Stir fry is a quick, easy, and delicious way of getting more veggies into your diet, but eating it on its own can become boring quickly. The solution? Serve it with flavorful sides to keep your meals interesting.
Don’t know what to serve with stir fry? Here’s a compilation of 15 delicious recipes for sides for stir fry that will be wonderful accompaniments to your stir fry.
1. Avocado Tuna Salad
This avocado tuna salad is a creamy protein-rich dish and is the perfect pairing for stir-fry. In it, freshly squeezed lemon juice and cilantro combine to give the dish a fresh flavor that you’ll crave. The best thing is that it’s creamy without using mayo — making it a healthy option for many.
2. Blistered Shishito Peppers
Blistered shishito peppers are spicy with a smoky bite, so they’re great for adding some heat to your stir fry. You can make this addictive dish by cooking shishito peppers until they’re tender and blistering. Then, drizzle them with sesame oil and serve garnished with some sesame seeds for a finishing touch.
3. Chinese Hot And Sour Soup
This 15-minute soup is perfect with a simple stir fry. The savory soup gets a hint of spice from crushed Szechuan pepper flakes and chili garlic sauce, a sour flavor from black and rice wine vinegar, and notes of umami from soy sauce. It’s also loaded with tofu and shiitake mushrooms, which makes it super satisfying and filling.
4. Easy Spicy Miso Noodles
These addictive noodles are great to serve with a veggie stir fry to impress your guests! It calls for coating noodles in a rich, fragrant, and flavorful miso-based sauce, then combining it with earthy shiitake mushrooms and crunchy cucumbers. Add some fresh cilantro on top, and serve!
5. Egg Drop Soup
Raw egg dropped into hot soup creating stunning flower-like swirls — egg drop soup pairs well with nearly anything and is especially great with stir fries! Chicken or vegetable stock and cornstarch form the base of this soup, and it is flavored with MSG, white pepper, sesame oil, and turmeric. Once you drop the eggs, garnish the soup with scallions before serving.
6. Homemade Crackers
Crackers are a great snack to munch on and add a nice crunch when served with stir fry. These homemade crackers are made with flour, Italian seasonings (or your choice of seasoning), olive oil, and maple syrup. Baked to golden-brown, crispy perfection, you can serve them with dips and sauces or crumble them on your stir fry.
7. How to Make Perfect Fried Eggs (4 Types)
Top your stir-fry with egg, and it’ll add a wonderful texture to your meal. This recipe helps you cook the perfect fried egg — depending on your preferred yolk texture. Use pasture-raised eggs, like the author of this recipe, to get more vitamins out of these little treats, and use a generous amount of seasonings to pack a punch of flavor into your meal!
8. Lemon Garlic Marinated Chicken
If you want a delicious protein to pair with your stir fry, look no further than this juicy chicken recipe! It calls for marinating chicken in Italian seasoning, lemon juice and zest, garlic, honey, olive oil, pepper, and salt for at least 30 minutes. You can then grill or sear them to produce tender, moist chicken with bold flavors!
9. Pork & Ginger Pot Stickers
These potstickers feature a combination of pork and ginger, which add a fiery, meaty kick to a simple stir fry. You can use cabbage and carrot as fillers, which will also make the dish healthier. Serve the potstickers with your favorite Asian sauce to enjoy yummy flavors in every bite.
10. Scallion Pancakes
Scallion pancakes are layered Chinese flatbreads that are peppery, crisp, and flaky with an oniony aroma. This recipe also uses ground Sichuan pepper, which creates a spicy, tingling sensation. You can have it on the table in about 30 minutes — a fantastic dish to pair with stir fries!
11. Spinach with Sesame Miso Sauce
Pair green leafy spinach with a nutty and savory sesame miso sauce to produce a dish that’s both healthy and delicious. To make the miso sauce, combine the miso with mirin, soy sauce, sugar, and toasted white sesame seeds. Blanch the spinach and put them in ice water before mixing them with the sauce. It’s super easy to make and super delicious, making eating greens so much easier!
12. Spring Rolls!
Spring rolls have a crispness that appeals to everyone, and it makes an excellent side to any stir fry. It features a pork, mushroom, and veggie filling, although you can also use your favorite ingredients for a customized approach. Fry (or bake!) the spring rolls in peanut oil to make them irresistible.
13. Supreme Soy Sauce Fried Rice
Fried rice and stir fry is a classic pairing. And this soy sauce fried rice packs an insane depth of flavor! The trick is to “cook” the sauce. The recipe recommends adding a splash of Shaoxing wine to the eggs to make them flavorful and aromatic and mixing in some fish sauce to wake up the flavors. Once combined with cooked rice, garnish it with scallions, and serve!
14. Sweet and Sour Asian Pickled Cucumbers
These sweet and sour Asian pickled cucumbers are excellent for serving with a hearty stir fry. To make this dish, combine thinly-sliced cucumbers and shallot with dried red chili flakes, grated fresh ginger, kosher salt, seasoned rice vinegar, and sugar. Let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to come together, and enjoy!
15. Tofu Katsu
This Japanese tofu katsu gives a taste of heaven in every bite. The tofu slices are breaded with cornstarch, flour, paprika powder, salt, and soy milk. You also use a generous amount of panko breadcrumbs to add a lovely crunch when you fry the tofu. The resulting golden-brown crisp tofu katsu is wonderful for soaking the fantastic flavors of any stir fry sauce.
