Honey Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry

This 15 minute Honey Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry has all the flavor of your favorite takeout but is simple enough to make at home. This tasty shrimp stir-fry recipe can be made with any vegetables you like for a fast weeknight meal. 

It's hard to beat the combination of honey, garlic, and soy sauce.  Just look at this Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken, Honey Garlic Salmon, and this 20-minute Honey Chicken and Asparagus if you aren't sure. 

So when I was rummaging in the freezer for a quick meal and saw a bag of frozen shrimp, I knew honey garlic sauce was the perfect way to turn that shrimp into an amazing dinner. 

Taking some inspiration from orange shrimp (a cousin to orange chicken), this honey garlic shrimp stir fry sauce is made with a combination of honey, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, orange juice, and soy sauce. It's irresistible if you love sweet and savory flavors. 

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Why We Love this Honey Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry

• 15-Minute Meal: When it comes to quick and easy meals, stir-fries are always one of the best options. This is even more true with a quick-cooking protein like shrimp. This truly is a 15-minute dinner.
• Versatile: Make this with any combination of vegetables you like, including frozen vegetables! This recipe works with what you have on hand. 
• Sweet and savory: It is hard to beat the sweet and salty flavors in Chinese takeout and this sauce has that same flavor combination without all the added sugar.  

Plus, it's warm, hearty, filling, and of course, way better for you than takeout! Just add some steamed rice, quinoa, rice noodles, or cauliflower rice for an easy side dish. 

So next time you want to reach for your keys and head to the nearest Chinese restaurant, make this easy meal instead.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Shrimp: This recipe can be made with frozen or fresh shrimp. Just make sure to defrost the shrimp before using it. To make it easy to eat, remove the tails before cooking. Any size of shrimp can be used, except small bay shrimp.
• Vegetables: Choose quick-cooking vegetables like red bell peppers, sugar snap peas, and asparagus to make this dish. It also is delicious with broccoli, green beans, snow peas, thinly sliced carrot, bok choy, cabbage, and zucchini.
• Garlic and ginger: Garlic and ginger are key to adding flavor to this dish. Use fresh if possible for the best flavor. 
• Stir fry sauce: This homemade sauce is made with orange juice, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, cornstarch, and red pepper flakes. Add extra heat with Sriracha or sambal olek if you like. You can use brown sugar in place of honey. Swap in coconut aminos for agluten-free option. This quick and easy stir fry sauce is another delicious option without orange juice.

How to Make this Honey Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry

Making this stir fry couldn't be any easier! Ready? Let's do this!

1. Make the honey garlic stir fry sauce: Mix together the orange juice, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, cornstarch, and red pepper flakes. Then set that aside and move on to the shrimp.
2. Cook the shrimp: Pat the thawed shrimp dry using a paper towel to help the shrimp crisp up as you cook them. Heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the shrimp to the pain in the oil in a single layer and cook for 2 minutes per side or until just opaque and cooked through. Take those out of the skillet and set aside. 
3. Cook the vegetables: Add red bell peppers, sugar snap peas, asparagus, garlic, and ginger to the same pan. Cook these veggies down for 5-7 minutes or until they are bright green and tender-crisp. Stir as needed to combine.
4. Add the stir-fry sauce: Add the shrimp and sauce back to the skillet. Bring the whole mixture to a simmer and cook for 1-2 minutes until it thickens and bubbles a bit.
5. Garnish: Sprinkle with sesame seeds, green onions, and/or orange zest and serve!

Recipe Ideas and Variations

There are so many ways to customize this recipe. 

• Make it spicy: While I already suggest adding red pepper flakes to the sauce, you can certainly add more, or add sliced or diced jalapenos to the veggie mix when you're cooking that down, or top it with hot sauce.
• Try new vegetables: Some other vegetable ideas to use in this stir fry include broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, bok choy, green beans, thinly sliced carrots, celery, and mushrooms.
• Different protein: Shrimp works in this recipe, but I think chicken and pork would too. Slice the meat into thin strips or use ground if that's what you have on hand. Another idea would be to use scallops or even extra firm tofu.
• Customize the sauce: I love the acidity and brightness of orange juice in the stir fry sauce, but not everyone does. You can omit it and swap it out for chicken or vegetable broth or stock, or use pineapple juice or a 50/50 water and lemon juice combo.
• Make rice bowls: Turn this into a tasty rice bowl taking inspiration from these Asian Rice Bowls with lots of veggies.

Tips & Tricks for Making Stir Fry

• Prep all your ingredients first: Have everything cut up and ready to go so that you can add the ingredients as instructed. If you are busy cutting up veggies while the shrimp is cooking you'll end up overcooking them, and vice-versa!
• Use high heat: Stir frying requires high heat and constant attention. Stir the vegetables and protein often so they don't burn.
• Stir well: Stir the sauce around often so that it coats all the veggies and shrimp as it warms back up.
• Let the sauce thicken: Make sure to give the dish 1-2 minutes to simmer once you add the sauce so it can thicken. Then let it sit off the stove for another minute or two. This guarantees the sauce has time to thicken and coat the ingredients. 
• Always cool before storing leftovers: Let the stir fry come to room temperature before putting it in the fridge or freezer. Leftovers will keep up to three days in the fridge or three months in the freezer in an airtight container.

What is Stir-Frying?

What does it mean to stir-fry something? Well, it's an ancient Chinese cooking technique that uses a wok to cook up veggies and proteins in hot oil. Cooking in a wok makes the job go faster, but you don't have to have a wok for cooking up this dish. A pan or skillet will work just fine.

So long as you don't use too much oil or choose a healthy oil like coconut, stir-frying is a very healthy cooking method for getting lots of veggies together in one dish and adding sauce to the mixture, plus a protein if you like.