Vegan Stir Fry

Vegan stir fry is full of various vegetables, all cooked in different stages to create a perfect stir fry drizzled with homemade sugar-free stir fry sauce. Quick and easy recipe in under 30 minutes!

What makes a vegan stir fry better than another vegan stir fry? When I cook or order a stir fry, I am really picky about how my vegetables are cooked. And more important than the way the vegetables are cooked is the stir fry sauce. There is nothing worse than soggy stir fry.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Ingredient Substitutions
• How to Cook Stir Fry
• Stir Fry Sauce Ingredients
• Sauce Substitutions
• Brown Rice vs. Quinoa
• Serving Ideas
• Recipes FAQs
• Tips
• Try These Tasty Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

My ability to cook has improved since becoming plant-based, and so has my taste for good food. As result, I now consider myself a vegan foodie.

When I first became vegan, the best meal I could expect at a restaurant was a lame pasta marinara with soggy vegetables. And my cooking wasn't much better. 

Recently, my husband, Paul, said he couldn't believe my food could get any better, but it is! So, for those who think you "can't cook," you can, and I'm an example of someone who thought I couldn't cook either. 

As a result, I am a stir fry food snob, so let's make a foodie vegan stir fry! 

Ingredients

For this recipe, I included every color of the rainbow for both color and nutritional benefit. However, the trick to the perfect stir sry is to cook the vegetables in a particular order, so the stir fry doesn't get soggy.

Furthermore, I listed the vegetables in the order I plan to cook them in my stir fry. I think the worse stir fry recipes are soggy and swimming in the sauce rather than tasting like fresh vegetables. 

So, it is important to cook in layers or stages. For this stir fry, I used a wok and cooked the vegetables in this order.

First, I cooked the garlic, onion, mushrooms, and ginger.

• Garlic: Garlic and onion cooked together create a fabulous base flavor. I prefer fresh garlic over jarred garlic.
• White onion: I like using white onion for stir fry because it has a sharper and more pungent flavor than yellow onions. They also tend to be more tender and have thinner, papery skin.
• Mushrooms: I consider mushrooms the meat of a great vegetable stir fry. mushrooms have an earthy, slightly woodsy, meaty flavor and are one of the foods that contain umami, the fifth primary tas
• Ginger: Fresh ginger is spicy and sweet, and while ground ginger retains some of that pepper spice and sweetness, its flavor is much milder. If you seek high-quality ground ginger, you might find the flavor more intense and reminiscent of fresh flavor.

Next, I add broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower to the wok with the first ingredients.

• Broccoli: I love broccoli because it absorbs flavors and sauces well. It's very crunchy with a vegetal, slightly sweet, and somewhat bitter taste when eaten raw. However, when it's cooked, its flavor becomes sweeter.
• Carrots: Carrots are naturally sweet and offer a beautiful color to a stir fry.
• Cauliflower: Similar to broccoli, cauliflower absorbs flavors like a sponge.

Lastly, I add the peppers, zucchini, and bok choy because they are dense and need less time to cook than any other vegetables.

• Red bell pepper: The sweetest of the bell peppers, red peers enhance the flavors of stir fry.
• Zucchini: Zucchini has a mild flavor, slightly sweet and slightly bitter, with a rich feel. When cooked, its sweetness enhances.
• Bok Choy: For me, bok choy is the perfect green for a stir fry. Its texture is a bit firmer than other greens, and it too absorbs flavors well while maintaining its crunchiness.

Ingredient Substitutions

• Choose vegetables such as snap peans, green beans, asparagus, or green peppers.
• Yellow summer squash is similar in texture and composition to zucchini.
• Red onions are sweeter and less intense than white onions.
• Choose any colored bell peppers or consider using baby bell peppers.
• If you want a spicier stir fry, add jalapeno or serrano peppers.
• Portobello mushrooms are firmer in texture than white mushrooms.

How to Cook Stir Fry

For instance, the garlic, onions, and mushrooms are all sauteed together first until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms are browned.

Although I did not have to use any vegetable broth in the wok I used, add a little vegetable broth if your vegetables stick to the bottom of the wok or pan.

Then, add the second group of vegetables: broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower, because they are of similar size and texture.

Because the carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower take the longest to cook, cooking in layers allows every vegetable to cook perfectly so as not to get soggy or mushy. 

Again, I did not need to add any vegetable broth because the vegetables have a lot of water in them creating natural moisture. You do not, however, add any sauce yet!

I recommend moving the carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower to the bottom of the pan, tossing it around every few minutes for 10 minutes. Next, I add the third stage or layer of vegetables, the zucchini, red bell pepper, and bok choy. 

Since red bell peppers, zucchini, and bok choy cook quickly, they get added last. And, you only cook these three vegetables for the last 5 minutes, so they don't get overcooked. 

Now, for the most essential part of cooking a perfect stir-fry, don't add the sauce until the end! Also, less sauce is more! So, even though the stir fry sauce below makes 1 ¼ cups of sauce, I only use ¼-1/2 cups of sauce for the whole stir fry. 

Stir Fry Sauce Ingredients

If you choose to add the teriyaki tofu, you can use the rest of the sauce for the tofu marinade. Or, you can serve additional sauce on the side for people who want more. 

The first goal, for instance, in making a homemade stir fry sauce, is to use fresh ingredients and avoid refined sugar.

No matter what kind of jarred sauce you buy at the store, it has too many ingredients, which all translate to sugar.

• Soy sauce: Soy sauce gives the sauce an umami flavor. Choose low sodium soy sauce if trying to reduce sodium intake.
• Water: This thins the sauce but also helps balance the ingredients.
• Fresh pineapple: Fresh is best. It brings natural sweetness to the stir fry sauce.
• Garlic: Fresh garlic is always best when available.
• Ginger: Spicy and naturally sweet, ginger is essential to a great stir fry sauce.
• Rice vinegar: Rice vinegar is sweet with an acidic base, making it for stir fry.
• Arrowroot powder: Arrowroot powder is a thickener. When heated with the blended ingredients, the sauce gets thick and sticky.

Sauce Substitutions

If you do not have access to fresh ingredients, here are some substitutions for swapping ingredients.

• Replace fresh pineapple with pineapple juice
• No pineapple or pineapple juice? How about using ¼ cup agave or maple syrup instead
• Substitute cornstarch for arrowroot powder.
• Use 1 teaspoon ginger spice instead of fresh ginger
• Use 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder instead of fresh garlic cloves
• Substitute Tamari for soy sauce for a gluten-free option

Even though I always try to use fresh, sometimes fresh isn't an option, so there is always a way to substitute ingredients. 

Brown Rice vs. Quinoa

Recently, I posted two different posts about how to cook brown rice and how to cook quinoa to make meal prep easier. When I meal prep, I always make brown rice and quinoa to use in dishes throughout the week.

For example, I used brown rice for the vegan stir fry recipe. But, if you prefer quinoa, it works just as well with the vegetables and sauce. 

Since Paul and I are the only ones eating vegan stir fry, I made my rice using the stovetop directions. But sometimes, I like to combine quinoa and brown rice for a unique texture.

Whenever I make a small amount of rice, I use the stovetop version because it takes less time. 

Or, if you don't like rice or quinoa, try using ramen noodles used in ramen noodle salad or stir fry ramen noodles.

Serving Ideas

If you are trying to lose weight, you want to add twice the amount of vegetables to your bowl than brown rice. 

• Add a small amount of rice to the bottom of the plate or bowl
• Scoop large amounts of vegetable stir fry on top of the rice
• Sprinkle with black sesame seeds (optional)
• Top with Teriyaki Tofu (optional)
• Serve with extra sauce

And the leftovers make a great lunch that reheats well in just a few minutes.

Recipes FAQs

Tips

• To avoid soggy stir fry, cook the vegetables in stages.
• Do not add sauce to the vegetables while cooking. Instead, add it in the last few minutes, preventing the vegetables from getting soggy.
• Keep the rice or quinoa separate; do not add the rice to the wok to cook with the vegetables.
• Use a wok or large skillet for cooking vegetables evenly.

If you are a stir fry lover, you must try this vegan recipe. You will love the stir fry sauce and the perfectly cooked vegetables.

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Do you love this stir fry? If so, give us a 5-star review and comment below!

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