This multi-purpose paleo stir-fry sauce is my go-to condiment for making Asian-inspired stir-fried dishes, marinades and dressings. Make a batch ahead of time to keep in the fridge!

I’ve had a few requests for a quick and easy paleo stir-fry sauce, so I thought I’d share what I usually make and use. This flavoursome sauce can be used in more than just stir-fries, and that’s why I usually make a larger batch of it to store in the fridge.
Stir-Fry Sauce Ingredients
This recipe is gluten-free and soy-free and uses coconut aminos as its base. You can learn more about coconut aminos here. You can usually find a bottle at a health food store or online.
Alternatively, you can use a regular wheat-free, gluten-free Tamari sauce; in this case, don’t add the salt listed in the ingredients.
Another ingredient that provides saltiness to this paleo stir-fry sauce is fish sauce. Don’t be scared to use it! It might have a strong smell out of the bottle but it mellows out A LOT when mixed with other ingredients (especially lime juice, garlic and ginger) and when used in cooking. It’s a fantastic, fermented ingredient that should be in every pantry.
Sesame oil adds that beautiful earthy, toasted flavour to the sauce and gives it an unmistakably oriental character. For an AIP version, omit the sesame oil and the chili.
This sauce will last for up to a month in the fridge.
Different Ways To Use This Paleo Stir-Fry Sauce
- Add to any vegetable stir-fry, see my quick recipe below.
- Use in any meat or seafood stir-fry; you don’t even have to add garlic or ginger to the stir-fry as it’s already in the sauce.
- Marinate any kind of meat or seafood before grilling.
- Mix up with a little extra lime juice and some olive oil for a quick Asian salad dressing.
- Drizzle over salmon or white fish and bake in a paper bag with some thinly sliced vegetables.
- Use as a dipping sauce with healthy sushi rolls, gyoza bites or lettuce wraps.
More Recipes & Ideas
- Paleo Hoisin Sauce Recipe
- Paleo Satay Sauce Recipe
- 15 Popular Paleo Salad Dressing
- Find more recipes for paleo sauces and condiments here.
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Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon grated garlic about 1 large clove
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger small knob
- 1/3 cup coconut aminos
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1.5 tablespoons honey or coconut syrup
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Optional: 1/2 long red chilli finely diced (if you like a bit of heat)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight jar or container in the refrigerator for up to a month. The salt in the sauce will preserve all of the ingredients quite well. It will become more pungent with ginger and garlic as time goes by.
- Tamari sauce can be used instead of coconut aminos (don’t add the salt in this case).
Notes
Nutrition
Quick Vegetable Stir-Fry
Ingredients
1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
1/2 red onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1 small red pepper, sliced
Large handful of snow peas, tails cut off
3 tablespoons paleo stir fry sauce
Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add the veggies and pan-fry over high heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring a few times. Add 3 tablespoons of the paleo stir-fry sauce and stir through over high heat for 20-30 seconds. It will caramelise and thicken slightly. That’s it!
So delicious! I made this vegetarian by eliminating the fish sauce and pouring it over a ton of freshly cooked vegetables. This was wonderful! Thank you!
Definitely works without the fish sauce too. I love it over lots of things, too.
Recipe looks good. Will try making this today with vegan fish sauce & I will omit the 2 tablespoons of honey as coconut amino sauce is quite sweet in itself. Thanks for the recipe.
Yes, you can definitely omit the honey or reduce the amount if using aminos. And you can also add a little salt instead of fish sauce for a vegan-friendly version.
I like this a lot thank you
I like all the different ingredients/flavors included in this recipe but I came to this website because I was looking for the benefit of lower sodium associated with coconut aminos. This recipe packs a whopping 1096.6mg of sodium per serving! That’s nearly the total recommended sodium allowance per day. I’ll be cutting out the added salt and also reducing the coconut aminos in this recipe to suit my requirement for lower sodium. Thank you for posting.
I’m confused with the nutritional information. It says the recipe yields 1 cup, but then below it says serves 6, and a serving is 1 cup?
Hey Sam, still getting used to my new nutritional label maker! The recipe makes 1 cup but the serving is about 2 tablespoons (or 3 depending on how it’s used) so there are between 6-8 servings. The nutritional info is updated and is for 2 tablespoons of the sauce.
This sauce went great with our homemade sushi!!! Thank you! Made eating out at home great!
Oooh, great idea to use it for sushi. Thanks!!!
Thank you for this!!! I have been trying and trying to come up with a decent sauce (homemade OR store-bought) and they were all either too sweet, too salty, too gloppy, too nasty (chemicals). And this captures perfectly the salty/slightly sweet flavor I was looking for without the gross goopy texture. Bookmarking to make again and again!
Thank you, Christina. I am the same as you in that I love that perfect balance of salty/sweet combo with just a little acidity as well. Glad you like it!
My absolute fav fav fav! The only thing is…. I wish I had this 8 years ago when my journey began 😉
Thanks Wendi 🙂 Glad you like it and as they say – better later than never 😉
Would this work using Tamari and omitting the fish sauce? Really want to make this, but I have no fish sauce and won’t be to the store soon. TIA!
Yes, absolutely!
This was excellent. I didn’t have lime, used freshly squeezed orange instead.
Ooh, orange juice sounds lovely too and it would give it some sweetness too.
Hey,
I just found your website, and I love it ♡- so many great recipes (I can’t even leave a comment on each :-). This really helps me to keep my paleo approach going. I will definitly try some of your recipes and I also will really try some of the chocolate things. Thanks for sharing.
Have a great weekend! Gwen
Thanks Gwen! I appreciate your comment here 🙂 Enjoy all the recipes.
I usually add a little arrowroot starch to my stir fry sauce, but I love the idea of having this on hand in the frig already made. Can I add the arrowroot to the recipe and store it, or should I add that later when I’m making the stir fry?
Hey Lisa, yes arrowroot gives a stir-fry that nice slurry texture. Add it to the stir-fry at the end, rather than mixing into the pre-made sauce.
This was so good!!!!! Thank you!
Thanks Wendi, glad you enjoyed it 🙂
This sauce was delicious! I just tried it tonight and it came out wonderfully…thank you for the recipe! I had to use powdered ginger and it turned out just fine. I also halved the fish sauce and lime just because I don’t particularly like them but I understand their importance in a sauce like this. All I’m saying is that this recipe can be altered a little bit to suit individual tastes. Thank you again!
Can you use ginger powder instead of fresh? If so how much?
Kindly,
Dawn
Hi Dawn, yes you can, I would say about a teaspoon.
Anyone tried this without the sweetener?
I think it will still work quite well. Asian sauces (in general) are all about sweet, salty and sour balance, so I personally like to add a little sweetener but you can also go without. A little orange juice might work well as well.
Is this sauce okay to freeze?
Good question! I haven’t tried before but I imagine it should be fine. You could even freeze it in ice cube moulds, so you easily portion it out.
I need to make some of this sauce for stirfry. I never have time after work, this would help me make better dinner choices!
As always amazing recipes and great photography. Always makes me want to try out something new. Thanks for supplying a great resource!
A good sauce totally makes a stir fry! Yours sounds like it has a perfect balance of flavors.
Love this! Such a great idea to have your own homemade stir fry sauce on hand, especially since so many of the store-bought brands are full of junk!
Totally love this go-to stir-fry sauce ! I can totally relate the flavor profile and am mouthwatering just thinking about it !!
This sauce looks fantastic! I can wait to try the next time I stir fry. Thanks 🙂
I have to try making a big batch of this to have on hand for quick meals, plus that veggie stir fry looks fantastic, and the perfect way to get in plenty of veggie servings in a day!
This looks beautiful! I can’t do chillies so will need to make it without, but I’ve pinned it to try when I next make a stir-fry. I have everything I need for it, too! Great recipe!
This sauce would be good on anything! I love all the bold flavors! Yum!
I just love sauce, any sauce. I think sauces are what makes food exciting. This stir fry sauce has the perfect consistency of tangy and sweet and caramelized beautifully on the veggies. Definitely a winner!
This is going to come quite in handy as summer approaches and we make a lot more stir fries! My husband always complains that we need a stir fry sauce, and next time he does that I’ll just hand him this recipe :-
Such a great idea! I’m always scrambling to make the sauce at the last minute when I stir-fry. I love the idea of making it ahead of time!
This sounds so good! So many beautiful flavors, I especially love that lime juice in there.
So easy! Thank you for making this an easy, go-to staple for our weekly stir fry!
Hi
I am a vegetarian. What could i use instead of fish sauce and that is soy free? Thx
Fish sauce mainly adds saltiness so just using simple salt (about 1/2 teaspoon) should probably work.