Try this easy pork stir-fry with sugar snap peas and cashews for a delicious Asian inspired meal. The meat is tossed with a savory soy and honey sauce.
After a long day, it would be so easy to stop and grab takeout on the way home, but resist the temptation! This easy pork stir-fry is ready in minutes and with minimal prep! I bet you even have most of these Asian-inspired ingredients already in your pantry.
Stir-fry recipes are the best because they are super quick when you’re in a pinch for time. There is no measuring needed except for the sauce, just a few chop-chop! chops!… on your cutting board and you’re ready to go. One wok, minimal mess, and dinner is ready to be inhaled quicker than you can finish catching up on the days Facebook happenings, umm hmm.
Essential Pork Stir-Fry Tips
If you are looking for a Chinese inspired meal, this pork stir-fry with veggies will be a sure-fire hit. Here is some helpful info to get you started!
Quick Marinade
Marinating the protein in a soy sauce mixture infuses a lot of flavor into the surface of the meat. Do this first thing when beginning your prep, even a few minutes goes a long way for flavor!
Size Matters
When preparing your ingredients for the stir-fry, make each piece as close as possible in size. You want the strips of protein to have a similar thickness (I recommend about 1/4-inch thick and 1.5-2-inches long strips). For vegetables slice about 1/4-inch thick as well. This ensures quick and even cooking.
Dry Vegetables
To ensure the proper sauteing of the vegetables, dry your produce before placing it in a hot pan. This reduces the chance for the vegetables to steam and keeps a crisp texture. You can dry them with a towel or in a salad spinner.
Keep it Hot
Whether you use a large pan or wok, you want to turn your burner up high and heat for about 30 seconds. Add a few drops of water to test. When it evaporates within seconds, then it’s ready to go! Don’t overheat or the ingredients will brown too quickly.
When I’m looking for a leaner protein, slicing up some boneless pork chops or tenderloin are a tasty and affordable option. Some vegetables that I like to throw into the mix are sweet bell peppers, sugar snap peas, and onions. I often clean out my refrigerator by tossing all of the extra vegetables I have, no waste, just a satisfying and yummy meal.
Chinese cooking is all about using delicious savory sauces to flavor the freshest green vegetables and tender pieces of meat or fish. The sauce I used for this pork stir-fry recipe is only three ingredients; soy sauce, honey, and dried red pepper flakes. I always stock these ingredients in my pantry, so this sauce was easy to pull together.
To thicken the sauce, I use a cornstarch slurry (cornstarch combined with a small amount of water) at the very end of cooking. I simmer over medium heat until you can see the sauce become more viscous. Don’t take your eyes off this process because it happens within a few minutes!
Chinese stir-fry recipe you might also like
What is a cornstarch slurry?
The starch from corn is extracted to provide tremendous thickening powers, often used to thicken sauces like for this pork stir-fry at the end of cooking. When using cornstarch as a slurry, ALWAYS use cold water to hydrate the starch, this allows it to separate easier and be soluble for thickening. If you add the cornstarch directly to hot liquid, the starch will clump and result in a lumpy sauce. After adding the slurry, heat the liquid until it reaches just below its boiling point, and then cook until thickened.
Pork Stir-Fry with Snap Peas and Cashews
Ingredients
Pork
- 1 ½ pounds pork tenderloin, or boneless chop
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, low sodium
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
- ¼ teaspoon serrano chili, minced
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, for frying
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil, for frying
Sauce
- ¼ cup soy sauce, low sodium
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Stir-Fry
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- ¼ inch ginger, fresh sliced
- ½ cup yellow onion, ¼ inch slices
- 2 bell peppers, cut into ¼-inch strips (red and orange)
- 2 cups sugar snap peas, string removed
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- ¼ cup cashews
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine sliced pork (trimmed and cut into 1 ½ by ¼-inch strips), 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon honey, minced garlic, ginger, serrano chili, and freshly ground pepper. Set aside.
- Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl, set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon sesame oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat.
- When pan becomes hot, add pork mixture and stir-fry 4-5 minutes until pork is no longer pink.
- Transfer pork to a bowl and set aside.
- Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to wok; add crushed garlic and ginger slice, cook for 1 minute and then remove the ginger slice and discard.
- Add onion and stir-fry for 1 minute.
- Add red bell pepper and stir-fry 1 minute.
- Add peas and stir-fry 1 minute.
- Add soy sauce mixture to the pan and turn the heat down to medium.
- In a small bowl mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch and two tablespoons water.
- Add the cornstarch slurry to the pan, stir to combine and heat until the sauce is thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Return pork to pan, stir until cooked through, about 1 minute.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add more red pepper flakes if you would like your stir-fry spicier.
- Transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with cashews and serve with rice.
Equipment
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
Josephine says
This looks delicious! Making it next week for dinner. One question though – can I use dehydrated ginger in place of the ginger slice? Can’t wait to try it!! Thanks. Love you site!!
Jessica Gavin says
Yes, I would use about 1/8 teaspoon of ginger, just a very small amount instead of the sliced ginger. Thanks for following along!
Keisha - Cupcake Wishes & Birthday Dreams says
I just made this dish, but had to tweak it to fit my keto-adapted diet….but it was insanely delicious!!!! Thanks, Jessica….you always come up with the best weeknight meals!
Morgan @ Host the Toast says
Look at those bright colors! This looks so flavorful, and super simple for weeknight dinners, to boot.