P.F. Chang’s Cantonese Stir Fry Sauce is a versatile, restaurant-style base that brings balance and depth to quick, wok-cooked meals.
Photo by Mike McCormick
Copycat P.F. Chang’s Cantonese Stir Fry Sauce
P.F. Chang’s Cantonese Stir Fry Sauce is a savory, slightly sweet sauce designed to coat vegetables and proteins evenly. It’s smooth, balanced, and built for fast cooking.
This sauce works best when everything is prepped and ready before you cook. Once it hits the pan, it comes together fast, delivering that familiar takeout-style finish without extra steps.
Quick Recipe Overview
- Best For: Stir fries, quick weeknight dinners, vegetable-forward dishes
- Flavor Profile: Savory, lightly sweet, umami-rich
- Skill Level: Beginner friendly
- What Makes It Like the Restaurant: A balanced sauce that thickens quickly and clings evenly to ingredients
P.F. Chang’s
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro built its identity around Chinese-inspired dishes tailored for American casual dining. The menu emphasizes bold flavors, polished presentation, and sauces that anchor each dish.
Rather than relying on regional authenticity, P.F. Chang’s focuses on consistency and balance. House sauces like the Cantonese stir fry base are designed to work across multiple proteins and vegetables, making them reliable building blocks throughout the menu.
The Sauce Behind the Stir Fry
Cantonese-style stir fry sauces are known for restraint. Instead of heavy spice or sweetness, they rely on savory depth and gentle balance that highlights the ingredients in the pan.
In restaurant kitchens, these sauces are used for speed and consistency. At home, they shine for the same reason. They make it easy to turn simple vegetables and protein into a finished dish that tastes intentional and familiar.
P.F. Chang's China Bistro Cantonese Stir Fry Sauce Recipe
Make our P.F. Chang's China Bistro Cantonese Stir Fry Sauce Recipe at home tonight for your family. Our Secret Restaurant Recipe tastes just like P.F. Chang's.
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless Chicken Breast, cut into medium size chunks
Batter
- 4 ounces All Purpose Flour
- 2 1/2 ounces Cornstarch
- 1 Egg
- 6 ounces Water
- 1/8 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/8 teaspoon Baking Soda
Chicken Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon lite Soy Sauce
- 1/8 teaspoon White Pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 tablespoon Corn Starch
- Vegetable oil for frying, plus 2 tablespoons for finishing sauce
Honey Sauce
- 1/2 cup Sake or Rice Wine
- 1/2 cup Honey
- 3 ounces Rice Vinegar
- 3 tablespoons lite Soy Sauce
- 6 tablespoons Sugar
Stir Fry
- Cornstarch Slurry (1/4 cup corn starch mixed with 1/4 cup water)
- 1 tablespoons minced Garlic
- Red Bell Pepper and/or Scallions julienned
Instructions
Make the Batter
- Mix ingredients for the batter together until just combined.
- Place in refrigerator for a couple of hours to rest.
Prepare the Chicken
- Coat chicken well with seasonings and marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Prepare the Sauce
- Combine sauce ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Reserve for serving.
Cook the Chicken
- Pour vegetable oil into fryer or heavy bottomed sauce pot.
- Heat slowly to 340 - 350°F.
- Put 1/4 of the marinated chicken in a clean bowl and pour enough batter over to coat.
- Remove a few pieces at a time from the batter, using slotted spoon or large fork. Shake off excess batter.
- Carefully lower chicken into the hot oil.
- Suspend the chicken until the batter "sets," 20 - 30 seconds. Chicken is done when golden to light brown and crisp.
- Remove to platter with paper towels to drain.
- Repeat for all the chicken.
NOTE - Remember to check the oil temperature, it must remain hot.
Finish the Sauce
- Heat the reserved sauce in sauce pan, bring to a boil.
- Add cornstarch slurry, a little at a time. The sauce will thicken, let it come to a thickness of "loose honey." Let cook for a minute or two.
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok and add some minced garlic, red bell pepper and scallions and stir-fry briefly.
- Add 1/3 - 1/2 of the chicken (depending on pan size) and stir-fry briefly.
- Add enough sauce to just coat chicken. Stir-fry again briefly.
Serve over crispy noodles, rice or egg noodles or steamed rice.
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Questions People Ask
Is this sauce spicy? No. It’s savory and lightly sweet, with no real heat.
What proteins work best with this sauce? Chicken, beef, shrimp, pork, and tofu all pair well.
Does the sauce thicken on its own? Yes. It thickens quickly once heated in the pan.
Can I make this ahead? Yes. Store it refrigerated and stir well before using.
Is this meant to be used as a marinade? It’s best used as a cooking sauce rather than a marinade.
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Photo of P. F. Chang’s China Bistro Cantonese Stir Fry Sauce is by Mike McCormick and is used by permission under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) License. Photo of “P.F. Chang’s” is by Rob Corder and is used by permission under the Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) Creative Commons License. Read the Full License Here – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/legalcode. Thank you, Mike and Rob. Great Pictures. Photos may be representative of the recipe and not the actual finished dish. All photo licenses listed were correct at the time of the posting of the page. Recipe is our adaption of several recipes formally widely-circulated on the internet – courtesy of the Wayback Machine. Additional Information is from original research done by Secret Copycat Restaurant Recipes and/or courtesy of Wikipedia and is used by permission.
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It takes 10 seconds and helps other home cooks build better stir fries with a reliable restaurant-style sauce.