29 Stir-Fry Recipes for Flavor in a Flash

If there’s one technique that’ll seriously improve your weeknight dinner situation, it’s dialing in your stir-fry moves. Working your way through these stir-fry recipes will give you ample practice—and guarantee a series of delicious meals in the process. Below you’ll find speedy options with chicken, shrimp, and tofu and great ways to cook eggplant, green beans, and noodles galore. If you really want to lean in, you might want to consider adding an induction wok to your kitchen arsenal as cookbook author Jon Kung recommends. In the meantime, scroll down for our best stir-fry recipes.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne1/29Kung Pao Chicken
For most stir-fry recipes, it’s a good idea to prep all of your ingredients before turning on the stove. Here, you’ll marinate cubes of boneless, skinless, chicken breast or thigh while you whip a quick sauce with black vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin, sesame oil, sugar, cornstarch, and tingly ground Sichuan peppercorns. Once your wok is on the heat, it all wraps up in just a few minutes.
Photo by Lizzie Mayson2/29Dry Stir-Fried Green Beans
Green beans blister nicely on a hot wok (or large frying pan). This dish is flavored with garlic, green onion, and bird’s eye chile.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne3/29Mala Xiang Guo
You can think of this dish as hot pot’s soupless cousin. It’s a delightfully flexible recipe—and a great way to revive leftovers. Keep the spice oil in your fridge and you can use it with any cooked vegetables or proteins that you have around.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Prop Styling by Anne Eastman, Food Styling by Lillian Chou4/29Fish-Fragrant Eggplant With Minced Pork
This luscious eggplant preparation can also be made without the pork—finely diced shiitake mushrooms work well as a substitute.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne5/29Fried Rice
You’re lucky if you have leftover rice on hand—it’s great for making this quick and easy recipe.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich6/29Sweet and Sour Chicken
Canned pineapple is key to J. Kenji López-Alt's rendition of the beloved takeout staple.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Prop Styling by Anne Eastman, Food Styling by Lillian Chou7/29Ants Climbing a Tree
Bits of minced pork cling to the tangled mound of glass noodles in this Sichuan dish; look for mung bean noodles, not rice vermicelli.
Photo by Betty Liu8/29Flowering Chives and Pork Slivers
This stir-fry recipe from My Shanghai by Betty Liu pairs the fresh green sweetness of flowering garlic chives and ginger with tender bites of pork loin.
9/29Stir-Fried Egg and Tomato
There’s nothing more comforting than this simple combo. A pinch of sugar brings out the sweetness of the tomato.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Prop Styling by Anne Eastman, Food Styling by Lillian Chou10/29Big Plate Chicken
Serve this hearty Xinjiang-style dish of chicken and vegetables over wheat noodles.
Photo by Maggie Zhu11/29Stir-Fried String Beans With Tofu
This vegetarian dinner gets its deep flavor from homemade black bean sauce, but if you’re short on time, you can use jarred.
Mark Needhdam12/29Chicken Lo Mein
A full tablespoon of grated fresh ginger enhances this dish of fresh egg noodles with chicken and shiitake mushrooms.
Photo by Yudi Ela Echevarria13/29Kungpao Shrimp
You can make the sauce for this recipe from The Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp by Jing Gao up to two weeks ahead. The stir-frying process takes only five minutes or so, so you’ll want to wait until your rice is ready.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton14/29Khao Phat Kai
This Thai fried rice with chicken from Simple Thai Food by Leela Punyaratabandhu gets a squeeze of lime juice and a drizzle of spicy chile fish sauce at the table.


Genevieve Yam

Clarissa Wei

Genevieve Yam



