There are days when you need a comforting and nutritious dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes! Skip the takeout and enjoy our easy Thai vegetable stir-fry instead.
Colorful and crispy veggies meet deep flavor from the easy stir fry sauce, rounded up with some protein-rich tofu and freshly cooked rice.
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This gluten-free recipe couldn’t be easier to throw together and it’s perfect for using up any veggies in your fridge!
Our quick vegetable stir-fry is full of flavor, really healthy and can even be made with frozen veggies for convenience! It has serious potential to become our go-to staple dinner.
If you love Thai dishes as much as we do, try our creamy coconut curry, Pad Thai salad with peanut butter sauce or Chow Mein noodles dish!
We also have 35+ more vegan pumpkin recipes on the blog.
Recipe overview
- Ready in just 20 minutes
- Made with everyday staple foods
- Super customizable & great for meal prep
- Budget-friendly beginner recipe
- Low in calories yet filling
- Completely oil-free & wfpb
- Bursting with flavor & nutrients
There’s really no reason why you need to rely on takeout dinner! Marinade your tofu in delicious stir-fry sauce while cooking the veggies to create a super flavorful dish.
Ingredients needed
- Pumpkin — this recipe calls for kabocha squash but butternut or other varieties work well, too.
- Vegetables — our stir-fry uses mushrooms, broccoli, eggplant, baby corn and sugar snap peas.
- Tofu — slathered in stir-fry sauce, this plant-based protein add-in shouldn’t be skipped!
- Soy Sauce — a must for any good vegetable stir fry and the base for the aforementioned sauce.
- Garlic, Ginger, Vinegar — these add the perfect Thai flavor to our easy dinner recipe!
Sounds really basic, right? Find the exact quantities in the recipe card below. You’ll need a knife, chopping board, small bowl, large pan or skillet and spoon to make this dish!
How to make Thai vegetable stir-fry
Make the stir-fry sauce by combining all ingredients in a container or jar and closing it tightly with a lid. Shake well to create a homogeneous mixture which you then pour over your pressed and cubed tofu.
Marinade the tofu for 10 minutes in the bowl with the sauce so that it becomes really flavorful! In the meantime, prepare your vegetables by washing and chopping them.
Sauté the cubed winter squash in some water or heat-stable oil over medium heat in a non-stick pan.
Add all other veggies after around 5 minutes when the squash has slightly softened Sauté everything for about 10 minutes, until almost tender but still crisp, while stirring frequently.
Pour the tofu with the marinade into your pan to the veggies and stir to combine. Cook for 4-5 more minutes while still stirring frequently (yup, this isn’t a hands-off recipe!).
Adjust the taste to your liking and if you don’t have freshly cooked rice to go with your Thai vegetable stir fry, you can add any leftover cold rice to your pan to warm it up before serving.
Add any toppings of your choice like cashews, sesame seeds, peanuts, coriander or Thai basil and enjoy your dish warm!
Storage & serving suggestions
Once cooled, any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave or in a pan at your convenience!
Enjoy this Thai vegetable stir-fry as a light dinner, serve it over rice or with soba noodles! We like to top it with cashews, peanuts, sesame seeds or cilantro.
Tips & adjustments
To keep this dish grain-free and super low-calorie, you can use frozen cauliflower rice or serve the veggie stir fry on its own.
If you don’t like tofu, add tempeh, chickpeas or vegan mock chicken to your stir-fry!
If you’re working with leftover cold rice (we always recommend having some cooked grains or legumes in the fridge) for this recipe, feel free to add it to the pan together with the stir fry sauce to let it soak up all the flavors and become warm.
Time-saving tips
In a hurry? Just use a bag of frozen mixed vegetables for this stir fry and skip the winter squash which usually takes the longest to become soft when sautéing your veggies.
Instead of making the stir-fry sauce, you can just add some soy sauce and chili powder to your vegetable stir-fry and call it a day.
Adjustments for the sauce
You can add vegan oyster sauce, vegan Worcestershire sauce, sesame oil or swap the soy sauce for tamari if you need to keep this recipe completely gluten-free.
How healthy is a vegetable stir-fry?
Depending on what it’s prepared with, the answer to this question ranges from “very healthy” to “ barely healthier than deep-fried vegetables.”
Homemade veggie stir-fries are usually healthier because you can reduce the amount of added oil, salt and sugar to a level where the dish is both tasty and healthy!
When eating out at restaurants, the situation is probably a bit different. But if vegetable stir-fries help you eat more veggies, have at it!
What veggies go with stir-fries?
Stir-fries are easily customizable and you can use pretty much any vegetable on hand!
The best vegetables to use are carrots, cabbage, zucchini, bell pepper, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, Brussels sprouts, celery, snap peas, bok choy and onions.
More easy vegan dinner ideas
Do you like no-fuss recipes you can make during busy weeknights? Check out the following plant-based goodness for more inspiration.
Have you tried our simple vegetable stir fry and liked it? Share with us in the comments below and rate our recipe! You can also Pin it here.
Ingredients
- 1 medium kabocha squash cubed
- 1 small eggplant cubed
- 2 cups button mushrooms sliced (140 g)
- 1 cup baby corn
- 1 medium broccoli cut into florets
- 4 oz sugar snap peas 115 g
- ⅔ cup firm tofu 150 g
- 2 scallions diced
- ⅓ cup veggie broth 80 ml
Stir Fry Sauce
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- ⅓ cup water 80 ml
- Pinch of chili powder
To Serve
- Thai basil
- Cashews
- Brown rice cooked
Instructions
- Put all of the sauce ingredients into a jar, close with a lid and shake well.
- Drain tofu in a tofu press or wrapped in a towel with weight on top. Cut the tofu into cubes and put them in a bowl. Drizzle with stir fry sauce, coat evenly and set aside to marinate.
- Put a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat and add the cubed winter squash and a splash of water or cooking oil Cook for around 5 minutes until it has slightly softened, then add the rest of the vegetables together with the veggie broth.
- Sauté everything for about 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until the liquid is absorbed.
- Finally, add the marinated tofu in the stir fry sauce to the pan and cook for 4-5 more minutes until the sauce has thickened, stirring frequently.
- Once the veggies have become tender-crisp, remove from heat and divide them into serving bowls. Take a small bite and adjust the taste to your liking.
- Serve your vegetable stir-fry with brown rice and top with Thai basil and cashews.
- Enjoy warm or let cool and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days and reheat in a microwave at your convenience.
Notes
- You can use pretty much any winter squash, such as butternut or acorn, instead of the kabocha.
- If pumpkin is not in season or you want dinner on the table even quicker, feel free to use other quick-cooking vegetables like bell peppers or zucchini instead.
- You can omit the tofu, replace with tempeh or skip the marinating part if you like. Chickpeas or other legumes taste great in this vegetable stir fry, too!
- Feel free to top with sesame seeds, peanuts or cilantro instead of Thai basil and cashews.
- This vegetable stir fry tastes fantastic with noodles instead of brown rice!
- The stir fry sauce can be made ahead of time in larger batches and stores well covered in the fridge for around 2 weeks.
- Nutrition values have automatically been calculated without the rice and cashews.
This 20-minute Thai vegetable stir-fry features crispy veggies and marinated tofu in a flavorful homemade stir-fry sauce! Try this customizable and quick weeknight dinner for the whole family.