Snap Pea Stir Fry with Vegan Beef

Need a quick dinner recipe? This Snap Pea Stir Fry comes together faster than you can drive to the local take-out place! Made with veggies and vegan beef, this easy recipes cooks up in just under half an hour.

Snap Pea Stir Fry with Vegan Beef

I don't eat very much soy "meat". When I first went vegetarian in the early 90s it wasn't available. As different brands slowly began to creep into the market, I started adding them into my diet, excited to find new vegans foods to try and happy to support businesses that were making them. One day I realized that I was eating quite a lot of processed products and I realized I need to go back to eating more whole foods.

While my diet now consists mainly of unprocessed whole foods, I do keep a few convenience foods like Gardein "meats" and Violife cheese around, just in case I don't have much time to cook or I have a hankering for bit of comfort food from my omnivorous past.

This "Beef and Snap Peas" came about on a night that I was tired and didn't feel like spending too much time in the kitchen. I had a package of Gardein Be'f Tips in the freezer and a bag of sugar snap peas from my co-op, and suddenly there was dinner.

Vegan "Beef"

I often hear non-vegans say things like "if vegans don't like meat, why do they try to replicate it?" Well, most of us didn't give up meat because we don't like the taste of it. We stopped eating it because we care about animals.

Seitan, which is the basis of a lot of vegan meats, is not new to the food supply. It's believed that it originated in ancient China by strict vegetarian Buddhist monks.

In this recipe, you can use seitan, a packaged vegan meat like Gardein Be'f Tips, or reconstituted Soy Curls.

How to Make Your Snap Pea Stir-Fry

This recipe is super easy to make!

• First you cook the onion in the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until it begins to brown.
• Then you add the vegan beef, snap peas, and red pepper to the pan and cook for another 10 minutes or so, until "beef" begins to brown and the vegetable soften.
• While the stir-fry is cooking, mix together all of the sauce ingredients.
• Next you add the sauce to the pan and mix everything together well.
• You cook the stir-fry for another 2 or 3 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
• Serve your stir-fry over cooked brown rice, topped with sliced scallions and sesame seeds.

How to Customize Your Snap Pea Stir-Fry

You can easily make this recipe your own.

• Instead of vegan beef, you can use sliced seitan.
• If you want to make the recipe gluten-free, you can use two cups of reconstituted Soy Curls instead of vegan beef or seitan.
• I used snap peas, but you can use snow peas or green beans instead.
• You can serve your stir-fry over cooked noodles instead of rice.
• I like to use Huy Fong Vietnamese Chili Garlic Sauce in my spicy stir-fries. If you can't find it, you can use red pepper flakes.
• You can use more or less chili sauce according to your tastes.

Veggie Beef and Snap Pea Stir-Fry

Dianne

Need a quick dinner recipe? This Snap Pea Stir Fry comes together faster than you can drive to the local take-out place! Made with veggies and vegan beef, this easy recipes cooks up in just under half an hour. 

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 18 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 2 servings

Calories 442 kcal

Ingredients

  

For the Stir-Fry

• 1 teaspoon peanut oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 8- or 10-ounce package vegan beef or seitan
• 2 cups sugar snap peas snow peas or green beans (8 to 10 ounces)
• 1 red bell pepper chopped

For the Sauce

• 3 tablespoons tamari
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon garlic chili paste
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger root minced or grated

For Serving

• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 2 scallions sliced
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Instructions

 

• In a large skillet or wok over medium high heat, cook the onion in the oil for 5 minutes, until it begins to brown.
• Add the vegan beef, snap peas, and red pepper to the pan and cook for another 10 minutes or so, until "beef" begins to brown and the vegetable soften.
• While the mixture is cooking are cooking, mix together the tamari, rice vinegar, garlic chili paste if using, garlic and ginger in a small bowl. Add the sauce to the pan and mix well. Cook for another 5 minutes, until sauce heats throughout and thickens.
• Add the sauce to the pan and mix well. Cook for another 2 or 3 minutes, until sauce heats throughout and thickens.
• Serve over brown rice and garnish with sesame seeds and scallions.

More Quick and Easy Stir Fry Recipes You Might Like Include:

• Spicy Soy Curl Stir-Fry
• Tofu and Shirataki Noodle Stir-Fry
• Tofu Teriyaki Stir-Fry
• Spicy Orange Sesame Stir-Fry