Shrimp Stir Fry
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 delicious.
- Stir-frying is a quick, high-heat technique 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, and lets sauces reduce and thicken.
- My stir-fry sauce recipe is a balanced blend of a slightly sweet, salty, and slightly spicy notes: salty umami from soy sauce and chicken broth, bright tang from rice vinegar, mellow sweetness of honey, plenty of garlicky depth, and a gentle kick of heat from chili paste.
- This easy shrimp stir fry is a one-pan recipe, which means less dishes to clean and that’s always a big win in my kitchen!
- It takes only 30 minutes or less to make!
- The ingredients in a stir fry are easy to customize with whatever you happen to have on hand, so don’t feel free to play around with this easy recipe.
- Choose the veggies you like, my favorites are bell peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, green onions, and snow peas.
How To Make Shrimp Stir Fry: Steps and Tips
- Step 1: Peel and de-vein shrimp if needed and prep other ingredients.
- Step 2: Sauté the veggies in peanut oil and remove the veggies when soft. (Remember to cook veggies in the right order: heartier first, then delicate.)
- Step 3: Sauté the shrimp until both sides are opaque. (Be careful not to overcook!)
- Step 4: Add vegetables back into the pan and stir.
- Step 4: Whisk the sauce and add it to the pan.
Flavor Variations and Ad-Ins
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. You can easily add spicy to a stir fry by adding some chili peppers, like jalapeno, or a spicier pepper like red chili pepper 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.
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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
Serving Suggestions
Stir fry is great when served over rice, brown rice, quinoa, or mixed with noodles. Try it with our favorite coconut rice. When using noodles, you can choose any Asian noodles like lo mein noodles, glass noodles, rice noodles, or ramen.
Of course, stir fry of any kind is also great with just vegetables! If you’re planning on serving it without rice or noodles, simply add extra vegetables to bulk it up.
More Shrimp Recipes to Make
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in December 2019.
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.
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.
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! 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.