Shrimp Stir Fry

This shrimp stir fry is a go-to fast and healthy dinner! Use any veggies you like with this flavor-packed stir fry sauce.

Here’s a go-to fast and easy dinner: shrimp stir fry! This one is packed with flavor with a glossy, savory stir fry sauce that coats the juicy shrimp and colorful veggies. Use your favorite vegetables to make a super-satisfying dinner that pleases everyone around the table. It’s quick to whip up: just add rice or noodles to make it a meal!

Ingredients in this shrimp stir fry

This shrimp stir fry recipe is extremely versatile and customizable based on your tastes. All you need is shrimp and stir fry sauce: then use whatever veggies you love! Here’s what we included as essential ingredients: but you can customize based on your liking:

• Shrimp: Fresh or frozen both work in this recipe.
• Broccoli or broccolini: Typically we use broccoli, but broccolini has a sweet flavor and a nice look with the long stems.
• Bell peppers: Peppers are quick to cook and pack in the nutrients.
• Mushrooms (optional): Shiitake mushrooms add big savory flavor, but you can use any type of mushroom, like portobello, cremini, oyster, or maitake.
• Green onions: Scallions are quick to cook and add a fresh flavor.
• Ginger (optional): Fresh ginger root adds big flavor if you have it.

More vegetables to add

There are lots more veggies you can add to customize this shrimp stir fry. But keep in mind, it’s important not to overstuff your pan! More veggies is not necessarily better. Using too many makes them stack on each other and steam instead of stir fry, resulting in soggy veggies. Use your largest skillet and approximately 6 to 8 cups of vegetables total. Here are a few ideas for more veggies:

• Vegetables that stir fry in 6 to 7 minutes: broccoli, bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, carrots (thinly sliced or matchsticks)
• Vegetables that stir fry in 3 to 5 minutes: cabbage (thinly sliced), zucchini, summer squash, edamame (frozen and shelled), snap peas or snow peas, bok choy (chopped)
• Vegetables stir fry in 1 minute: garlic (minced), ginger (minced), green onion (thinly sliced)

What shrimp to buy

There are lots of options at the store when it comes to shrimp! When you’re shopping for this shrimp stir fry, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Look for wild caught. Fish that is wild caught in your country is usually a sustainable choice. There are also quality options in well-regulated farms; see Seafood Watch Consumer Guide.
• Find medium shrimp (or large). Medium shrimp is our favorite here, because it’s bite-sized and distributes well with the veggies. Large works too, but we find the size can overwhelm in a stir fry. Medium is labeled as 41 to 50 count, and Large as 31 to 40 count (this indicates how many shrimp there are per pound).
• Use tail on or peeled. Tail on looks nice, but you do have to remove the tails with your hands as you eat them! Peeled is nice, especially when serving kids.
• Fresh or frozen. Both have essentially the same freshness because most shrimp are immediately flash frozen. Just make sure to thaw the shrimp in advance.

Tips for the stir fry sauce

This shrimp stir fry sauce is customizable to work for any stir fry! We made it first with this Tofu Stir Fry, then realized it would be delicious with just about any protein. Use this sauce for any stir fry that’s intended for 4 servings and 1 pound of protein, be it chicken, tofu, steak or shrimp. You can make the sauce in advance if you like: whip it up and store in a covered jar or container until you’re ready to cook. Here’s what’s in this sauce:

• Soy sauce
• Rice vinegar
• Sugar
• Miso, yellow or white
• Cornstarch
• Garlic powder

Miso is a Japanese fermented soybean paste that’s full of nutrients and salty flavor. It’s known for its intense savory notes, otherwise known as umami. There are many different types of miso, and they all taste different. Try to find yellow or white miso for this stir fry sauce if you can. Red or brown miso has a very strong flavor, but it would also work here since the sauce uses a small quantity.

How to serve shrimp stir fry

Once you’ve whipped up this shrimp stir fry: how to serve it? Here are a few options for serving suggestions and side dishes to make it a complete meal:

• Jasmine rice: Jasmine rice has a lovely fragrant flavor and light texture that makes it our favorite variety.
• Quinoa: We like mixing it up and serving a stir fry with quinoa every now and then.
• Noodles: Serve with quick soba noodles.
• Edamame: Pair this stir fry with Easy Edamame or Spicy Edamame as a side.
• Fried Rice: Add classic fried rice for a filling meal.

A few notes on nutrition

This shrimp stir fry is big on both flavor and nutrients! We like to design meals that add a nutritional punch using our favorite go-to veggies. Here’s what to know:

• Bell peppers are packed with vitamin C: 1 medium red bell pepper provides 169% of your daily vitamin C. So using two peppers in this recipe knocks this vitamin off the charts (source).
• Broccoli is full of fiber and Vitamin C. 1 cup of raw broccoli has 2.3 grams of fiber (source) and 140% of your daily vitamin (source). This recipe uses about 4 cups.
• You also get all the benefits of mushrooms, like anti-oxidants and Vitamin B (source).

More shrimp recipes

Love cooking with shrimp? Here a few shrimp recipes to add to your arsenal:

• Try Creamy Shrimp Risotto, Shrimp Fra Diavolo or Shrimp Lettuce Wraps
• Go for an Easy Shrimp and Rice Skillet
• Mix up Easy Cajun Shrimp or Honey Garlic Shrimp
• Browse 40 Easy Shrimp Recipes or 15 Healthy Shrimp Recipes

01

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

02

Easy Shrimp and Rice Skillet

03

Honey Garlic Shrimp

04

40 Easy Shrimp Recipes

This shrimp stir fry recipe is…

Gluten-free, dairy-free, and pescatarian.

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