I found myself with a handful of leftover vegetables in my fridge this week, so you know what that means—STIR FRY TIME! I went extra tropical this time, to escape these winter blues, with a spicy coconut and peanut sauce, complete with fresh lime and cilantro. This Spicy Coconut Vegetable Stir Fry is fully adjustable for heat and whatever vegetables you have on hand, so read below for modifications!
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Adjust the Heat
I used a full 2 Tbsp of sriracha in my coconut sauce, which gave it a good medium-level heat. If you want a slightly spicy sauce, use only 1 Tbsp sriracha, and if you want a sauce with zero heat, simply leave the sriracha out.
Vegetable Options
As I mentioned above, I jut used a mix of vegetables that were lingering in my fridge, freezer, and pantry. If you don’t have any vegetables on hand, this would be a great opportunity to take advantage of a grocery store salad bar. Grab a handful of 4-5 different vegetables, about 4-6 cups of vegetables total, and you’re good to go. And, if in a pinch, you can always use a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables.
Add a Protein
If you want to add a dedicated protein to this meal, this Spicy Coconut Vegetable Stir Fry is very versatile. You can add chicken, shrimp, tofu, or tempeh. Just sauté your protein in the skillet first, then remove it before adding the vegetables (to avoid over cooking the protein), then add the protein back in when you add the spicy coconut sauce.
Spicy Coconut Vegetable Stir Fry
Servings 4Ingredients
Spicy Coconut Sauce
- 1 13.5oz. can full-fat coconut milk ($1.79)
- 1/4 cup natural style peanut butter ($0.28)
- 2 Tbsp sriracha ($0.18)
- 1 tsp brown sugar ($0.01)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.06)
- 2 Tbsp lime juice (about one lime) ($0.22)
- 1 clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger ($0.10)
Stir Fry
- 4-6 cups mixed vegetables ($1.93)
- 1 Tbsp high heat cooking oil of choice ($0.04)
Optional for Serving
- 4 cups cooked rice (or 8oz. noodles) ($0.70)
- 1/4 cup chopped peanuts ($0.12)
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro ($0.22)
- 1 lime (cut into wedges) ($0.22)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, peanut butter, sriracha, brown sugar, soy sauce, lime juice, minced garlic, and grated ginger. If needed, gently heat the sauce in the microwave or in a sauce pot to help the peanut butter melt into the coconut milk. Taste the sauce and adjust the heat (sriracha), salt (soy sauce), sweetness (brown sugar), or tartness (lime juice) to your liking.
- Chop your vegetables, if not pre-chopped. Heat the cooking oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Once hot, add the vegetables to the skillet in order of hardest to softest to allow harder vegetables, like carrots, more time to cook and to avoid over cooking softer vegetables. Stir fry the vegetables only for about 1-2 minutes, or just until they begin to soften on the edges because they will cook further once the sauce is added. If using a tender green, like spinach, wait to add it to the skillet until after the sauce has been added.
- Pour the prepared spicy coconut sauce over the vegetables, stir to combine, and allow the sauce to heat through (about 2 minutes). If you are using a tender green, like spinach, stir it into the hot sauce and stir just until it has wilted.
- To serve, spoon the vegetables and sauce over a bowl of hot rice, or add pre-cooked noodles to the skillet and toss with the vegetables and sauce until combined. Top with chopped peanuts, cilantro, and serve with a wedge of lime to squeeze over top.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Spicy Coconut Vegetable Stir Fry – Step by Step Photos
First, make your spicy coconut sauce. In a medium bowl, whisk together one 13.5oz. can of full-fat coconut milk, 1/4 cup natural style peanut butter, 2 Tbsp sriracha, 1 tsp brown sugar, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp lime juice (about one lime-worth), 1 clove of minced garlic, and 1 tsp of grated fresh ginger. If you have a difficult time getting your peanut butter to incorporate into the coconut milk, you can gently heat the sauce in the microwave or a sauce pan to help it melt in (I did not need to do so).
You can use anywhere from 4-6 cups-worth of mixed vegetables. I just grabbed some things that I had in my fridge, but you can also get a mix of pre-chopped vegetables from the salad bar at the grocery store, or use a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables.
Heat 1 Tbsp high heat cooking oil of your choice in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, begin adding the vegetables, starting with the hardest vegetables first and adding the softest vegetables last. Stir fry only for 1-2 minutes, or just until they begin to soften on the edges. The vegetables will cook even more once the sauce is added and you don’t want them to be completely limp at the end, so err on the side of under cooked during this step. If you’re using a tender green, like spinach, wait to add that until after the sauce has been added.
Next add the prepared spicy coconut sauce…
Stir to combine the sauce with the vegetables, then allow it to heat through. It should heat through very quickly in the hot skillet. Once the sauce is hot, add any greens if you’re using them and stir just until they wilt in the hot sauce.
Top with chopped peanuts, cilantro, and a squeeze of fresh lime, if desired. To serve the Spicy Coconut Vegetable Stir Fry you can spoon the vegetables and sauce over rice, or add cooked noodles to the skillet and toss to combine with the sauce.
I went the rice route today (jasmine rice, specifically), and it was super delish!
How does this hold up for leftovers? Looking at making meal prep my lunch this week.
I LOVED the leftovers. :)
Think this would work in the crockpot?
I’m gonna say probably not, because the goal is not to overcook the vegetables. You could probably use the sauce to cook chicken in the crock pot and end up with shredded chicken, but these vegetables would not do well with a long cooking time.
No, I wouldn’t suggest this one for the crock pot. You really want to cook this one very quickly. The slow cooker will leave everything kind of mushy, and probably a bit more watery.
So good! I too used creamy Jif and left out the brown sugar. I also threw in about a cup of frozen shredded chicken I had hanging out in the freezer. I had a hard time waiting for it to cool off enough to eat!
Unfortunately my kids only like sweet n sour sauce, but I love all things coconut and lime. I made a batch of this sauce and used a bit on my serving, and let my kids choose their own sauce. The rest of the coconut sauce I froze in an ice cube trays so now I will always have the right amount of sauce for my own servings while my family can also choose their own sauce! Perfect solution! I just polished off my leftovers and I put a few cubes of sauce in the bowl and microwaved everything together until hot. So delicious!
My stir fry had mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash, onion, and cabbage. I served it with brown rice noodles. So delicious!
Easy and yummy
So, so, SO good. Like, lick the bowl clean good. Another amazing and EASY recipe!
As always, a delicious recipe. I used coconut almond butter since there are peanut allergies in my household and it turned out great! I also didn’t have any limes but I used rice wine vinegar (only a tablespoon) to give it some acidity. I cooked all the veggies in coconut oil. Can you tell I like coconuts? Can’t wait to make this again!
Super yummy. I even used frozen stir fry veggies.
Looks like awesome
I was SUPER skeptical that this few ingredients could yield a satisfying sauce, and I could not be happier that I decided to give it a whirl. THIS WAS SO GOOD. I did not use exact measurements for the sauce and went by taste and ended up adding a little fish sauce for an extra punch of flavor. I used sweet potatoes, fresh green beans, a red bell pepper and a small chicken breast I had laying around. Thanks for an amazing recipe!!
Made this last night, exactly as directed–absolutely sensational. We used leftover veggies: red bell pepper, mushrooms, cauliflower and matchstick carrots. While I made some chicken on the side for my partner, I took mine totally vegetarian, over rice. I predict we’ll turn back to this recipe several times.
This is a delicious recipe. I added more veggies, and instead of using peanut butter, I used regular butter for richness. My husband and son were big fans!
Made this last night (with added chicken for protein) and it was SO GOOD and flavorful. For anyone wondering, using creamy JIF peanut butter and omitting the sugar in the recipe worked out great (I was out of natural PB). Next time I will probably add more Sriracha for a little more heat. As usual, thanks for the awesome recipe, Beth!
Amazing recipe. I’m obsessed with this sauce. It was super creamy and so flavorful and I’m so hype that it only uses ingredients that I always have at home, so there’s no need to go shopping for special ingredients. But it still tastes so special!
The sauce for this was SO GOOD, I’m craving it weeks after I finished off my first batch! Next time around though I will try lite coconut milk (since it has less saturated fat), and I’m thinking of adding riced cauliflower, as someone mentioned. Great way to use up veggies! Also, I used honey flavored peanut butter, since that’s what I had on hand… it was still awesome!