Vegetable Stir Fry

Vegetable Stir Fry with broccoli, onions, snap peas, and bell pepper is colorful, ready in minutes, and made with a homemade sauce that balances salty and sweet. Bring the flavors of take out to your kitchen with this easy-to-customize recipe. Serve hot with steamed rice and sesame seeds!

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Asian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Servings servings

Calories 316kcal

Author John Kanell

Ingredients

For the Stir Fry Sauce:

⅓ cup soy sauce (80mL)
¼ cup chicken broth (or vegetable stock, water) (60mL)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons minced ginger
3 garlic cloves minced

For the Vegetables:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups broccoli florets (147g)
2 carrots sliced (164g)
2 cups sliced mushrooms (147g)
1 small onion sliced (150g)
1 cup sugar snap peas (85g)
1 bell pepper seeded and sliced (red, yellow, green) (218g)
1½ cups baby corn spears drained (225g)
1 cup sliced water chestnuts drained (142g)
Sesame seeds for garnish

Instructions

For the Stir Fry Sauce:

Whisk together all the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

For the Vegetables:

Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the broccoli and carrots and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the mushrooms and onion and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the sugar snap peas, bell pepper baby corn, and water chestnuts and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the peas turn bright green and start to soften.
Stir in the stir-fry sauce and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thickened and the vegetables are well coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and immediately serve over hot rice.

Notes

Whisk the sauce ingredients together well. The cornstarch is a key component in the sauce as it plays a vital role in thickening, and the honey is a bit sticky, so make sure to whisk well to combine all the ingredients and distribute and dissolve the cornstarch.
Drain the canned vegetables. If using canned baby corn spears or water chestnuts, make sure to drain them well before stir-frying.
Add vegetables in the order of the recipe. Make sure to stir fry the vegetables in the order listed in the recipe method, so they cook evenly and are crisp-tender by the end of the cooking time.
Use a wok or large pan. A wok or larger skillet will provide plenty of room for stirring and help distribute the heat well to stir fry veggies quickly.
Cook over medium-high heat and stir as needed. Strong heat produces the most tender-crisp vegetables with slight browning on the edges (which makes the best flavor!). Stir occasionally, or even frequently, to cook the veggies evenly and to prevent burning.
Utilize what you have on hand, or include a favorite veggie. This veggie stir fry recipe is perfect if you have leftover vegetables from a party tray or an abundance of something from your garden. Personalize this recipe using the vegetables you have in the crisper, your preferred color of bell pepper, or your favorite vegetables or stir-fry ingredients. Cauliflower, snow peas, green beans, bok choy, edamame, or green onions would all be great additions. Oyster sauce is also a great addition to the stir-fry sauce! If you don't have honey, swap it with an equal amount of brown sugar. For an added kick of heat, throw in a few pinches of red pepper flakes.
Simmer until the sauce thickens. Once the vegetables are cooked, add the sauce and continue cooking long enough that the sauce simmers and thickens. The cornstarch will thicken when it simmers, so make sure to keep cooking until that occurs.

Nutrition