This quick and simple sugar free stir fry sauce is packed with rich and balanced flavor and takes minutes to make. Its low calorie, sweet and savory with a hint of spice.
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Recipe Highlights
- Takes only minutes to make
- Its low calorie and no added sugar
- Perfect with chicken, beef, pork, fish, salmon or tofu
- Make it in advance and store in fridge or freezer
- Use it as a flavor base to add more of your favorite ingredients
- Easy to make more or less spicy
- Use it in your meal prepping
One of the easiest ways to reduce the calories in your stir fry sauce is to reduce the amount of added sugar.
I've perfected the ultimate sugar free low calorie stir fry sauce using natural sweeteners that you can make in advance and store in the fridge, make and use immediately with your favorite meat and vegetables, or freeze it in cubes for future use.
I always have some of this healthy asian sauce in my fridge because in a busy household, quick stir fries are perfect for pulling together quickly.
Check out my other healthy sugar free asian sauces like Teriyaki, Sweet Chili, and Sweet and Sour!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Soy Sauce: I love using light soy sauce because of the flavor, but regular soy sauce, or Tamari would also work.
- Liquid Chicken Broth/Chicken Stock: This is the flavor base, and chicken can be substituted with either the same amount of beef broth/stock, or vegetable stock/broth. You can use an already made liquid stock/broth, or a stock cube/bullion cube dissolved in boiling water
- Lemon Juice: this helps to balance out the flavors. Lemon or lime juice would work here. You could also substitute the lemon for rice wine vinegar.
- Ginger and Garlic: For convenience sake, I use the jars of crushed garlic and grated ginger, but feel free to use fresh. The garlic and ginger imparts a great flavor base to this sauce and these can be adjusted up or down to suit tastes. Foe example, I like an extra hit of garlic when I make my sugar free stir fry sauce, so I double the amount.
- Chili Paste: I love my home made stir fry sauces to have a little kick and adding this is optional.
- Granulated Sweetener: I use Monkfruit sweetener (classic), however any granulated sweetener that measures like sugar would also work – for example stevia. You could also substitute with a sugar free maple syrup such as Lakanto Monkfruit.
How To Make
- Add soy sauce, chicken stock/broth, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, chili paste and sweetener to a pot over medium to high heat. Stir until the sweetener has dissolved and sauce starts to bubble.
- Whisk cornstarch/cornflour and water in a separate bowl, until smooth with no lumps. Add to the sauce and stir through. It will thicken quickly in 5 to 20 seconds. As soon as desired consistency is reached, remove from heat immediately.
Common Questions
An alternative to cornstarch or cornflour is to use plain flour, arrowroot flour, tapioca flour, or potato starch mixed with water.
This recipe makes 1 cup of stir fry sauce. If you making a stir fry with meat and vegetables to feed 2 people, use half a cup of sauce. For 4 people use 1 cup.
Some great options are thinly sliced chicken or turkey breast, diced skinless chicken thigh, thinly sliced beef, firm white fish cut into 1 inch pieces, calamari rings, skinless salmon cut into 1 inch pieces.
Bell peppers/capsicums, red onion, diced mushrooms, sliced green beans, asparagus, baby spinach, snow peas, sliced cabbage and sliced carrots. The more colorful the better!
Expert Tips
- More Spicy: add an additional teaspoon of chili paste for a well rounded medium flavored homemade healthy stir fry sauce
- Less Spicy: Omit the chili paste.
- Extra Garlic: add an additional teaspoon of crushed garlic. You may also like to add a quarter of a teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Extra Ginger: add an extra teaspoon of grated ginger for a little more zing, along with an extra teaspoon of lemon juice.
- Other Add Ins to Try: ¼ teaspoon of onion powder, ½ a teaspoon of your favorite dried herbs (I like to use dried coriander). Other ideas include dried mint, and little Szechuan pepper, or a little Chinese five spice powder.
Ways to Use This Sauce
- Over stir fry Noodles and Veggies that have been heated through
- Over a store bought BBQ chicken (shredded or chopped) and veggies stir fried in a wok
- In a beef, turkey, salmon or seafood stir fry with your favorite veggies or noodles
Storage Guidelines
- Fridge: Store homemade stir-fry sauce in an airtight container, ensuring it is cooled to room temperature before refrigeration, and use within 7 to 10 days
- Freezer: Pour sauce into an ice cube tray and put tray inside a large ziplock bag to freeze. Defrost sauce cubes in the fridge as needed. They will keep for up to 3 months.
I put off making my own healthy stir fry sauce for a long time, but after much experimentation, I have created a recipe I love and use pretty much on a weekly basis:
- Make it and use it right away with your meat and veggies
- Make it in advance and store it in the fridge for a week
- Freeze it in an ice cube tray (or super cubes) to use when you need
More Sugar Free Sauces:
- Super Quick Sugar Free Teriyaki Sauce
- 10 Minute Sugar Free Ketchup
- Simple Sugar Free Sweet Chili Sauce
- Quick Smoky Sugar Free BBQ Sauce
Sugar Free Stir Fry Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup light Soy Sauce
- ¾ cup chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon lemon Juice
- 2 teaspoons finely grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons crushed garlic
- 1 teaspoon chilli paste
- 2 teaspoons granulated Sweetener that measures like sugar
- 1 tablespoons cornstarch/cornflour
- 2 tablespoons tap water
Instructions
- Cook sauce ingredients: Add ¼ cup light Soy Sauce, ¾ cup chicken stock, 1 tablespoon lemon Juice, 2 teaspoons finely grated ginger,2 teaspoons crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon chilli paste and 2 teaspoons granulated Sweetener that measures like sugar to a pot over medium to high heat. Stir until the sweetener has dissolved and sauce starts to bubble.
- Thicken sauce: Mix 1 tablespoons cornstarch/cornflour and 2 tablespoons tap water in a separate bowl, whisking well so its smooth with no lumps. Add to the sauce and stir through. It will thicken quickly in 5 - 20 seconds when on high heat. Remove from heat as soon as desired consistency is reached
- (If making sauce in advance) Let sauce cool in the pot, off the heat for 15 minutes, then pour into an air tight container with the lid off. Let it cool completely before putting lid back on and refrigerating.
- (If using sauce straight away) Complete steps 1 and 2 and then add precooked meat and veggies into the pot stirring through the sauce.
Notes
- Store homemade stir-fry sauce in an airtight container.
- Ensure it cools to room temperature before refrigeration.
- Use within 7 to 10 days.
- Pour sauce into an ice cube tray and place it inside a large ziplock bag for freezing.
- Defrost sauce cubes in the fridge as needed.
- Sauce cubes will keep for up to 3 months.
- If using the sauce right away, precook proteins and veggies.
- Ideal quick-cooking veggies: zucchini, cabbage, bell peppers.
- Lightly steam or microwave them in a bowl of water.
- For this low-calorie, sugar-free Asian sauce, I used Monkfruit Classic. It dissolves well with no bitter aftertaste.
- Any Monkfruit granulated sweeteners will work if they measure like sugar.
- You could also use granulated stevia or sugar-free maple syrup for sweetness if you prefer.
Nutrition
Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners. Calories have been calculated for your convenience using My Fitness Pal and are based on the ingredients listed in the recipe card.
Lacey says
This recipe turned out very tasty. I made a pork stir fry and it was delicious.
Sarah says
Delicious and excited to try your other sugar-free sauce recipes! Thank you.