Frozen foods can be your best friend on a busy night. And a well-stocked freezer and pantry really come in handy on those days when dinner needs to be super fast. Quick vegetable stir fry uses mostly freezer and pantry ingredients and comes together in minutes.
Fresh or Frozen
Almost any frozen veggie mix works for this stir fry, and I keep it stocked in my freezer at all times. If it comes with a packet of seasoning, toss it and make the one in this recipe. You can also use a mixture of fresh vegetables: Broccoli, sugar snap peas, asparagus, green beans, bell peppers, mushrooms and green onions are all delicious here. Just chop the veggies until they are all roughly all the same size.
Can You Cook The Vegetables Straight From the Freezer?
Yes! Just throw them in the pan straight from the freezer. Keep the heat on medium-high and continue to sauté until they defrost and warm through. You can also use a combination of some frozen and some fresh vegetables in this quick vegetable stir fry. Just give the frozen veggies a 5-minute lead time before adding the fresh veggies to the hot pan.
What is Stir Fry?
Stir fry is a method of cooking where ingredients are sautéd over high heat while stirring briskly and almost constantly. You do not need a wok to make a stir fry––even though I admit I love mine! Although, a large sauté pan with sloped sides will help your veggies stay in the pan. I’ve used both my Staub perfect pan and a large All-Clad pan.
Stir Fry Tips and Variations
While I usually make quick vegetable stir fry with avocado oil, you can also use grape seed oil, olive oil or even ghee. Regular butter has too many fat solids and will smoke and burn.
If you don’t have green onions, substitute half a yellow, white or red onion.
Start by preparing all your ingredients: Cut the onions, peel and grate the ginger, whisk together the sauce. The cooking is relatively fast, so be prepared.
Preheat your wok and oil before you stir fry the ingredients, you want everything to hit a hot pan and crisp up in the pan.
Is Vegetable Stir Fry Healthy?
Yes! It’s chock full of a variety of vegetables and has no added sugar. The amount of fat is low because there’s relatively little oil used. It’s easily adaptable to be Whole30 and soy free (just use coconut aminos in the sauce). Ginger is anti inflammatory and delicious! Here’s a quick tip for peeling ginger:
Can I Add Meat?
Absolutely! If you’d like to add chicken breast or pork tenderloin, I’d suggest 1/2 to 1 pound. Cut it roughly the same size as the vegetables. Warm the oil in the pan and sauté the meat for about 3-4 minutes before adding the vegetables. Just season the meat with salt and pepper before cooking, it will get further seasoned with the sauce.
What to Serve with Stir Fry
You really don’t need anything else, except maybe some rice to soak up the delicious sauce. But here are some additional ideas:
- Coconut Lime Cauliflower Rice
- Edamame
- Steamed Dumplings (nothing fancy, just frozen dumplings from Trader Joe’s or the freezer aisle)
- Udon noodles or ramen
- Miso soup
If you like this recipe, try these!
Quick Vegetable Stir Fry
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 4-6 servings
Serve this quick meatless stir fry over riced cauliflower, jasmine rice or steamed sushi rice. Use fresh vegetables if you have them (peppers, sugar snap peas, sliced bok choy, asparagus, mushrooms or broccoli), but frozen stir fry mix works just as well.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil, olive oil or coconut oil
- 5 green onions, white and green part cut on the bias into thin slices
- 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely grate on a microplaner
- 3 garlic cloves, minced, about 1 tablespoon
- 1 16-ounce package frozen stir fry mix, without sauce
- 1 16-ounce package frozen broccoli, without sauce
- 1/3 cup tamari (gluten-free soy sauce), soy sauce or coconut aminos (soy-free and Whole30), or more to taste
- Sesame seeds, cilantro leaves or green onion (optional garnish)
Instructions
- In a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat, add the coconut oil or avocado oil.
- Add green onions, ginger and garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add both bags of frozen vegetables and cook until tender. Don’t worry about defrosting them, just add them frozen and let the pan do the work.
- Stir the vegetables to combine. Once vegetables have softened and thawed, after about 6-8 minutes, add the tamari or coconut aminos and taste for seasoning.
- Garnish with sesame seeds, fresh green onion slices or cilantro if you’d like.
Courses Main dish
Cuisine Asian
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