The best stir fry sauces are robust, fragrant, and authentic to their respective regions of origin. They aren’t blander, Americanized versions of what some of us think Asian stir fry sauces should be; instead, they deliver true depth and richness, making your stir fry taste like the real deal.
The stir fry is an integral part of East Asian cooking, and thankfully North American cooking, too. It has so many wonderful iterations: There’s Korean beef stir fry, Japanese yaki udon, Filipino pancit, spicy Szechuan stir fry, Hawaiian stir fry with Spam, fragrant, herb-forward Thai stir fry—the list goes on and on. Perhaps most familiar to us in the U.S., though, is the North American Chinese stir fry, which was popularized by Chinese immigrants in the early 20th century. In this taste test, we were looking for a little bit of everything.
It’s hard to rank all the styles of stir fry sauces because they’re so different, but the one constant in stir fry is soy sauce. So we looked for strong umami first and foremost. Give us a lasting, salty, pungent flavor. Then, we looked for additional herbs and aromatics—basil, garlic, onion, chilis, and the like are all welcome. We wanted sauces that could elevate any dish, from meats to fresh veggies, with ease. From the best beef stir fry sauce to the best stir fry sauce for vegetables, here’s what we recommend to wet your wok.
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- Ocean’s Halo Soy-Free Stir Fry Sauce
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I’m really impressed with this stir fry sauce. It tastes salty and savory just like soy sauce, only it has no soy in it. It’s made with organic sugar, sea salt, molasses, apple cider vinegar, corn starch, sunflower oil, mushrooms, kelp, and spices. It has big-time umami from the kelp and mushrooms, and a wonderful sweetness from the sugar and molasses. This is obviously the best stir fry sauce if you’re allergic to soy, but everyone at the table will enjoy it. —Danny Palumbo
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Private Selection Spicy Hunan Style Stir Fry Sauce
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The ingredients in this Kroger-brand stir fry sauce are pretty simple—mainly, tamari soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, and red chili flakes—but still incredibly effective. From start to finish, you get an immediate, lingering ginger bite that enhances the sauce’s heat without overpowering the other savory ingredients. Sometimes, a ginger-forward stir fry sauce can dominate the dish, but they really nailed the balance here. It’s a very versatile sauce, but I find it best with simple dishes, like crispy tofu, shrimp stir fry, and seared broccoli. It’s possibly the best stir fry sauce for vegetables I’ve tried yet, to be honest. —Ariana Losch
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- P.F. Chang’s Sesame Sauce
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This sesame sauce is very, very simple: It tastes sweet, and it tastes like sesame. That’s about it, but it’s still quite good. The toasted sesame seeds permeate the sauce, and the flavor is just so delightfully nutty. Use this at home for a General Tso’s chicken-style stir fry, and you’ll be happy. Sweet and nutty flavor profiles are excellent partners for stir fry. That flavor profile is popular throughout North America for a reason—it tastes really good. Pro tip: Sesame-based sauces make some of the best sauce for stir fry noodles, too. —Danny Palumbo
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- Whole Foods 365 Organic Stir Fry Sauce
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This sesame sauce is very, very simple: It tastes sweet, and it tastes like sesame. That’s about it, but it’s still quite good. The toasted sesame seeds permeate the sauce, and the flavor is just so delightfully nutty. Use this at home for a General Tso’s chicken-style stir fry, and you’ll be happy. Sweet and nutty flavor profiles are excellent partners for stir fry. That flavor profile is popular throughout North America for a reason—it tastes really good. Pro tip: Sesame-based sauces make some of the best sauce for stir fry noodles, too. —Danny Palumbo
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- Yai’s Thai Garlic Ginger Stir Fry Sauce
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This is the whole garden in one stir fry sauce. The major players here are ginger, minced garlic, and savory tomato, with other notes of pineapple, lime, and spicy Thai chilis. This, to me, is like the stir fry version of ginger salad dressing, but more complex and punchy (and too salty to really be used as a salad dressing.) I took this one home to try with a cilantro-lime rice bowl (it was delicious, thank you for asking), but I think this would really wow as a grilled chicken marinade, too. If you’re looking for something punchy and unique, this is some of the best chicken stir fry sauce. —Ariana Losch
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Sun Luck Cantonese Style Stir Fry Sauce
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This wine-based stir fry sauce has a thick, slow consistency, a dry, tangy sweetness from the sherry wine, and a boldly salty finish. A dry sherry is typically the closest substitute for Shoaxing wine, also known as Chinese cooking wine, to mimic the briny, nuttier flavor. While you can find the real thing at Asian specialty grocers, Sun Luck is the best Chinese stir fry sauce we’ve tried from more widely available stores. And by the way—it’s gluten free. —Ariana Losch
Credit: Liv Averett / Ralphs
- Best of Thailand Stir Fry Sauce
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Garlic is the first main ingredient listed after the usual suspects (soy sauce, water, sugar, and glucose syrup), so it makes sense that garlic is the dominant flavor in this stir fry sauce. It’s on the thin side, with a less viscous texture than the other sauces, but that doesn’t stop it from achieving a wonderful flavor. It’s got a subtle hint of ginger, and even some mushroom powder in there to up the umami factor. This is the most aromatic of the stir fry sauces we tried, so it’s certainly the best stiry fry sauce if you like a stir fry with a bold, pungent flavor (who doesn’t?). This will do great with any soy sauce-based Thai stir fry—think pad see ew with chinese broccoli or tofu, or pad kra pao with a fried egg. —Danny Palumbo
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- House of Tsang Stir Fry Classic Sauce
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This classic stir fry sauce provides a consistently sweet and savory flavor that is most likely what you’re looking for in a stir fry sauce. House of Tsang Classic Stir Fry Sauce is very thick and very salty. It’s rich and aromatic, and would work well with just about any type of stir fry, although I think the meaty flavor could really help elevate a vegetable stir fry from understated to absolutely delicious. Some of the best stir fry sauce is sweet; I don’t know why it’s often considered “inauthentic.” —Danny Palumbo
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- House of Tsang Szechuan Spicy Sauce
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Yo, this stir fry sauce is actually spicy. I love heat, and I think the spice in this bottle is surprisingly bold. Like most of the best stir fry sauces on this list, there’s a nice, robust flavor here. It’s more than just spicy—it’s also tangy, salty, and has a strong meaty flavor from the soy sauce. This is the best stir fry sauce to buy if you can take the heat. —Danny Palumbo
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- House of Tsang General Tso Sauce
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This General Tso’s stir fry sauce is really sweet, really savory, and a bit fruity, with a nice bit of spice on the finish that deepens the overall flavor profile. You get four excellent flavors all at once. Maybe it’s not “authentic,” but a sweet and syrupy General Tso’s chicken is low-key one of the best fried chicken dishes you can get in North America, and it should get more respect from food writers and chefs. If you’re a fan of sweet, but also slightly tangy and savory sauces, you’ll love this stir fry sauce. Just don’t cook it too long—it’s sure to turn to toffee in the pan. —Danny Palumbo
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- Passage to Asia Thai Basil & Sweet Chili Sauce
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The flavor here is just so robust. Passage of Asia is spicy, sweet, fragrant, pungent, salty, and deliciously savory. The fifth ingredient listed is fish sauce (ingredients are listed in order of quantity, from the highest to lowest), which gives this sweet chili sauce a delightfully fishy, umami-forward taste. This would be great in a variety of Thai-style stir fries, like pad kra pao or pad see ew. The basil and chilis come through super well. This is everything that’s great about Southeastern Asian cooking—funky, flavorful, and complex. It’s not a traditionally sweet and savory Chinese stir fry sauce, but it’s still the best store bought stir fry sauce I’ve tried to date. Don’t miss out. —Danny Palumbo
Credit: Merc / Walmart
Best Soy Free
Best Spicy Hunan Style Stir Fry Sauce
Best Sesame
Best with Tofu
Best Ginger-Based
Best Chinese Stir Fry Sauce
Best Garlic
Best Simple
Best Spicy
Best Sweet
Best of The Best
Other products we tried: Panda Express Kung Pao Stir Fry Sauce, Kikkoman Stir Fry Sauce, Kikkoman Orange Sauce, Aplenty Chinese Szechuan Stir Fry Sauce, House of Tsang Sweet and Sour Sauce, La Choy Sweet and Sour, Minor’s Teriyaki Sauce, Sprouts Organic Stir Fry Sauce, G Hughes General Tso Sugar Free Stir Fry Sauce
