Vegetable Tempura

You are going to love these crispy tempura vegetables with ginger soy sauce. The vegetables are perfectly cooked and coated in a crispy and tasty batter.

This delicious recipe has plenty of vegetables (yes, they're fried in oil), but they're worth it.

Tempura veggies are just delightful. They're one of my favorite things to order at a Japanese restaurant. And while they seem like they might not be easy to make at home - I'll show you the step-by-step simple way of making your own veggie tempura!

They are melt-in-your-mouth good. Something delightful happens to vegetables when they are coated in batter and fried - they become incredibly tender and tasty.

The light batter in this recipe is perfect for veggies - it's thin enough that you don't get overwhelmed by batter but thick enough that it stays on the vegetables. The vodka and beer add lightness to this recipe, wonderful little bubbles, and a crispy texture.

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make this delicious vegetable tempura recipe.

Tempura Dipping Sauce

• Soy Sauce
• Fresh Ginger
• Garlic Cloves
• Optional - Chopped Scallions

Tempura Vegetables

• Vegetable Oil or Canola Oil
• All-Purpose Flour
• Light Beer
• Vodka
• Kosher Salt or Sea Salt
• Zucchini
• Red Onion
• Bell Peppers
• Green Beans

See the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce (soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and scallions) and let it sit to combine flavors.

Heat the oil to 325 degrees F in a large, heavy-bottomed pan over high heat (the oil needs at least a 2-inch depth, add more or less depending on your pan).

You can check the oil temperature with an instant-read thermometer.

Meanwhile, add the batter ingredients - flour, beer, vodka, and salt to a medium or large bowl and whisk to combine till there are no lumps of flour.

One at a time, drag the vegetables through the tempura mixture and shake off any excess. There should be a light coating over the whole vegetable piece.

Once the oil is ready, gently add the vegetable pieces to the pot. Do not overcrowd - vegetables should not touch each other.

Let each piece fry for 2 to 3 minutes in the hot oil. Flip them over at least once with tongs. If the oil gets too hot and starts sputtering, lower the heat to medium-high of medium heat till it stops spitting.

Remove vegetable pieces when they are golden brown. Lay flat on pieces of paper towels, so the excess oil is soaked up. Continue till the vegetables or batter run out.

Serve the tempura vegetables with ginger garlic soy sauce. 

Tips for Making Tempura

Cooking Tips - Be careful with the sizes you cut your vegetables. Especially the zucchini and red onion - if you cut the pieces too small and all you taste is the batter, but too large a piece won't cook well. Cut them no larger than ⅓-inch wide.

Diet/Allergy Alternatives - If you don't drink alcohol, you can achieve a very similar effect with soda water. Just remove the alcohol and add the same amount of sparkling water.

Storage

Tempura veggies do not keep well in the refrigerator. Once you make them, you need to serve them. So if you don't want to make four servings, half or quarter this recipe.

Leftover batter can be frozen for up to 1 month.

Substitutions & Variations

Need to make some changes to this recipe? Here are some optional swaps.

• Assortment of Vegetables - You can use your favorite vegetables with this recipe. It's great with cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, lotus roots, eggplant, yellow squash, root vegetables, etc. Don't skip the red onion though, it's amazing.
• Alcohol - you can swap the alcohol for an equal amount of unflavored sparkling water.

More Great Veggie Recipes

If you love veggie-forward Japanese dishes, try some of our other favorites!

• Braised Kabocha Squash Recipe
• Udon Noodle Soup
• Vegetarian Miso Ramen Recipe
• Blistered Shishito Peppers

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