Need a fast and flavorful sauce for weeknight dinners? This 4-ingredient stir fry sauce combines cornstarch, teriyaki, broth, and garlic for a perfectly balanced flavor that comes together in no time.
I’ve got this go-to stir fry sauce that only needs 4 ingredients: it’s my secret weapon in the kitchen. It’s perfect for tossing with just about anything—meat, veggies, tofu, you name it. The cornstarch in it thickens everything up nicely, making your stir fry rich and glossy.
This sauce isn’t just easy; it’s super versatile. Whether you’re whipping up a quick chicken stir fry for dinner or need a flavorful sauce for beef and broccoli, this recipe has got you covered.
So, if you’re looking for something quick, tasty, and hassle-free for lunch or dinner, try this 4-ingredient stir fry sauce.
🥰 Why You Will Love This Recipe?
- It is an easy and quick recipe that requires only 4 ingredients and it will be ready in no time.
- Even if you will use only those 4 ingredients, the combination of these ingredients will get you a flavorful basic stir-fry sauce.
- It is a versatile sauce that lets you add, replace or experiment with different ingredients.
🥘 Ingredients and Substitutes
- Broth. I used vegetable broth, but you could easily replace the vegetable broth with meat broth or just with water if you don’t have broth under your hand. It is important to use a broth with a low salt content because the teriyaki sauce is already salty and you could get a too-salty sauce at the end.
- Teriyaki Sauce. If you don’t have the teriyaki sauce at hand, you could replace it with soy sauce, but in this case, I advise you to add a little ginger. Again, be careful not to choose a soy sauce that is too salty.
- Garlic. I used fresh garlic, but if you don’t prefer the strong taste of fresh garlic or don’t have it at hand, you could replace the fresh garlic with granulated dried garlic. Or if you would like to substitute the garlic, you could replace it with ginger. It will still give an Asian flavor to the sauce.
- Starch. I used cornstarch, but you could also replace it with other types of starch. Do not replace it with flour because you will get a different kind of consistency.
👩🍳 Step-by-step Directions
First, I take a small saucepan and pour in the broth. Then, I grate the garlic right over the top.
Just a heads up—no need to turn on the heat just yet.
Quick Note: If you’re not a fan of bits of garlic in your sauce, just crush it instead and add it whole. That way, you can easily take it out later, and you’ll still get all the garlic flavor without the bits.
After adding the garlic, add the teriyaki sauce.
In the end, add the starch and mix all the ingredients well.
Now, it’s time to heat things up. I set the saucepan over low heat and keep stirring until it starts to boil. Once I see the first few bubbles, I give it a taste to make sure there’s no gritty starch texture.
If it tastes good and smooth, I turn off the heat. If it still tastes a bit starchy, I let it cook a couple more minutes.
And there you have it! The sauce is ready to jazz up your favorite stir-fry.
😻 Other Sauce Recipes You May Enjoy
- 4 Ingredient Fresh Basil Pesto
- Homemade Greek Tzatziki Sauce
- Easy Homemade Bistro Sauce
- Easy Garlic Soy Sauce
- 4 Ingredient Homemade BBQ Sauce
🏆 Expert Tips. What to Pay Attention To?
- Taste the sauce at the end, to make sure that you don’t feel the starch taste. If needed, let the sauce cook for a few more minutes.
- If the garlic texture bothers you, you could add a clove of whole crushed garlic to give to the sauce only the garlic taste. In the end, remove the garlic from the sauce.
- Be careful to pick a broth with a low salt content because the teriyaki sauce is already salty and you risk getting a sauce that is too salty.
♻️ Make Ahead, Storage, and Heating:
Can I Prepare It Ahead?
This 4-ingredients stir fry sauce is meal prep friendly and you can make it up to 2 weeks ahead of time. Just make sure to keep it in the fridge in a sealed jar.
Can You Freeze the Stir Fry Sauce?
Do not freeze the sauce because it contains garlic which will change its taste.
If you still want to freeze it and keep it for a longer period, you can boil the sauce for a longer period until the garlic is completely cooked, or crash it and put it whole, so that you can take it out after you will cook the sauce.
Or as another solution, you have could opt for dried garlic. In that case, you can easily freeze the sauce and the taste of the sauce will not change.
📋 Recipe Card:
4 Ingredient Stir Fry Sauce
Ingredients
- ⅜ cup Broth
- ¼ cup Teriyaki Sauce
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- ½ teaspoon Corn Starch
Instructions
- Pour the broth in a sauce pan.⅜ cup Broth
- Grate the garlic cloves over it.2 Cloves Garlic
- Add the teriyaki sauce into the sauce pan.¼ cup Teriyaki Sauce
- Add the starch and mix well all the ingredients.½ teaspoon Corn Starch
- Set the heat to low and stir continously until the sauce will start to boil.
- Now taste the sauce and check if you don't feel the taste of raw starch. If is needed cook for a few more minutes.
- If everything is ok, stop the heat and the stir-fry sauce is ready to be used further.
Quick Note
I highly recommend reading the entire recipe to find more tips and notes about this recipe. Read Full Recipe ⇑
Notes
- Pay attention not to pick a salty broth, or teriyaki sauce as you may get a too-salty sauce in the end.
- If you don’t like the garlic texture, you can crush it whole and remove it from the sauce in the end.
- If you plan to freeze the sauce, you must remove the garlic in the end before freezing or just replace it with dried granulated garlic.
Nutrition Estimates
Loved this recipe or tweaked it to make it your own? Please rate it and leave a comment below!
I’d love to hear how it turned out for you or any variations you tried that might help others spice up their kitchen adventures too.
Leave a Reply