This vegetable stir-fry recipe is packed with colorful veggies and a simple sauce that makes them irresistible! Add rice and some protein and you have dinner.
How do you make vegetables irresistible? Make a jump! These sautéed vegetables are so colorful and so delicious you won’t want to stop eating them. It’s a great way to eat the best healthy veggies! Stir-frying is easy, but you also need to know a few tricks to get it right. When Alex and I first started cooking, we tried to “steal” a skillet and it came out tasteless, with too little sauce or with overcooked veggies. Here’s everything you need to know to make a delicious stir-fry of sautéed vegetables: and how to serve them for a healthy dinner.
Also try: Roasted Cauliflower!
Best Vegetables for Stir-Fry (Cheat Sheet and Timing!)
What are the best sautéed vegetables? Here’s our list of the types that work best. Important: The hardness of the vegetables determines the cooking time! Take a look at the list below and start with the vegetables that take the longest to cook. Then add the faster cooking vegetables. Here’s a cheat sheet:
Vegetables that take 6-7 minutes to roast:
Vegetables that need 3-5 minutes to roast:
- cabbagechopped
- snow peas or snow peas
- bok choychopped
- zucchini or summer squash
- Edamamefrozen and peeled
Vegetables that take 1 minute to roast:
- Garlicchopped
- Gingerchopped
- Green Onionthinly sliced (or use as a garnish)
How to sauté vegetables
This is important too, so listen up! A skillet cooks ingredients in hot oil over high heat. This technique originated in China and has since spread to other parts of Asia and around the world. It differs from steaming and sautéing vegetables because you want your veggies to be in contact with the hot pan for a short amount of time. Here are some tips for searing vegetables:
- Choose the right vegetables and add them according to the time given in the list above.
- Use your largest pan. A large frying pan, cast iron pan or wok will work here.
- Important: do not overfill the pot! Overfilling the pan with vegetables will steam them instead of sautéing them. If you want to cook a large batch, cook it in portions.
A quick sautéed sauce
Sauce is another part of a skillet that can be tricky to prepare. Here’s why: If you sauté the vegetables in the sauce for too long, the sauce will evaporate. For this reason, you should add the sauce at the very end of the recipe. In this recipe, you turn off the heat, then stir in the sauce to coat.
There are also different consistencies for wok sauces. Here’s a breakdown:
- Tasty sauces that envelop. The sauce in this stir-fry isn’t as thick as you might get from Chinese takeaways. But it is very tasty and coats all the vegetables perfectly.
- Thick sauces, usually thickened with cornstarch. Stir-fries are often thick and shiny and thickened with cornstarch. If you like this type of sauce, try our homemade teriyaki sauce used in our teriyaki vegetable stir-fry.
Other option: Try our go-to stir-fry sauce! It would work with the amount of veggies in this recipe.
Add protein and rice to make it a meal!
These sautéed veggies are incredibly delicious and you’ll find yourself eating them all the time! To serve them as part of a healthy dinner, rice (or pasta!) And a protein to keep you full. Alex and I eat mostly plant-based foods, and we’ve found that eating veggies isn’t enough. You need some kind of plant-based protein to keep you full. Here’s what we recommend:
Another great wok? Try the baby pak choi stir fry.
This recipe is…
Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
The description
This vegetable stir-fry recipe is packed with colorful veggies and a simple sauce that makes them irresistible! Add rice and some protein and you have dinner.
For the vegetables
- 1 1/2 Pound (2 large heads) broccoli
- 1 Broccolini head (or 1 extra broccoli head)
- 1 medium red onion
- 1 orange pepper
- 2 Portobello mushroom caps
For the sautéed sauce
- 3 Garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoons Ginger, grated (about a 2 inch knot)
- 2 tablespoons are dead
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy pasture
- 1 teaspoon Spicy Sriracha Sauce
- 2 tablespoons Sesame oil (regular, unroasted)
- Kosher salt
Serve
- Garnish: Sliced spring onion, sesame (optional)
- Protein: Add ¾ cup cashews to broccoli*, 1 cup peeled edamame after 2 minutes or serve with marinated tofu or sautéed shrimp (with sesame oil and lime)
- Rice: Rice or instant pot rice for serving
- Start the rice and decide what protein you want to add.
- Cut the broccoli and broccolini into large florets (about 6 cups of florets total). Cut the red onion into bite-sized squares. Cut the peppers into small bite-sized squares. Remove the stems from the portobellos (if necessary), cut them into strips, then cut the larger pieces in half. Put all the vegetables in a large bowl.
- Chop the garlic. Peel and grate the ginger. Put them together in a small bowl.
- Combine mirin, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sriracha in a small bowl.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add the broccoli, broccolini (if using), red onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to brown on the edges, 6 to 7 minutes.
- Add garlic and ginger, cook 1 minute longer, until broccoli is soft but still light green. Turn off the heat and add the sauce, stirring until smooth. Taste and add more pinches of salt if needed. Garnish with sesame seeds and spring onions (optional). Serve with rice and your choice of protein (see above).
Remarks
* Adding cashews would serve about 2-3 as a vegetarian main course; Adding tofu can stretch it to 4.
- Category: main course
- Method: jumped up
- Kitchen: Asian
Keywords: Fried vegetables
Recipes for healthier dinners
Eating your veggies is easy when they taste amazing! Here are a few more of our favorite vegetable recipes and healthy dinner ideas:
