Healthy Vegetarian Stir Fry Recipes

Broccoli and red bell pepper tossed with a spicy peanut sauce makes a delicious side or stir in some cooked chicken or tofu to make it a main dish.

This eclectic stir-fry is a colorful combination of carrot, red bell pepper, corn and romaine lettuce. This recipe exemplifies how to stir-fry vegetables with different textures. The carrots, which are a “hard vegetable,” should be stir-fried for a minute before adding “medium-hard” vegetables like peppers or corn, which require slightly less cooking. Finally, add “soft or leafy vegetables” in the last 30 seconds to ensure all the vegetables achieve the same level of doneness. Make sure the lettuce is dry--if it's wet when added to the pan, it will turn the stir-fry into a braise.

Our lightened-up vegan version of this popular dish is every bit as delicious and satisfying as the fried version. Plus, it pleases vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

In this healthy Asian vegetable stir-fry recipe, watercress is cooked then tossed with traditional Chinese oyster sauce. Use a salad spinner so the watercress is dry to the touch, or the stir-fry will become too wet. If the watercress is young and tender, stir-fry the whole stems. If the stem ends are woody and tough, discard them.

Swap regular noodles for veggie noodles in this low-calorie, healthy spaghetti squash recipe. For a fun presentation, serve the lo mein in the hollowed-out spaghetti squash boat. If you like it hot, serve with extra Sriracha.

The bold taste of black bean-garlic sauce mellows into a rich and warming glaze in this fast Asian-style dish.

This easy cauliflower stir-fry has a great balance of textures and flavors with bright and colorful tender-crisp veggies. Try substituting broccoli for the cauliflower or snap peas for the snow peas for another variation on this quick dinner.

In this vegetarian grilling recipe, the hot grill gives tofu smokiness and some crispy edges. A BBQ sauce made with gochujang, the hot Korean chile paste, doubles as both a glaze and some sauce to slather on the tofu at the table. Serve with brown rice or farro.

Tofu and lots of fresh vegetables are stir-fried in just a bit of oil in this traditional Chinese dish. In the Sichuan province of China where this dish originates, the tofu wouldn't be deep-fried like it is so often in America. Similarly, in our version of this takeout favorite we stir-fry the ingredients in only a little bit of oil.

This fried rice recipe features a fall mixture of sliced Brussels sprouts and parsnips, but feel free to use whatever is fresh and in season. This recipe works best in a wok-- a skillet is too small for the volume of food and requires more oil to prevent sticking. Always use cold cooked rice otherwise the fried rice will be gummy and sticky.

This quick-and-easy vegetable stir-fry uses bottled minced ginger and garlic as well as purchased shredded carrots, so it will be ready to eat in just 15 minutes.

A flavorful sauce and lots of crunchy vegetables make this seitan stir-fry a quick and healthy choice for dinner tonight!

This healthy sweet and sour tofu stir-fry is easy to whip together on weeknights. Just be sure to plan ahead so that you can freeze the tofu in advance. It gives the tofu a meatier texture and helps it absorb the sauce.

At last--a sweet-and-sour dish with a fresh, not cloying, taste. Add a pinch of crushed red pepper, a splash of chile-garlic sauce or a dash of hot sauce to give it a little heat.

Sichuan peppercorns add a touch of floral heat to this mushroom-and-cabbage-loaded riff on dan dan noodles. Look for protein-rich vegetarian seitan--processed wheat gluten with a meaty texture-- near refrigerated tofu in large supermarkets or natural-foods stores. The actual weight of the seitan in a package varies depending on whether water weight is included. Look for the undrained weight on the label.

Pressing tofu helps extract liquid so it cooks up perfectly in this healthy Chinese tofu recipe. Look for plum sauce--a sweet-and-sour condiment--near other Chinese sauces in most supermarkets. Serve with steamed brown rice.

Cooling cooked rice is key here—it dries out the rice and firms it up so it doesn't stick together when it's fried, yielding fluffier results.

This Chinese-restaurant standard is a simple dish to prepare at home. If you like, add a pinch of crushed red pepper or chile-garlic sauce to give the sauce a little heat.

Pressing tofu before making this tofu stir-fry recipe gives it a chewy, satisfying texture. Three green peas--sugar snaps, snow peas and shelling peas--balance it out with brightly flavored crunch. Hoisin--a dark brown, thick, spicy-sweet sauce made from soybeans and a complex mix of spices--gives the stir-fry rich depth of flavor with just one ingredient. Look for it, as well as chile-garlic sauce, in the Asian section of the market.

Napa--also known as Chinese cabbage--is the preferred cabbage in this healthy Asian stir-fry recipe because it's much sweeter and more tender than green cabbage. If napa cabbage isn't available at your grocery store, try Savoy cabbage or bok choy.

Fresh asparagus and sugar snap peas are quickly stir-fried with Asian-style seasonings for a quick and elegant vegetable side dish.

Prep all the ingredients before you begin the celery stir-fry--once the skillet is hot, the dish cooks in minutes. Cut zest from the orange with a vegetable peeler before you juice it.

Bok choy's mellow flavor goes beautifully with earthy shiitake mushrooms in this quick stir-fry. Be sure to use toasted rather than plain sesame oil--it has a superior nutty flavor. For a little heat, add a pinch of crushed red pepper.

This is not the greasy Lo Mein of your favorite Chinese take-out, it tastes even better. Plus you get plenty of nutrients with the addition of edamame, a great vegetarian protein source. Make it a Meal: Fruit sorbet and sesame cookies are a perfect ending.