10 Wok Stir Fry Recipes for Fast Weeknights

There’s a reason wok cooking has been the backbone of weeknight dinners across kitchens for centuries. The combination of screaming-hot metal, a quick sauce, and whatever protein or vegetables you have on hand produces something that tastes far more complex than the effort involved. Twenty minutes, one pan, and dinner is done — that’s the deal.

The wok itself is the unsung hero here. Its curved sides and concentrated heat source create wok hei — that smoky, slightly charred depth of flavor you get from a good Chinese takeout meal. You can approximate it at home with a carbon steel wok on a standard burner if you follow one non-negotiable rule: get the pan ripping hot before anything goes in. Vegetables that hit a cold or lukewarm wok steam into mush. Vegetables that hit a properly heated wok sear at the edges, stay crisp in the middle, and soak up sauce without turning soft.

The recipes below cover the full range — chicken, beef, shrimp, tofu, noodles, fried rice — so there’s something for every preference, every dietary need, and every fridge situation. Some use pantry staples you already have. Others introduce one or two ingredients worth keeping on hand for the weeks ahead. All of them land on the table in 30 minutes or less.

Why Your Wok Temperature Makes or Breaks Every Stir Fry

Before getting into the recipes, one thing deserves its own spotlight: heat management. Every stir fry recipe you’ll ever read says “high heat,” but that phrasing undersells how hot you actually need the pan.

A properly preheated wok should make a drop of water evaporate almost instantly on contact — within a second or two. If it sizzles and sits there, the pan needs more time. Carbon steel woks heat unevenly at first, so give it 2 to 3 minutes over your highest burner before adding oil, then swirl the oil around to coat the surface and let it shimmer for another 30 seconds.

Crowding is the other killer. If you pile too many vegetables into the pan at once, the temperature drops dramatically and moisture releases from the food instead of evaporating. The result is steamed, soggy vegetables instead of crisp-tender, slightly caramelized ones. Cook in batches when you’re scaling up a recipe — it adds 3 minutes and makes an enormous difference in texture.

The Oil Question

Not every oil works in a wok at high heat. Toasted sesame oil, for instance, burns at relatively low temperatures — it’s a finishing oil, not a cooking oil. Use neutral oils with high smoke points like avocado oil, peanut oil, or refined vegetable oil for the actual cooking. Add sesame oil at the very end, off the heat, for flavor.

Mise en Place Is Non-Negotiable

Stir frying moves fast — too fast to be chopping vegetables mid-cook. Have everything cut, measured, and staged before the wok goes on the burner. Once you add the oil and the first ingredient, there’s no time to stop.

The Master Stir Fry Sauce Formula You Should Know Cold

Every recipe below has its own sauce, but they all follow the same basic architecture: salty base + sweetener + acid + aromatics + thickener. Soy sauce handles the salt. Honey or brown sugar handles the sweet. Rice vinegar or lime juice cuts through both. Fresh garlic and ginger carry the aroma. Cornstarch, whisked in cold water, thickens the whole thing as it hits the hot pan.

Understanding this formula means you can improvise on nights when you’re missing an ingredient, or dial the ratios up and down to match whatever protein you’re cooking.

• Soy sauce to water: roughly 1:1.5 for a balanced sauce that’s savory but not overpowering
• Sweetener: 1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar per ¼ cup soy sauce
• Rice vinegar: 1 tablespoon per batch — enough to brighten without making things sour
• Cornstarch: 1 tablespoon per ½ cup liquid for a glossy, clingy sauce that coats every ingredient

Now, onto the recipes.

1. Classic Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry

Chicken and broccoli is the entry point for most people’s wok cooking journey — and there’s nothing wrong with that. When you nail this one, everything else gets easier. The sauce is savory and slightly sweet, the chicken stays tender, and the broccoli holds its bite without going limp. Done right, it’s genuinely better than most takeout versions.

What Makes It Work

The trick with chicken breast is cutting it thin — about ¼-inch slices against the grain — and not overcrowding the wok. Cook the chicken in a single layer, let it sit for 60 seconds before stirring, and you’ll get golden-edged pieces instead of pale, steamed ones. Thighs work too and tolerate a bit more cooking time, making them more forgiving.

Blanching the broccoli for 90 seconds in boiling salted water before it hits the wok is optional but worth doing. It sets the color at bright green and pre-cooks the florets just enough that they only need 2 minutes in the wok to finish — without absorbing excess moisture into the pan.

Key Ingredients and Ratios

• Protein: 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh, sliced thin
• Vegetables: 3 cups broccoli florets, ½ red bell pepper sliced thin
• Sauce: ⅓ cup low-sodium soy sauce, 2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon honey, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, ½ cup water, 3 garlic cloves grated, 1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated
• Finishing: 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil, sesame seeds, sliced green onion

How to Cook It

Heat 2 tablespoons of peanut oil in the wok until smoking. Add the chicken in a single layer, let it sear for 60 seconds, then stir and cook another 2 minutes until cooked through. Remove the chicken. Add a splash more oil, toss in the broccoli and peppers, and stir fry for 2 minutes. Return the chicken, pour in the sauce, and stir constantly for 1 to 2 minutes until the sauce thickens and coats everything. Drizzle sesame oil over the top, off the heat.

Serve over: Steamed jasmine rice or brown rice. Feeds 4.

2. Beef and Snap Pea Stir Fry with Oyster Sauce

Flank steak and snap peas might be the most satisfying combination in the stir fry universe. The beef gets silky and deeply savory from a quick soy marinade, the snap peas stay crunchy and sweet, and the oyster sauce glaze ties it all together with a richness you don’t get from soy sauce alone.

The Velveting Step That Changes Everything

This recipe uses a technique called velveting — marinating the beef in a mixture of soy sauce, a teaspoon of cornstarch, and a splash of Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry) for 15 to 20 minutes before cooking. The cornstarch forms a thin coating around each slice that insulates the meat from direct heat, trapping moisture inside. The result is beef that stays tender and almost silky even after 3 to 4 minutes in a screaming-hot wok. Skip this step and you get chewy, grey-brown beef. Do it, and you get something that rivals the beef at your favorite Chinese restaurant.

Key Ingredients and Ratios

• Protein: 1 lb flank steak or skirt steak, sliced against the grain into ¼-inch strips
• Marinade: 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
• Vegetables: 2 cups snap peas, 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• Sauce: 3 tablespoons oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, ½ cup beef broth, 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• Aromatics: 4 garlic cloves minced, 1 tablespoon fresh ginger

How to Cook It

After marinating, cook the beef in a very hot wok in two batches — 90 seconds per batch — then remove. Add a fresh splash of oil, toss in the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds, then add the snap peas and mushrooms. Stir fry 2 minutes. Add the beef back, pour in the sauce, and cook 1 to 2 minutes until thickened and glossy.

Serve over: Steamed rice or lo mein noodles. Feeds 4.

3. Easy Vegetable Stir Fry with Sweet and Savory Sauce

Don’t underestimate this one. A well-executed vegetable stir fry — loaded with broccoli, bell peppers, snap peas, carrots, and mushrooms — in a balanced sweet-savory sauce is a genuinely satisfying dinner on its own, not just a side dish or an afterthought for nights when you forgot to thaw the chicken.

Building the Right Vegetable Mix

The best vegetable stir fries use a range of textures and cooking times. Dense vegetables like carrots and broccoli go into the wok first. Medium-density vegetables like bell peppers and mushrooms follow 60 seconds later. Quick-cooking vegetables like snap peas and any leafy greens go in last, usually just 90 seconds before the sauce. Following this order means everything finishes cooking at the same time.

Eight cups of raw vegetables (roughly 1.5 to 2 lbs) is the right amount for a 12-inch wok serving 4 people. It looks like too much before it goes in, but the vegetables shrink as moisture releases.

Key Ingredients and Ratios

• Vegetables: 3 cups broccoli florets, 1 cup snap peas, 1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper sliced, 1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms, 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
• Sauce: ½ cup water, ⅓ cup low-sodium soy sauce, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, 2 garlic cloves grated, 2 teaspoons grated ginger, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• Garnish: Sliced green onions, sesame seeds

How to Cook It

Whisk the sauce ingredients together first. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil over high heat, add the dense vegetables, stir fry 2 minutes. Add medium vegetables, stir fry another 90 seconds. Add snap peas, stir 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium, pour in sauce, and cook 1 to 2 minutes until glossy and thickened. Garnish and serve immediately.

Pro tip: Add baked tofu, tempeh, or edamame at the sauce stage for protein without changing the cook time.

4. Shrimp and Bok Choy Stir Fry with Ginger Garlic Sauce

Shrimp is the fastest-cooking protein in the stir fry lineup — it goes from raw to perfectly cooked in under 3 minutes — which makes it the protein of choice on genuinely busy nights. Paired with bok choy, which wilts beautifully without turning mushy, this dish has an elegance to it that feels restaurant-worthy despite the minimal effort.

Getting the Shrimp Right

Large shrimp (31/40 count per pound) work best for stir frying because they’re substantial enough to hold their own against the bold sauce without getting lost. Peel and devein them before they go into the wok, and pat them completely dry with paper towels — surface moisture is the enemy of a good sear.

Brine the shrimp in salted water (1 teaspoon salt dissolved in 1 cup cold water) for 15 minutes before cooking. This sounds like an unnecessary extra step, but it keeps the shrimp plump and juicy and prevents them from curling up into tight, rubbery circles. Rinse and pat dry after brining.

Key Ingredients and Ratios

• Protein: 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Vegetables: 4 heads baby bok choy, halved lengthwise; 1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
• Sauce: 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 4 garlic cloves grated, 1 tablespoon grated ginger, 2 tablespoons water
• Heat: ½ teaspoon chili flakes or 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce

How to Cook It

Sear shrimp 90 seconds per side in a very hot, lightly oiled wok. Remove immediately. Add more oil, cook mushrooms 2 minutes, then add bok choy cut-side down for 60 seconds. Add garlic and ginger, stir 20 seconds. Return shrimp, pour in sauce, toss everything 60 seconds until coated and sauce has thickened. Serve immediately — shrimp continues to cook from residual heat, so don’t let this one sit.

Serve over: Jasmine rice or glass noodles. Feeds 4.

5. Kung Pao Chicken Stir Fry

Kung Pao chicken is one of those dishes with serious regional credibility behind it — originating in Sichuan province, built on a balance of numbing heat, savory depth, and a tiny hit of sweetness. The American takeout version tends to lean sweeter and milder. This recipe lands somewhere in between: bold and genuinely spicy, but not overwhelming.

The Sauce That Defines the Dish

The Kung Pao sauce is what separates this from a generic chicken and peanut stir fry. Chinkiang vinegar (also sold as Chinese black vinegar) is the ingredient that gives the sauce its distinctive tangy depth — regular rice vinegar is lighter and less complex. If you can find it at an Asian grocery store, it’s worth keeping in the pantry. Hoisin sauce adds body and sweetness. A tablespoon of chili garlic sauce carries the heat.

Dried red chiles are sautéed in the hot oil before anything else goes into the wok. This step blooms the heat compounds in the chiles directly into the oil, distributing that spicy warmth through every ingredient that follows. Don’t skip it.

Key Ingredients and Ratios

• Protein: 1 lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes, velveted in 1 tablespoon soy sauce + 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• Nuts and heat: ½ cup roasted peanuts (unsalted), 6–8 dried red chiles
• Vegetables: 3 stalks celery sliced on the diagonal, 1 red bell pepper diced
• Sauce: 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon Chinkiang vinegar (or rice vinegar), 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce, 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

How to Cook It

Sear the dried chiles in hot oil for 30 seconds until they darken. Add velveted chicken, cook 3 to 4 minutes until golden. Remove chicken. Stir fry celery and bell pepper 2 minutes. Return chicken, add peanuts, pour in sauce, and toss everything for 60 to 90 seconds until the sauce is thick and shiny. Serve immediately over rice.

Serve over: Steamed white rice. Feeds 4.

6. Ground Pork and Cabbage Stir Fry with Ginger

Ground pork is one of the most underused stir fry proteins, and it deserves more attention. It’s inexpensive, cooks in under 5 minutes, absorbs sauce beautifully, and pairs with the earthy sweetness of napa cabbage in a way that feels deeply comforting. This is the weeknight dinner you make when the fridge is nearly empty and the budget is tight — and somehow it still tastes like you planned it.

Why Cabbage Works So Well Here

Napa cabbage has a higher water content than regular green cabbage, which means it wilts and concentrates in flavor within 2 to 3 minutes of high heat. The natural sweetness that emerges from the cooked cabbage balances the savory pork and soy sauce without needing much sugar in the sauce.

Cut the cabbage into roughly 2-inch pieces — too small and it disappears into mush, too large and it won’t wilt evenly in the cooking time. The thick white stems go into the wok first because they need a minute more than the leafy green parts.

Key Ingredients and Ratios

• Protein: 1 lb ground pork
• Vegetables: ½ head napa cabbage (about 6 cups chopped), 1 cup shredded carrots, 4 green onions sliced
• Aromatics: 5 garlic cloves minced, 1½ tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• Sauce: 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce, 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

How to Cook It

Brown the ground pork over high heat, breaking it into small pieces, until deeply browned — about 4 to 5 minutes. Push it to the side. Add a splash of oil, fry the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds. Add the cabbage stems first, stir fry 90 seconds, then add the leafy portions and carrots. Toss everything together with the pork, pour in the sauce, and cook 1 to 2 minutes until thickened. Finish with green onions.

Serve over: Rice or rice noodles, or eat it on its own. Feeds 4.

7. Crispy Tofu and Mushroom Stir Fry with Black Bean Sauce

The biggest mistake people make with tofu in a stir fry is adding it without pressing and searing it first. Waterlogged, soft tofu turns to crumbles the moment it hits the wok. Properly pressed and seared tofu develops a golden crust that holds its shape, soaks up sauce from the outside, and stays firm enough to eat with chopsticks.

How to Get Tofu Genuinely Crispy

Press a 14-oz block of extra-firm tofu for at least 20 minutes under a heavy pan, wrapped in paper towels. After pressing, cut it into 1-inch cubes and toss with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and a pinch of salt. The cornstarch coating is what creates the crust — it forms a thin, dry shell that crisps up almost like a light batter without any breading.

Cook the tofu in 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat without stirring for 2 to 3 minutes per side. Resist the urge to move it around. Let it release naturally from the pan when the crust has formed. You’ll know it’s ready when it slides freely with minimal coaxing.

Key Ingredients and Ratios

• Protein: 14 oz extra-firm tofu, pressed, cubed, tossed in 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• Vegetables: 2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms, 1 cup snap peas, 1 red bell pepper sliced
• Sauce: 2 tablespoons black bean garlic sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, ½ teaspoon sugar, 3 tablespoons water
• Aromatics: 3 garlic cloves minced, 1 teaspoon grated ginger

How to Cook It

Sear tofu on all sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden. Remove. Stir fry mushrooms 3 minutes until they release their liquid and start to brown. Add bell pepper and snap peas, cook 90 seconds. Add garlic and ginger for 20 seconds. Return tofu, pour in sauce, and toss gently (to keep the tofu intact) for 60 to 90 seconds. Serve immediately.

Serve over: Steamed rice or soba noodles. Feeds 4. Fully vegan.

8. Beef Stir Fry Noodles with Sesame and Scallion

This one bridges the gap between a classic stir fry and lo mein — the noodles go directly into the wok with the beef and vegetables, soaking up every drop of the sauce and becoming the main event rather than just the base. It’s a complete one-wok meal with no rice required.

Choosing the Right Noodle

Lo mein noodles (fresh or dried) are the traditional choice, and they hold up to tossing in the wok without falling apart. If you can’t find them, dried spaghetti cooked to just al dente works surprisingly well. Rice noodles also work for a gluten-free version — just soak them in hot water for 10 minutes before adding them to the wok rather than boiling.

The key step most recipes skip: toss the cooked, drained noodles with 1 teaspoon of sesame oil immediately after draining. This prevents them from clumping together while you cook the beef and vegetables, so when they hit the wok, they separate instead of arriving as one solid mass.

Key Ingredients and Ratios

• Protein: ¾ lb flank steak, sliced thin and velveted (see recipe #2 for the method)
• Noodles: 8 oz lo mein noodles, cooked and drained, tossed with 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• Vegetables: 2 cups napa cabbage shredded, 1 cup shredded carrots, 3 green onions sliced
• Sauce: 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon chili flakes, 1 teaspoon brown sugar

How to Cook It

Sear the velveted beef 2 minutes, remove. Stir fry cabbage and carrots 2 minutes. Return beef, add noodles and green onions, pour in sauce. Toss everything over high heat for 2 minutes until the sauce distributes evenly and the noodles have absorbed most of it and developed slight char at the edges. Taste, adjust with soy sauce or a splash of water, and serve straight from the wok.

Serve as-is. Feeds 4.

9. Honey Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry with Snap Peas and Peppers

If recipe #4 is the refined, ginger-forward shrimp stir fry, this one goes in the opposite direction — sticky, sweet, garlicky, and deeply satisfying. The honey garlic sauce caramelizes slightly on the shrimp as it hits the hot wok, creating a glaze that’s equal parts savory and sweet with a faint floral note from the honey.

The Case for More Garlic Than You Think You Need

This recipe uses 6 cloves of garlic for 1 pound of shrimp. That’s not a typo. When garlic cooks quickly over high heat in a wok, it mellows from sharp and pungent into something sweet and nutty within 30 to 45 seconds. Using a generous amount means the flavor permeates the oil and coats every ingredient, rather than being a faint background note.

Grate the garlic on a microplane or fine grater instead of mincing it. Grated garlic releases more allicin — the compound responsible for garlic’s sharp, savory bite — and disperses into the sauce more evenly than minced pieces.

Key Ingredients and Ratios

• Protein: 1 lb large shrimp, peeled, deveined, patted dry
• Vegetables: 1½ cups snap peas, 1 red bell pepper sliced, 1 yellow bell pepper sliced
• Sauce: 3 tablespoons honey, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 6 garlic cloves grated, 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
• Heat: ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes or 1 teaspoon sriracha

How to Cook It

Sear shrimp in a single layer, 90 seconds per side, until pink and slightly caramelized. Remove. Add a splash of oil, stir fry bell peppers and snap peas 2 minutes. Return shrimp. Pour in the sauce and toss over high heat for 60 seconds — the honey will caramelize slightly and the cornstarch will thicken the glaze into something glossy and clingy. Serve immediately before the shrimp overcooks from residual heat.

Serve over: Jasmine rice with extra sliced green onions. Feeds 4.

10. Sesame Vegetable Fried Rice

Fried rice is technically a stir fry, and it deserves its place on this list as the ultimate fridge-clearing, leftover-transforming weeknight meal. The rule that separates great fried rice from mediocre fried rice is simple: use cold, cooked rice. Freshly cooked rice has too much steam trapped inside — it clumps in the wok and turns gummy. Rice that’s been refrigerated overnight has dried out enough that each grain fries individually, picking up a slight chewiness and a hint of char.

Building Flavor in the Wok

Great fried rice happens in layers. First, scramble the eggs directly in the oiled wok and set them aside. Then char the vegetables — carrots, frozen peas, corn, whatever you have — before adding the cold rice. The rice needs to sit for 30 to 45 seconds before you stir it, so it has time to develop a crust against the hot metal. That crust is the textural difference between fried rice you’d order again and fried rice that tastes like leftovers.

Season at the end: soy sauce, a small pour of sesame oil, and white pepper. White pepper has a different heat profile than black — it’s sharper and more floral, and it’s what gives fried rice that specific flavor you associate with Chinese restaurants.

Key Ingredients and Ratios

• Base: 3 cups cold cooked jasmine or medium-grain white rice (from at least 1 day prior)
• Eggs: 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• Vegetables: 1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed), 3 green onions sliced, 1 cup corn kernels, 2 tablespoons diced white onion
• Seasoning: 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, ¼ teaspoon white pepper
• Aromatics: 3 garlic cloves grated, 1 teaspoon grated ginger

How to Cook It

Heat 2 tablespoons oil over very high heat. Scramble eggs until just set, remove and break into pieces. Add more oil, fry garlic and ginger 20 seconds. Add vegetables, stir fry 2 minutes. Add cold rice, press into the hot pan, and let it sit undisturbed for 45 seconds before stirring. Toss, press again, repeat twice. Return the eggs and green onions. Add soy sauce and white pepper, toss to distribute evenly. Remove from heat, drizzle with sesame oil, and serve immediately.

Optional add-ins: Leftover chicken, diced tofu, frozen shrimp (thawed), or sliced lap cheong Chinese sausage. Feeds 4.

Wok Stir Fry Tips That Apply to Every Recipe

There are a handful of principles that apply across all ten of these recipes — habits that separate consistently good stir fry from sometimes-good stir fry.

Dry your proteins before they hit the pan. Surface moisture creates steam, steam lowers the pan temperature, and lower temperature means no sear. Pat chicken, beef, and shrimp dry with paper towels right before cooking, even if they’ve been marinating.

Make the sauce before you turn on the burner. Every sauce in this list takes 60 seconds to whisk together. Having it ready means you’re not scrambling to measure and pour while vegetables are overcooking in the background.

Season at the end, not the beginning. Soy sauce added to raw vegetables in a wok can make them weep moisture and steam. Build the cook first, then add the sauce in the final 1 to 2 minutes.

Don’t rinse your wok with cold water right after cooking. The thermal shock can warp carbon steel. Let it cool slightly, then clean it with hot water and a stiff brush — no soap needed if the pan is well-seasoned.

Stir Fry Proteins Ranked by Speed

• Shrimp: 2 to 3 minutes total
• Ground meat (any): 4 to 5 minutes
• Sliced chicken breast: 4 to 5 minutes
• Sliced beef (velveted): 3 to 4 minutes
• Tofu (properly pressed): 8 to 10 minutes for all sides
• Whole chicken thighs: Not suitable for stir fry — cut thin first

Storage and Meal Prep Notes

All ten of these recipes keep well in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container. Reheat in a hot wok or skillet with a splash of water rather than the microwave — the microwave steams rather than reheats, which softens vegetables and makes proteins rubbery.

The sauces for every recipe can be mixed ahead and stored in the fridge for up to a week. Pre-cut vegetables keep in sealed containers for 2 to 3 days. If your weeknights are genuinely chaotic, spend 15 minutes on Sunday slicing, portioning, and storing — then dinner during the week becomes a literal 10-minute task.

Final Thoughts

Wok cooking rewards repetition more than almost any other cooking technique. The first time you make chicken and broccoli stir fry, you’re learning the heat, the timing, and the feel of the pan. The fifth time, you’re barely paying attention and it’s already better than the first.

Start with one recipe — probably the vegetable stir fry or the chicken and broccoli, both of which are forgiving and straightforward — and make it twice before moving on to something new. Getting the fundamentals right on a simple recipe transfers directly to every other one on this list.

The sauce formula is the most reusable piece of knowledge here. Once you know it — soy, sweetener, acid, aromatics, cornstarch — you can improvise a stir fry from whatever’s in the fridge without needing a recipe at all. That’s the point these dishes are all quietly building toward: the confidence to cook without following instructions.

Pick up a carbon steel wok if you don’t already have one. Season it, heat it properly, and cook something in it tonight. Dinner in 20 minutes, one pan to clean, and leftovers for tomorrow. Wok cooking might be centuries old, but its appeal hasn’t faded even slightly.