With just 30 minutes and one pan you can pull together this crispy and nutty Garlic Tahini Broccoli Stir-Fry, without vinegar or lemon juice. It's flavored with a few simple spices and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds for an extra crunch.
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About this recipe
Nutty Low Histamine Side: Today I tried out two versions of a recipe I've been working on— a tahini broccoli side dish. The winning version uses a lot less tahini than I'd been expecting to add, but it's absolutely delicious, and the flavor will remind you so much of peanut butter that you won't even miss the high histamine food.
Indonesian-Inspired: The dish was actually inspired by a peanut chicken dish I had a few years back in Indonesia, before my histamine issues took over my life. Instead of using inflammation-promoting peanut butter, I replaced the staple with tahini, which is a fancy way of saying sesame seed butter.
Over the last year, tahini has become a go-to for me in pancakes, salad dressings, and even snack foods, owed in small part to its strong flavor resemblance to peanut butter. This combination of flavors plays in both the Middle Eastern and East Asian realms of ingredients, but I promise it all comes together delectably.
Ingredients
Sesame Oil: to enhance the nutty flavor of the dish, I recommend using sesame oil for the stir-fry, if tolerated, but you could also use any number of other high-heat cooking oils.
Minced Ginger: this spice adds zing to the final dish, though you could skip it or use half the amount of dried ginger powder, instead.
Honey or Coconut Sugar: while either of these sweeteners would do a great job of caramelizing the broccoli florets, you could use almost any other normal sweetener in their place.
Sumac: this sour spice takes the place of the usual lemon or lime juice that you'd add to comlement the nuttiness.
Lime or Lemon Zest: this adds some zing and extra flavor to the dish, though you can leave it out if not tolerated.
How to make broccoli stirfry: step-by-step instructions
Step 1. Prep your ingredients: cut the broccoli into florets & small cubes of broccoli stem, keeping the two parts separate and drying them to get off any residual water. Mince both the ginger and the garlic, zest the lime, and dissolve the salt into 2 Tablespoons of water.
Step 2. Turn on medium-low heat under a cast iron* or nonstick pan, and add your sesame oil, giving it 10 seconds to heat up a bit (any longer and it will pop when you add your ingredients).
Step 3. Add a third of your garlic, half of your ginger, and all your broccoli stems to the pan, heating for 1 minute.
Step 4. Add all the broccoli florets and stir until everything has a light coating of oil, then add the rest of the ginger & garlic and stir everything again until well-distributed.
Step 5. Arrange the broccoli mixture in a single layer in the pan, cooking it for 9 more minutes & stirring every 30 seconds or so. You want to encourage as many pieces of broccoli to brown and crisp up, but NOT burn. If anything begins to burn, reduce the heat and stir until the burning bits are on top of yet-to-be-cooked bits— the ginger and garlic should also brown but not burn.
Step 6. Once fully cooked (a fork goes easily into the stem of the largest piece of broccoli), pour in your tahini and honey and stir until evenly-coated, then increase heat to medium high and cook all together for 30 more seconds.
Step 7. Once the pan has heated up to temperature, which may take another 30 seconds, pour on the salt water and stir immediately and constantly, until the coating on the outside is more of a sauce (about 1-2 minutes).
Step 8. Then turn off the heat and add your lime zest and sumac, stirring until evenly-coated, and then sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top before serving.
Recipe notes & tips
Making Extra: This recipe can be easily halved, but it also freezes wonderfully if you want to batch it. For those who prefer meat with their vegetables, it takes little extra effort to prep more of each ingredient except the broccoli to create extra sauce to spoon onto chicken or pork.
Saltiness: You may want to add more salt for your own palate, but be sure to try it before you add more.
Using Cast Iron: Note that if you use a cast iron pan, you'll want to keep the heat on low the whole time, as cast iron conducts heat much better than nonstick pans. Don't forget your pot holder!
Adding Sweetness: If you tend to like dishes a bit sweeter, you can add a pinch of pure monk fruit at the same time as you add the honey, but keep in mind that even a pinch goes a very long way.
What to serve with broccoli stir-fry
- Low Histamine Chicken Tenders
- Tahini Butternut Squash Soup
- Low Histamine Pecan Pesto Pasta
- 5-Ingredient Baked Hummus Chicken
- Easy Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Turmeric Honey Chicken Thighs
As always, if you like the recipe, I really appreciate a 5-star review or comment!
📖 Recipe
Garlic Tahini Broccoli Stir-Fry (One Pan Recipe)
Ingredients
- 4 cups chopped broccoli florets & stems; roughly 2 large heads of broccoli
- 2 Tablespoons sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh or frozen ginger minced
- 2 T tahini or almond butter
- 1 teaspoon honey alt. coconut sugar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt dissolved in 2T water
- ½ teaspoon sumac
- 1 teaspoon lime zest or lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds or sliced almonds
Instructions
- Cut your broccoli into florets & small cubes of broccoli stem, keeping the two parts separate and drying them to get off any residual water. Mince both the ginger and the garlic, zest the lime, and dissolve the salt into 2 Tablespoons of water.
- Turn on medium-low heat under a cast iron* or nonstick pan, and add your sesame oil, giving it 10 seconds to heat up a bit (any longer and it will pop when you add your ingredients).
- Add a third of your garlic, half of your ginger, and all your broccoli stems to the pan, heating for 1 minute.
- Add all the broccoli florets and stir until everything has a light coating of oil, then add the rest of the ginger & garlic and stir everything again until well-distributed.
- Arrange the broccoli mixture in a single layer in the pan, cooking it for 9 more minutes & stirring every 30 seconds or so. You want to encourage as many pieces of broccoli to brown and crisp up, but NOT burn. If anything begins to burn, reduce the heat and stir until the burning bits are on top of yet-to-be-cooked bits— the ginger and garlic should also brown but not burn.
- Once fully cooked (a fork goes easily into the stem of the largest piece of broccoli), pour in your tahini and honey and stir until evenly-coated, then increase heat to medium high and cook all together for 30 more seconds.
- Once the pan has heated up to temperature, which may take another 30 seconds, pour on the salt water and stir immediately and constantly, until the coating on the outside is more of a sauce (about 1-2 minutes).
- Then turn off the heat and add your lime zest and sumac, stirring until evenly-coated, and then sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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