Shrimp and Vegetable Stir-Fry
A fast, glossy stir-fry packed with crunchy veg and sweet, just-cooked shrimp — 40 grams of protein for 380 calories, on the table in fifteen minutes. The cutting dinner for nights when you’ve got nothing left in the tank.
Plate 01 / Finished
The stir-fry is the meal that’s saved more of my cutting weeks than anything else, and it’s purely because of speed. There’s a specific evening that ends a lot of diets — you’ve trained, you’re knackered, you’re hungry, and the gap between “I should cook something good” and “I’ll just grab whatever” is about ten minutes wide. Most healthy meals can’t be made in that window. A stir-fry can. That’s the whole reason it earns its place.
Shrimp are perfect for it because they cook in roughly ninety seconds. By the time the veg is bright and crisp-tender, the shrimp have turned pink and sweet, and the whole thing is done before you’ve had time to talk yourself out of it. You get a wokful of colour and crunch, a glossy savoury sauce you control completely, and a genuinely high-protein meal — all faster than waiting for a takeaway to arrive, and a fraction of the calories.
This lands at 40 grams of protein for 380 calories, love, and it eats like a feast — big, hot, bright, satisfying. It’s my answer to that dangerous tired-and-hungry moment, and it’s a good answer. Keep a bag of frozen shrimp and some veg in the freezer and you’re never more than fifteen minutes from a proper cutting dinner. I’ve got you on this one.
01Who it’s for & when to eat it
The shrimp, veg and sauce stay the same — you add a carb base or keep it pared back to suit your goal. Here’s how I steer it.
The default bowl
Shrimp and a mountain of crunchy veg in a light glossy sauce, no rice. Huge volume, lots of protein, very low calories. My go-to on a tired training night when I want to eat a lot.
Add the rice
Same stir-fry over a full portion of rice or noodles, with a little extra oil and some cashews. Turns the light bowl into a calorie-dense plate. See the variations below for numbers.
Steady portion
The stir-fry over a moderate scoop of rice with a teaspoon of sesame oil. Balanced carbs and protein, plenty of veg, easy to digest for an evening meal.
Timing: a brilliant post-training dinner — fast protein and a load of veg when you’ve got no energy left to cook. It’s at its best fresh and hot, but the leftovers reheat fine for a quick lunch.
02Ingredients
Makes 2 bowls. Speed is the whole point, so have everything chopped and the sauce mixed before the pan goes on. Scale every line for more.
Servings 2 · adjust on the live recipe card- Raw shrimp peeled350 g · 12.3 oz
- Mixed stir-fry veg400 g · 14 oz
- Soy sauce reduced-salt2 tbsp · 30 ml
- Oyster sauce1 tbsp · 15 ml
- Garlic, grated3 cloves
- Fresh ginger, grated1 tbsp · 10 g
- Cornstarch to thicken1 tsp · 3 g
- Sesame oil1 tsp · 5 ml
- Cooking oil high heat1 tbsp · 15 ml
- Spring onion & sesame seedsto finish
Swaps I actually use: frozen shrimp are brilliant here — just thaw and pat dry. Any quick-cooking protein works: sliced chicken, tofu, or strips of beef. Use whatever crunchy veg you’ve got — peppers, broccoli, snap peas, carrots, baby corn. No oyster sauce? A little extra soy with a pinch of sugar does a similar savoury-sweet job. Tamari keeps it gluten-free.
03Step by step
Chop and mix everything first
Stir-fry happens fast, so do all the prep before the heat goes on. Chop the veg, pat the shrimp dry, and whisk the soy, oyster sauce, garlic, ginger and the cornstarch (slaked in a tablespoon of water) together in a bowl.
Magnus says: this is the one rule of stir-fry. Everything ready before the wok gets hot, or you’ll burn something while you chop.
Hot wok, fast and pink
Get the wok or wide pan ripping hot with half the cooking oil. Add the shrimp in one layer and cook for about a minute each side until just pink and opaque. Pull them straight out — they only need a moment, and overcooked shrimp go rubbery.
Magnus says: shrimp cook in seconds. The instant they turn pink and curl, they’re done. Get them out.
Hard veg first, keep it moving
Add the rest of the oil and tip in the harder veg first — broccoli, carrot, peppers. Toss them constantly over the high heat for two or three minutes until bright and crisp-tender, then add any quick veg like snap peas for the last minute.
Pour it in, let it gloss
Pour the sauce over the veg. It’ll bubble and thicken in seconds thanks to the cornstarch — toss everything so it’s evenly coated and glossy. Don’t let it cook down to glue; a few seconds is all it needs.
Shrimp back in, toss to warm
Return the shrimp to the wok and toss for thirty seconds, just long enough to coat them in sauce and warm them through. Any longer and they’ll overcook, so keep it quick.
Sesame oil, spring onion, eat hot
Off the heat, drizzle over the sesame oil for that final aromatic lift, scatter with spring onion and sesame seeds, and serve straight away while everything’s hot and crunchy.
Magnus says: the sesame oil goes in at the very end, off the heat — it’s a finishing flavour, not a cooking one.
04The spec sheet
Real numbers, calculated — not guessed. The recipe makes 2 bowls, about 700g of finished food total. Here’s what one serving (~350g) and a flat 100g actually give you.
| Nutrient | Per serving | Per 100g |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 380 kcal | 109 kcal |
| Protein | 40.0 g | 11.4 g |
| Carbohydrate | 20.0 g | 5.7 g |
| — of which sugars | 9.0 g | 2.6 g |
| Fat | 14.0 g | 4.0 g |
| — of which saturates | 2.0 g | 0.6 g |
| Fibre | 6.0 g | 1.7 g |
| Sodium | ~1.10 g | ~0.31 g |
Very low. A wokful of veg and lean shrimp means you can eat a huge, satisfying bowl on a deficit — exactly the kind of volume that makes a cut bearable.
Excellent. Shrimp are nearly pure protein, so even with the veg and sauce this stays one of the most protein-dense quick dinners going.
- Vitamin B12~1.8 µg · 75% DV
- Selenium~50 µg · 91% DV
- Iodine~95 µg · 63% DV
- Vitamin C~80 mg · 89% DV
- Vitamin A~300 µg · 33% DV
- Zinc~2.2 mg · 20% DV
Macros are calculated from standard food-composition data and will shift a little with your exact ingredients and brands. Micronutrient figures are estimates against general adult Daily Values. Numbers are for guidance, not medical advice — see our Nutrition Disclaimer.
05Bulk / Cut / TRT variations
One wok, three jobs. The shrimp, veg and sauce stay the same — you add a carb base or keep it pared back. Macros below are for a full serving.
The lean default
Shrimp and a mountain of veg in the light sauce, no rice, just a teaspoon of oil to cook. Maximum volume, minimum calories — the bowl I reach for on a tired training night mid-cut.
Over rice or noodles
The whole stir-fry over a full portion of rice or noodles with a little extra oil and a handful of cashews. Turns the light bowl into a calorie-dense plate that still feels fresh and quick.
Steady & balanced
The stir-fry over a moderate scoop of rice with a teaspoon of sesame oil. Balanced carbs and protein with plenty of veg — light, satisfying, and easy on the stomach.
06Meal prep & storage
This is so fast to cook fresh that I mostly prep the components rather than the finished dish. But it does keep for a day or two if you want leftovers ready.
Store the cooked stir-fry in an airtight container. The veg softens a little over time, so it’s best eaten within a day or two.
Chop the veg and mix the sauce in advance and keep them in the fridge. Then the actual cooking is genuinely under five minutes.
Reheat fast and hot in a pan rather than slowly — quick heat keeps the veg from going limp and the shrimp from toughening.
For meal prep I lean on the components more than the finished dish: a tub of chopped veg, a jar of the sauce, and a bag of shrimp in the freezer means a fresh, crunchy stir-fry is always five minutes away. Cooked-and-stored stir-fry is fine, but fresh is so much better and barely slower.
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07Common questions
How do I stop shrimp going rubbery? +
Cook them fast and pull them early. Shrimp are done the moment they turn pink and curl into a loose C — usually about a minute a side. Take them out of the pan, finish the veg, then return them at the very end just to warm through. Overcooking is the only thing that toughens them.
Can I use frozen shrimp? +
Yes, and I usually do — they’re convenient and good value. Thaw them fully and pat them very dry before cooking, because excess water makes them steam instead of sear. Once dry, treat them exactly like fresh.
What veg works best in a stir-fry? +
Anything crunchy that holds up to high heat — peppers, broccoli, carrots, snap peas, baby corn, pak choi, mushrooms. Add the firmer veg first and the delicate ones last so everything finishes crisp-tender at the same time. A frozen stir-fry mix is a perfectly good shortcut too.
How do I bulk this up? +
Serve it over a full portion of rice or noodles and add a little extra oil and a handful of cashews. That takes a serving from around 380 calories up to roughly 660 while keeping the protein high. See the Bulk variation above for the numbers.
Can I make it without oyster sauce? +
Easily. Use a little extra soy with a pinch of sugar, or a spoon of hoisin, to get that savoury-sweet depth. The garlic, ginger and sesame oil are doing most of the flavour work anyway, so the sauce is forgiving.
This stir-fry lives inside a full week of meals.
This shrimp stir-fry is one bowl in my 7-day cutting plan — seven days of high-protein, low-calorie meals with the macros counted and the grocery list written. You pick the goal; I do the maths.
See the cutting meal plan →08Pairs well with
Magnus Olafsson
I’m Magnus — twenty years under the iron, from a cold gym in Stockholm to the classic-physique stage, and now mostly in my kitchen in a pink apron. I’ve cut for shows, bulked through winters, and I’ve been on TRT since I was thirty-five. I know what it takes to eat for the body you’re chasing, and I know it shouldn’t come with a side of shame.
Everything here is food I actually cook and macros I actually count. I don’t diagnose, I don’t promise, and I never make a number up. I just feed you well and tell you the truth.
Slim Diet Era shares recipes and general nutrition information. It is not medical or dietetic advice, and we do not provide guidance on obtaining or using any controlled substance. See our Medical Disclaimer and Nutrition Disclaimer.
