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!
Super excited to try this recipe out! Do you have any recommendations for not using PB or a possible substitution?
Yes you could easily swap with almond butter if that’s okay!
I made this recipe last night and my family (and myself) LOVED IT!!!! My husbant asked me to make it today as well.. he suggested that I add pinch of cinnamon… :)
Absolutely loved this. First, I added chicken which I cut into small chunks and browned before dealing with the vegetables. It finished cooking in the sauce, I let it simmer a little longer than written. Want to mention that I didn’t include the brown sugar, mainly because I used traditional peanut butter (warmed in the microwave) which took care of the need for sweetness, and mingled and combined well with the coconut milk. I added about a tablespoon of fish sauce too. This method yields similar (in my opinion) complex flavors of a red curry you’d get in a Thai restaurant without having to mess with curry paste. I can’t say enough good things about this recipe, very excited to add it to my regular rotation.
Made this tonight for my fiancé. We both loved it. He requested that we keep this in our monthly meal plan.
That’s a big win I’d say!
I LOVE this recipe, by far the one I use most on this site. To make the sauce quick and easy I put all the ingredients in a blender! I also added a tbsp of red Thai curry paste and an extra tbsp soy sauce, and some extra sriracha because I like a bit of heat. Such a great way to use vegetables in the fridge. I also added some canned lentils to keep it vegetarian but give it some more substance. Definitely give it a try!
Never a bad choice to add more heat! :)
This was absolutely delicious! I only had spinach and broccoli so I added frozen mixed vegetables. I topped it with peanuts and Thai basil. I’ll be fixing this again soon, it was THAT good!
Oh wow delicious! And great job using what you have on hand!
I just re-made this with light coconut milk, coconut sugar instead of brown, added a teaspoon of sesame oil, a splash of rice vinegar and a sprinkle of cumin to the sauce. I think I liked it better with the light coconut milk versus the full fat. The full fat was a little much for me after awhile.
Love this dish! I used almond butter instead of peanut butter and it came out great!
This recipe was good, since coconut milk and pb are hard to be bad, but I felt the sauce lacked enough flavor. I know she says to adjust to taste, but it was so coconut’y that I didn’t know what to add to change it (as in, I added more of all the condiments but couldn’t taste more than the coconut).
I think I would have used more like.2tbsp of ginger and another garlic clove? Not sure! It sounds delicious though so wish I could have made it work for us.
Delicious! I used carrots, broccoli, red onion, red bell, and cabbage. Somehow we were out of sriracha, so used 1T of chilli-garlic paste instead, which gave the right heat for my eaters. Not only were there no leftovers, but there were requests to make again “soon”. Winner!
On top of this being an awesome receipt, the background music in the videos were really interesting too. Can you share the name of the songs?
We’ve had this for dinner once every week for the past 2 months, we can’t get enough! Thanks so much for the delicious recipe!
Excellent start, but I tasted it while cooking and found that the sauce far too creamy and flat for me. It tasted overwhelmingly like PB and coconut milk, and not in a good way.
For those who find themselves feeling the same way, consider adjusting by adding the following ingredients : more lemon juice, more salt, more sriracha, about 1/4 tsp cumin. If I had curry powder on hand, I would have added that too. I stir fried with
Thank so much for the recipe, though, Beth, I’m happily munching on leftovers for lunch!
I love this dish! I use coconut cream instead of coconut milk for a bit of a richer taste; I recommend this!
I can see this being a staple. If you use some standard good-for-stir-fry items (I have my 4 trusted staples: onion, carrots, red bell pepper and a couple of slices of cabbage – either green, red or nappa), you can then add others for variety. Since it is almost a ‘curry’ with that sauce, I think you can even add some slightly cooked (boiled) sweet potatoes and/or frozen green peas (again, slightly cooked). For some ‘exotic’ additions: add some sliced bamboo shoots or water chestnuts from a can, or even baby bok choy (our supermarket regularly stocks these).