Broccoli Stir Fry is a quick and easy 15-minute meal that is full of nutrients! Use a protein of your choice- here, I’ve kept it vegan and used tofu, but you could make this with shrimp, chicken, or even beef. Serve it over noodles, rice, or just on its own for a quick low-carb dinner.
Hey friends, I’m keeping it short and sweet this week. This Broccoli Stir Fry was lour lunch today, and I couldn’t help but think how you probably have everything you need to make this in your fridge right now, so I thought I’d share it!
What I love about Broccoli Stir Fry!
What I like about this recipe is how adaptable it is (use any protein you like: tofu, shrimp, chicken, beef, etc) and feel free to switch up the nuts. Here I’ve used cashews, but other nuts work well too! I also love how quickly it comes together.
It would also work with other veggies as well. You get the idea. 🙂 We have a great selection of stir fry recipes here!
How to make Broccoli Stir Fry
- Start with toasting the cashews in a dry skillet and cooking the protein. Here, we are using simply seasoned tofu. See the recipe notes for chicken, beef or shrimp.
2. Make the Stir Fry Sauce, whisking it in a bowl.
3. Cut the broccoli into very small florets and stir fry the broccoli with garlic and shallots. If using big pieces of broccoli, you can add a little splash of water, cover and steam (optional).
4. Once the broccoli is tender, pour in the stir-fry sauce and stir and let it simmer. Add the protein, give it a few tosses, and warm it through. Top with the toasted cashews.
Serving Suggestions
Serve broccoli stir fry on its own, over rice noodles, soba noodles, or jasmine rice. For a quick low-carb meal, I just serve it on its own.
Storing Broccoli Stir fry
Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months, but the broccoli will discolor slightly.
Let me know what you think in the comments below!
Have a great week,
More Favorite Stir Fry Recipes you may like!
- Celery Stir Fry
- Shrimp Stir fry
- Tofu Stir-Fry with Broccolini and Mushrooms
- Best Kung Pao Chicken Recipe
- Asparagus and Mushroom Stir fry
- Zucchini Corn and Basil Stir fry
- Veggie Lo Mein!
- Chinese Eggplant with Szechuan Sauce
- Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken
- Moo Shu Tofu
- Shrimp Stir fry
Broccoli Stir Fry Recipe
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2-3
- Category: stir fry, vegan, vegan dinner
- Method: stir fry
- Cuisine: Chinese
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Quick and easy Broccoli Stir Fry with your choice of tofu, chicken, shrimp or beef. The simple stir-fry sauce is made from scratch. Vegan and gluten-free and adaptable.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup cashews (or peanuts)
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil (wok oil, avocado, coconut, or other high-heat oil)
- 8–12 ounces tofu, extra firm ( or sub shrimp, diced chicken, thinly sliced beef)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- ——
- 1 shallot , chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, chopped
- 3–4 cups broccoli, cut into very small florets
- Splash Chinese Cooking wine ( optional)
- 3–6 dried red Chinese Chiles or arbol chilies ( Thai chilies may be too hot)
Broccoli Stir Fry Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce (or gluten-free Braggs Liquid Aminos)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (or honey)
- 1 tablespoon Rice Vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon chili paste (or Sriracha), more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper (optional)
Serve with jasmine rice or other noodles, garnish with toasted sesame seeds, furikake , chili flakes or Sriracha.
Instructions
- Start jasmine rice if using.
- Toast Nuts: If using raw cashews toast them in a dry skillet or wok over medium-low heat until golden, stirring often. Set aside. Skip this if using roasted nuts.
- Mix the stir-fry sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Cook protein: Press tofu lightly with paper towels and cut into 1-inch cubes. Heat oil in a skillet or wok over medium heat. Sprinkle the oil generously with salt and pepper and give it a swirl. Pepper should smell wonderful. Add the tofu and let it form a crispy crust about 5 minutes- let it naturally release from the pan. It shouldn’t stick if you don’t fiddle with it. Turn it over and crisp up the other side. Place on a paper towel. See notes for chicken, shrimp and beef.
- In the same pan, add a little more oil if necessary, add shallots, garlic and ginger, and saute over medium heat until golden and fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add broccoli, lower heat, and cook, stirring often, 4-5 minutes, until tender. Splash with Chinese cooking wine-optional (or skip it) and cook the wine off.
- Make a well in the center of the broccoli, add the dried chilies and toast for 45 seconds, turning on your hood fan.
- Pour in the stirfy sauce, and give a stir to incorporate all, bring to a simmer.
- Add the crispy tofu (or other cooked protein) and toasted cashews into the wok, warming and tossing to coat.
- Serve on its own, over rice, or noodles.
Notes
To cook shrimp, chicken or beef: Use whole peeled shrimp, 3/4 inch-cubed chicken, or thinly sliced beef. PAT DRY. Make sure to season the hot oil generously with salt and pepper, swirling. Add the meat and stir fry until cooked all the way through, or to your liking, over medium-ish heat. Set aside on a paper towel, continue on with the recipe, and add this back in at the end.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ½ cups
- Calories: 324
- Sugar: 16.8 g
- Sodium: 972.1 mg
- Fat: 20.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 28.4 g
- Fiber: 3.3 g
- Protein: 12.1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
The wine procedure and covering the pot was bad enough to wilt the broccoli. Also I made double the recipe and the sauce made everything like a soup. Had to strain it. On top of that it was a bit too spicy. Not my favorite recipe.
I see the issue here- updated the recipe- thanks for the feedback. 🙂
Delicious
Awesome!
Easy and delicious recipe!
Great to hear!
So good! A little bit sweet. A little bit spicy. I made the tofu version and it crisped up perfectly. This will be on our regular rotation now!
Great to hear Megan!
This recipe was simple and delicious. I couldn’t find the dried Chinese chilis here in Vermont but I honestly don’t think it mattered, the chili paste still gave it a nice little bit of spice. I did think the sauce was a little too runny. I’m not sure what I might have done differently but I’d love to hear your suggestion for thickening it for next time.
Thanks for the great recipes!
Thanks Michelle- To thicken, you can always add a little cornstarch to the sauce ( make a slurry first). 🙂
Very good stir fry. Made it lots of times. Love your recipes! Thank you!😋😀
Thanks Danielle!
So good! We love the sweet hot sauce – yum. Next time I will add a clove of garlic to that as well (we love garlic). Added a red onion to the stir fry, and love the beautiful red color that comes out in the arbol chiles when fried in oil. Completely forgot the cashews, and didn’t even realize it until I went to write a review – will definitely make sure we remember next time, and there will be a next time. This was super delicious. Thank you so much!
Glad you enjoyed Maggie!
Yummy!!
Something didn’t work for me in this recipe. The sauce proportions were off to my taste. It was much too salty- I used about 2/3 of the recommended soy sauce and even so had to add water to the sauce. Additionally, I could never add the amount of chili paste or sriracha called for here- I used 1/4 of designated amount and it was plenty spicy for my crowd. I did add some cornstarch which thickened it just the right amount to create a glaze over the dish. I would need to tweak with sauce further before making it again, but I did appreciate the recipe- particularly the way you suggest cooking the broccoli.
thanks, Cindy- I’ll have to revisit this. What type of soy sauce did you use, just curious?
This was so easy and delicious! I didn’t have shallots(subbed red onion) or red chilies (sprinkled tofu with red chili flakes while cooking). Added some snow peas that needed to be used. Sooo good! Thanks for this stir fry sauce recipe! Will definitely be using this recipe often!
thanks, Mary- glad you enjoyed this!
Made this quick stir fry with tofu tonight and it was amazing! Next time I might add a little cornstarch to the sauce as I like my sauce a little thicker. But as always, your recipes are delicious and flavorful.
Awesome- yes feel free to add Cynthia!
We made this tonight with shrimp and it was another home run. I doubled pretty much everything because we had 5 people eating. I omitted all of the heat except the garlic chili paste but only used 1 1/2 tablespoons so not quite a double on that. We have a few people in the house with an issue with spicy food. I also used double the ginger because I love it. We served it over coconut rice. I thought there would be some leftovers for lunch tomorrow but we ate it all. Everyone loved it. Another recipe to keep. Thanks, Sylvia!!
Sounds great Christian!🙌🏼
Awesome Christian!
So delicious and healthy!
So glad you enjoyed Deborah!
Wonderful, like all your recipes. 👍👍
thanks Martin!
Delicious as always. Such a satisfying and easy meal. I cook a stir fry once a week typically, and always come back to this one again and again (while subbing in different veggies occasionally).
Great to hear Kirstyn!
The whole family loved this! They all begged to have it again and to put in our rotation!
Great to hear!
I really enjoyed this, it was super yummy!!! Thank you.
thanks Lauren- so happy you enjoed it!
I’ve made about a dozen of your recipes, and this is one of the top two or three. Flavor profile was spot on. Textures were great.
Based on what we had in the cupboard:
Subbed a bag of roasted peanuts for the cashews
Subbed garlic chili pepper sauce for the chili paste
Bragg’s amino acids instead of soy, as you recommended
Used three links of a paleo/keto chicken sausage with plant-based casing for the protein
Used your “boil the rice like pasta” trick instead of the directions on some old microwave rice. Great way to use it up.
This was really deep flavored and delicious, with great textures!
Great recipe and easy to prepare. I loved the flavor of the sauce. I made a smaller portion on the side for my toddlers with less chili sauce as they aren’t used to spicy food yet.
Really good! I didn’t have Chinese cooking wine so I used mostly water with a big dash of mirin thrown in…and also used a red pepper, sauteed with the aromatics right before steaming the broccoli. The sauce was delicious.
Delicious, new favourite way to cook tofu
Loved it. Sauce was terrific. I used chili garlic sauce instead of chili paste. That’s all I had in the refrigerator. I’m so impressed with the flavor in each bite. Happy girl tonight! Thanks.
Thanks Ronni- glad you liked it!!!
Very easy and full of flavor. Love that this is all made from scratch.
Soooooo Good! Your seasonings are always spot on. Perfect!
❤️Rhonda
Yay!!! Great to hear. Thanks for sharing! 🙌
I made this for lunch today and it was yummy and healthy! I did not have enough broccoli as called for in the recipe, so I added mushrooms.
Perfect!!! Great to hear. Thanks for sharing! 🙌