Despite its name, my All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce isn’t just for stir-fries. Try it, and you’ll see that it’s amazing on EVERYTHING. Plus, it’s gluten-free, soy-free, Whole30-compatible, and tastes authentically delicious!
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The one sauce to rule them all!
I’ll admit, though, that I came up with this recipe for our second cookbook, Ready or Not!, after struggling to find an easy, consistent way to whip up quick weeknight stir-fries. Having grown up in my mom’s kitchen, I’m well aware that Asian stir-fries are among the fastest and easiest meals one can prepare in a pinch. But while my mom can sense by sight and feel how to season her stir-fries, I’m not my mother. As a mere mortal, I had to come up with a pre-mixed stir-fry sauce to make spur-of-the-moment cooking as easy as possible.
It took weeks of testing and tweaking before I came up with this delicious concoction: A perfect liquid blend of savory, sweet, and tangy that instantly flavors up your stir-fries.
Best of all, this sauce can be made lickety-split.
How to use All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce
But that’s not all! It turns out that my All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce is amazingly versatile, too: It works as a crazy-good salad dressing (did you see how I used it for my Paleo Hiyashi Chūka?), a marinade for meats and veggies, a braising liquid for all sorts of Instant Pot stews, and even a dipping sauce for skewers, roasted vegetables, or my famous Wonton Meatballs!
Need more ideas, check out this ever-growing collection of recipes that use it and this post on How To Use All-Purpose Stir-Fry.)
For a while, I debated whether to post this recipe on my blog—after all, it’s one of my super-secret cookbook recipes, and one of my hands-down favorites in my new book. But hey: IT’S THE SEASON FOR GIVING, right? I decided to share this recipe as a holiday gift, and as an early kick-off present to support your New Year’s resolutions!
Plus, I figure you’ll still want more nomtastic recipes like this one, right? If so, don’t forget to grab my cookbooks Ready or Not! and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! Both feature delicious recipes that utilize All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce!
Ingredients
- Coconut aminos: The combination of coconut aminos and fish sauce is my preferred soy sauce substitute!
- Fresh orange juice: I love the smidge of sweetness and tang that orange juice adds to this sauce. If you don’t like orange juice, pineapple juice also works. If you want to leave it out, you’ll need to taste and adjust the amount of rice vinegar or add some sweetener to balance out the acidity.
- Red Boat fish sauce: Fish sauce is essential for this sauce! If you are allergic to fish, you can make my vegan fish sauce.
- Rice vinegar
- Garlic powder: Don’t use fresh garlic in this sauce because it will make it go bad faster. Plus, you can always add fresh garlic to the dish you are cooking with the sauce!
- Ginger powder: Don’t use fresh ginger in this sauce because it contains an enzyme that can make raw protein mushy and it will make the sauce go bad faster.
- Toasted sesame oil (optional)
How to make All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce
Combine all of the ingredients in a small jar.
Cover it tightly with a lid, and shake well to incorporate before using.
This sauce keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week in the fridge or frozen. Don’t forget to shake well again before using it!
As I mentioned, All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce can be used to liven up just about any meal of protein and veggies, including some of my best recipes in Ready or Not!, like Paper-Wrapped Chicken and Asparagus Beef. Through the years, I’ve used this indispensable sauce in a bunch of recipes on this blog and in my yellow and green cookbooks. This incredible flavor booster is always in my fridge so I can easily whip up all types of quick and easy dishes!
Frequently Asked Questions
No problem! My All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce can be made with pineapple juice if you can’t do orange juice. (Shh! Don’t tell anyone, but some of my readers actually prefer it with pineapple juice!)
You can totally leave it out, but you’ll need to adjust the amount of rice vinegar to balance the flavors. Alternatively, you can sub out the rice vinegar for aged balsamic vinegar to add a bit of sweetness.
Yes! Just remember to read your labels carefully for non-compatible ingredients (e.g. sweetener, etc.), especially on the fish sauce and rice vinegar.
Yes! Fish sauce adds an indescribable deliciousness (a.k.a. umami) to the sauce! (You’ve already listened to my podcast dedicated to umami, right?) Look—if you have a fish allergy, FINE—you can leave out the fish sauce and add more coconut aminos and some salt to compensate, but it won’t taste quite the same, I’m afraid. Alternatively, I have a No-Fish Sauce recipe on page 28 of our green cookbook, Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go!, and you can use it in place of the fish sauce in this recipe.
You can make an arrowroot slurry by whisking ½ cup All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce with 1 to 2 teaspoons of arrowroot powder. The sauce should thicken as soon as you bring it to a simmer. If you like a thicker sauce, add more arrowroot powder.
It’ll last in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for at least a week. And yes, you can definitely freeze the sauce for up to several months. I normally freeze the All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce in ice cube molds so I can pop out a cube when I need it. Don’t worry if your frozen All-Purpose Stir-Fry sauce isn’t completely solid and kind of slushy, the high solute content of the sauce may keep it from doing so.
I like to use a pint-size (16 ounce) glass mason jar or larger to make store this sauce. I also label the jar with painter’s tape and write the date I made the sauce.
Yes! I use it all the time in inventive ways and as a shortcut to deliciousness and have lots of recipes that use itin my yellow and green cookbooks, Ready or Not! and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! I also have an ever-growing of recipes that use All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce listed here.
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2022).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut aminos
- ½ cup fresh orange juice
- ¼ cup Red Boat fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil optional
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a small jar. Cover it tightly with a lid, and shake well to incorporate before using.
- This sauce keeps in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Don’t forget to shake well again before using it!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Easy to make. Delicious with so many things. And a real money savor!
Spectacular!! Did not have OJ so used pineapple juice… this is a keeper! Thank you fur sharing!
this sauce is so bomb! easy to make and versatile. made it exactly according to recipe. love it!
Really good and easy.
I have the all purpose oil but I left it in fridge not the freezer, it’s been there about 3 months or so, would still be good or do o have to make a new batch?
You need a new batch!
Hi. Recipe indicates 16 servings. 1 serving is 4 grams carbs. Can you please tell me what amount is considered a serving? Thank you.
1 serving is roughly 2 tbsp
Amazing! I use this weekly.
It’s so easy to make! Most of the ingredients are staples in my kitchen… just never have OJ or oranges. And the flavor is amazing!!! Even my picky child who swears she doesn’t like mushrooms will eat the Pot Sticker Stir Fry because of this sauce
I just found this recipe, but I hope you can still help me. I am both T2 Diabetic and eat Keto. Is there something I can use besides the orange? Would lemon work? Or adding orange flavoring? I am just checking that the orange doesn’t have a job to do in the recipe 😕 Thanks so much! I love your recipes.
I have only tried another juice in place of OJ. You can try balancing the sweetness with a keto sweetener to taste.
Is there any replacement for coconut aminos? We have allergies to coconut but this recipe looks delish!
Maybe use tamari but use less of the fish sauce so it isn’t too salty.