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This healthier Sweet and Sour Shrimp Stir-Fry has all the flavor of your favorite restaurant version without all the calories and loads of sugar! Gluten-free and on the table in 30 minutes or less!
I’ve got quite a few stir-fry and homemade takeout inspired recipes on the blog, but I noticed I was missing one of my favorites, Sweet and Sour Shrimp Stir-Fry. Normally I’d make this with chicken, but when you buy a two pound bag of frozen shrimp at Costco, you switch things up and go with shrimp. I’m actually really glad I did, because it was delicious!
Sweet and sour chicken used to be my go-to for Chinese takeout food. Crispy pieces of battered chicken in a sticky sweet sauce, I couldn’t resist the stuff. These days I’ve wised up to the amount of calories and fat in takeout food and try to avoid it for the most part. It’s insane and actually kind of gross to think about the amount of oil used to fry the food.
Besides the frying another thing to think about is the amount of sugar used in sweet and sour sauce. When I was looking at different recipes I found that most of them used anywhere from 1/2 a cup to a full cup of sugar and that’s on top of the sugar that’s already in ketchup! Some cookie and cake recipes don’t even call for that much sugar and this is supposed to be eaten for dinner!
The first change I made to my recipe for Sweet and Sour Shrimp Stir-Fry was to way back on the amount of sweetener used and I switched from using granulated sugar to honey. My preference is to sub in a natural sweetener whenever I can and honey works great in this sauce.
Another healthy change was to skip dipping the shrimp in a batter to give it a crispy coating. Not only does it save time and calories, but it’s really not needed when you’ve got crunchy vegetables and a flavorful sauce to take it’s place.
This stir-fry cooks in a flash! The vegetables are cooked first for a couple minutes and then the shrimp goes in. The shrimp only takes a couple minutes to cook and then the pineapple, green onion and sauce go in. The sauce only needs a minute or two to thicken and in that time the shrimp will finish cooking and the vegetables will get tender, but still have a little crunch to them.
The Sweet and Sour Shrimp Stir-Fry can be served over rice or cauliflower rice like I’ve done, for a lower carb option. Once you taste this you’ll never bother with the overly sweetened, deep fried takeout version again!
Sweet and Sour Shrimp Stir-Fry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
- 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup sliced green onions
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1/2 cup canned or fresh pineapple, drained
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup pineapple juice, I used the juice from the can
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce, or tamari
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce, such as sambal oelek
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch, or arrowroot powder
Instructions
- Whisk together the ingredients for the sweet and sour sauce and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, swirl to coat the bottom of the skillet and add in the carrots and red bell pepper. Sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add in the shrimp and green onions and season with salt and pepper. Sauté for about 3 minutes or until the shrimp start turning pink.
- Add in the garlic and pineapple and sauté for 30 seconds to a minute being careful not to burn the garlic.
- Pour in the sweet and sour sauce and stir to coat everything. Cook for another couple minutes or until the sauce thickens. Taste for seasoning. Remove from the heat and serve over rice or cauliflower rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Stir-Fry Recipes
Thai Chicken Stir Fry
Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry Quinoa Bowls
Orange Tofu and Edamame Stir-Fry
enjoy getting new recipes
My children love to eat shrimp and i always look for any recipes to satisfy them. Your suggestion is really useful for me. They love to eat so much. Thank you so much for your sharing.
This recipe is BOMB! It’s so good I’m making it two nights in a row! My kids and husband (who doesn’t even like shrimp) loved it as much as I did! I followed the recipe exactly as stated! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Out of everything out there on the web, this recipe nails it from a taste standpoint and a nutritional standpoint-thank you so much. Reading the amount of sugar grams in it, for the next time I’m going to cut the sauce recipe in half….. it will still coat everything for great flavor and further reduce sugar.