A simple vegan stir-fry loaded with veggies and seasoned with a simple sauce. Add your favorite protein, such as crispy tofu, and serve with a side of rice or quinoa. Ready in 30 minutes!

A simple stir-fry is a fantastic way to load up on veggies. This vegan stir-fry is no different. It has classic Asian vegetables such as bok choy, baby corn, and snow peas, accompanied by mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, and red pepper. But you can use any vegetables that you have on hand. This is a great recipe to use to clean out your veggie drawer! Plus, you can add your favorite protein such as crispy air fryer tofu, or serve it without.
It wouldn’t be a stir-fry without a homemade stir-fry sauce, and this recipe has an easy one that comes together in a minute and uses common ingredients you should already have on hand.
Say goodbye to overcooked soggy stir-fry, and say hello to a restaurant-quality weeknight meal that is ready in 30 minutes!
My favorite way to enjoy this stir-fry is with white rice, but you can also serve it with brown rice, or quinoa.
💗 Why You’ll Loe This Vegan Stir-Fry
- Loaded With Veggies
- Simple Stir-Fry Sauce
- Easy Weeknight Meal
- High in Vitamins and Minerals
- Customize Using Your Favorite Veggies
- Add Your Favorite Protein
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
Vegetables: This stir-fry is loaded with veggies. Feel free to leave out any vegetables that you don’t like, and add in anything that you have on hand or that you love. The vegetables that I used include; mushrooms, red onion, broccoli, red pepper, carrots, snowpeas, bok choy, and baby corn. I was able to find all of the vegetables at my local supermarket. If you have a difficult time finding fresh baby corn, you could use canned, or opt for frozen corn kernels. If you can’t find bok choy, you could use kale or Swiss chard. Add some garlic and fresh ginger for some aromatic flavor.
Stir-Fry Sauce: Making the stir-fry sauce is super simple. Most of the ingredients you should have on hand. You’ll need soy sauce (or tamari if gluten-free), vegetable stock, sesame oil, rice vinegar, garlic, maple syrup, and cornstarch. If you don’t have sesame oil, you could use olive oil. Rice vinegar is preferred, but if you don’t have it, you could use apple cider vinegar. Maple syrup gives the sauce a hint of sweetness. You could also use agave or brown sugar. Cornstarch helps to thicken the sauce when it coats the vegetables.
📋 How to Make Vegan Stir-Fry Step by Step
Step 1: Add a tablespoon of sesame oil or olive oil to a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion. Cook for about 3 minutes until softened. Then add the garlic and the ginger paste. Stir to combine, and cook for an additional minute.
Step 2: Next, it’s time to add in the crunchy vegetables. Add in the sliced carrots and the red bell pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add in the broccoli, mushrooms, baby corn, and snow peas. Cover and steam for 5 minutes.
Step 3: While the vegetables are steaming, it’s time to make the sauce. Whisk together the vegetable stock, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, maple syrup, garlic, and cornstarch.
Step 4: Remove the lid from the steaming vegetables. Add in the chopped bok choy, and pour the sauce over the vegetables. Stir to combine. Cover and allow to steam for another 2-3 minutes. The sauce should thicken and coat the vegetables.
Step 5: Remove the pan from the heat. The vegetables should be tender but have a bit of crunch. You don’t want them to be soft, or undercooked, they should be al denté. If they are still quite crunchy, cover and steam for a few more minutes. Serve immediately with a side of rice or quinoa, or on top of noodles. Top with sesame seeds, green onion, or fresh chopped basil or cilantro.
💭 Expert Tips
- Different vegetables need varying amounts of time to cook. This is why you add them in at different times during the cooking process.
- Onions, garlic, and other aromatics are always added first. This is because they give flavor to the other vegetables.
- Carrots are added in early on because they are quite crunchy and need more time to cook.
- Mushrooms have a lot of water that cooks down when heated. There is no need to add any additional water or vegetable stock to the vegetables while they are cooking.
- Vegetables such as snow peas, and bok choy need less time to cook, so they should be added last.
- Don’t overcook the broccoli because it can change the color from bright green to brown rather quickly, especially once the sauce is added.
❓ Recipe FAQS
There are several options when it comes to adding protein to your stir-fry. My favorite addition is crispy air fryer tofu. The tofu can be cooked in the air fryer, while you’re cooking the stir-fry, and needs very little hands-on time. It adds a nice texture to the vegan stir-fry. But if you don’t like tofu you could opt for TVP (textured vegetable protein). The TVP cooking process is simple.
I tend to like to add Asian spices to my stir-frys such as ginger, and sesame seeds. For some added spice, add red pepper flakes. Some other delicious additions include fresh chopped basil, or cilantro, and citrus flavors such as lime, lemon, and lemongrass.
No, you do not need to blanch the vegetables prior to cooking them. Adding them to your sauté pan is enough to cook them properly. Especially when you cook the vegetables in different stages.
📖 Variations and Substitutions
Gluten-Free Version: Soy sauce contains gluten, therefore, substitute the soy sauce for tamari, or coconut aminos. Everything else in this recipe is gluten-free.
Add Different Vegetables: If there are any allergies or you simply don’t like a particular vegetable, leave it out, and use something else in its place. For example, you could use sugar snap peas, instead of snow peas. You could take out the mushrooms and add zucchini or yellow squash. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to your veggie stir fry.
👩🏻🍳 Serving Suggestions
Rice: My favorite way to serve this recipe is with white rice. I prefer white rice over brown rice, but both are excellent. Brown rice is higher in fiber, magnesium, and other nutrients. So it will help you feel fuller longer.
Quinoa: Quinoa is a complete protein. Accompanying your stir-fry with quinoa helps to give this dish a more well-rounded nutritional profile.
Noodles: Serve on top of rice noodles for a gluten-free option, or try serving it with ramen, or even whole wheat spaghetti.
Protein: Add tofu, or TVP (similar texture to chicken).
❄️ Storage
Once the veggies have cooled transfer them to an airtight container. Store them in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or over the stovetop.
😋 More Delicious Recipes
If you made this recipe, please comment below and leave a ⭐️ rating. You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for more family-friendly vegan recipes!
Recipe
Vegan Stir-Fry Recipe
Ingredients
Vegetable Stir-Fry
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or sesame oil
- 1 small red onion diced or cut into thin slices
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste or fresh ginger minced
- 2 carrots peeled and cut into thin strips
- 1 red bell pepper thinkly sliced
- 10 oz mushrooms sliced
- 1 head broccoli cut into florets
- 6 ounces baby corn fresh
- 1 cup snowpeas
- 2 cups bok choy roughly chopped
Stir-Fry Sauce
- ½ cup vegetable stock
- ½ cup soy sauce or tamari (gluten-free)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
For Serving
- 2 cups white or brown rice
- 2 ½ cups water
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Prepare white or brown rice according to package directions, or follow my recipe for Ninja Foodi Rice.
- Prepare the vegetables, by washing and chopping them. Dice the onion, and mince the garlic. Peel and chop the carrots into strips. Chop the red pepper into strips. Cut the broccoli heads. Roughly chop the bok chop, and slice the mushrooms if not already sliced.
- Add a tablespoon of sesame oil or olive oil to a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion. Cook for about 3 minutes until softened. Then add the garlic and the ginger paste. Stir to combine, and cook for an additional minute.
- Add in the sliced carrots and the red bell pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add in the broccoli, mushrooms, baby corn, and snow peas. Cover and steam for 5 minutes.
- While the vegetables are steaming, whisk together the vegetable stock, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, maple syrup, garlic, and cornstarch. Set aside.
- Remove the lid from the steaming vegetables. Add in the chopped bok choy, and pour the sauce over the vegetables. Stir to combine. Cover and allow to steam another 2-3 minutes. The sauce should thicken and coat the vegetables.
- Remove the pan from the heat. The vegetables should be tender but have a bit of crunch. Serve immediately with brown rice, or your choice of noodles, rice, or quinoa.
Video
Notes
- Add crispy tofu or TVP (textured vegetable protein) for added protein and texture.
- Different vegetables need varying amounts of time to cook. This is why you add them in at different times during the cooking process.
- Onions, garlic, and other aromatics are always added first. This is because they give flavor to the other vegetables.
- Carrots are added in early on because they are quite crunchy and need more time to cook.
- Mushrooms have quite a bit of water that cooks down when heated. There is no need to add any additional water or vegetable stock to the vegetables while they are cooking.
- Vegetables such as broccoli, snow peas, and bok choy need less time to cook, so they should be added last.
- You don’t want to overcook the broccoli because it can change from bright beautiful green to brown rather quickly, especially once the sauce is added.
- Once the veggies have cooled transfer them to an airtight container. Store them in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or over the stovetop.
Amy
Love this simple stir fry! It’s such a great way to clean out my crisper drawer in the fridge and use up all the leftover veggies!
Aimee Mars
Stir-fry is one of my most favorite things to make and I love how you gave suggestions for the spices – fresh chopped basil, or cilantro, and citrus flavors such as lime, lemon, and lemongrass all sounds sooo amazing!
nancy
love this vegan stir-fry with no hidden surprises. it was perfect for a busy weeknight!
Sara Welch
I love healthy stir fry recipes and this was no exception! Turned out perfectly light yet hearty; delicious!
Nathan
This is an excellent vegan stir fry, it’s got the perfect blend of veggies and so much flavor! I’ll definitely be making this one again. Thanks for the recipe!
Sara Welch
Enjoyed this for dinner last night and it did not disappoint! Easy, quick and healthy; loved every bite!
Dana
Love a good veggie stir fry! Perfect for Meatless Mondays and it’s nice and quick for the weeknight, which always helps!