This crunchy vegetable stir-fry in a tangy sweet and sour sauce is a great meal when you don’t want meat. Lots of peppers, onions, babycorn, water chestnuts, sugarsnap peas and of course pineapple!
It’s easy to make, with mainly store-cupboard ingredients.
Just the thing when I’m craving lots of crunchy vegetables, but still want a dinner that’s tasty and filling enough for dinner.
You can add in your favourite veggies to create a dinner that will use up all of those refrigerator bits!
Table Of Contents
What do we need?
For the easy sweet and sour sauce we need:
- Garlic, ginger, tomato ketchup, malt vinegar, brown sugar and tinned pineapple in juice
For the vegetables, you can use whatever vegetables you like, so long as they can be stir-fried reasonably quickly. I use peppers, onions, sugarsnap peas, water chestnuts and baby corn.
PRO TIP: If you want to get ahead, you can stir up the sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl, ahead of time. Just cover and refrigerate it the day before or in the morning, and it’s ready to use.
Crunchy vegetables are the BEST in this – so be sure to keep the stir-fry time down to a minimum.
A brilliant veggie-packed dinner.
Sweet and Sour Vegetables
This crunchy vegetable stir-fry in a tangy sweet and sour sauce is a great meal when you don't want meat. It's easy to make, with mainly store-cupboard ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 large onion - peeled and chopped into large chunks
- 1 red bell pepper - chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 100 g (3.5 oz) sugarsnap peas - chopped in half
- 100 g (3.5 oz) babycorn - sliced in half, lengthways
- 225 g (8 oz) tin sliced water chestnuts - drained
- 2 cloves garlic - peeled and minced
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 150 ml (⅔ cup) tomato ketchup
- 2 tbsp malt vinegar
- 65 g (6 tbsp) dark brown muscovado sugar
- 475 g (17 oz) canned of pineapple chunks in juice
Instructions
1. Add the oil to a large frying pan/skillet, heat it up on a medium-to-high heat.
(1 tbsp sunflower oil)
2. Add in the onions. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the onions start to go translucent.
(1 large onion)
3. Add the sliced pepper, sugarsnap peas, babycorn, and water chestnuts and cook for a further minute.
(1 red bell pepper,100 g (3.5 oz) sugarsnap peas,100 g (3.5 oz) babycorn, 225 g (8 oz) tin sliced water chestnuts)
4. Add in the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.
(2 cloves garlic,1 tbsp minced ginger)
5. Add the tomato ketchup, vinegar, dark brown sugar, and the tinned pineapple (including the juice) and stir.
(150 ml (⅔ cup) tomato ketchup, 2 tbsp malt vinegar, 65 g (6 tbsp) dark brown muscovado sugar, 475 g (17 oz) canned of pineapple chunks in juice)
6. Bring to the boil, and then turn down the heat and let it bubble (stirring every so often) until slightly thickened.
Notes
Make ahead
I don't recommend making this recipe ahead, as you'd lose the crunch of the vegetables upon reheating.
However...
You can stir together the ingredients for the sweet and sour sauce ahead of time. Cover and refrigerate until you're ready to use. It should keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. You'll need to stir before using.
Ingredient swaps
- Add in your favourite vegetables. Mange tout, mushrooms, green beans, carrot strips, sliced celery are great additions.
- Swap the tinned pineapple for fresh pineapple chunks + 180ml (¾ cup) pineapple juice.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 306Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 363mgCarbohydrates: 68gFiber: 6gSugar: 48g
