Last night I assembled some homemade stir-fry kits. These are similar to what you can buy in the store, generally in the Asian section of the freezer aisle, but of course I get to choose the ingredients and make sure that everything is just to my liking.

Because I happened to have 5.5 pound bag of stir-fry veggies on hand I used that, but any fresh veggies cut into strips or any pre-frozen veggies will do. First I will show you how I made my kits and then I will add some recipes for making them from scratch.

First I started with 3.5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs (after shrinkage this will make 3 packets). You can choose white meat if you prefer it. We like dark.



Grill chicken pieces or cook in a pan. I used a George Foreman grill. I seasoned with salt and pepper only, however much you'd normally put on. Then I cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.



Once the chicken has cooled, place approximately 1 pound in a baggy. You can use a freezer baggy, but I used sandwich ones because they will be placed in a larger freezer baggy at the end of assembly.



Put two cups of your vegetables into a baggy.



Put one baggy of chicken and one baggy of veggies into a gallon size freezer bag.



For your sauce you have a couple of choices. For a dark sauce combine 1 cup of soy sauce (I use a gluten free, low sodium, no preservatives type), 1/4 cup of honey (or 1/4 cup brown sugar), 1 inch of fresh ginger peeled and grated (or 1/4 cup ground ginger), and 2 large cloves of garlic peeled and minced (or 1/4 tsp garlic powder or 1/2 tsp dried garlic). I usually use fresh on the garlic and ginger, but I was out of fresh ginger. I had some leftover sesame seeds from the last time we got takeout so I dumped a tablespoon of those in, too. For a light sauce use chicken broth instead of soy sauce.



Combine ingredients for sauce in a bowl and whisk together. Whisk the sauce for each packet by itself. If you combine it all together you may not have an even distribution of ingredients as the honey can make things sluggish. You can either dump this into a baggy or pour into a 1.5 cup plastic container. Freeze the sauce upright before placing in the gallon size Ziploc with chicken and veggies. Your kit is complete. I don't have a photo of this final step as my camera batteries died.

When you are ready to make this, first take out the sauce and put it in a hot water bath to thaw. It probably won't be completely frozen if you use honey. Heat oil in a wok or deep saute pan on medium high heat. I use peanut oil or olive oil depending on what I have. When oil is hot add the frozen chicken packet and stir for 3 to 5 minutes until chicken is thawed and hot. Add frozen veggie packet and stir for about 3 to 5 minutes until veggies are thawed and hot. Your sauce should now be thawed. Dump into pan and stir for one minute. (If you want a thicker sauce you can add a tbsp of corn starch now, but I don't bother). Turn heat down to low and cover, simmering for 2 minutes. It's done.

For my family one of these stir-fry kits would be enough to feed me, my 15 year old daughter, and my 11 year old son. If DH is home I would make 2 packets and there might be a little left over for his lunch the next day.


Other recipes to prepare the same way:

Pork Stir Fry

1 pound cheap pork loin or boneless chops, grilled (s&p) and cut into bite sized pieces
4 green onions
6 ounces snow peas
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut thin on the diagonal
8 ounces fresh or canned bamboo shoots

Sauce:
1 cup low sodium, gluten free soy sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes


Beef and Peppers Stir-Fry Kit.

1 pound chuck steak, grilled (s&p) and cut into bite sized pieces
1 white onion cut into strips
2 cups of bell pepper strips (red, yellow, orange)

Sauce:
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 cup low sodium, gluten free soy sauce
¼ cup honey
2 tbsp sesame seeds


Chicken and Vegetables Stir-Fry Kit

1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, grilled (s&p) and cut into bite sized pieces
2 cups mixed vegetables (snow peas, carrots cut on the diagonal, broccoli, cauliflower, celery cut on the diagonal, 1 can water chestnuts)
1 regular yellow onion cut into strips

Sauce:
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 large clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 cup low sodium, gluten free soy sauce
¼ cup honey