If you have been trying to eat healthy and increase your veggie intake but are getting tired of eating salads, stir-fries are the way to go! They are the perfect way to pack vegetable servings. Add some lean protein and healthy carb and you’ve got yourself a well-balanced, healthy meal in no time at all! This Shrimp and Snap Pea Stir-Fry hits all those and is incredibly delicious too!
Shrimp and Snap Pea Stir-Fry is incredibly easy to make! It takes just 15 minutes from start to finish and it really isn’t difficult to make at all. We love to whip up this dish because it is flavourful, healthy and uses ingredients that are not all that difficult to find.
Store-bought Sauce vs. Homemade Stir-Fry Sauce
Making a sauce to go with this stir-fry is pretty easy and rather healthy when you make it with ingredients you can control at home. While a store-bought jar of sauce is okay in a pinch, nothing beats knowing exactly what I am putting into my body and knowing that I am avoiding unnecessary additives, colours and preservatives.
I have become a bit obsessed with reading labels since developing digestive issues in recent years. Since several foods bring on stomach pain and other symptoms, I am careful to avoid a handful of ingredients and so reading ingredient labels is essential to my health.
This can make it difficult to find foods that I am able to consume without issue. Trust me, it has been a huge pain in my rear and has reduced me to tears several times over the years from the frustration. And just feeling really left out and jealous at times, to be honest.
It has also been a huge blessing in my life. It’s forced me to actually take the time and read an ingredient label and let me tell you, if it is not part of your daily practice, I highly recommend you take the time and do it regularly. It is shocking to discover the ingredients in some of the things I considered healthy. The long list of chemical additives is scary to read and makes me wonder what all those additives were doing to me when I was eating them.
These experiences have forced me to take the time to make things from scratch as much as possible. I’m not perfect though and don’t think there is anything wrong with sometimes taking a shortcut for sanity’s sake. It’s just that we try to make that a rarity instead of the norm now.
Healthier Ingredients
Asian flavours are my favourite so my pantry is fully stocked with ingredients for this sauce. I used sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and oyster sauce. I also added broth, cornstarch, fresh ginger, pepper and a sprinkle of sugar. Just stir these together in a bowl and the sauce is done and ready to use!
I love that I can control the flavours and adjust them to my tastes this way. It is easy to control the salt content (through the soy sauce) as well as how much sugar is added. There are much less preservatives and questionable ingredients this way which makes me feel good.
I wouldn’t say the sauce is free of all long and difficult to pronounce ingredients though. I have scoured the health food stores for the healthiest ingredients I can find but even the healthiest oyster sauces have ingredients I’m unsure of. Meh. In the grand scheme of things, there is only a teaspoon of oyster sauce and so I figure it’s ok. I haven’t looked into making my own oyster sauce nor will I. I’ll settle for store-bought! Ha! I feel good in knowing the overall sauce is MUCH healthier than any alternative I will find and just as flavourful!
This Shrimp and Snap Peas Stir-Fry also includes the two ingredients in its name: Shrimp and snap peas! Both of these are healthy in their own right.
Shrimp are packed with healthy vitamins, minerals and protein! They supply the body with omega-3 fatty acids which is said to promote heart and brain health among other things. They are also low calorie too if you are monitoring calories.
Snap peas are also low in calories but high in soluble fibre. This helps regulate blood sugar levels as well as aid in digestion. I love throwing them into dishes or serving them as a side dish!
Bon appetit! If you are a fan of Shrimp and Snap Pea stir-fry and love Asian flavours as much as I do, check out some of my other recipes!
Other recipes you may like:
Asian Sesame Beef Skewers
Baked Egg Rolls
Quick Chicken Stir-Fry with Honey-Sesame Sauce
Shrimp and Snap Pea Stir-Fry
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 1/4 cup vegetable broth or chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger
- pepper
For the stir-fry:
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 lb shrimp de-shelled and de-veined
- 2 cups snap peas trimmed
- 1 cup carrots shredded
- 2 radishes chopped
- 1/4 cup peanuts (optional)
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
.
- steamed rice, to serve
Instructions
- Mix sauce ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a skillet and saute shrimp for a few minutes or until cooked through. Use a slotted spoon to remove from skillet and set aside.
- Add the snap peas, carrots and radishes to the skillet and saute for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp back to skillet and the peanuts. Add the sauce and toss together to coat. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve over rice.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
