Quick Vegetable Stir Fry
- PREP 15min
- COOK 10min
- TOTAL 25min
This veggie stir fry is simple and quick to make. You will need 6 to 7 cups of vegetables. Choose a variety of colors and textures. We like to keep about half of the vegetables on the heartier side (like broccoli and carrots). Add the heartier veggies to the pan first and cook for a few minutes before adding quicker-cooking vegetables like scallions, bell peppers, and snow peas. This way, all the vegetables turn out perfectly cooked.
You can make the stir-fry sauce up to 5 days in advance. It is extra delicious when made with fresh ginger and garlic, but you can leave them out if you do not have them on hand.
You Will Need
Veggie Stir Fry
1 ½ cups broccoli florets
2 medium carrots, sliced into matchsticks, about 1 cup
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced, about 1 cup
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 bunch scallions, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 cup snow peas
2 small tomatoes, cut into wedges
3 tablespoons neutral oil like vegetable or avocado oil
Stir Fry Sauce
6 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger (thumb-size piece of ginger)
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine, substitute dry sherry or mirin, see notes
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
Directions
Make the stir fry sauce. Combine all of the stir-fry sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Store or use immediately.
Stir one tablespoon of cornstarch with three tablespoons of cold water, and then set aside.
Divide the vegetables into two piles. One pile should have heartier, longer-cooking vegetables (broccoli, carrots, and mushrooms), and the other pile should have quicker-cooking vegetables (bell pepper, scallions, snow peas, and tomatoes).
Heat a large, heavy skillet or wok over high heat. Add 1 ½ tablespoons of high-heat oil, and then add the pile of heartier vegetables (broccoli, carrots, and mushrooms). Cook, stirring the vegetables around the pan, until they sweat and soften, about 3 minutes.
Throw in the remaining vegetables and continue to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. If the pan needs more oil, add another tablespoon. (For reference, you are looking for the broccoli to be bright green and crisp-tender, the mushrooms to brown slightly and reduce in size, and the snow peas to be bright green and a little floppy.)
Pour in the stir fry sauce. Give the cornstarch mixture one more stir, and then slowly pour it into the stir fry. Stir everything around until the sauce thickens and sticks to the vegetables. Serve immediately.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Shaoxing wine: A Chinese rice wine often used in Chinese cuisine. It’s the most authentic choice in this recipe, so we highly recommend adding it to your pantry if you can find it. However, if you cannot find it, we have two alternatives: dry sherry and mirin. Mirin is sweeter than Shaoxing wine so you will likely need to reduce the sugar by 1 tablespoon. One more option is to use rice wine vinegar. This will make the sauce taste a little different and you may need more sugar.
- Vegan tips: This recipe is vegan. However, be sure to use vegan sugar (not all are).
- Gluten-free tips: When shopping for the ingredients listed above (especially the soy sauce), look for gluten-free on the label. If you cannot find gluten-free soy sauce, look for gluten-free tamari, which, unlike soy sauce is traditionally made without or with very little wheat.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.