Vegan Stir-Fry Sauce
This easy vegan stir-fry sauce can be made in about 5 minutes and turns simple veggies over rice into a delicious meal! It’s a simple, sweet, and savory stir-fry sauce made from soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sweetener, and starch.
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox. Plus, get more amazing vegan recipes that will satisfy your cravings!
❤️ Why make homemade stir-fry sauce
I love making homemade sauces like vegan sweet and sour sauce, vegan orange sauce, sweet Thai chili sauce, or vegan teriyaki sauce. It saves you money to make it from scratch, plus you can adjust the recipe to suit your dietary needs and taste like making it lower sodium or less sweet.
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Fresh Ginger Root – this gives the sauce a ton of flavor. You could use granulated ginger if you don’t have fresh.
- Fresh Garlic – you will need about 3 cloves.
- Water – to get the right consistency and dilute the soy sauce. You can also use low-sodium vegetable broth instead of water for more flavor.
- Low Sodium Soy Sauce – you can use gluten-free tamari or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos as well. If you don’t have low-sodium soy sauce, use regular soy sauce and reduce the about to 3 tbsp instead of 4 tbsp.
- Vegan Brown Sugar – look for organic brown sugar to be sure that it’s vegan. You can also use coconut sugar, agave nectar, vegan honey, or maple syrup. If you are plant-based, honey is also an option to sweeten the sauce.
- Cornstarch – to thicken the sauce. You can swap this out in equal parts for potato starch or use arrowroot and double the amount.
- Black Pepper – for flavor.
- Red Pepper Flakes – optional to add some spice to the dish. Feel free to omit it or add more if you want it even spicier.
🔪 Helpful tools
- A small bowl – or jar to mix the stir-fry sauce.
- Garlic Press – to press the garlic cloves.
- Microplane – to grate the ginger root. You can chop up the ginger very small with a knife too, but a microplane makes it much easier.
🥄 How to make stir-fry sauce
A full printable version of this recipe with ingredient measurements is available at the bottom of this post.
Step 1 – Cut the hard skin off of about 1 inch of a piece of ginger root then use a microplane to grate it into very fine pieces. Peel 3 cloves of garlic and chop it fine or use a garlic press to mince it.
Step 2 – Combine all stir-fry sauce ingredients (Water, soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch, black pepper, red pepper flakes, grated ginger, and minced garlic) in a bowl (or large measuring cup), and stir well.
Step 3 – Pour the sauce over your choice of vegetables, tofu, or faux vegan meats at the end of cooking. Cook with the stir-fry sauce for an additional 2-3 minutes until it becomes thick, translucent, and shiny. (This ensures that the cornstarch has been fully activated.)
Step 3 – Serve over basmati rice, brown rice, quinoa, toasted quinoa, or your choice of noodles.
🥘 How to use this stir-fry sauce
Use this sauce to make a simple veggie stir fry or vegan udon noodles. You can also use it as a tofu marinade and then use it to make pan-fried tofu, baked tofu, or grilled tofu.
You can use this sauce to make Asian-style stir-fry dishes like teriyaki noodles, vegan udon, teriyaki tofu, and vegan beef and broccoli, or use it as a dipping sauce for vegan chicken nuggets, tofu spring rolls, fried cauliflower, fried tofu, or vegan meatballs.
Drizzle this tasty sauce over vegan chicken, vegan beef, or vegan shrimp for a flavorful plant-based meal.
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- If you don’t have low-sodium soy sauce, use regular soy sauce and reduce the about to 3 tbsp instead of 4 tbsp.
- You can add 1- 2 tablespoons of sesame oil to the stir-fry sauce for more flavor if you wish or simply stir-fry the veggies in sesame oil.
- If you choose to add sesame oil to the stir-fry sauce do so after the cornstarch has dissolved or it will stick to the oil and get clumpy.
- Be sure to cook the sauce until it starts to bubble and gets thick, translucent, and glossy.
- Note – If you want to use this sauce as a tofu marinade, omit the cornstarch.
❓ How to make gluten-free stir fry sauce
To ensure that this stir-fry sauce is gluten-free, use Bragg’s liquid Aminio or Tamari instead of traditional soy sauce. All other ingredients are gluten-free as long as you put them over a GF grain or GF noodles.
🥡 Storage and reheating
Refrigerate: You can make up a jar of this stir-fry sauce and keep it in your fridge for up to one week in an airtight container or jelly jar. Just give it a good shake before pouring and adding it to your veggies, noodles, and or grain dish.
Freeze: Leftover stir-fry sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
🌟 More homemade vegan sauces
- Vegan Honey Mustard
- Vegan Buffalo Sauce
- Dairy-Free Garlic Aioli
- Vegan Chick-Fil-A Sauce
- Spicy Peanut Sauce
- Vegan Honey Garlic Sauce
- Spicy Tahini Sauce
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
📋 Vegan stir-fry sauce recipe
Vegan Stir-Fry Sauce
Ingredients
Stir fry sauce
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated (loosely packed)
- 2 teaspoons garlic, grated (from 3 cloves)
- 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth, or water
- 4 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, (or GF Tamari or Bragg's Liquid Aminos)
- 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar, or other sweetener of choice
- 1 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, (optional for a hint of spice)
Instructions
- Cut the hard skin off of about 1 inch of a piece of ginger root then use a microplane to grate it into very fine pieces. Peel 3 cloves of garlic and chop it fine or use a garlic press to mince it.
- Combine all stir-fry sauce ingredients (Water, soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch, black pepper, red pepper flakes, grated ginger, and minced garlic) in a bowl (or large measuring cup), and stir well.
- Pour the sauce over your choice of vegetables, tofu, or faux vegan meats at the end of cooking. Cook with the stir-fry sauce for an additional 2-3 minutes until it becomes thick, translucent, and shiny. (This ensures that the cornstarch has been fully activated.)
Notes
- You can add 1- 2 tablespoons of sesame oil to the stir-fry sauce for more flavor if you wish or simply stir-fry the veggies in sesame oil.
- If you choose to add sesame oil to the stir-fry sauce do so after the cornstarch has dissolved or it will stick to the oil and get clumpy.
- Be sure to cook the sauce until it starts to bubble and gets thick, translucent, and glossy.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and review below!
Thank you Monica