Instant Pot Stir Fry Vegetables

This easy Instant Pot Stir Fry Vegetable recipe is way better than takeout and it’s way healthier, too. It’s a quick, one pot recipe that is loaded with fresh vegetables, garlic, ginger, and a stir fry sauce that is finger licking good. This veggie recipe can be used as a main dish or used as a side dish.

Who doesn’t love cooking in the pressure cooker? Pressure cooking just makes cooking so much easier, just like this veggie stir fry. If you like cooking in the instant pot like we do try this Tortellini Sausage Soup, a family favorite. Or this Black Bean Soup, it’s great for lunch or dinner.

Instant Pot Stir Fry Recipe – One Pot Meals

I am a hugenormous fan of recipes that can be made in just one pot (or just one air fryer, lol). I mean really, who isn’t?

It is so much less hassle when you only dirty one pan and not make a million dishes. One of our favorite recipes that I make a lot is this Filipino pork adobo, also made in the instant pot. Tender, fall apart in your mouth pork is cooked in this soy sauce and vinegar sauce. Drooling!

It’s also fun to switch up how I serve this instant pot vegetable stir fry: over jasmine rice, mixed into noodles or zoodles (zucchini noodles), or along side a protein.

I will cook this on busy weeknights and serve it just as vegetables with some white rice, but you can easily add air fryer chicken breast or bare chicken tenders to eat right alongside it.

The key to a successful stir fry is to have a flavorful base. It is imperative to have because it will effect the overall taste of the stir fry. In this case, the base is made with fresh ginger, garlic, and onions.

Ginger is a potent ingredient and will add a punch of spiciness to the dish. If you have not cooked with ginger, you may want to start off by adding less (maybe cut the amount in half) the first time you try it.

If you are a seasoned ginger eater, you can up the amounts.

You will definitely want to use fresh ginger in this recipe, powdered ginger just isn’t going to give you that punch of flavor. Fresh ginger is available in most grocery stores in the produce section. It kind of looks like a short knobby root.

I use a lot of garlic in my stir fry recipes, usually 10 cloves to a full head of garlic. If you love garlic, feel free to add more than what I have stated in my recipe (which is 6-8 cloves). Or add less if you have a garlic sensitivity.

PRO TIP! Use a garlic press to quickly “mince” all of the garlic (you don’t have to peel any of the garlic just pop the clove in and squeeze). Try to buy a good quality one to make sure it works well. If you don’t have a garlic press, buy the bag of already peeled garlic, it will save you peeling time.

What is Stir Fry?

Stir frying is an Asian cooking technique that requires aromatics, vegetables, and small pieces of meat getting cooked in a pan (like a wok) in a little bit of oil over high heat for a brief time. In this version, we are going to stir fry veggies in the pressure cooker.

Not exactly the traditional method, but I find it is fun to experiment with different ways of cooking some of our favorite recipes.

PRO TIP! To easily peel ginger root, just use the sides of a spoon to scrape off the tough skin. It is way easier than using a knife and there is much less ginger wasted.

Why Make This Vegetable Stir Fry?

• Simple ingredients: Most of the ingredients are things you will just find in your pantry (except the veggies). And then the rest are just loads of fresh vegetables!
• Family friendly: It’s easy to customize this recipe by using the vegetables that you and your family like best.
• Easy recipe: This is a super simple recipe, just prepare the sauce and the veggies and that is it.
• Meal prep: Prepare your vegetables in advance to have them ready to go for when you are going to cook.
• Double it. Easily double this recipe (which is recommended if you are using an 8 quart instant pot) to serve even more.

What Vegetables are Good for Stir Fry

I made this stir fry recipe with some of my favorite stir fry vegetables like baby corn, sliced carrots, and snow peas. But, there are many alternatives that you can substitute out or add in extra on top of the ones I included. Just keep in mind that certain veggies need to be added earlier to cook a little longer and some will overcook if cooked too long.

• Water Chestnuts
• Mushrooms
• Sugar snap peas
• Broccoli
• White or yellow onion
• Green onion
• Zucchini
• Asparagus
• Cabbage (red or green)
• Bok Choy
• Green Onions
• Celery
• Edamame
• Bamboo Shoots

What vegetables do you Stir Fry First?

One thing you must keep in mind when stir frying vegetables, is the order in which to cook them. Some vegetables cook way slower than others and other cook quickly and you don’t want any of the veggies to get mushy. If you are including a protein, it is super important that you cook it first before the vegetables.

Vegetables that cook quickly in a stir fry

• green onions
• snow peas
• ginger
• garlic
• bell peppers
• mushrooms

Vegetables that take a little longer to stir fry

• broccoli
• hearty leafy greens
• onions (not green onions)
• carrots

Instant Pot Stir Fry Vegetables Ingredients

Here are the ingredients needed to make this stir fry. Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the exact amounts that are needed.

• Oil: A good vegetable oil, olive oil, or avocado oil
• Onion: A medium yellow or white onion.
• Carrots: I like to use a mandolin to slice the carrots pretty thin and at a diagonal.
• Garlic: Fresh garlic cloves, you will need about a whole head of garlic
• Ginger: You will need freshly grated ginger, which I find is easy to do on a four sided box cheese grater (the rough pokey side) or use a microplaner or lemon zester.
• Bell Peppers: Any color of bell pepper will work, I prefer red, orange or yellow peppers. But, you can use green.
• Snow Peas: Add a delicate texture and a pop of green. You can also use sugar peas if you cannot find snow peas. You can use a cup or two, I usually buy them in a 6-ounce bag and use the whole thing.
• Baby Corn: One can of baby corn, drained.
• Black Pepper: I like to season with some freshly cracked black peppercorns.

Simple Stir Fry Sauce

This stir fry sauce is going to bring that pop of flavor to your vegetable stir fry. It is a flavorful sauce that can quickly be whisked together or pour all the ingredients into a small canning jar that has a lid and shake it up. It can even be stored for a few weeks. Then just use it when you are ready for it.

If you would like to make the sauce sweet, you can add a little brown sugar or maple syrup. Or add some fresh herbs like some chopped up basil or cilantro. Make it spicy by adding some sriracha or chili pepper flakes.

Homemade Stir Fry Sauce Ingredients

Here is a breakdown of what is in the stir fry sauce needed for this recipe. It only needs three ingredients and I am sure you already have these pantry staples! Easily make it by putting all ingredients together and stirring.

• Soy Sauce: Adds the salty, umami flavor that is needed for this dish. I use low sodium soy sauce so things don’t get too salty.
• Sesame Oil: This flavorful oil adds that oriental flavor that is found in many Asian recipes.
• Cornstarch: This is used as a thickener to give the sauce a thick consistency without a raw flour flavor.

How to Make Stir Fried Vegetables in Instant Pot

These are the basic instructions to make pressure cooker stir fry vegetables, for the full instructions check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

1. Combine together the soy sauce, sesame oil, and cornstarch in a bowl or a small canning jar with a lid. Set aside.
2. On the Instant Pot press the sauté button.
3. To the bottom of the Instant Pot add in the oil.
4. Once the oil is hot, add in the onion and carrots, cook for about 3-5 minutes.
5. Add the red pepper, ginger, and garlic, cook for about 1 minute.
6. Add miniature corn, water, and stir fry sauce. Stir it well.
7. Then place lid on the pressure cooker, turn the venting knob to the sealing position. Turn the venting knob to the sealing position and cook at high pressure for 3 minutes. As soon as it’s done, immediately do a quick release by turning the venting knob to the venting position. Carefully open lid.
8. Press the sauté button and add in snow peas, cook for 1-2 minutes.
9. Serve over rice or noodles if desired.

What to Serve with Vegetable Stir Fries

Stir fried vegetables work well as a side dish or main dish all on its own if you are just wanting a big plate of delicious vegetables. Here are some ideas:

• Rice: Rice is stir fry’s best friend. Easily steam up some white rice, brown rice, fried rice or even wild rice in a rice cooker or right on the stove. If you want sour rice, you can make this lemon butter rice.
• Noodles: There are many noodle options like rice noodles, ramen noodles, soba, Hakka noodles, glass noodles, udon, low mein noodles or chow mein.
• Protein: I like to make this chicken breast, garlic butter pork chops, or these pork chops in the air fryer to serve as a main dish with the veggies.
• Bread: You could serve it with your own homemade bread, store bought bread or heat up some dinner rolls in the air fryer.
• Healthier options: If you are wanting some low carb options to use instead of rice, try a vegetable rice like broccoli rice or cauliflower rice or a grain like quinoa. You could also make zoodles or spaghetti squash.

Is this Pressure Cooker Stir Fry Gluten Free?

This vegetable stir fry recipe isn’t gluten free, but it almost is and it’s easy to make it a gluten-free option. Just switch out the soy sauce (it’s the gluten culprit) just use Tamari or gluten free soy sauce. None of the other ingredients in this recipe have gluten.

Recipe Tips and Variations

• Prepare sauce. Make sure to prepare the sauce first before starting the stir fry process. It has to be ready because if you wait to make it while the vegetables are cooking, you risk getting mushy veggies.
• How to chop vegetables. Try to keep the veggies about the same size so they cook uniformly.
• Size of Instant pot. I use the 6 quart sized Instant Pot which needs about 1 cup of liquid. If you are cooking in an 8 quart Instant Pot, you will need at least 2 cups of liquid. So, the ingredients will need to be doubled.
• Sesame seeds. Add a sprinkling of sesame seeds to the finished veggies.

Storage Instructions

How to refrigerate stir fried vegetables? Let the veggies cool and put in an airtight container. It should last about 3-4 days in the fridge.

How do you reheat stir fried vegetables? Cook for 3-4 minutes. Keep a close eye on it so that it doesn’t burn.

Try these dinner favorites!

• Air Fryer Honey Garlic Marinated Chicken Thighs
• Crock Pot Sausage and Potatoes
• Instant Pot Pork Adobo
• Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Breast
• Shipwreck Stew

If you’ve tried this instant pot stir fried vegetables recipe, don’t forget to give me a star rating and leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who have made my recipes!

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