You Only Need 3 Ingredients For A Go-To Stir Fry Sauce

Assembling all of your favorite proteins and vegetables into a large pan is the fun and fulfillment of a stir fry dish. No matter your favorite ingredients, there are plenty of stir fry recipes you'll keep returning to time and again. In addition to choosing the right foods for this method of cooking, preparing an ideal sauce is key for the perfect stir fry. For the best of the basics, a simple three ingredient stir fry sauce is a dependable recipe using common kitchen staples. All you need is soy sauce (or a similar substance like Tamari or coconut aminos) a thickening agent like cornstarch, and a flavored oil like toasted sesame oil.

Mixing together a little more than ⅓ cup of soy sauce, ¼ cup of toasted sesame oil, and a tablespoon of cornstarch will yield a fairly concentrated sauce that you can either use for cooking your stir fry or dressing the fully cooked dish. Try adding everything to a mason jar for ease of mixing and storing in the fridge for later use. The combination of salty and umami flavors from between the pairing of soy sauce and toasted sesame oil along with the thicker consistency created from the addition of cornstarch makes it the perfect sauce on its own, which you can easily dress up with other complementary ingredients if you choose.

You can use this sauce as a cooking or finishing sauce for your stir fry, or both, provided you're mindful of not over-saturating the dish. Mix this up with your favorite broccoli and beef for a delicious and nutritious weeknight meal. The sauce complements everything, including veggies, seafood, plant-based proteins, and animal proteins -– or a combination of all of the above for the omnivores. If you want to add some aromatics, a generous portion of minced garlic and ginger is ideal for a balanced flavor profile, among other additions.

Using this three-ingredient sauce as a springboard, there's plenty of room to experiment with different textures and flavors. You can use either a regular or low sodium soy sauce or choose from a number of soy sauce substitutes to achieve a taste suited to your preferences. If you don't have cornstarch on hand or would prefer an alternative ingredient to thicken your stir fry sauce, try arrowroot powder or a slurry of all purpose flour and water. For extra sweetness, add maple syrup or agave nectar to the mix. On the flip side, a dash of vegetable, beef, or chicken broth, will do well to amplify the savory flavors. Remember that this sauce is highly concentrated and a little bit goes a long way for cooking and finishing your dish.