This sauce came to be when dreaming up a new stir fry for spring. We love the addition of tahini for creaminess and a unique nutty flavor. It’s also a welcome departure from peanut butter.
This sauce is incredibly well balanced with a hint of fresh ginger, savory tamari, maple syrup, lime, and chili garlic sauce. It’s perfect for making ahead of time to have on hand for quick stir-fried grains, vegetables, and noodles! Plus, just 7 ingredients, 1 bowl, and 10 minutes required. Let us show you how it’s done.
How to Make Tahini Stir Fry Sauce
This nut-free sauce starts with a creamy, nutty-tasting base of tahini which also supplies minerals such as copper, manganese, calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, iron, and zinc.
Tamari adds savory/umami flavor, lime juice adds acidity, and maple syrup balances these ingredients out with its sweetness.
Ginger and garlic add zing, while chili garlic sauce adds a bit of heat. Water thins it into a pourable sauce.
We hope you LOVE this stir fry sauce! It’s:
Gingery
Savory
Balanced
Versatile
Quick & easy
& SO delicious!
It’s delicious on veggie and grain bowls, stir-fries, or noodles. Try it on our 20-Minute Tofu Stir Fry, 30-Minute Tempeh Stir-Fry, Tofu & Cauliflower Rice Stir-Fry, Raw Rainbow Noodle Salad, or Veggie Noodle Bowls.
More Tahini Sauces
- Gingery Lemon Tahini Sauce
- Quick Ginger Garlic Miso Tahini Dressing
- 3-Ingredient Tahini Sauce for Everything
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
Tahini Stir Fry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup tahini (see our favorite tahini brands here)
- 2 Tbsp tamari (or sub a greater amount of coconut aminos and reduce maple syrup)
- 2-4 Tbsp lime juice
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup (plus more to taste)
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp grated ginger
- 1 ½ – 2 tsp chili garlic sauce (omit if you prefer less heat)
- 1-3 Tbsp hot water to thin
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together tahini, tamari, lime juice (start with lesser amount), maple syrup, minced garlic, grated ginger, and chili garlic sauce. Add hot water 1 Tbsp (15 ml) at a time to thin it out into a pourable sauce (we added 1 Tbsp (15 ml) as recipe is written // amount needed will depend on thickness of tahini).
- Taste and adjust if needed, adding more tahini for creaminess, tamari for saltiness, lime juice for acidity, maple syrup for sweetness, garlic or ginger for zing, or chili garlic sauce for heat.
- Serve in a stir fry (with vegetables, grains, and/or noodles). Best when fresh. Store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Whisk in additional water after refrigerating to thin. Not freezer friendly.
Video
Notes
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate.
Marta says
So yummy. I did use red thai curry because it was on hand. Paired really great with the tahini. This is a keeper! Thank you!
Yum, sounds amazing! Thank you for sharing, Marta!
Ramon says
Wonderful sauce!
We’re so glad you enjoy this one too! Thank you for sharing!
Nicole says
Loved this – a yummy alternative to peanut-based stir fry recipes. I reduced the acid (I used some lime juice and some rice wine vinegar) quite a bit as the recipe seemed to call for way too much lime juice for my taste but otherwise followed the recipe.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it overall, Nicole. Thanks so much for sharing! xo
Melanie Shafer says
Using 2.5 Tbsp mine came out super sour! Had to adjust a lot. I had to omit the garlic so maybe that would have balanced it a bit? Idk it was very very sour.
HOWEVER! The tahini was a great alternative to peanut sauce. I’ll probably stick with 1 Tbsp lime juice next time.
Hi Melanie, Sorry to hear that! Are you using fresh lime juice or from a bottle? If from a bottle, it may have additives in it that create a more sour flavor.
Paige says
I needed a quick delicious sauce while I was finishing up dinner. I came straight to MB because I knew they’d have a recipe for me. This did not disappoint, so tasty!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Paige! Thanks so much for sharing! xo
Makay says
Your links are BROKEN on iphones! You need a email address to tell you technical issues!
Hi Makay, could you let us know which link(s) are not working? We’d love to help troubleshoot, if possible!
Art says
Made this for dinner with soba noodles, tofu, and frozen veggies. So delicious and quick to put together! Will definitely add to my repeat list.
Sounds amazing! Thank you for the lovely review, Art! xo
SNL says
I have made Asian tahini sauce before (same ingredients but I didn’t use a recipe) for a salad dressing and it was alright, not a repeat. But using it as a stir fry sauce is game changing! I’d never would have thought of that even though peanut butter/satay sauce is in the same wheelhouse lol. Anyway, heating the sauce up melds the flavours together seamlessly and makes it so much more addicting than before, thank you so much for the inspiration!
We’re so glad you gave it a try and enjoyed the result! Thank you for sharing your experience! xo
Mike says
This sauce is so awesome. Haven’t used it as a stir fry sauce yet but I’ve been using it as a salad dressing. I never ate salad before because I don’t want to eat oil based dressings and others are too sugary. This is a game changer. Now I really look forward to my after noon salad.
Tips/thoughts:
– Freeze your ginger and it grates easily.
– Single batch with about about 2.5 tbs of lime juice is PERFECT. Doubling the batch, in my experience and human error, isn’t quite as perfect but still super bangin.
– If you’re going to use it as a salad dressing, don’t be afraid to water it down a bit more because it’s so flavorful.
– My salad’s have been composed of big handful of spring mix, small handful of cashews, half an avocado, small amount of cut up tomatoes, little bit of shredded chicken. Excited to have found an enjoyable way to consume my leafy greens.
We’re so glad you enjoy it, Mike! Thank you for sharing your experience!
Pam Raper Stoddard says
This sauce was amazing, like all of the sauces from Minimalist Baker. Quick and easy and so satisfying. Make this sauce today!
Woohoo! We love to hear it. Thanks for the lovely review, Pam!
Lucy says
So good! I’ve made it twice now. Son likes his tofu and broccoli pretty plain, so I’m happy to have found a sauce I can make to just pour on my portion to zest it up.
Love that! Thank you for sharing, Lucy! xo
Alexandra N Ludwig says
This sauce is so good on my fried! stir fry! ♡ I made mine with honey instead of Maple syrup bc I literally JUST ran out of Maple syrup.
I CANT WAIT to try it with the chilli garlic sauce & Maple syrup next batch!
Yummm!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Alexandra! Thanks so much for sharing! xo
Jennifer says
This recipe looks amazing, I want to use it in my next stir fry. Do you add the sauce during frying or just add the end? Thanks
Hi Jennifer, you can use this recipe as a guide for adding it. Hope that helps!
Tara says
Super tasty!! We eat a lot of stir fries and I am always looking for ways to keep it interesting. This sauce was a really nice change up. It was a work night, so I kept it even easier by using powdered garlic, ginger and bottled lime juice. Even with all the cheats it was still delicious. I will definitely be making this one again.
Yay! Thanks for the great review and for sharing your changes, Tara! So glad you enjoyed! xo
lara says
extremely luscious and a perfect alternative for peanut sauce dishes! i’ll be making this a lot 😊
xoxo!
Kortneii MacKenzie says
Yum so gingery and creamy. Yum. Love this!🙌 thanks
Woohoo! Thanks for the lovely review, Kortneii! xo
Chana says
Looks delicious! Where did you get those great spotted bowls!?
Elise says
This was delicious but I think the lime juice amount was wrong…(?) I had to add about a 1/4 cup more tahini to level out the sourness… Maybe my limes were just very potent? This is the first time I’ve had feedback about a MB recipe and even so, it’s a great one!
We’ll add a range! Thanks for the feedback, Elise!
Micah says
This was great! It really improved my veggie stir fry!
xoxo!
kate says
This is really a great recipe as is and seems to work for a lot of veggies. I didn’t chop anything, just threw it all in the blender. Make this with some good (non-bitter) tahini and you’ll want to eat it off the spoon!
Yay! We’re so glad you enjoy it, Kate. Thanks for sharing!
Kelly says
Straight 🔥 🔥🔥🔥… This is that yum yumm sauce that takes your dish to the next level! Highly recommend!
Yay! Thanks, Kelly!
Pamela says
Would it still work with sunflower seed butter instead of tahini? I don’t react well to sesame.
Hi Pamela, we haven’t tried it with sunflower butter, but we think it might work. Let us know if you try it!
Kaitlyn says
This sauce came out delicious! I didn’t have lime so I used lemon instead and it worked out perfectly. So quick and easy to make!
Great! Thanks for sharing, Kaitlyn! xo
Aimee says
You did it again! I got the email about this sauce yesterday, then when it was time to cook in the evening, I looked at what we had and decided on baked potatoes topped with stir-fried vegetables and tofu. AND THIS DELICIOUS SAUCE!! It was perfect – creamy with just the right blend of tart and spicy. Love it!
Woohoo! We’re so glad you enjoy it, Aimee. Thanks so much for sharing! xo
Nadja says
Can soy sauce be used if I don’t have tamari or coconut aminos? Would any adjustments need to be made?
Use slightly less as soy sauce is more salty!
sam says
I came on to find a sauce for stir fry and this was the first thing that popped up! It was delicious and although I love the peanut based sauces this was a welcome change!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Sam! Thanks for sharing! xo
Sue says
This looks delicious! I regularly make Middle Eastern-style tahini sauce (with lemon, garlic, cumin). I love the idea that changing just a few ingredients totally changes the ethnic flavor of the dish. Can’t wait to try this!
Thanks, Sue! Let us know how it goes =)
Kristina says
Do you put this sauce on while cooking the stir fry or after it is done as a topping? If after, would you add any seasonings while cooking?
Hi Kristina, we like to add it toward the end of cooking. Check out this recipe for further guidance.
Jesse-Gabriel says
Mein Tipp, 30 Gramm Tahini und 30 Gramm Erdnussbutter, den Rest wie im Rezept beschrieben.
Viele Grüße,
Jesse-Gabriel