Shrimp Stir Fry is a quick and healthy dish to serve any time of the week. Simple homemade stir fry sauce, juicy shrimp, and so many different vegetables some together in one delicious dish that everyone will love. This stir fry sauce is a a little sweet and a little spicy and goes perfectly with shrimp, vegetables, or chicken.
SHRIMP STIR FRY
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. The most complicated thing about this recipe is deciding which vegetables to get.
There are my favorite few vegetables that I always include in all my stir fry dishes and those are bell peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, green onions, and snow peas. Besides that, it’s really whatever I have in the fridge that I need to use. Even if it’s just half a zucchini, I throw that in. The main thing to remember about the vegetables in the stir fry is the order to add them.
Soft and delicate vegetables should be added last because they cook so fast and can be too mushy if overcooked. Start cooking heartier, harder vegetables like onions, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and others, first to give them a little extra time to soften.
When it comes to shrimp, I like to get the bigger ones because it’s meatier and juicier. Shrimp also cook very fast so there is also much less chance to overcook the larger ones.
This recipe also works very well with chicken. So if you don’t feel like making seafood, simply chop up some raw chicken and cook it the same way as shrimp until just done.
STIR FRY SAUCE
Stir fry sauce is very versatile and you can easily adjust the sweetness and spiciness. I like my stir fry to have a touch of sweetness so I always add honey. To balance the sweetness, I add a touch of spice with chili paste. You can always add a pinch of cayenne pepper or some chili powder for more spice. Besides that, stir fry sauce has the base of soy sauce, chicken broth, and vinegar combination. Garlic and spices add flavor and cornstarch thickens the sauce.
HOW TO MAKE SHRIMP STIR FRY
Everything cooks very fast so it’s always a good idea to prepare shrimp, vegetables, and sauce first.
Preheat a large cooking pan or a wok over medium heat and add peanut oil. Saute vegetables until start to soften. 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. Saute shrimp over medium-high heat until just turns opaque on each side. 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.
WHAT VEGETABLES TO USE IN STIR FRY
As I mentioned above, there are so many vegetables to choose from, it’s really comes down to personal tastes and what is available in the fridge. I always include:
Broccoli,
Mushrooms,
Snow pea,
Bell peppers,
Green onions.
Try also adding:
Asparagus,
Cauliflower,
Carrots,
Red onion,
Zucchini,
Baby corn
WHAT CAN I SERVE IT WITH
Stir fry is great when served over rice, brown rice, quinoa, or mixed with noodles. When using noodles, you can choose any Asian noodles like lo main noodles, glass noodles, rice noodles, or Ramen.
Stir fry is also great with just vegetables so if you’re planning on serving it without rice or noodles, simply add extra vegetables.
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Shrimp Stir Fry
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
- 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
- Peel and de-vein shrimp if needed. Whisk all ingredients for the sauce together and set aside. Chop vegetables and set aside.
- Preheat a large cooking pan or a wok over medium heat and add peanut oil.
- Saute vegetables, mixing often, until start to soften. 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.
- Saute shrimp over medium-high heat until just turns opaque on each side.
- 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
Nutrition
Sue says
Very good. Definitely do again.
Angi says
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.
LyubaB says
I am so glad everyone liked it, Angi!
Jeannie says
Hi! I’m new to cooking stir fry. How much peanut oil do I use?
Terry says
Can this be made without soy sauce? It causes severe indigestion.
Jordan says
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!
LyubaB says
I am glad you liked it. The shell on does taste better in my opinion but your right it definitely takes longer!