Plant-based, gluten-free, dairy-free, and 100 percent delicious
It’s hard to find a filling, delicious recipe that checks all the boxes. Many vegetarian recipes are heavy or use dairy, so they’re neither dairy-free nor vegan-friendly. Then all the plant-based recipes use a ton of oil or gluten-free recipes that are loaded up with meat. This flavorful Vegetable Teriyaki Stir-Fry recipe changes everything. It’s made with plant-based ingredients and designed to satisfy the dietary needs of a wide variety of eaters.
The best part? It tastes so good you’d swear it’s a regular recipe! Serve this teriyaki vegetable stir-fry on its own as a side dish, or combine it with rice, quinoa, or noodles to make a filling main course. Riced cauliflower and zoodles work here, too, so don’t be afraid to think outside the box! Furthermore, it’s made in a single pot, making it a one-pan meal with super easy clean-up.
What is Teriyaki Sauce?
Teriyaki sauce is a salty, sweet sauce that’s traditionally made from soy sauce. To keep things gluten-free, you can absolutely use tamari, a soy sauce made without any wheat. The soy sauce is salty and filled with savory, umami flavors. The sauce gains an unforgettable flavor with sweet coconut sugar, tangy rice vinegar, savory garlic, and spicy ginger. Add cornstarch to help it become thick and sticky enough to coat meat or vegetables.
Teriyaki sauce can be used as a marinade for meat, but we’re going to use it as the sauce for our flavorful Vegetable Teriyaki Stir-Fry. We chose to skip the store-bought teriyaki sauce and make our own to avoid any potentially non-vegan-friendly ingredients. You can use your favorite teriyaki brand for this recipe, but check the ingredients to ensure they fit your dietary preferences.
Make this Vegetable Teriyaki Stir-Fry Recipe Your Own
It’s incredibly easy to make ingredient substitutions in this stir-fry recipe. Don’t like mushrooms? Skip them and add extra zucchini instead. Can’t find zucchini? Use summer squash. No broccoli? Cauliflower totally works!
You can use any variety of vegetables you wish. As a good rule of thumb, you’ll need about two cups of uncooked vegetables per person. That means eight total cups for a four-serving stir-fry. Hearty root vegetables (like sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, or winter squash) need to cook longer than the tender vegetables in this recipe. So plan ahead, cut them into small, bite-sized pieces, and add them about ten minutes before the other veggies.
How Do You Stir-Fry?
Stir-frying is basically a fancy way of saying sauteeing. It’s easy to master, but you will want to keep a few tips in mind. For starters, make sure everything is cut and prepped in advance. You’ll be cooking over high heat, and things will move quickly once you start! The last thing you want is for the onions to burn while you’re cutting the zucchini, so get it all out of the way ahead of time.
Most stir-fry recipes start by heating the oil over high heat, but we’re skipping the oil in this Vegetable Teriyaki Stir-Fry recipe. Instead, we’ll heat vegetable broth in a skillet or wok. When it’s good and hot, you can begin adding the vegetables. It’s important to add them in a specific order, cooking the long-cooking ingredients like broccoli and mushrooms before you add the quick-cooking items like zucchini.
Finally, adding the teriyaki sauce at the end is a good idea. The sauce ultimately flavors the stir-fry, so choose a good one. Teriyaki sauce is traditional, but you could also try a sweet chili sauce or a peanut sauce.
Flavorful Vegetable Teriyaki Stir-Fry
Ingredients
Teriyaki Sauce
- 1/4 cup tamari gluten-free, or soy sauce
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable broth or water
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons ginger minced
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Stir-Fry
- 1/4 cup vegetable broth or water
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 1/4 cup red onion diced small
- 2 cups mushrooms sliced
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 1 zucchini cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup sugar snap peas
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 green onion thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup cashews chopped
Instructions
Teriyaki Sauce
- To make the teriyaki sauce, combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.
Stir Fry
- To make the stir fry, heat a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable broth. When the liquid is hot, add the broccoli, onion, and mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes.
- Add the bell peppers, zucchini, and sugar snap peas. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Add additional broth or water if the pan dries out and the vegetables start sticking.
- Stir in the teriyaki sauce and cook until the sauce is thickened and the vegetables have reached the desired level of tenderness, about 5 minutes.
- Garnish the stir-fry with sesame seeds, sliced green onions, and chopped cashews. Serve alone or on top of quinoa or brown rice.
Nutrition Information
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This was delicious. Added firm tofu. My vegetarian niece also made this. She is a busy medical student & made for her roommates. This recipe has been passed around in such a short time. Thank you!
You are so welcome!