Recipes > Sauce/Dressing > Healthy Stir Fry Sauce

Healthy Stir Fry Sauce

Make your own stir fry sauce to choose exactly what goes into your body. Use this healthy stir fry sauce in your favorite Asian dishes!
healthy stir fry sauce with tamari and garlic

Store-bought stir fry sauces are great because of their convenience, but many contain unnatural ingredients, synthetic colors, and artificial flavors. By making your own easy stir fry sauce at home, you get to choose exactly what goes into your recipe and your body! Plus, you can control the spice level – turn up the heat or tame it way down. Use this healthy stir fry sauce in all of your favorite Asian dishes!

Must-Know Cooking Skills

For recipe success, learn how to:

Culinary Tips for the Best Healthy Stir Fry Sauce Recipe

Be sure to use cold water to mix the sauce together. Hot water will cause the cornstarch to clump.

Want to make a large quantity of healthy homemade stir fry sauce? Double all ingredients except for the ginger. Increasing spices too much can cause them to taste bitter. After doubling, add more ginger to taste.

Use fresh garlic over pre-chopped. It makes a huge flavor difference!

For finely minced garlic, consider using a microplane. This creates very small pieces of garlic that will distribute evenly in your recipe. A microplane is also helpful if using fresh ginger. You could even use it to zest a small lime for an extra pop of brightness!

Ingredient Substitutions

  • Soy Sauce: substitute reduced sodium tamari, liquid aminos, or coconut aminos.
  • Water: substitute chicken or vegetable broth.
  • Honey: substitute brown sugar or agave nectar for a healthy vegan stir fry sauce.
  • Garlic: substitute 1 teaspoon garlic flakes, ½ teaspoon granulated garlic, or ¼ teaspoon garlic powder.
  • Ginger: substitute 1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger.
  • Sriracha: substitute chili paste or another hot sauce.

We love buying our spices from The Spice House. Click on the picture below to view & try out hundreds of flavorful spices and herbs!

row of spices

Recipe Variations

You can make stir fry sauce without cornstarch, but note that the cornstarch is a thickening agent that helps bind the sauce to the stir fry ingredients. 

To make an orange ginger stir fry sauce, replace the water and honey with ¼ cup orange juice.

Equipment Recommendations

Use these kitchen tools for recipe success!

Health Benefits of Homemade Stir Fry Sauce

Although stir fry sauce is not necessarily a “health food”, homemade stir fry sauce is certainly healthier than store bought alternatives! The key ingredients that make this stir fry sauce healthier are reduced sodium soy sauce, ginger, and no unnecessary ingredients.

Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce

Too much sodium in the diet is not good for heart or kidney health. Reducing overall sodium intake and increasing calcium and potassium intake, as recommended by the DASH diet, is important for decreasing hypertension and kidney disease risk. Adding spices to dishes (such as garlic, chili peppers, and ginger), may reduce the overall need for salt in a dish, and therefore promote overall health. (1)

Ginger

Ginger is a powerful antioxidant and has strong medicinal properties. It may help lower blood sugar levels, aid weight loss, treat nausea, and prevent heart disease. (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

No Unnecessary Ingredients

Not all food additives are bad or dangerous, but we believe that it’s best to be cautious when handing your health over to food manufacturers. Many store-bought sauces contain fillers, stabilizers, and flavor enhancers that may not promote your health. Learning how to make healthy stir fry sauce can give you some peace of mind; you will be able to see, pronounce, and taste all of the ingredients!

Serving Suggestions for Easy Healthy Stir Fry Sauce

Use ¼ cup of this healthy Asian stir fry sauce in our vegetable stir fry base recipe. It also is great tossed with plain cooked quinoa or brown rice. Use the flavored grain as a healthy side dish alongside Indian meatballs or salmon.

Storage Tips

Keep leftover stir fry sauce in an airtight container or shaker bottle in the refrigerator for 1 week. If you made the sauce with garlic powder instead of fresh, it may keep for longer.

Want more healthy sauce recipes?

Try out these flavorful recipes!

Classic Marinara Sauce

Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

Lime Crema with Greek Yogurt

Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing

healthy stir fry sauce with tamari and garlic

Healthy Stir Fry Sauce

By making your own easy stir fry sauce at home, you get to choose exactly what goes into your recipe and your body! Use this healthy stir fry sauce in all of your favorite Asian dishes!
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Course Side
Cuisine Chinese
Servings 0.5 cup

Ingredients
  

  • ¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce or tamari
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • Sriracha to taste (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Place all ingredients in a small mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add near the end of cooking in stir fry recipes. Enjoy!

Notes

For finely minced garlic, use a microplane. This creates very small pieces of garlic that will distribute evenly in your recipe. A microplane is also helpful if using fresh ginger.
Keyword Healthy Stir Fry Sauce

This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. Tiffany

    I tried this stir fry sauce without the sriracha and it was amazing. The cornstarch helps make a thicker sauce and it is delicious. I’m so happy I found a stir fry recipe that’s easy and simple and low sodium.

    1. Thank you so much for your review! Very glad to hear that you were able to find a recipe that suits your taste preferences. 🙂

  2. Belinda

    How many servings does this make?

    1. About 4 servings. It does however depend on how saucy you like your stir-fry 🙂 We use 1/4 cup to cover 4 cups vegetables in our vegetable stir fry base recipe.

  3. Krystal

    Did I miss the nutritional facts on this?

    1. Hi Krystal!
      As a company, we are more focused on promoting a whole food, plant-forward eating pattern and the skills that can sustain that eating pattern, rather than specific nutrients. We know from research that this lifestyle eating pattern naturally promotes satiety and can help with overall health. If you want to know the nutrition information for your own sake, you can input the individual ingredients in a tracking app, such as MyFitnessPal, to determine how these nutrients align with your body’s needs. Hope that helps!

Leave a Reply

Recipe Rating




Did you make this recipe?

Let us know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment above and share a picture on Instagram or Facebook using the hashtag #totasterecipes! And don’t forget to share it with all of your friends and family!

Please note that this post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and Share-a-Sale affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click on those links and make a purchase, we will earn a small percentage of the sale, at no extra cost to you. 

Hey there! We are To Taste – a team of registered dietitians, chefs, and culinary medicine specialists.

We’re here to teach you how to cook confidently, simplify nutrition, and feel better (no BS)!

Our Recipe Promise

The Whole Life Meal Plan Title Slide

Meet the only meal plan you'll ever need.

Improve your kitchen efficiency! Learn how to slice, dice, and chop 20 common ingredients

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

Never miss a beet! Sign up for updates, recipes, and course offerings!

Is your kitchen set up for success?

Find all of our go-to kitchen tools, books, and accessories here!

Want to improve your culinary skills?

Check out these helpful knife skills, fundamental skills, and even beyond-the-basics videos!

Need some recipe guidance?

Each base recipe is accompanied with at least 3 variations that are totally customizable to your taste.

Want to know which ingredients to buy?

Download our free ingredient guide for helpful tips on which ingredients are best.

Latest Recipes

Subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter so that you never miss a beet!

Download our FREE Meal Plan!

Learn how to cook confidently, simplify nutrition, and feel better (no bs)!