This shrimp stir fry recipe is fast, easy, and unbelievably delicious. Ready in 20 minutes with juicy shrimp, crisp veggies, and a crave-worthy homemade sauce.

The secret to making this shrimp stir fry so good is the sauce. We use the same one we whisk together for fried rice. It’s savory, a little sweet, and flavorful. Tossed with juicy shrimp and veggies, it transforms a quick weeknight dinner into something that tastes restaurant-worthy.

Once you try this recipe, I’m betting you’ll be making it on repeat, because that’s exactly what happened with our family.

Key Ingredients

• Shrimp: I prefer extra-large or jumbo shrimp for this recipe (look for 16-20 count on the package). If yours are frozen, see the quick-thawing tip below the recipe (it only takes a few minutes with cold running water).
• Veggies: Stick with quick-cooking vegetables, such as onions and snap peas. Zucchini, asparagus, green beans, small broccoli florets, bell peppers, and bok choy also work beautifully.
• Garlic: I love a kick of garlic, and highly recommend adding 2 cloves. I like to slice them thinly so you can see them in the stir fry.
• Sauce: I use our fried rice sauce for this and love it. The basic recipe only has 4 ingredients. It is a mixture of soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, and toasted sesame oil. If you’re up for it, you can also add mirin, Chinese 5-spice, and a bit of heat with chile paste, but the basic sauce is still really good! Another option is to use our ginger stir fry sauce.
• Butter: This is my secret for making the sauce nice and creamy. You’ll add one tablespoon just before serving.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make the Best Shrimp Stir Fry

Tip 1: Salt, then rinse your shrimp. Before cooking, toss the shrimp with a bit of salt and let them sit in a colander for a few minutes. The salt firms up their texture and seasons them throughout. After rinsing, the shrimp taste cleaner, cook more evenly, and stay plump and juicy. Try this trick for all your favorite shrimp recipes. I also use it when making this shrimp burger recipe.

Tip 2: Cook the shrimp first. Sear the shrimp until they’re just barely done, then remove them from the skillet. This keeps them from overcooking and gives you time to stir fry the veggies until perfectly tender.

Tip 3: Use our sauce. Our fried rice sauce is incredible for fried rice, but it’s also the secret to this quick and flavorful shrimp stir fry. It takes just 2 minutes to make: simply simmer soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and any optional add-ins until the sugar has dissolved. Keep a jar in your fridge. It lasts for a week and works with almost any stir-fry.

Tip 4: Finish with butter. Just as the stir fry is finishing up, turn off the heat and swirl in a little butter. It melts into the sauce, making it silky, slightly creamy, and extra delicious.

More Stir Fry Recipes

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This quick and easy homemade salsa is almost too good to be true. So fast and so simple, this fresh-tasting salsa will be yours in a matter of minutes!

There is definitely a time and a place for real deal homemade salsa that can sit nice and pretty on your pantry shelves all year long.

But when that level of effort is not in the cards (hi. me. most every day lately), this delicious, quick and easy version is for you.

How to Make Salsa in 5 Minutes or Less

Step 1: chop up the cilantro, jalapeño, onion and garlic in a food processor*

Step 2: add the tomatoes, salt and lime juice

Step 3: pulse until your heart tells you it’s time to stop

Step 4: grab the chips and dig in

*Equipment Tip: I use a food processor for this recipe. But check out the notes below in the recipe for using a blender.

Fresh and Flavorful

Before you turn your nose up at canned tomatoes, give this salsa a chance. Otherwise, you’ll be missing out.

The fresh flavors of the cilantro, lime juice, onion and garlic transform the canned tomatoes into a salsa worthy of any occasion.

I’ve been making a version of this quick and easy homemade salsa for over ten years. In fact, if you’ve been around long enough you’ll recognize this old recipe.

I took that recipe, plus a few notes from readers over the years, and created a slightly easier (if that’s even possible) and fresher version.

Best Salsa Ever

This salsa is so good that people have a really hard time believing it’s made from canned tomatoes.

All the while, I’m sitting over here smug as a bug in a rug that I didn’t have to put my big pioneer girl pants on and peel fresh tomatoes. And we all still got crazy delicious salsa out of the deal. How ’bout that.

I’ll never, ever turn my back on this epic 5-star homemade salsa recipe, but when I need fabulous, fresh-tasting salsa in a pinch AND want to delegate the making of it to my kids, this quick and easy version is where it’s at.

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Two Years Ago: Amazing Grilled Pork and Veggie Salad 
Three Years Ago: Lemon Swig Sugar Cookies with Divine Lemon Frosting {No Rolling or Cutting Out!}
Four Years Ago: Instant Pot Spaghetti 
Five Years Ago: My Go-To Brownie Recipe {One-Bowl Deep, Dark Chocolate Brownies}
Six Years Ago: Chicken Taco Salad {InstantPot, Slow Cooker, or Stovetop} 
Seven Years Ago: Baked Orange-Glazed Meatballs
Eight Years Ago: Glazed Lemon Yogurt Sheet Cake
Nine Years Ago: Sour Cream Lime Tart {Or Pie!} 
Ten Years Ago: Broiled Parmesan and Lemon Chicken 

Quick and Easy Homemade Salsa

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

• ½ bunch cilantro (about 1/2 cup packed – see note)
• 1 jalapeño pepper, stem and seeds removed (leave seeds if you want more heat)
• ¼ of a medium red onion
• ½ to 1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 2-3 cloves)
• 2 cans (15-ounces each) regular or fire-roasted diced tomatoes, well-drained
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar (optional, but I like how it balances the flavors)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

• Add the cilantro, jalapeño, red onion and garlic to a food processor (see note for blender). Pulse until the ingredients are finely chopped.

• Add the tomatoes, salt and lime juice. Pulse until the salsa reaches desired consistency. I tend to like the tomatoes finely chopped, but you can leave it chunkier.

• Add additional salt and lime juice to taste, if needed (important!). Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to a week. Extra liquid can be drained off before serving, if desired.

Cilantro: I don’t usually measure this exactly, I just grab half of the cilantro bunch by the leafy ends and twist off the top part, leaving most of the stems. I throw the leafy bunch into the food processor.
Red Onion: 1/4 of a medium onion equates to about a 2- or 3-inch piece of onion. Use more or less to taste.
Blender: I haven’t tried this with a blender, but I *think* it should work. The trickiest part will be chopping up the cilantro, onion, and garlic in the first step. If your blender may struggle with that step, finely chop those ingredients before adding them to the blender with the tomatoes, salt and lime juice. Then use the blender to pulse all the ingredients until desired consistency is reached. 

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Method: No-Bake

Serving: 1 serving, Calories: 19kcal, Carbohydrates: 5g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 438mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 3g

Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe (updated from this old recipe as well as from reader feedback over the years – thanks Heather J. for the inspiration to update this recipe after sending me your famous quick salsa recipe!)

Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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When I’m in a pinch for time and crave the flavors of sauerkraut, this is the recipe I use. Our quick sauerkraut takes just over an hour, and it’s ready to eat!

This easy sauerkraut, inspired by traditional German sauerkraut (which can take weeks), has a slightly sour taste and crunchy texture. I love fermented sauerkraut, but our quicker recipe is the solution for when you want to enjoy homemade sauerkraut today.

We genuinely love it, and we hope you do, too. I love it with pork, especially my skillet pork chops, these apple-stuffed pork chops, or this pork tenderloin with apples.

Key Ingredients

• Green Cabbage: When choosing green cabbage, look for a head that feels heavy for its size and has a firm texture. Avoid any heads that look dried out or discolored. I love green cabbage for this recipe, but purple cabbage will work.
• Onion: I love the onion since it almost melts into the cabbage. I use a yellow or sweet onion.
• Salt and Spices: This is a German-inspired recipe, so we use salt, caraway seeds, a juniper berry, an allspice berry, and a bit of sugar (less than a teaspoon).
• Apple Cider Vinegar and Apple Cider: These create the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. It’s the combination of apple cider and vinegar that makes this sauerkraut so delicious with pork recipes!

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Quick Sauerkraut

Tip 1: Massage with salt and spices. To make this taste like traditional sauerkraut, massage shredded cabbage with salt and spices and set aside for 30 minutes. We use classic spices like caraway seeds, juniper berries, and allspice. I love the caraway seeds in this recipe!

After sitting with the salt and spices for 30 minutes, the cabbage releases some of its juices, wilts a bit, and looks floppy (see the second photo below).

Tip 2: Simmer the cabbage. Instead of fermenting, you will simmer the cabbage, all the juices from the bottom of the bowl, and spices with onions, apple cider vinegar, and apple cider for 30 minutes. This is why this recipe is so much quicker than fermenting (30 minutes vs. weeks).

Simmer the cabbage, covered with a lid for 30 minutes. If you have it, a piece of parchment paper set directly on top keeps the cooking environment nice and moist. It’s optional, but a great trick for the best texture.

Tip 3: Serve warm or chill. This is lovely served warm with sausages or pork dishes, like this pork tenderloin with apples. You can also let the sauerkraut cool and sit in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight) so that the flavors bloom. It lasts in the fridge for 2 weeks!

Ways to Use It

Use our quick and easy sauerkraut as you would use fermented sauerkraut. It keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks and gets better over time. I love adding it to sandwiches, salads, and on the side to pretty much anything. It’s great with baked pork chops, beer brats, and I use it to make this sauerkraut soup!

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