Peanut Sauce Stir Fry

A delicious Peanut Sauce Stir Fry recipe with noodles that is sure to satisfy your cravings. This recipe is sweet, tangy, and full of protein and vegetables.

Peanut Sauce Stir Fry with Noodles

This recipe is very heavily influenced by my love for South East Asian cuisine. Peanut Sauce is very popular in countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand. Each county has their own variation of how they make it and what they eat it with. Anytime I order Vietnamese or Thai food I always order something with peanut sauce, so I wanted to see if I could make my own. This recipe is so delicious.

I love eating Vietnamese fresh spring rolls with peanut sauce or Chicken Satay with peanut sauce. Instead of grounding peanuts, I simplified the sauce by using ready-made peanut butter.

The addition of noodles makes this dish so much fun! I love slurping them up from the delicious peanut sauce and swirling them around my vegetables and chicken. I used ramen noodles for this dish that I got at a local grocery store. You can use any type of noodles for this, but I highly recommend Asian noodles, specifically Ramen or Soba. If you have an Asian market nearby that sells the fresh noodles, those would be fantastic too!

If you do not want to use noodles, you can also serve this dish over rice. The dish will be extra saucy if you omit the noodles, so you can either use less sauce, or you can enjoy the super saucy dish over the rice.

How do you make Peanut Sauce?

There are many ways to make peanut sauce, but most of them include peanuts, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and something sweet. For the sauce in this recipe I used peanut butter, soy sauce, fish sauce, sweetener, garlic, ginger, vinegar, sesame oil, water, and sriracha.

If you have a microplane, I think it is the best way to ensure your garlic and ginger are properly minced. You can chop them small with a knife, but grating them with a microplane will give you the perfect mince for this peanut sauce.

My favorite peanut butter to use is Skippy Natural. It has sugar in it, so it is sweetened but it isn’t overly sweet. It has the best flavor in my opinion. I have also made my own peanut butter using my vitamix, but if you are in a rush, like I always am, store-bought peanut butter is great in this recipe.

The vinegar you use does not matter too much, however I have read that Chinese Black Vinegar is incredible in a peanut sauce. Rice Vinegar and Apple Cider Vinegar also work. You just want to make sure you do use vinegar to get that flavor balance.

Do I need to use Fish Sauce in this recipe?

Fish Sauce gives this sauce a burst of umami flavor that soy sauce cannot do alone. I know that fish sauce is not a staple in everyone’s kitchen, however, it does stay good in a refrigerator for a long time and most grocery stores sell it, including Trader Joe’s.

Which protein tastes best with Peanut Sauce Stir Fry?

For this peanut sauce stir fry, I chose to add sliced grilled chicken breast. Another great option for this dish is tofu. My wife and I love the texture of tofu and it goes so well with the peanut sauce too. You can also try sliced pork, beef, or skip the protein and just add more vegetables.

Protein Options:

• Chicken
• Tofu
• Pork
• Beef
• Edamame

INGREDIENTS FOR PEANUT SAUCE STIR FRY

Peanut Stir Fry Sauce

• 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
• 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 2 tsp Maple Syrup or honey
• 3 Garlic Cloves minced
• 3 tsp Ginger grated
• 3.5 tbsp Peanut Butter I used a lightly sweetened one. If you use unsweetened peanut butter, you may want to add additional sweetener
• 1 tsp Vinegar
• 1 tsp Sesame Oil
• 1/3 cup Water
• 1 tsp Sriracha optional

Stir Fry

• 4 oz Dried Noodles cooked per package instructions
• 8 Green Onions diced
• 1/2 tbsp Garlic minced
• 1 lb Protein I used boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 1″ pieces
• 2 tbsp Oil
• 1 Red Pepper sliced into 1/4″ slices
• 2 Carrots sliced into matchstick size
• 16 oz Broccoli I prefer to use frozen broccoli that has been steamed ahead of time, but you can also use fresh broccoli cut into small florets.
• Sesame Seeds optional
• broth optional

INSTRUCTIONS 

Peanut Sauce

• Add all the ingredients for the peanut sauce in a bowl and mix until fully incorporated. 

Noodles

• Prepare the noodles according to package instructions and set it aside.

Stir Fry

• Add the 2 tbsp of oil to a large skillet or wok and heat on medium high heat.
• Add the diced green onions and minced garlic, and once they start to brown, add your chicken pieces. Cook your chicken for about 1 minute per side, and then get ready to add your vegetables
• Add your bell pepper and carrots first, and once the pepper starts to crisp up, add your steamed broccoli, peanut sauce, and noodles. Your sauce should start to thicken in the pan. If it gets too thick, you can add a little water or broth to make it easier to mix. Add your water/broth very little at a time so that the sauce does not become too thin. 
• Garnish with sesame seeds, or if you have it, fresh cilantro.

If you like this recipe, you may also like:

Ginger Scallion Meatballs

Pork Belly Fried Rice