Shrimp Stir Fry
Just finished eating this dish and I cat say enough good things about it.
My husband even said it looked just like the picture. HA HA!!
I added extra veggies to be sure the balance was good. The sauce was fantastic. I usually don’t have enough and it kind of dry but this was PERFECT…
Look forward to making this again using a different protein. ~Virginia
What Makes My Recipe So Great
Stir fry dinners are my favorite to make on busy weeknights! Even when I only have 30 minutes to make dinner or if I’m just too tired, I know it will be easy and flavorful.
- It’s a one-pan dinner, so cleanup is quick and there’s less to scrub after a busy day.
- My homemade stir fry sauce is perfectly balanced: salty soy sauce, tangy rice vinegar, sweet honey, garlic, and a little heat from chili paste.
- High heat is the secret. Stir-frying is a quick, high-heat technique where you toss everything in a hot skillet (or a wok) with a splash of oil. The fast sizzle caramelizes proteins, keeps vegetables crisp and vibrant (not mushy), and lets sauces reduce and thicken.
- It’s endlessly customizable. Swap in whatever vegetables you have on hand, or try the sauce with chicken, beef, or tofu.
- It comes together in 30 minutes, which makes it one of my go-to weeknight dinners.
Table of Contents
Key Ingredients and Notes
Shrimp: Use large or jumbo shrimp (21/25 or 16/20 count per pound). Smaller shrimp overcook before the vegetables finish, and they lose their bite. If using frozen, thaw in the fridge overnight and pat very dry before cooking. Frozen shrimp hold extra moisture, so that leftover moisture can prevent searing or thin out the sauce.
Chili paste: This adds a mild heat and extra flavor that’s different from hot sauce. If you can’t find it, it won’t be the same result, but substitute a pinch of cayenne, a dash of sriracha, or fresh chili peppers adjusting heat to taste.
Soy sauce: Use low sodium soy sauce since regular one can be overwhelmingly salty. To make this gluten free, swap in gluten-free soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos. Everything else in the recipe is naturally gluten free, but check the labels on your broth and chili paste to be sure.
Peanut oil: I like peanut oil here because its high smoke point holds up to real high-heat stir-frying. Avocado oil or vegetable oil both make good substitutes if you have a peanut allergy or don’t have it on hand.
How To Make Shrimp Stir Fry: Steps and Tips
- Prep everything before you start cooking. Stir-frying moves fast once it starts, so chop all the vegetables, whisk the sauce, and pat the shrimp completely dry first. There’s no time to prep mid-cook without overcooking something.
- Cook vegetables in the right order. Start with the heartier vegetables, like broccoli, mushrooms, and bell peppers, since they need more time to soften. Save delicate vegetables like zucchini or leafy greens for the last minute or two, since they cook fast and turn mushy if they overcook.
- Don’t crowd the pan. Piling the shrimp or vegetables too high traps steam and keeps them from searing properly. Use your largest skillet or wok, and work in two batches if you’re doubling the recipe.
- Sear the shrimp until just opaque throughout. Shrimp cook in just a couple of minutes per side. Pull them the moment they turn opaque and pink; carryover heat finishes the job once they’re off direct heat, and a few extra seconds in the pan would turns shrimp rubbery.
- Add the sauce last and let it do the work. Whisk the sauce again right before adding it, since the cornstarch settles. Pour it in with the shrimp and vegetables together, and let it bubble for a couple of minutes until it thickens into a glossy coating that clings to everything.
Flavor Variations and Ad-Ins You Can Try
Stir fry sauce: try adding some fresh ginger (grated) to the sauce for extra aromatic and spicy kick. If you like the flavor of sesame, try adding a teaspoon of sesame oil to the sauce. Give it extra heat with a pinch of cayenne pepper. If you don’t have honey, you can use brown sugar.
Veggies: Feel free to add more! Some other tasty additions include asparagus, cauliflower, carrots, red onions, zucchini, summer squash, green beans, and baby corn. If you want to lean into zucchini specifically, my zucchini stir fry uses this same style of sauce and makes a great vegetarian option.
Spicier: You can easily add spicy to a stir fry by adding some chili peppers, like jalapeno, or a spicier pepper like red chili pepper, serrano, or Thai chili pepper.
Proteins: you can also easily swap out the protein for finely chopped chicken thigh or breast meat, thinly sliced steak, or tofu.
Finishing touch: finish the cooked shrimp stir fry with a sprinkle of sesame seeds, a dash of chili oil, a drizzle of hot honey, or some minced fresh cilantro.
Ways to Serve Shrimp Stir Fry
Shrimp stir fry is endlessly flexible when it comes to serving. Here are some of my favorite pairings:
- Spoon it over fluffy coconut rice for a slightly sweet contrast to the savory sauce.
- Serve it over rice pilaf if you want something a little more savory and herby underneath.
- Turn it into a full takeout-style spread alongside chicken teriyaki or bourbon chicken.
- Serve it over noodles, like lo mein, rice noodles, or ramen, tossing them right in with the sauce.
- Skip the starch entirely and bulk up the vegetables for a lighter, low-carb version.
My Storing and Reheating Recommendations
- Store leftover shrimp stir fry in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Reheat gently in a skillet over medium heat until warmed through; shrimp turns rubbery in the microwave, so I don’t recommend reheating it that way if you can avoid it.
- I don’t recommend freezing this dish, since the vegetables will turn soft and watery once thawed.
Stir Fry Shrimp Recipe FAQs
This almost always comes down to extra moisture either from shrimp or veggies. Frozen shrimp release a more liquid as they cook, so make sure they’re fully thawed in the fridge and patted very dry with paper towels before they go in the pan. An overcrowded pan makes it worse, too, since everything steams and releases extra liquid rather than searing. Use a large skillet or wok and don’t overfill it.
There are several variations of a chili paste but it’s usually a paste of chili peppers mixed with other aromatics and flavors. I like to use Thai chili paste in my stir fry recipes, its mind and adds a great flavor to the sauce. (Check Asian food isle, and Asian store, or you can order online.) If you don’t have it, use a pinch of cayenne, or a dash of sriracha, or fresh chili peppers makes a decent substitute; just add it gradually since heat levels vary.
Swap in gluten-free soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos in the same amount called for in the recipe.
Use an oil with a high smoke point, like peanut, avocado, canola or vegetable oil. Olive oil has too low a smoke point for the high heat this recipe needs.
I don’t usually recommend it but it can be done. Pre-cooked shrimp will turn tough and rubbery fast (or even mushy depending on the shrimp) if you try to cook it. The one way to do it, is to add the shrimp right at the same time ad you add the sauce so the shrimp simply reheats while the sauce is thickening.
More Shrimp Recipes to Make
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? PLEASE leave a 🌟 star rating! Let me know how you liked it by leaving the 📝 comment below or share and tag me on social media @willcookforsmiles. DON’T FORGET to subscribe to my newsletter!
Shrimp Stir Fry Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb large shrimp
- 1 bunch broccoli
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms or other variety
- 8 oz snow peas
- 1/2 cup diced green onion
- 2 bell peppers
Stir Fry Sauce:
- 1/2 cup soy sauce or gluten-free soy, tamari, or coconut aminos
- 1 cup chicken broth can also use vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2 tsp chili paste more if you want spicier
- 2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
Prepare Shrimp and Other Ingredients:
- For best results, use large or jumbo shrimp. If using frozen, thaw in the fridge overnight and pat dry before cooking. (See my full guide to peeling and deveining shrimp if needed.)
- Whisk all ingredients for the sauce together and set aside. Chop vegetables and set aside.
Cooking Stir Fry:
- Preheat a large cooking pan or a wok over medium heat and add peanut oil.
- Sauté vegetables, mixing often, until start to soften. Vegetables cooking notes: Start cooking heartier, harder vegetables like onions, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, snow peas, and bell peppers first to give them a little extra time to soften. Soft and delicate vegetables, like zucchini, summer squash, and leafy greens should be added last because they cook so fast and can be too mushy if overcooked. Tip: Don’t cook vegetables all the way because it will continue to cook after you take it out of the pan and later with sauce.
- Take veggies out of the pan and add a little more oil to the pan.
- Sauté shrimp over medium-high heat until just turns opaque on each side. (Be careful not to overcook the shrimp! Cook shrimp just until they turn opaque. When overcooked, shrimp can be tough and chewy.)
- Add vegetables back into the pan and stir.
- Whisk the sauce again and pour it into the pan. Stir well and cook for a few minutes, just until sauce thickens.
- Stir in green onions and serve right away.
- You can serve shrimp stir fry over rice, with noodles, or just on it's own.
Video
Notes
- Shrimp – It’s better to use large or jumbo shrimp so they don’t accidentally overcook. You can use frozen shrimp. Be sure to let them slowly thaw in the fridge prior to cooking.
- Adding More Spice: You can easily add spicy to a stir fry by adding some chili peppers. Depending on how much spice you want, choose either a milder pepper like jalapeno, or a spicier pepper like red chili pepper or Thai chili pepper. Amount of peppers will also affect the spice level as well as leaving the seeds in or discarding them. Remember that chili peppers store most of their spice in the seeds. If you don’t want to add the peppers, you can also spice the dish up with a dash of cayenne pepper.
- Gluten Free Note: If you need to make this stir fry gluten free, simple swap low sodium soy sauce for gluten free soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos. Remaining ingredients should already be gluten free but double check the labels to make sure.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in December 2019.
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Categories:
Asian Recipes, Chinese Recipes, Dinner Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, Healthy Dinner Ideas, Seafood Dinner Recipes, Shrimp Dinner Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Just finished eating this dish and I cat say enough good things about it.
My husband even said it looked just like the picture. HA HA!!
I added extra veggies to be sure the balance was good. The sauce was fantastic. I usually don’t have enough and it kind of dry but this was PERFECT…
Look forward to making this again using a different protein.
Thank you so much! 😊 That made me smile, especially your husband’s comment about it looking just like the picture! 😂 I’m so glad you enjoyed it.Thanks so much for taking the time to leave such a kind review!
OK, so I’m making this for dinner tonight because it sounded soooo good.
I have broccoli, 3 color peppers, bok choy, celery, zucchini squash, green beans, scallions and mushrooms. Serving over jasmine rice. Cant wait to see how this turns out. Plus I added extra Thai chili peppers because we like it spicey in our house.
I think that will be yummy, Let me know how you like it!
Shrimp and vegetables
Yep, shrimp and veggies stir fried together in a sauce. I hope you enjoy them!
Delicious! Sauce was easy and very tasty
I am so glad you liked it, Lori! Thanks for taking the time to stop by and let me know.
As a husband whose family runs from the kitchen whenever I’m cooking this went amazingly well. I added some leftover chicken to the shrimp but I didn’t have any rice vinegar for the veggies. I’m a “ Mr Fixit “ not a chef !
I will be serving soon so I gotta go
I’ll just cross my fingers hahahaha.
I really hope it went well and that you showed them there is no reason to run!
Made this tonight. Added garden jalapeño, green beans and some asparagus to the mix. It was delicious.
That sounds amazing! I love how you added fresh garden jalapeño, green beans, and asparagus—what a great way to incorporate extra flavor and veggies. I’m so glad it turned out delicious! Thanks for sharing your tasty additions!
I over cooked,but it was still great. Would make again
I am glad you liked it!
Do you chop or minced garlic clothes are put them in the sauce whole?
Hi Kimberly,
I minced the garlic cloves up. Sorry, I will edit that.
What is chili paste??? What could be a substitute?
It tastes similar to chili sauce but it’s thicker. You could use a little tomato paste with a chili pepper but be careful, some chili peppers are hotter than the paste.
Excellent recipe!
I halved the broccoli and mushrooms because it looked like a lot of veg. I regretted that decision! I used Sesame oil because I didn’t see the Peanut oil listed in the ingredients and didn’t have it on hand. I also added the broccoli to the pan first, cooked it, then added the other vegetables and cooked them longer than recommended.
I’ll be making this one again, but will probably chop some things the day before. It took almost an hour since I had to shell the shrimp–ugh!
I am glad you liked it. The shell on does taste better in my opinion but your right it definitely takes longer!
Can this be made without soy sauce? It causes severe indigestion.
Hi Terry, you can always substitute gluten free soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos. Would either of those work?
Hi! I’m new to cooking stir fry. How much peanut oil do I use?
Sorry, I am just seeing your comment. You can use a tablespoon or 2 of peanut oil.
Made tonight for my family. Everyone loved it! That absolutely never happens in our household of 5. Thanks for a wonderful keeper, I didn’t change a thing about the recipe.
I am so glad everyone liked it, Angi!
Very good. Definitely do again.