Frozen Stir-Fry Vegetables in Sesame Ginger Sauce
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This “quickie” recipe is a go-to in our house. Frozen vegetables stir-fried in a savory sauce with fresh ginger, garlic, and toasted sesame oil. Make this healthful super-tasty meal in about 15 minutes!
This is a favorite budget-friendly recipe in our house, putting reliable frozen veggies front and center. The sauce is made with everyday pantry condiments like soy sauce, sesame oil and hoisin.
I get it — frozen veggies don’t sound very glam. But there’s no denying that stocking up on bags of assorted colorful vegetables will up your freezer game when dinner time comes around!
To make this dish, grab a variety of vegetables that are probably stashed in your freezer right now and mix up a stir-fry sauce with pantry ingredients.
You can serve the vegetables as is, or toss in cooked ramen noodles, rice noodles or rice to make it even more satisfying.
Frozen vegetables for stir-fry
The beauty of this recipe is that you can mix up the veggies to suit your family’s taste. Yay for choices!
Tip: No one enjoys soggy vegetables in a stir-fry. It’s easy to avoid that — just stick to a mix of sturdier vegetables.
That’s the best way to make sure your veggies will keep their pleasing crisp texture after cooking. You’ll need a total of two pounds frozen vegetables to serve four people.
Best frozen vegetables for stir-frying :
- Broccoli florets
- Cauliflower florets
- Sliced or chopped carrots
- Peas
- Green beans
- Edamame
- Sweet corn and/or baby corn
I bought bags of “Asian Medley” frozen vegetables. a mix that includes snap peas, baby corn, and carrots. I also added in sliced carrots, edamame and broccoli florets that were packaged separately.
Like my Quick Asparagus Stir-Fry, it’s a surprisingly pretty and colorful mixture of vegetables that make a quick and healthful meal.
Tips for stir-frying frozen vegetables
- There’s no need to thaw the frozen vegetables before cooking. Just throw them directly into your very hot wok or large skillet.
- Choose the right pan, ideally a wok. A large skillet that’s 12-inches in diameter will work too. The more surface area the better so that the vegetables cook quickly and stay crisp.
- Heat up the pan on high heat before adding the vegetables. When it just begins to smoke, add your oil and start frying.
- Stir the frozen veggies around frequently so they thaw quickly and cook evenly.
If you have them on hand, stir in some fresh greens like spinach or kale after you take the pan off the heat. The residual heat will wilt them slightly and add even more color to your plate.
For non-vegetarians, meat protein is delicious in this stir-fry. Cook a half pound of ground meat (such as turkey, pork or beef) sliced raw chicken or shrimp before cooking the onion in step 1.
30-minute recipes to try:
Stir-Fried Frozen Vegetables in Sesame Ginger Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
Stir-Fry Sauce
- ¼ cup vegetable broth
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari sauce
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons grated garlic
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Stir-Fry
- 2 tablespoons high-heat vegetable oil, such as canola, avocado or peanut
- ½ red or yellow onion, sliced
- 2 pounds mixed frozen vegetables (see note below)
Serve with your choice of :
- Cooked plain ramen or rice noodles
- Cooked rice
- Baby spinach or kale greens
Instructions
Mix the stir-fry sauce:
- Whisk all the ingredients together in a medium bowl.
Cook the vegetables:
- Heat a wok or large (12-inch) skillet over high heat until the pan is very hot. Add the oil and wait until it shimmers (it should shimmer immediately if your pan is hot enough). Stir in the onion and cook 1 minute. Add the vegetables. Cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently, or until the vegetables are heated through.
- Pour in the sauce and stir until the vegetables are coated. Cook until the sauce thickens and smells fragrant, 2-3 minutes.
- Serve hot over rice, noodles and or greens.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- Mix and match sturdy frozen vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, corn, edamame or choose a packaged blend.
- There’s no need to thaw the vegetables before cooking. Just throw them right in your screaming-hot pan!
- For non-vegetarians, meat protein is delicious in this stir-fry. Cook a half pound of ground meat (such as turkey, pork or beef) sliced raw chicken or shrimp before cooking the onion in step 1.
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
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This sauce is really good! thank you!
Made this for dinner tonight – absolutely delicious!!! Used Costco’s Kirkland’s Stir-Fry Veggies, Eggplant and Tofu. Finally a perfect recipe for frozen veggies that make them taste as good as fresh!!! Will make this on repeat!!!
I made this last weekend and it was just amazing! Will definitely make this again.
I loved this recipe. I added tofu for extra protein and went heavy on the edamame. The sauce was delicious, I made a slightly bigger batch as I used a bit more veggies than the recipe called for. I will be adding this to my staples 🙂
Tofu sounds like a perfect add-in!
Solid recipe. Great stir fry sauce, not overly spicy, just right for my plain tongue! The sauce amount was just right too. Family loved it. I added tofu for extra protein. I will be saving this recipe. Thank you!
Hi Karen,
This article is fantastic for stir fry lover. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us. I am very excited to try your recipe.
I used garlic chili paste instead of Hoisin, which probably changed the flavor profile– but it was still delicious! Thanks for the easy meal base (i added shrimp, some i didn’t have any legumes to include)!
This bowl looks so fresh and delicious. I just got hungry… I love your stir fry and will certainly try it soon. Thank you very much for sharing it.