Vegetable Shrimp Stir Fry has a delicious Asian flavored sauce that makes for a great dinner as well as a prep-ahead lunch box. Serve it atop a bed of rice or noodles.
Vegetable Shrimp Stir fry is one of our favorites after Prawn Curry and this Garlic herb Shrimp Vegetable Skillet. It is really easy and quick to prepare, I mean that's the beauty of Stir fry right? The sauce is really delicious and finger-licking good. This Shrimp stir fry makes for perfect meal prep.
Stir fry recipes are popular and there are many variations of them with different ingredients. I have a sweeter version with Sweet Chili Shrimp Stir Fry if you like shrimp. There are versions with chicken as the main ingredient- Chicken And Green Beans Stir Fry, Thai Cashew Chicken Stir Fry, and Quick chicken cabbage stir fry. There is a very popular all-veggie version and a reader's favorite - Zucchini Stir Fry.
If you had told me to meal prep for a couple of days in advance and keep it in the refrigerator, I would have frowned on you. Because I had never seen my mom or my aunt preparing two days' lunch, stored and reheated before eating. I have always seen my Mom preparing hot fresh food every single day and serving it within an hour of cooking. Hat's off to her for putting that much effort to feed us delicious food. And somehow I was pretty convinced that that's the only way of eating healthy food.
Little did I know how cumbersome it is to cook a fresh meal every single day. If you can't manage to cook at home, you end up ordering from outside. Ordering takeout is far worse than eating a homecooked meal from the refrigerator.
Especially after my daughter is born, everything changed overnight. Though I managed to cook 3 meals a day including my daughter's, it left me exhausted end of the day. About a year back, I started to plan and do prep work in advance for a meal. And nowadays depending on my schedule, I meal prep for 2-3 days in advance. It not only helps me in limiting the number of takeouts but also in weight management. You wouldn't mind eating it for two days straight when you have something like this Vegetable Shrimp Stir fry.
How To Make Vegetable Shrimp Stir Fry?
Making Vegetable Shrimp stir fry is easy and really quick. And if you are wondering where are the vegetables in the Shrimp Stir fry picture below, then allow me to explain in the next section.
- Start with good-quality medium-sized shrimps. If I get the fresh ones I usually clean, devein, and freeze them. You can also use a packed one. To make it quick, thaw frozen shrimp on the kitchen counter at least for one hour.
- Start with making the sauce. Mix all the sauce ingredients and check the seasoning. I have observed different Soy sauce brands have different salt levels and intensity. SO adjust the seasoning by adding more sugar to balance the saltiness.
- I prefer to use freshly minced ginger and garlic, as it enhances the flavors.
- Using dry red chili is optional here. I like the smokiness that those red chilies add to the sauce. You can certainly skip it.
- Now, you can use snow peas, peppers, zucchini, and broccoli.
- The reason I have not added the veggies to the stir fry is that I was planning to meal prep this stir fry. What I have observed is when vegetables are mixed with the stir fry in meal prep, all those veggies lose their taste and soak up all the flavor from the stir fry sauce. I was missing the freshness of the veggies. So I stir-fried the veggies separately with a dash of oil and garlic.
- If you are not planning to meal prep the stir fry then toss in the veggies towards the end of the cooking time and cook until cooked.
Tips to Assemble and Serve Lunch Bowls
Assembling a lunch bowl is pretty simple and it is up to you depending on your diet preferences. I like to have a balance of carbs, protein, and veggies in my meal.
I can't stress enough that if you are into regular meal prepping then use glass lunch boxes. Please don't use plastic, because it's not only good from a health perspective, it also changes the taste of food.
- White rice, Brown rice, or quinoa are a few of the options for carbs or if you are on a low-carb diet then cauliflower rice would be the best fit.
- You may also add some greens like lettuce.
Store
This vegetable and shrimp stir fry can be easily refrigerated. Take care of the following-
- I prefer storing each component separately. So that the grains or veggies don't get soggy because of the sauce.
- You can store components separately for at least a week. Different components can also be stored for a longer time.
- Make sure the stir fry, rice, and veggies have come to room temperature before you pack.
Other Shrimp Recipes
Cherry Tomato Pasta with Shrimp
Vegetable Shrimp Stir Fry Meal Prep
Ingredients
- 500 grams Shrimp Cleaned
- 200 gms Snap Peas
- 1 Red Bell Pepper
- 1.5 Tablespoon Oil
- 1 tablespoon Garlic minced
- 1 Tablespoon Ginger minced
For Stir fry Sauce
- ¼ cup All purpose Soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine vinegar
- 1.5 tablespoon Brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- 1 teaspoon Chili Sauce (optional)
- ¼ cup Water
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
For Meal Prep
- 4 cups Cooked White rice or brown rice/ quinoa
Instructions
- Start with making the stir fry sauce. Add all the ingredients mentioned under stir fry. Check the seasoning.
In a wok or a pan add 1 Tablespoon oil. Add minced ginger and garlic. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Stir in shrimps. Cook for 4-5 minutes stirring in between.
- Add stir fry sauce to the shrimp and cook for 3-4 minutes in medium heat until the sauce has thickened and coated shrimps well.
- In another pan add ½ tablespoon oil. Add snap peas and pepper. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes. The vegetables should just be cooked, it should have the crunch.
To assemble Lunch Box
- Choose your grain from White Rice/Brown Rice/Quinoa or if on low carb then Cauliflower rice.
- Divide rice among 4 glass lunch box container.
- Divide shrimp and stir-fried veggies equally into 4 boxes. Spoon any leftover sauce from the pan over the shrimps in the lunch boxes.
- Close and keep in the refrigerator up to 2 days.
Notes
- If you are meal prepping the shrimp stir fry, then stir fry shrimp and veggies separately. So that the veggies would retain its taste and freshness even after refrigerating.
- If serving the stir fry immediately, then add veggies to the shrimps 3-4 minutes before switching off the stove.
- Reheat in the microwave before having. Once reheated don't refrigerate again.
Nutrition
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