Sweet & Sour Vegetable Stir Fry

Easy Sweet and Sour Vegetable Stir Fry is ready in 30 minutes! A quick, healthy meal with fresh veggies and a tasty sauce—great for busy weeknights.

I always find myself using the ingredients I have in my cupboard, especially before heading out for food shopping. I aim to utilise all the food I have to minimise food waste. It's amazing how many interesting recipes come out of this process.

I especially enjoy quick and easy recipes that can be paired differently each time. This chicken stew pairs wonderfully with steamed rice, Turkish bulgur, pasta, mashed or baked potatoes, a slice of freshly baked bread, or on its own with a piece of homemade tortilla.

This veggie dish is ideal for a fast meal on busy days. Whether served as a main course or a snack, it's bound to leave everyone wanting more. You should also try our Lemon Chicken, Easy 15-minute Udon Noodles, Turkey Mince Noodles, or Gnocchi made easy with Pesto and Zucchini for a quick, delicious lunch or dinner.

Need easy meal ideas? Try creamy spinach pepper chicken or a quick potato and tuna dish. Make a healthy oil-free mayo for salads or sandwiches. For breakfast, cook a veggie-packed cabbage frittata or a simple potato frittata. For something sweet, bake a yoghurt cake or an apple-filled cake. Impress guests with baked pears and gorgonzola or light turkey wontons. For a filling meal, turkey mince noodles are a great choice. Check out these recipes for simple and tasty ideas!

💗 Why This Recipe Works

• Perfect for busy nights and pairs with any side dish.
• Homemade for a healthier option that kids love.
• Low-calorie and great for meal prepping—make ahead, store, and reheat as needed.

💭 Expert Tips

• Prep Ingredients Ahead: Have all your vegetables chopped and sauce mixed before you start cooking. Stir-fry cooking is fast, so being prepared ensures everything cooks evenly and perfectly.
• High Heat Cooking: Use high heat for quick cooking to retain the vegetables' vibrant colour and crisp texture. A hot wok or large skillet best achieves that classic stir-fry finish.
• Balance the Sauce: Taste and adjust the sweet and sour sauce to your preference before adding it to the vegetables. You can tweak the sweetness with more sugar or the tanginess with more vinegar or citrus juice.

What is Sweet and Sour Sauce?

Sweet and sour sauce is a tangy, sweet sauce made by mixing sugar and vinegar or lemon juice. It often includes ketchup or soy sauce and sometimes other ingredients like pineapple juice or hoisin sauce. This sauce is commonly used in Chinese dishes to add a zesty and balanced flavor. It pairs well with stir-fried veggies, meat, or tofu.

🥘 Ingredients

For this sweet-and-sour vegetable stir-fry, we need:

• For the vegetables, use onion, red and orange bell peppers, carrots, green beans, and garlic. Add cooked chickpeas for protein, and season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Use olive oil for cooking.
• Chinese Sweet & Sour Sauce
  • From concentrate: Mix with hot water as directed on the package.
  • Make it from scratch using these ingredients: garlic, ginger, tomato ketchup, malt vinegar, brown sugar and tinned pineapple in juice. Recipe below.

Pro Tip: To save time, mix the sweet and sour sauce ingredients in advance. Simply cover and refrigerate it the day before or in the morning, and it will be ready to use.

♻️ Substitutions

• Olive Oil: Can be replaced with any cooking oil, like vegetable oil or canola oil.
• Onion: Shallots or leeks can be used as alternatives for a similar taste.
• Red and Orange Bell Peppers: Yellow or green bell peppers, or even other vegetables like zucchini or eggplant, can be substituted.
• Carrots: Other root vegetables like parsnips or turnips can be used, or you can try thinly sliced sweet potatoes for a sweeter twist.
• Cooked Chickpeas: Cannellini beans, black beans, or lentils can be used as substitutes for chickpeas.
• Green Beans: Snow peas or snap peas can provide a similar crisp texture.
• Garlic: Garlic powder or garlic paste can be used as a substitute for fresh garlic cloves.
• Salt and Pepper: These can be adjusted to taste, and any other preferred seasoning can be used as well.
• Paprika: Smoked paprika, chilli powder, or cayenne pepper can provide a similar smoky flavour.
• Chinese Sweet & Sour Concentrate: If unavailable, you can make a homemade sweet and sour sauce using ingredients like ketchup, vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce.

🥗 Serving suggestions

Sweet and sour vegetable stir fry is a versatile dish that pairs well with a variety of serving options. Here are some popular choices:

• Serve the sweet and sour vegetable stir fry over steamed white rice or brown rice or my Lebanese Rice and Broken Vermicelli.
• Noodles: Serve the stir fry with cooked noodles such as rice noodles, udon noodles, or chow mein noodles.
• Quinoa: For a healthier alternative to rice or noodles, serve the stir fry with cooked quinoa. Quinoa adds a nutty taste and a satisfying texture to the dish.
• Lettuce Wraps: Serve the sweet and sour vegetables in lettuce cups. Simply spoon the stir fry into large lettuce leaves, such as iceberg or butter lettuce, and roll them up like wraps.
• Tofu or Tempeh: Add a protein component to your meal by including tofu or tempeh in the stir-fry. You can marinate and stir-fry them along with the vegetables or serve them on the side.
• Garnishes: Sprinkle some chopped green onions, cilantro, or sesame seeds over the sweet and sour vegetable stir fry.
• Side dishes: Consider serving the stir-fry with additional side dishes like steamed or stir-fried bok choy, broccoli, or snap peas.

If You Enjoyed This Recipe, You Will Love These Too

Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

HUNGRY FOR MORE? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for the latest updates

Sweet and Sour Vegetable Stir Fry

Claudia Ciorteanu

Sweet and Sour Vegetable Stir Fry features fresh vegetables like bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, and snap peas in a tangy, sweet sauce. This delicious vegetarian or vegan option adds vibrant flavor and texture to any meal.

5 from 9 votes

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Saved Recipe!

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 4

Calories 277 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 4 tablespoon olive oil approx ¼ cup
• ▢ 1 onion chopped
• ▢ 1 red bell pepper roughly chopped
• ▢ 1 orange bell pepper roughly chopped
• ▢ 2 carrots thinly sliced
• ▢ 250 g cooked chickpeas approx 1 ¼ cups
• ▢ 100 g green beans sliced into 2 cm (approx 1 cup)
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves chopped
• ▢ 1 teaspoon paprika
• ▢ 3 tablespoon Chinese Sweet & Sour Concentrate combined with 350 ml hot water approx 1 ½ cups) or your homemade sauce (see recipe in post)
• ▢ Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.
  4 tablespoon olive oil
• Add the chopped onion to the skillet and sauté for about 2-3 minutes until it becomes translucent.
  1 onion
• Add the chopped red and orange bell peppers to the skillet and stir-fry for another 2 minutes until they start to soften.
  1 red bell pepper, 1 orange bell pepper
• Next, add the thinly sliced carrots and continue to stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes until the carrots begin to soften slightly.
  2 carrots
• Add the cooked chickpeas and green beans to the skillet and stir-fry for an additional 2 minutes to heat them through.
  250 g cooked chickpeas, 100 g green beans
• Stir in the chopped garlic, salt, pepper, and paprika, and cook for about 1 minute until the garlic becomes fragrant.
  2 garlic cloves, Salt and pepper to taste, 1 teaspoon paprika
• Reduce the heat to medium and pour in the Chinese Sweet & Sour Concentrate combined with hot water. Stir well to combine all the ingredients.
  3 tablespoon Chinese Sweet & Sour Concentrate combined with 350 ml hot water
• Allow the mixture to simmer for about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are cooked to your desired tenderness and the sauce thickens slightly.
• Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, adding more salt, pepper, or paprika according to your preference.
• Once the vegetables are cooked and the sauce has thickened, remove the skillet from the heat.
• Serve the sweet and sour vegetable stir fry hot as a side dish or over steamed rice as a main course.

Video

Notes

Make the sweet and sour sauce from scratch:

In a small bowl, combine the following ingredients to make the sweet and sour sauce:

¼ cup of rice vinegar

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of ketchup

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

1 tablespoon of cornstarch (to thicken the sauce)

½ cup of water

Mix these ingredients until the sugar and cornstarch are dissolved.

Add the sauce as instructed in the recipe. 

Nutrition

Calories: 277kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 7gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gSodium: 31mgPotassium: 515mgFiber: 8gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 7395IUVitamin C: 84mgCalcium: 64mgIron: 3mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!