Gluten Free Stir Fry Sauce

This simple, delicious homemade gluten free stir fry sauce is perfect with rice noodles, vegetables, and some protein for the simplest dinner, packed with sweet and savory Asian-style flavors!

Why I love this gluten free stir fry sauce

When we first went gluten free, I missed few things more than gluten free Chinese food recipes. I love gluten free lo mein, sesame chicken and lemon chicken, but there's something about a basic brown stir fry sauce that makes a quick, flavorful dinner so easy to imagine.

The powerhouse behind this recipe is that brown sauce. Add it to rice or rice noodles, vegetables and/or protein, like we do with our gluten free ramen, and you'll have a dinner that satisfies everyone in a hurry.

Ingredients for the sauce

• Miso paste: For tons of umami flavor, I like mellow white miso paste in this recipe. Make sure yours is gluten free by reading the label carefully. I usually use Miso Master brand miso paste, and Trader Joe's also has a convenient gluten free squeeze packet of miso paste, too.
• Dry sherry: A gluten free alternative to more traditional Shaoxing wine, sherry is a cooking wine that adds depth of flavor and some acidity to the sauce. You can also use seasoned mirin, a Japanese rice wine. Cooking sherry has some preservatives, and is less expensive than fine sherry, and I think it's fine here.
• Rice vinegar: You can use seasoned or unseasoned rice vinegar here, as long as it's gluten free, like Marukan brand. Rice vinegar is a byproduct that is produced when making rice wine, and adds a gentle acidity here.
• Gluten free soy sauce: I like Kikkoman brand gluten free soy sauce. Be sure to grab the gluten free bottle, though, as regular soy sauce is made with wheat so it isn't safe on a gluten free diet. You can also use tamari, which has a richer flavor than soy sauce and is usually somewhat less salty. They're both made from soy beans, but can also be made with wheat, so read labels carefully.
• Sesame oil: A smoky oil made from sesame seeds, this provides a rich, full-bodied flavor to your sauce.
• Brown sugar: Adds gentle sweetness to balance the saltiness of the soy sauce and the acidity of the vinegar and wine.
• Onion and powder: These dried aromatics add lots of flavor without any more work. Dried spices are pungent, so you only need a little.
• Cornstarch: Thickens the sauce when it's heated to help it coat the vegetables, protein and/or noodles in your stir fry.

How to make super easy gluten free stir fry sauce

You won't believe how easy it is to make a delicious homemade gluten free stir fry sauce with flavorful gluten free soy sauce or tamari, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, a touch of mirin, and a few savory seasonings.

The gluten free stir fry sauce is essentially a basic Asian-style brown sauce, and it can be prepared days ahead of time, sealed in a mason jar and refrigerated. It will separate as it sits, but you can just shake it up and/or whisk it well to redistribute the cornstarch throughout the uncooked sauce.

• In a 2 cup measuring cup or mason jar, place the aromatic powders (garlic and onion) with some of the soy sauce, the thick miso paste and the brown sugar.
• Whisk to combine these first ingredients into a thick paste. Adding some of the soy sauce makes it easier to get the miso paste to combine.
• Add the remaining soy sauce, vinegar, wine, sesame oil, and cornstarch, and whisk to combine.
• The cornstarch should combine fully with the other ingredients, but may settle to the bottom of the mixture if you don't use it immediately.
• Use the mixture right away over noodles, vegetables and protein, or store it in the refrigerator in a sealed jar for up to a week.

Ingredient substitutions and variations

The easy gluten free stir fry recipe below is already gluten free and dairy free, and even vegan, so there aren't too many substitutions to the dish itself. But let's talk about how you can make it your own!

Gluten free stir fry with protein: tofu, chicken, shrimp, beef

The gluten free stir fry recipe below is made with just vegetables, but it also works great with your favorite protein added to it. Try steamed baby shrimp, or thinly sliced beef stir fried in with the vegetables.

You can of course add the thinly sliced chicken we made with gluten free lomein. And the oven-baked tofu in our gluten free ramen noodles recipe is excellent in this dish, too!

Stir fry vegetables

I like making this stir fry recipe with some vegetables that cook down quite a bit, like thinly sliced red onions, stir fried sliced mushrooms (shiitake mushrooms are my favorite since they have a meaty chew), and then some lightly cooked matchsticks-style carrots and snow peas.

But you can add any fresh vegetables you like best. Anything harder that needs to cook for longer, like larger pieces of carrot, broccoli unless it's mostly florets, sliced mushrooms) should go in first. Here are some other vegetable suggestions for your stir fry:

• Sliced bell peppers (lots of colors!), cooked just bite-tender
• Fresh asparagus, chopped roughly
• Broccoli florets (soak up tons of delicious sauce, so add extra!)
• Baby bok choy, to be wilted at the end

Soy free sauce

There is a plenty of soy in the stir fry sauce recipe here, but you should be able to replace it all. In place of tamari, try using soy-free coconut aminos. It's less concentrated in flavor, though, so you'll need more of it.

In place of the gluten free miso paste, you can try using gluten free fish sauce (Thai Kitchen brand is gluten free; read your labels carefully).

Fish sauce has a base of anchovy paste, and adds richness, but not the same thickness as miso. Try adding another tablespoon cornstarch to your stir fry sauce to ensure it thickens enough to coat the gf rice noodles and cooked vegetables.

Alcohol-free

This stir fry recipe calls for mirin, a Japanese cooking wine, or dry cooking sherry. If you're avoiding alcohol completely, try replacing that ingredient with additional rice vinegar. You may need a bit less, so use a clean spoon to taste as you add the additional vinegar.

Cornstarch-free

In place of cornstarch, you can thicken the stir fry sauce with an equal amount of arrowroot, or sweet white rice flour (glutinous rice flour). Superfine white rice flour might even work.

How to prepare gluten free rice noodles

All rice noodles can be cooked by boiling them the traditional way as you would any noodles. That is the method in the cooking instructions on most packages of rice noodles.

If you decide to boil water, add the rice noodles, and then continue to boil the noodles until they're tender (usually less than 3 minutes), be very careful not to overcook the noodles—especially if you're planning to add them into a stir fry like we're doing below.

The thinnest rice noodles, which are typically called “maifun” rice noodles, are the angel hair-like cooked noodles you see in the photos and video in this blog post. I always cook those noodles by soaking them in boiling water for 5 minutes (sometimes less; almost never more).

Whichever way you cook or soften the noodles, be sure to drain the hot or warm water and then rinse the softened noodles in cold water. You can drain the water completely and use the noodles right away.

Alternatively, allow the al-dente, slightly chewy noodles to sit in cold water while you finish cooking your stir fry.

Storage suggestions

Storing stir fry sauce

You can prepare the stir fry sauce itself by whisking together all of the ingredients and placing it in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Storing leftover prepared stir fry

If you have any leftover prepared vegetable stir fry, store it in a sealed container at room temperature for a few hours. For longer storage, refrigerate it.

Refrigerated leftovers will dry out a bit, though. You can warm it up in the microwave or in a hot skillet, but try adding a few drops of water if the rice noodles seem to have hardened.

FAQs