Shrimp and Mushroom Stir Fry Recipe

Every home cook should have a few easy stir fry recipes in their back pocket for quick weekday meals. I like stir fries that have just a few ingredients, a simple sauce, and can be cooked from start to finish in around 20 minutes. This shrimp and mushroom stir fry checks all those boxes and is a nice change of pace from a standard chicken and vegetable stir fry.

Use a Wok or a Skillet With Lots of Surface Area

If you have access to a wok, that is definitely the standard for stir fry recipes, but it’s far from essential. I’ve made stir fries in a variety of skillets over the years. The most important thing is to make sure you have a skillet with a lot of surface area so your ingredients can cook quickly. 

A large 12-inch skillet or cast-iron skillet will work if you don’t have a wok handy.

What Kind of Shrimp Work Best in a Stir Fry

Whether they’re fresh or frozen, make sure you buy raw (not fully cooked) shrimp. You can get pre-peeled shrimp or peel them yourself before adding them to the skillet. 

As far as sizing goes, I like large shrimp, which usually come in at 31-35 per pound. This size ensures that they cook quickly, but also aren’t bite-sized so are still nice and juicy in the finished stir fry. 

Save the jumbo shrimp for shrimp cocktails. They’re too big to work nicely in this stir fry. 

Choosing Mushrooms for a Stir Fry

There’s lots of flexibility here. You could use white button mushrooms if that’s what you have, but if you can, try to get cremini mushrooms. They have a little more flavor and hold their texture a bit better in a stir fry. 

If you wanted to vary the mushrooms, you could add in some shiitake mushrooms. Just don’t add more than a pound of mushrooms to the stir fry or they will overwhelm the shrimp. 

A Knock-Your-Pants-Off Stir Fry Sauce 

I like to start with some sort of stock as a base for my sauce and season it with fresh ginger, garlic, and soy sauce. Then I whisk in cornstarch as my thickener.

Once you add the sauce to the hot skillet, it should thicken very quickly and turn silky smooth. If it gets too thick, you can always add water by the tablespoon to thin it out. If you like a thicker sauce, just let it simmer for a minute and it will thicken up.

Personalize It

There are many substitutions you could try for this stir fry if shrimp and mushrooms aren’t your thing, or you wanted to add some other vegetables to the mix.

• Vegetables: Snap peas, red peppers, onions, and even slivered carrots.
• Protein: Chicken, pork, or tofu. Just remember to cook them fully before adding the sauce. Shrimp cook very quickly so you’ll need to adjust cooking time to accommodate a protein switch.
• Make it spicy: Add some chili garlic sauce or chili oil to the dish at the end for a spicy kick!

Make These Stir Fries on a Busy Weeknight

• Beef and Broccoli Ramen Stir Fry
• Spicy Tofu Stir Fry
• Mushroom Stir Fry with Peas
• Pork Stir Fry with Green Onion 
• Ginger Beef Stir Fry  

Make the stir fry sauce: 

Whisk together the chicken stock, garlic, soy sauce, and cornstarch in a small bowl. Set aside.

Cook the mushrooms: 

In a large skillet or wok over medium heat, add olive oil and mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms soften and turn brown in spots around the edges, about 8 minutes.

Add the shrimp: 

Once the mushrooms are cooked to your liking, add the shrimp to the skillet. If the skillet is very dry, add a fresh drizzle of oil to it to ensure the shrimp doesn’t stick. Cook, stirring constantly, until shrimp are cooked through and no longer translucent, 2-3 minutes.  

Finish the stir fry: 

Once shrimp are cooked, add all the stir fry sauce to the skillet and stir to combine. The finished sauce should just coat the stir fry ingredients, almost like a thin gravy. If the sauce thickens too much, stir in extra water by the tablespoon. If the sauce is too thin, let it simmer for 1-2 minutes and it will thicken. Lastly, stir in the chopped scallions.  

Serve:

Serve the shrimp stir fry spooned over cooked white rice garnished with sesame seeds.

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