pound protein and vegetables

If you’d like to thicken the sauce, which is recommended for protein and vegetable stir-fries, whisk 2 teaspoons cornstarch into 1/2 cup of sauce before using. Noodles (I like using Japanese udon or Chinese wheat noodles) absorb the stir-fry sauce and don’t need to be thickened with cornstarch.

When stir-frying, remember to have everything prepped beforehand and use high heat to get the best flavors and textures out of the ingredients. Don’t crowd the pan, which may mean stir-frying the ingredients separately first. Add the sauce at the very end, after everything’s cooked and returned to the pan.

Note that each stir-fry may need different amounts of sauce or thickener: Leafy green vegetables may let off a lot of water and thin out the sauce, so add a little more cornstarch. Ground meats absorb sauce easily, so you may need to add a splash more sauce at the end. If you make the sauce in a big batch, adding more to the pan is easy.

How Long Does Stir-Fry Sauce Last?

This recipe makes enough stir-fry sauce for about four batches of stir-fry. The sauce will last for up to two weeks in the fridge and for two months in the freezer — make sure to give the sauce a stir before you use it. If you like, you can portion it into an ice cube tray to freeze, then pull out just what you need.

Credit: Photo: Joe Lingeman; Food Styling: Ben Weiner

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Here's how to make an all-purpose stir-fry sauce.

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