Easy Ginger Scallion Sauce Recipe To Make At Home

This ginger scallion sauce recipe is one of my go-to dishes. It’s so easy to make, and it can be put together in just a few minutes. So, it’s perfect for busy days when there isn’t much time to cook.

And one thing that I find myself in great abundance of, is days that are so packed full of activity, that I don’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen.

As a rule, I like to thoughtfully and intentionally prepare delicious, healthy food that I know nourishes my body when I eat it. When I don’t have time to do that, I feel it both physically and mentally right away.

Because this sauce is so versatile, and takes so little time to prepare, I can put together a meal that I feel good about even on busy days. And that’s a very good thing!

What Is Ginger Scallion Sauce?

Traditionally, ginger scallion sauce is a Cantonese recipe. It is made of very few ingredients. Most often just a neutral cooking oil, fresh ginger, and scallions.

If the interweb knows what it’s talking about, this dish has become a staple in Asian cuisine. I encourage you to make it a staple in your house as well.

Ginger and scallions are too often overlooked in the European influenced American cuisine kitchen. In other words, the cuisine that I grew up eating. And it’s really a shame, because these are two stellar ingredients that should make their way to the table more often.

This incredible sauce is absolutely delicious made the traditional way. Yet, I like to add a few other things to my sauce when I make it. And that is the version of the recipe that I’ll be sharing with you today.

If you give my version a try, I’m certain you’ll be hooked. I know I am. I can’t get enough of this sauce. It’s simply outstanding.

Ingredients Needed For This Recipe

Because I eat this sauce so often, I do break the recommendation made by other recipes for choosing the oil it is made with. It is recommended that a neutral oil with a high smoke point be used to make this sauce.

The oils that fall in that category are much less than desirable from a health standpoint. Some examples of them are; canola oil, vegetable oil, and corn oil. If you know your oils, than you know that these should be avoided.

If you don’t know your oils than just trust me … these should be avoided. There isn’t time to go into all the details in this post as to why that is, but you can do some research on your own if you have burning questions that simply must be answered.

I prefer to stick to extra virgin olive oil. In spite of the fact that it doesn’t possess a neutral flavor and a high smoke point. You will need to choose what you feel is best for your sauce.

Here is a list of the simple ingredients used to make this easy homemade ginger scallion sauce …

• OLIVE OIL – Extra virgin if possible.
• CHICKEN BROTH – If you’re buying the chicken broth in a store, go with a bouillon paste and mix up a bit of broth from it for this recipe. It’s significantly superior to bouillon cubes. As well as premade broth packaged in cans or boxes. You can learn to make an easy homemade chicken broth from scratch right here on the blog. And from scratch is always the best way to go.
• SCALLIONS – Also known as green onions or spring onion. 
• AMINO ACIDS – Other recipes out there, that use more than the basic ingredients to make this sauce, are calling for soy sauce. I rarely have soy sauce in my kitchen. I prefer the stronger flavor of amino acids. If you opt for soy, you may consider increasing the amount that you use in the recipe, as it is not as flavorful.
• RAW GINGER – Fresh, raw ginger is the only way to go here. This recipe simply won’t work well with dried, ground ginger.
• HONEY – This ingredient is optional. It really makes a big difference in the dish though. I wouldn’t skip it. 

On occasion, I will add a few dashes of sesame oil or chili oil to this sauce to change up the flavor profile a bit. A small amount of rice vinegar or a little bit of fish sauce also work well to change the flavor profile.

Experiment a little with your ingredients. But do stick to the ingredients that I’ve covered in this post. If you do that, you will find that it’s pretty hard to screw the recipe up.

I often interchange ingredients according to what I have, or what I feel like in the moment.

I also rarely follow exact measurements. The first time I made this sauce, I followed a recipe as it was written. From there it evolved, and now it is a pretty free flowing recipe.

In my kitchen, the sauce is a little bit different each time I make it. It’s always good.

How To Make Ginger Scallion Sauce

The traditional way to make this recipe is to heat the oil and pour it over the scallions and the ginger. That is the way that I most often make it. And that is the way the recipe I’ve created for this post will be written as well. 

On a night when I am particularly exhausted and don’t have much energy to put this, or any other, dish together for dinner, I toss all of the ingredients in a bowl and give them a stir. It works. It’s not nearly as good. 

To make this dish the best it can be, start by slicing the scallions and grating the ginger. Then place them in a small bowl.

Put the olive oil and chicken broth in a small saucepan, and heat them through on low heat. You’ll want to stay with them to be sure you don’t scorch the oil. Particularly if you are using an oil, like olive oil, that has a lower smoke point.

Turn off the heat. Removing the pan from the heat completely is the best way to go. But I forgot to do that while shooting pictures for this post. Stir in the honey and amino acids.

Pour this hot oil mixture over the scallions and ginger. Stir it all together well.

How To Serve Ginger Scallion Sauce

This is a very versatile sauce. It can be used in/with a wide variety of dishes. I most often use it to season rice noodles or plain rice in my kitchen. It’s pretty common for me to make this sauce, pour it over a bowl of rice noodles and call it dinner. 

I also really enjoy it as a dipping sauce for potstickers. This is another way to get a really fantastic dinner in just minutes.

It makes a terrific stir fry sauce and it’s the perfect way to season rice bowls. It’s great served with grilled chicken breasts. Or even used as a basting sauce to cook a whole chicken. 

It goes well with pork and fish too. And don’t overlook it as a tasty way to sauté up a pan of your favorite vegetables. So YUMMY!

How To Store This Sauce

​If you find yourself with leftover sauce, and that’s not likely, then you can store it in the refrigerator. It will last about a week in the fridge if you put it in an airtight container.

It also freezes remarkably well. You can freeze it in a freezer safe container. Or you can freeze it in an ice cube tray first, and then pop out the cubes and put them in a freezer safe container.

I find that freezing it in cubes is the best thing to do. It’s great to have it portioned this way.

It makes it very easy to take just one or two cubes out of the freezer to thaw when you need just a little bit of dipping sauce.

Or you can thaw a larger quantity when you want to make noodles or a stir fry.

Recommended For You

Pin This Post Later

It will last about 3 months in the freezer.

If you try this recipe and love it, please give it 5 stars! It supports my work more than you may realize, and I appreciate that a great deal!

You can also show your support by tagging me on Facebook @sustainableslowliving and/or Instagram @slowlivingbydianegail when you post a pic of your finished dish.