Why This Easy Teriyaki Stir Fry Will Become Your New Favorite

This teriyaki vegetable stir fry isn’t just a recipe; it’s a solution to those demanding evenings when you need a quick, healthy, and delicious meal without a lot of fuss. Here’s why it’s bound to become a staple in your kitchen:

• The Ultimate Dinner Solution: When you’re staring into the fridge with no plan, and the inevitable “What’s for dinner?” question arises, this stir fry is your answer. It’s so versatile and quick, it takes the stress out of mealtime.
• Flexible with Ingredients: Whether your pantry is stocked with fresh produce or your freezer holds a treasure trove of frozen vegetables, this recipe adapts. Use whatever you have on hand, ensuring minimal waste and maximum convenience.
• Customizable to Your Taste: This recipe is designed to work with YOUR favorite vegetables. Don’t like Brussels sprouts? Swap them for bell peppers! Love mushrooms? Add extra! The possibilities are endless, allowing you to tailor it to your dietary preferences and what’s in season.
• Delicious and Deeply Satisfying: With its savory, sweet, and slightly tangy homemade teriyaki sauce, these teriyaki vegetables are incredibly flavorful and remarkably satisfying. You won’t miss the meat in this vibrant, plant-based dish.
• Lightning-Fast Preparation: From start to finish, this meal is on your table in under 30 minutes. This makes it an absolute lifesaver for busy weeknights when time is precious.
• Healthier Homemade Sauce: By making your own teriyaki sauce from scratch, you gain complete control over the ingredients. This means you can avoid excessive sodium, refined sugars, and artificial additives often found in store-bought varieties, ensuring a much healthier and fresher taste.
• Perfect for Busy Lifestyles: Its quick preparation time and simple steps make it an amazing dinner option for anyone with a packed schedule who still wants to enjoy wholesome, flavorful food at home.

Fresh vs. Frozen: The Great Vegetable Debate for Stir Fries

One of the true beauties and most convenient aspects of making a stir fry is the incredible flexibility it offers when it comes to vegetables. You are absolutely free to use either fresh or frozen veggies, and both options yield fantastic results. There’s no need to stress about having a perfectly stocked produce drawer!

In fact, a bag of high-quality frozen vegetables – where the veggies themselves are the only ingredients listed – can often be fresher and more nutritious than their “fresh” counterparts found in the supermarket. This is because frozen vegetables are typically flash-frozen at the peak of their ripeness, locking in nutrients and flavor. Fresh produce, on the other hand, can lose nutritional value during transportation and storage.

We understand that not everybody has the schedule flexibility to make a mid-week trip to the grocery store to replenish fresh produce. This is where frozen vegetable medleys truly shine! You can effortlessly keep a variety of chopped veggies in your freezer, ready to transform into a simple teriyaki stir fry on any given night. They come in many assortments and are incredibly convenient, providing a quick and easy way to get a wholesome dinner on the table without extra prep work. For the best results with frozen veggies, ensure there’s no freezer burn or large clumps of ice, and always add them directly from the freezer to the hot pan.

Essential Vegetable Stir Fry Ingredients & Customization Tips

The heart of any good stir fry is its vibrant array of vegetables. This recipe calls for a total of 5 cups of chopped vegetables, but feel free to mix and match based on your preferences and what’s available. The key is a good balance of textures and colors.

• Vegetables: For my stir fry, I used a delightful mix of broccoli, bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, crisp snow peas, vibrant red bell pepper, tender zucchini, earthy Brussels sprouts, and sweet carrots. This combination offers a variety of textures and nutrients. Other fantastic additions include snap peas, green beans, cauliflower florets, asparagus, or even sliced cabbage. A good rule of thumb is to use a combination of “harder” vegetables (like carrots, broccoli stems, Brussels sprouts) that take longer to cook, along with “softer” ones (like mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, leafy greens) that cook more quickly. This ensures everything is perfectly crisp-tender.
• Edamame: Shelled edamame beans are an excellent addition for a boost of plant-based protein, making this meal even more satisfying. They can be added directly from the freezer, making them incredibly convenient.
• Scallions: Also known as green onions, scallions add a mild oniony flavor and a fresh, bright garnish. If you don’t have scallions, thinly sliced red onion, leeks, or spring onions can be used as a suitable substitute.
• Garlic: Freshly minced or grated garlic provides a pungent, aromatic foundation for the stir fry. While fresh is always best for flavor, if you’re in a pinch, garlic powder can be used (approximately ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder per clove of fresh garlic), but avoid garlic salt, which will make your dish too salty.
• Ginger: Nothing quite compares to the zesty, warming flavor of freshly grated ginger. It’s a signature ingredient in Asian cooking and truly elevates this stir fry. Use a microplane for the finest texture and maximum flavor release.
• Oil: I prefer toasted sesame oil for its distinct, nutty aroma that complements the teriyaki sauce beautifully. If you’re not a fan of toasted sesame oil, or if you prefer a milder flavor, regular sesame oil, avocado oil, or a neutral high-heat oil like grapeseed oil can be used. A combination of one of these with a touch of olive oil also works. For an oil-free stir fry, you can use vegetable broth as a cooking liquid instead of oil.
• Optional Garnishes and Add-ins: Once your teriyaki vegetable stir fry is cooked, sprinkle it with sesame seeds for added crunch and visual appeal. Additional sliced scallions bring a fresh finish, and a sprinkle of crushed red pepper offers an extra kick. For more texture and freshness, toss in some bean sprouts just before serving.

For peeling fresh ginger, a grapefruit spoon works wonderfully for gently scraping off the thin skin. Then, use a microplane to grate it finely, releasing maximum flavor. Alternatively, a sharp knife can be used to peel and finely mince the ginger.

Similarly, peel your garlic cloves and grate them on the microplane for a fine, uniform texture that melts into the sauce. If a microplane isn’t available, you can easily press the garlic with a garlic press or finely mince it with a knife.

Ensure each vegetable is chopped into uniform, bite-sized pieces. For broccoli, utilize both the florets and the stems! Cut the tougher stems into thin discs, which will cook similarly to the florets, minimizing waste and adding extra texture.

Organize your prepped vegetables close to your stove in the order they will enter the pan. Harder vegetables that require more cooking time, such as carrots, broccoli stems, and Brussels sprouts, will go in first. Softer vegetables like mushrooms and bell peppers will follow.

Step 1: Make the Teriyaki Sauce

Begin by creating your arrowroot slurry: whisk the arrowroot powder with ½ cup of cold water until completely smooth. In a small saucepan, combine the tamari, maple syrup, and rice vinegar over medium heat. Once it starts to warm, whisk in the arrowroot slurry and the red pepper flakes. Continue to whisk constantly as the sauce comes to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat and keep whisking for about 3 minutes until it visibly begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat and remove from the stove. The sauce will continue to thicken and develop a beautiful sheen as it cools. Set it aside while you prepare your vegetables.

Heat a large wok or your largest frying pan over high heat until very hot. Swirl in half of the toasted sesame oil. Add your harder vegetables first: the carrots, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli stems. Using tongs, toss and stir-fry these vigorously for about 2 minutes. The goal is a quick sear and tender-crisp texture.

Reduce the heat to medium-high. Add the remaining vegetables: broccoli florets, sliced mushrooms, bell pepper strips, bok choy, and snow peas. Continue to cook and toss for another 3-4 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender-crisp but still retain a slight bite. Avoid overcooking to maintain their vibrant color and texture.

Now it’s time for the aromatics! Add the minced garlic, grated ginger, thinly sliced scallions, and the remaining sesame oil to the pan. These ingredients will infuse the stir fry with incredible fragrance and depth of flavor.

Stir and cook for about 1 minute until the aromatics are fragrant, being very careful not to burn the garlic. Keep everything moving in the pan to evenly distribute these delicate flavors without scorching them. Turn off the heat.

Before adding, quickly reheat the teriyaki sauce on the stove if it has cooled and give it a vigorous whisk to ensure it’s smooth and ready. Then, pour about half of the prepared sauce directly over the hot, finished vegetables in the pan.

Use your tongs to thoroughly mix the sauce into the vegetables, tossing until every piece is beautifully coated. Add additional sauce as needed, to your desired sauciness, ensuring it is fully incorporated. Serve immediately!

Debra’s Pro Tips for Stir-Frying Success

Elevate your stir-fry game with these expert tips:

• Reheating Rice Perfectly: If you’re serving this delicious stir fry over rice and anticipate leftovers, here’s a smart trick: mix any remaining cooked rice directly with the veggies before storing them. This simple step prevents the rice from clumping and getting hard in the fridge, making it much easier and more enjoyable to reheat later.
• Layering Vegetables for Even Cooking: The secret to perfectly cooked, tender-crisp stir-fried vegetables lies in how you add them to the pan. Always start with the harder or thicker-cut vegetables first, as they require more time to cook through. Think carrots, broccoli stems, and Brussels sprouts. Then, gradually add softer, quicker-cooking vegetables like mushrooms, bell peppers, and leafy greens. Don’t stress too much about exact timings – it’s more about a logical sequence to ensure everything finishes cooking around the same time.
• Don’t Overcrowd the Pan: This is a crucial rule for stir-frying. If you add too many vegetables at once, the temperature of your pan will drop too quickly, causing the vegetables to steam instead of sear. This results in soggy, rather than crisp-tender, veggies. If you have a large batch of vegetables, cook them in two smaller batches.
• Use High Heat: Stir-frying demands high heat and constant movement. A very hot pan quickly sears the vegetables, locking in their flavors and nutrients while creating a delicious slightly charred exterior.
• Mise en Place is Key: As mentioned earlier, having all your ingredients chopped and ready to go before you start cooking is essential. Stir-frying is a very fast process, and you won’t have time to chop while the pan is hot.

Teriyaki Stir Fry Vegetables

Rate this Recipe