30-Minute Vegetable Stir Fry

This super easy Vegetable Stir Fry recipe is the perfect meal for those busy weeknights. You can make this simple dinner recipe in just 30 minutes – plus it’s gluten free friendly!

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Vegetable Stir Fry is made from a combination of vegetables in an Asian-inspired sauce. It can be enjoyed as is, or over rice or noodles.

The stir fry sauce is made from a simple combination of ingredients that are pantry staples, especially if you enjoy Asian recipes regularly.

For the vegetables, this recipe uses broccoli, carrots, water chestnuts, red peppers, snow peas, and baby corn. You can easily swap these out if you have other vegetables that you prefer in stir fry.

Or, for a little something different, try this Vegetable Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce recipe.

Why This Recipe Works

Weeknights can be crazy, so delicious meals that come together fast make them so much easier. This recipe takes just 30 minutes and is perfect for those nights.

It’s loaded with vegetables, filling, and family friendly. It’s also a great option for Meatless Mondays and can easily be made gluten free, if needed – see the recipe card notes at the bottom of this post for more information.

Making this Vegetable Stir Fry is so easy. It’s even a fun recipe that kids can help with too. They can put the vegetables in the bowl and measure and combine all the ingredients for the sauce.

What You Need to Make Vegetable Stir Fry

You will need a combination of vegetables. This recipe uses broccoli, carrots, snow peas, red peppers, water chestnuts, and baby corn.

Tip: you can swap out the vegetables listed in this recipe for whatever you like. Some other vegetables that work great in stir fry include mushrooms, onions, bean sprouts, and squash.

You will also need olive oil, garlic, ginger, vegetable stock, soy sauce, rice vinegar, cooking wine (like sherry or white wine), ketchup and sesame oil.

Optional garnishes include slices of green onions and sesame seeds.

How to Make Vegetable Stir Fry

Prep!

This first step of this recipe is to prepare all of the ingredients.

You will need to cut the broccoli into bite-size florets, thinly slice the carrots, slice the red pepper into thin strips, and mince the garlic and ginger. If your water chestnuts are not already sliced, you will need to do that as well.

Tip: to make the prep work quicker, buy broccoli that’s already been cut into florets, already sliced or matchstick cut carrots, canned, sliced water chestnuts, as well as jarred, minced garlic and ginger paste (although fresh is best).

Create!

Mix together the vegetable stock, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, cooking wine, brown sugar, ketchup, and sesame oil. Set aside.

Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add the carrots.

Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, then add the broccoli, red bell pepper, snow peas, water chestnuts, and baby corn.

Cook an additional 5-6 minutes, until everything is tender and heated through.

Stir in the garlic and ginger for 1 minute.

Pour in the sauce and heat for 1-2 minutes.

Mix together the cornstarch and water.

Stir the cornstarch slurry into the vegetables and raise the heat to high. Heat for 30 seconds to 1 minute to thicken the sauce.

Present!

Serve as is or over rice or noodles.

Garnish with sesame seeds and/or sliced green onions, if desired.

How to Make Stir Fry Gluten Free

To make this stir fry recipe gluten free, be sure to use gluten free vegetable stock and gluten free soy sauce. Serve over rice or gluten free noodles.

Tips and Techniques

• Swap out the vegetables listed in this recipe for whatever you like or more/less of the ones listed to suite your own personal preferences.
• Shortcuts to make this recipe even quicker include buying broccoli that has already been cut into florets, already sliced or matchstick cut carrots, canned, sliced water chestnuts, as well as jarred, minced garlic and ginger paste.
• Store leftovers in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Use within 3-4 days.

FAQ’s

• What vegetables do you stir fry first? You want to start with any vegetables that take longer to cook first, then softer vegetables. Harder vegetables may be thicker cuts of carrot or large pieces of broccoli, while softer veggies are peppers, water chestnuts, and snow peas.
• What vegetables can you add to stir fry? You can add lots of different vegetables to a stir fry. Some popular choices are broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, snow peas, water chestnuts, mushrooms, peppers, bean sprouts, squash, and baby corn.
• Can you make stir fry ahead of time? You can prep the vegetables and make the sauce ahead of time. Store them in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook. You can enjoy leftovers for up to 4 days after, but stir fry is best when freshly cooked.

More Vegetarian Recipes to Try

Looking for more delicious vegetarian recipes to incorporate in your weekly meals? These Sheet Pan Vegetarian Nachos are an amazing place to start. You can enjoy these as an appetizer or the main dish.

For main dishes, you might like this recipe for Vegetarian Sweet Potato Black Bean Tacos or these Spicy Black Bean Veggie Burgers.

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This recipe was originally published on February 7, 2017. It was updated with new images, more thorough instructions, tips, techniques, and FAQ’s in February 2020.