This simple flavorful Asparagus Mushroom Stir-Fry is loaded up with vibrant spring veggies in a simple sauce, with your choice of protein. It can be made in 20 minutes flat! Keep it vegan with crispy tofu, or add chicken or shrimp!
Fresh spring asparagus loves to be cooked in a wok. Quickly seared, on high heat for a short amount of time leaves it snappy, flavorful and vibrantly green. Paired with mushrooms, garlic and ginger, and your choice of protein, this is one of my all-time favorite asparagus recipes.
We love this with crispy tofu, it’s sooooo good – but if tofu is a “no-go” in your house, you can always sub chicken or shrimp.
Best of all, if you are organized, this can be made fast— 20 minutes flat!
How to make Asparagus Mushroom Stirfry
Step One: It starts with prepping your ingredients. Slice the mushrooms and asparagus, chop the ginger and garlic.
Step Two Prep the tofu- for extra crispy tofu – dredge it in cornflour with salt and sugar- this cornstarch step is optional.
Pan sear the tofu and set it aside. ( Or see notes for chicken or shrimp). 
Step Three: Make the quick stir-fry sauce, just whisking it together in a bowl.
Step four: Then stir fry the mushrooms, asparagus, garlic and ginger.
Look how vibrant the asparagus turns when you cook it hot and fast. I love how it keeps its color.
Step five: Add the stir fry sauce and the crispy tofu, cook 30-60 seconds more and serve!
How to serve it!
Serve it over a bowl of rice or on its own for a low-carb meal.
For a more upscale presentation, arrange asparagus, tofu, and mushrooms in a semi-circle. Drizzle sesame oil over top and complete the circle.
Play with this and have fun! Scatter with chive blossoms for added color and flavor.
On the homefront. This last glorious week was spent digging in the dirt, planting starts and seeds and readying the beds for this season’s harvest. I am constantly reminded how my mental state of mind is directly correlated with time spent outside in the natural world.
As a child, pulling weeds was my parent’s form of torture and punishment. Now it has become a reward. Being outside, my mind seems to settle down and rest, and I begin again to feel the connection to the earth and to all of life. As I worked in the garden, one thought kept coming up repeatedly.
It’s that…everything wants to grow! In my garden, there are weeds, there are volunteers and there are the seeds I plant every year. The dilemma then becomes one of space and time. There is simply not enough of both to grow everything. And so I begin to ask myself the question -what do I really want to grow in my garden? And of course, now, I’m really talking about the garden of life. Because everything will grow if we let it, and we only have so much time here. So. What do I truly want to grow in this life?
And how do I do so in a way that honors it with the space and care that is needed? Garden epiphanies…
More Asparagus recipes you may like:
- Shrimp Asparagus Stir Fry with Lemon and Basil
- Tarragon Chicken (or Tofu) with Asparagus, Lemon and Leeks
- Fennel Asparagus Salad
- Asparagus Risotto
- Broccoli Stir Fry with Tofu
Give this tasty Asparagus Mushroom Stir-Fry a try- I know you will looooooove it!
xoxo
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Asparagus Mushroom Stir-fry
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 18 mins
- Yield: 2-3
- Category: Vegan main
- Method: Stir Fry
- Cuisine: Asian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Vegan Asparagus Mushroom Stir-fry with Tofu (or chicken or shrimp) – a spring inspired, vegan stir fry that can be made in 20 minutes flat!
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce (or sub-GF Bragg's)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon mirin or Chinese cooking wine (optional)
- 1 tsp sugar (or honey, or sugar alternative- maple syrup, coconut sugar.)
- chili flakes (optional)
- 8 ounces mushrooms- sliced (cremini, white button, or shiitakes)
- 1 pound asparagus, touch ends removed, cut into 2 inch pieces.
- 1 tablespoon ginger, chopped
- 3 tablespoons garlic, chopped
- 1 pound extra-firm tofu (or sub chicken or shrimp, see notes)
- 1/2 cup cornstarch (optional - for extra crispy tofu, see notes)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon sugar ( optional, but good)
- 2-3 tablespoons peanut oil (or coconut oil) -divided
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Whisk together stir-fry sauce ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.
- Prep the mushrooms, asparagus, garlic and ginger.
- Pat dry the tofu with paper towels, pressing down lightly to release a little water. Cut into 1-inch cubes.
- Place cornstarch, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon sugar in a medium bowl and mix well. Toss tofu in the corn starch mixture. (see notes)
- Heat 2-3 tablespoons peanut oil in a wok over high heat. Once hot, turn heat to medium-high. Shake excess cornstarch off tofu and carefully place tofu in the wok, working in batches (don’t overcrowd). Turn tofu carefully every minute or so, adding a little more oil if you need, until a least two sides are golden brown and crispy. Set tofu aside on a paper towel-lined plate.
- When all the tofu is done, wipe out the wok and gather all the prepped veggies and the stir fry sauce and place them near the stove, so there is no need to walk away.
- Heat 1-2 tablespoons oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Just as it begins to smoke, turn the heat to medium and add mushrooms. Stir fairly constantly for 2-3 minutes. Add asparagus, ginger and garlic, stirring for 2-3 minutes, until asparagus is just tender, but still crisp and vivid green.
- Add “Stir Fry Sauce” and stir to incorporate. Gently fold in crispy tofu at the very end right before serving. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Divide and garnish.
Notes
You can make this tofu without the cornstarch. This will lighten up the calories. The tofu will be less crispy (no crust) but it will still taste good. 🙂
To omit the cornstarch: Simply heat the oil, and season the oil itself with salt and pepper. Then fry the tofu in the seasoned oil, until golden on most sides. Resume recipe from there, removing tofu.
The same preparation can be applied to pieces of chicken (or shrimp)! Cut into small pieces, dredge in the cornstarch mixture, cook in oil until golden and crispy and cooked through. Set aside on paper towels, then toss in at the end with the stir fry sauce to keep their crispy texture!
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 349
- Sugar: 6.5 g
- Sodium: 690.6 mg
- Fat: 14.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 36.2 g
- Fiber: 5.8 g
- Protein: 21.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Made this for a weeknight meal — with some minor modifications — and we’ll definitely be making it again! We followed the directions for crispy tofu and, despite initial worries it might be bland, in the end it was the texture that really made it a standout part of the meal. After mixing the sauce, I found it a bit bland, so added an additional 1/2 tsp of soy sauce and 1 heaping teaspoon of jarred black bean garlic sauce (hoisin would also work well, I’m sure). Thank you for the elevated weeknight meal!
Glad you adjusted to your taste Monique!
Super easy, super quick and super delicious! I arranged it on the plate in an arc just as you showed in the photo and served it with some Brisket in the middle. Lovely presentation!!
Sounds delicious!
Great flavor! This was simple to execute and a forgiving recipe. I skipped the cornstarch step, and I used portobello mushrooms and a non-stick pan. It still turned out to be very delicious. I always at least have to double the time estimates on any recipe, but that’s just a consistent thing for me. I must be very slow in the kitchen. Highly recommend the green onion garnish at the end.
Thanks Dianna!
We are trying to eat less meat dishes. This is a delicious alternative dish, and can be done in 30 minutes. We really enjoyed this. Sprinkle furikake.
Thanks so much!
Love it! The tofu came out perfectly and I made a little extra sauce like the comments suggested. I’ll definitely make it again.
Grea to hear Lyssa!
Made this tonight. It was easy and tasted great! I did make more sauce then the recipe called for.
Awesome Staci!
Loved it! Beautiful way to enjoy asparagus. I added spinach 🙂
Thank you
So YUMMY! I did coconut oil in place of the peanut oil and also coconut aminos instead of the braggs. Replaced rice vinegar with apple cider because that’s what I had on hand. Definitely a recipe to keep in my dinner rotation! Amazing!
Love how you adapted- thanks for sharing!
Great flavor and easy to make! I doubled the sauce since I added onions and had quite a lot of asparagus.
Will definitely make this again. Thank you!
This is delicious! I never knew the secret to crispy tofu. It turned out perfect and will be a regular.
I was looking for a recipe for some asparagus and I found this recipe. I love what you wrote about gardening. Time spent in the garden nourishes your body and spirit. All the unimportant things seem to fall away. My garden is doing quite well as summer has finally arrived. I paired this dish with some rotini with a garlic scape pesto and some sliced tomatoes. The crispy tofu really goes well with the mushrooms.
Hi Terry,
Nice to hear from you! Your garden sounds lovely and I bet it is doing splendidly! It seems to be a good growing year – at last here on the west coast. There too? What are you growing this year? Thanks again for sharing- sounds lovely with the garlic scape pesto. I’ve been playing with garlic scares and asparagus too!
Hi Sylvia,
Summer has arrived here in Maine and everything is growing. I grow quite a variety of crops. I have a 40 by 50 foot fenced in area with 10 raised beds in the middle. Along the fence I have blueberries, a couple of grape vines, a goji berry, asparagus, and some yams and sweet potato vines. In the raised beds I have 2 types of eggplants, 3 types of tomatoes, 2 types of cucumbers, 4 types of melons, 3 types of winter squash, cabbage, and fennel, yard long beans, bok choy, zucchini, snap peas and some hot peppers. One raised bed is just for garlic. I also have one raised bed just for herbs. I try to grow as much as I can up trellises. I stick shallots and onions wherever I can find a little open area. I also have some dwarf fruit trees in front of the house. I have two apples, two cherry, two pears, and a peach tree. When I harvest the garlic I will plant some Chinese red meat radish and some daikon radish. Have a good summer
Wow. Can I come live with you!!!??? Sounds amazing Terry. Very inspiring!!!
I’ve made at least ten of your recipes. What a great job you’ve done! You’re extremely talented!
Thank yo
Jen
Jen, thank you so much for the feedback…really appreciated!
Your presentation of this dish is just incredible. I love a good Asian vegetarian stir fry like this – but mine are never plated so beautifully as this!
Gorgeous!
This looks delicious and what beautiful presentation!
Such a beautiful presentation!
I made quite similar dish with asparagus, shiitakes and tofu but I served them with miso-sesame dressing and black rice 🙂 (here’s the link for the recipe http://maikinmokomin.blogspot.fi/2015/04/parsaa-siitakesienia-misoseesami.html )