I adore Asian-inspired sauces, and this honey garlic sauce is one of my favorites. The soy sauce brings in the umami while obviously the honey brings the sweetness to the otherwise savory sauce.
How to Use It
Whether you’re whipping up some wings in the air fryer or want a delicious sauce that coats your dumplings or egg rolls, this sauce delivers on both flavor and texture. It has that sweet flavor that combines with the garlic for a fun funkiness while the cornstarch makes it thick enough to cover anything you want to dip into it.
Don’t sleep on mixing this to make a new dip, too.
While you can use it on its own, it’s absolutely amazing mixed with dairy concoctions. Make a unique umami-filled dip for chips, veggies, or even pork rinds for family get-togethers or cookouts.
The next time you’re looking for an amazing sauce to douse your proteins in before grilling, or to dip your fried goodness into, look to this honey garlic sauce
What is Honey Garlic Sauce?
Honey garlic sauce is a delicious dipping sauce that can play multiple roles as a marinade, salad dressing, or marinade. It marries the umami of soy sauce and garlic and the acidity of vinegar with the sweetness of honey and brown sugar. It’s a perfectly balanced sauce.
The flavors of Asian cuisine often combine together saltiness and sweetness to create a combination that works well. The corn starch in this sauce adds some thickness that will help to coat your meat or veg, as well.
If you’re a lover of sweet and savory combinations, this is going to be your new favorite sauce.
Ingredients
These simple ingredients combine to make pure saucy perfection!
- Soy sauce – Using low sodium soy sauce can help keep the salt content down while still packing an umami-filled flavor punch. If you want more salty flavor, add some sea salt.
- Honey – I prefer to use local honey but you can use whichever brand you prefer. You can also find honeys infused with other flavors if you want to experiment or add your own unique twist.
- Brown sugar – You can choose to use either light brown sugar or dark brown sugar. The darker variety will add a bit more molasses-style flavor.
- Garlic cloves – Using fresh garlic gives this sauce the best flavor — make sure it is finely minced. If you don’t have any on hand, though, you can use garlic powder though it won’t have quite as much garlic flavor.
- Rice vinegar – It’s better to have this on hand for a more authentic recipe, but you can use other varieties as well.
- Water – This helps to make it a little viscous so that the cornstarch can do its job to thicken appropriately.
- Cornstarch – Using cornstarch thickens the sauce to make it the perfect consistency.
How to Use Honey Garlic Sauce
Of course one of the most common uses for a sauce like this one is to use it for the likes of dipping a spring roll, potstickers or dumplings. However this versatile sauce can be used in so many other ways.
- Marinate – Chicken breasts or chicken thighs, pork, beef, and seafood (as well as alternatives for those proteins) are all made better with this garlicky sweet sauce.
- Sauce your snacks – Switch up your game day wings or meatballs by tossing them in honey garlic sauce. You can also use it on fried veggies like cauliflower, zucchini, or fries.
- Dress it up – Up your salad game by drizzling this over your salad greens or mixing up an Asian-inspired pasta or rice-based salad.
- Baste better – Salmon, shrimp, scallops or tuna can all be basted with this garlicky sauce.
- Improve your dip – Mix this with mayo or plain Greek yogurt for a dip or spread. For a thicker version, mix it with cream cheese.
- Try a new twist – Change up your cheese and charcuterie boards by offering this sweet and savory option for drizzling or dipping.
- Mix it up – Drizzle some of this into your burgers before you make the patties whether they’re beef, turkey, chicken, salmon, or veggie.
- Give veggies variety – Toss roasted or steamed vegetables in this sauce or marinate raw veggies before grilling or roasting.
Variations
- Alternative starch – If you can’t use cornstarch, or don’t have it handy you can use arrowroot, rice flour, or tapioca flour.
- Nuttiness – Mix in a small amount of peanut sauce for some added umami flavor.
- Brighten it – A little lemon goes a long way. Citric acid or any citrus will help to freshen the flavor.
- Get your onion on – Try adding finely sliced green onions, or your onion of choice, for an added flair of flavor.
- Spice it up – Heat up this sauce with wasabi or crushed red pepper flakes.
- Vary the vinegar – Try using apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.
- Get oily – Add some oil, like sesame oil, to give a bit of bold flavor.
Storage & Freezing
Store in an airtight jar for up to 7 days in the refrigerator. If you choose to freeze, it’s easiest to do so in ice cube trays for later use in small portions.
Other Dipping Sauces
Honey Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 5-6 large garlic cloves finely minced
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Add the soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, garlic and rice vinegar to a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir well.
- When the sauce starts to bubble and sugar dissolves, reduce to low heat.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the water and cornstarch and then stir into the honey garlic sauce. Heat and stir until the sauce starts to thicken and become glossy.
- Remove from heat and set aside until ready to use.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.
I was looking for a new sauce to switch up our wings, and had everything I needed to make this recipe. It turned out delicious! Can’t wait to make it again!
we used it as a dipping sauce for spring rolls and it totally worked! delicious and simple!
yum! love the sweet and salty flavors in this sauce
This is my new favorite sauce for the summer – so delicious and it’s great on just about everything!
This honey garlic sauce is now one of my favorite sauces. Full of flavors I adore. I love them over my dumplings.
Love, love, LOVE this recipe!
Loved this recipe, I made this sauce but with a low sodium soy and distilled vinegar and mixed with ground turkey red onion, yellow onion, broccoli, and carrots, the sauce made the meal, my husband and I loved this.
That sounds tasty! Thanks for coming back to let us know!
Great sauce. Are used a little teriyaki sauce with the soy and added some molasses to give a little more of a bite and it was excellent. Will use this sauce on chicken thighs and wings. Very good recipe.
Great, except the vinegar is too strong. I’ll definitely make it again with 1 tbsp or less of the vinegar. The sourness overwhelms the other tastes.
My second time making your recipe. I needed a Gluten-Free Honey-Garlic Sauce. Good luck finding one. This sauce is amazing. Thank you for the recipe!