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This crunchy vegetable stir-fry in a tangy sweet and sour sauce is a great meal when you don’t want meat. My sweet and sour vegetables has; lots of peppers, onions, babycorn, water chestnuts, sugarsnap peas and of course pineapple! It’s easy to make, with mainly store-cupboard ingredients.
“Love how quick and tasty this recipe is, definitely one we will make again.”
Nicky’s Notes
I love this sweet and sour vegetables recipe when I’m craving something colourful, crunchy and full of flavour, but don’t want a meat-based dinner. It’s also brilliant for using up those odds and ends of vegetables lurking in the fridge.
For me, the most important thing is not to overcook the vegetables. You want the peppers, sugar snap peas, baby corn and water chestnuts to keep plenty of bite, especially once that hot sweet and sour sauce goes in.
You can easily swap in other quick-cooking vegetables too, mange tout, thin strips of carrot, green beans or sliced mushrooms all work well. Just cut everything to a similar size so it cooks evenly.
If I know dinner needs to come together quickly, I’ll mix the sweet and sour sauce ingredients beforehand and keep them covered in the fridge. Then it’s simply a case of stir-frying the vegetables and adding the sauce, perfect for a busy weeknight.
Table of Contents
📋 What do we need?
***Full recipe with detailed quantities in the recipe card below***
- 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.
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 (3/4 cup) pineapple juice.
🧑🍳 Abbreviated Recipe
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card below***
Soften the onion in hot oil, then add the pepper, sugarsnaps, babycorn and water chestnuts for a quick stir-fry. Stir in the garlic and ginger, then add the ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar and pineapple with its juice. Bubble until slightly thickened and glossy, then serve with boiled or fried rice.
Pro Tips
- 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.
🍽️ What to serve it with
A brilliant veggie-packed dinner.
Of course if you prefer a meaty version, I have a sweet and sour chicken and a sweet and sour pork recipe too!
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Sweet and Sour Vegetables
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
To Serve:
- egg fried rice
- or boiled rice
Instructions
- Add the oil to a large frying pan/skillet, heat it up on a medium-to-high heat.1 tbsp sunflower oil
- Add in the onions. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the onions start to go translucent.1 large onion
- 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
- Add in the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.2 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 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
- Bring to the boil, and then turn down the heat and let it bubble (stirring every so often) until slightly thickened.
- Serve with boiled or fried rice.egg fried rice, or boiled rice
Notes
- 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 (3/4 cup) pineapple juice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This sweet & sour veggies recipe was first posted in Jun 2022. Updated since with recipe improvements and for housekeeping reasons.
🍲 More Vegetarian recipe Ideas
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Hi there,
Do you think broccoli florets (cut small) could replace baby corn? Would they stir fry quick enough?
Thanks
X
Love how quick and tasty this recipe is, definitely one we will make again.