Stir fry with frozen veggies?
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Francl27
Posts: 26,371 Member
I'm making chicken stir fry tonight and I've never done it with frozen veggies before... is there a trick? I have some thin chicken breast marinating right now, the veggies are the 'steam in the bag' kind, and I have no idea how to take it from there... short of cutting the chicken in smaller strips and cooking those in a pan, maybe steaming the veggies then finish them in the pan (I'm worried about too much liquid).. same pan or not? (there's 3 bags of veggies and a lot of chicken and I don't have a pan big enough, I think).
Suggestions?
Suggestions?
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Replies
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I buy the steam in bag veggies all the time for stir fry, but I just open the bag and add them to the pan instead of microwaving them, personally.4
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I add them right to the pan too.0
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open bag. toss in.
done.2 -
I microwave them 1st by package instructions and then I add them to pan once chickens cooked.1
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We cook the veggies in the pan first, then throw them back in after the meat is done. There is some liquid release in the birds eye broccoli stir fry mix we use.0
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I would cook the chicken and remove it and the cook the veggies in that pan and then add the chicken back.
My bag of frozen stir fry veggies says to cook them over med high heat 5-7 minutes. I have not had a problem following those instructions as long as the pan is hot when the vegetables go in.
You will probably have to cook in batches with 3 bags of vegetables.1 -
I do stir fry with steam-in-bag veggies all the time, though I like to microwave them for about half time before adding them to the pan. Just long enough to thaw them out.1
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I'm sure they'll be ok but perhaps be missing the crunch? You can let us know how it goes.
The only frozen veg I eat is corn but that's cos we have fresh veg straight from the garden - it spoils me!0 -
I would cook the chicken and remove it and the cook the veggies in that pan and then add the chicken back.
My bag of frozen stir fry veggies says to cook them over med high heat 5-7 minutes. I have not had a problem following those instructions as long as the pan is hot when the vegetables go in.
You will probably have to cook in batches with 3 bags of vegetables.
This. Cook the chicken first, remove, and then stir fry the veggies in batches so the pan stays really hot. Bring everything together at the end to make your sauce and serve.
Alternatively, you could cook the veggies in the microwave first and then add them to the chicken once cooked to make the sauce.
The key is to work in small enough batches so your pan stays ripping hot and the food doesn't steam itself to death.3 -
The only thing I have to add to the above is you will want to add a little cornstarch slurry to your sauce to thicken otherwise it will be a pool at the bottom instead of integrated throughout the stir fry.0
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It turned out well (first time using my new gas cooktop too). Thanks for all the tips!7
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planning leads to staying in my budget. i look at what is on sale, plan around that.
as a picky eater, a few basic cookbooks go a long way till you figure out the basics.
i also cook for an hour on sundays for food for the week. then i just warm up as needed. saves time during the week1 -
Dont plan. Planning leads to failure, as Mr. Simpson says
Come home, see whats in the fridge / freezer, combine and cook. Look how simple the stirfry was. No need to overthink cooking. Spices and sauces make everything taste good. And when in doubt, deep fry hahaha
Simple but it took one hour to make! Time is often an issue too. And you have to plan ahead if you want to use frozen meat.0 -
Place the frozen parcel into a bowl with cool running water and it will defrost faster. Heat moves towards the cold so under hot water the meat is absorbing the heat meaning that depending on the water temp it could actually start to cook a little.0
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I remember when my kids where little and I tried making my first stir fry. It ended up being a quick decent meal that tasted okay too. I worked/work 10- 12 hour days, had little kids, was room Mom, drove to soccer practice and plays dates and that type of thing every day but still wanted to try to do my best to make sure everyone got a nice dinner.
I am a terrible cook but always wanted my family to have a half decent home cooked dinner 5 nights out of the week. ( The other 2 nights where pizza or grilled cheese or Mac and cheese type of nights) I found out that stir fries where very forgiving and didn't take a lot of effort to make. I still use the steam in bag veg in mine. I just cut open the bag and throw it in the pan. Play around with different seasoning and spices and you'll soon find out that stir fry is a good dinner on those busy nights!3 -
I buy HUGE frozen bags of stir fry medley from Costco. I cook whatever meat I’m going to use first e.g chicken, shrimp, tofu in a semi large pot. Once the meat is cooked I dump in the veggies and just let them steam for 10 mins or so with the meat. I don’t like my stir fry remotely watery, so I take a colander and put two sheets of paper towel on the bottom and dump the veggies in there and then it’s ready to eat. I usually measure out 1/4 of a cup of sweet and sour sauce and pour it into a mixing bowl and then I dump the stir fry in and just toss it with two spoons to get it all coated and it’s good to go. I usually eat it with cauliflower rice or shirataki noodles
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Dont plan. Planning leads to failure, as Mr. Simpson says
Come home, see whats in the fridge / freezer, combine and cook. Look how simple the stirfry was. No need to overthink cooking. Spices and sauces make everything taste good. And when in doubt, deep fry hahaha
Simple but it took one hour to make! Time is often an issue too. And you have to plan ahead if you want to use frozen meat.
A little, but what I do is decide in advance what meat I'm using and then create around that.0 -
Frozen veggies thaw in like 5 minutes in a bowl of water enough to chop up and add to a pan without getting soggy. Id never microwave them they get so soggy. gross0
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Dont plan. Planning leads to failure, as Mr. Simpson says
Come home, see whats in the fridge / freezer, combine and cook. Look how simple the stirfry was. No need to overthink cooking. Spices and sauces make everything taste good. And when in doubt, deep fry hahaha
Simple but it took one hour to make! Time is often an issue too. And you have to plan ahead if you want to use frozen meat.
Do you have an Instant Pot? That can be used to cook meat from frozen.
Planning is key when trying to get food on the table for busy families, so I agree that “winging it” on weeknights doesn’t usually lend itself to culinary creativity.
We are in the busy Spring sports season right now, so I feel your pain. Planning ahead is great, but that means plan for the week on Sunday and then execute that plan each morning. Mornings are pretty hectic with me trying to get workout in, answer emails from overnight, get kids ready and off to school and get out the door before my first meetings of the day to think much about what I want to make for dinner.... although sometimes I check Pinterest on my phone and get ideas while I’m walking.
Also what I often do is make sure I get the kids fed before or right after sports practice with something quick like grilled cheese, quesadillas, breakfast for dinner... and then I eat later after they go to bed (9-9:30). Last night husband and I ate dinner about 10pm after a really long work day, soccer, Scouts, helping kids with homework, and packing for a work trip. Whew! That was late even for us!
Glad the stir fry turned out well. That’s one of the things my kids eat pretty faithfully, although they like the chicken and veggies and rice all plain - I take some out for them and then add the sauce later for myself and husband. I also use the bags of microwave ready rice for even more efficiency.
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