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!
I’m a loyal fan. This sauce was not up to the quality of the other recipes, here. I’m good at ad-lib-ing and I couldn’t get it right, I added more soy, more chili garlic sauce. I could have added more sugar, I guess. I think more peanut butter next time will make it similar to Thai food. On paper, this is an amazing meal. But it didn’t deliver.
I felt the same! However I know for me it was the quality of the coconut milk I used. I had been “gifted” a can from a friend that moved and it was noname brand, and I think it was sweetened. I was rushed so I didn’t taste it at first. Next time I’ll use a good quality unsweetened or even lite and use a bit of maple syrup and fish sauce to bring some acidity!
I love budget bytes, and this has been the very best so far!! It’s so delicious and simple. I made it for my parents and we scraped every last bit of sauce out of the pan.
Delicious! I used Costco’s Stir Fry Vegetable mix and used two packages of udon noodles as the starch. The thick noodles were great because they soaked up some liquid (like rice would, but I started dinner too late!). I served some Costco cilantro/chicken potstickers on the side.
This was so good! Easy and delicious. I used a bag of frozen stir fry veggies. Used all ingredients exactly as mentioned. Can’t go wrong with this recipe!!
This is the first recipe I’ve tried from Budget Bytes and it was a Huge hit! Delicious with whatever veggies are on hand. I took leftovers for lunch and everybody needed to know what that Fabulous smell was.
I love so many recipes here, just can’t wait to try them all. Thanks Beth for your awesome site!!
This was delicious! I used mushrooms, broccoli, carrots and spinach. I think next time I will add tempeh. Thanks for a great vegan recipe!
Made this tonight. Very nice. I didn’t have siracha but did have chili garlic paste which is spicy. That said I will use more next time. I also found the sauce too thin for my liking so next time I’ll thicken it with cornstarch.
I’ve made this many times and it’s delicious every time no matter what veggies I have on hand. I’ve made it for diner guests and on a ski vacation for a group of 12 – it was a huge hit! It catered to the gluten-free, vegetarian folks with minor tweaks and the meat eaters didn’t notice the no-meat since it was hearty with the addition of peanuts and garnished with life and cilantro. Depending on what I’m craving I’ll change the proportions a bit on the salty, sweet, spicy, acid spectrum and it’s always delicious!
It might have just been that i used the wrong vegetables but after some point I just couldn’t finish my plate. The sauce was off, I think it’s too sweet for this balance.
I swept the freezer and fridge and came up with a very odd assortment of veggies. It was soooo good though because the sauce is amazing. I also found out that my sriracha had gone missing, so I subbed in 1.5 Tbsp of chili garlic sauce. It was the perfect amount of heat for the kids.
I prefer the chili garlic sauce!
Made this tonight. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. I added clove, allspice, and cumin to punch up the flavors a little more
Made this again today and it tastes much better than I remember the last time. I’m not sure what I did differently. I do think having a natural peanut butter is key to the peanut flavor without the sugar. I also added more lime juice for the acid boost. I recommend.
Super delish! Added toasted cashews and boy, am I glad I did. Can’t get enough of it, and will be making again.
Really surprised that some people didn’t love this as I thought it was so good! Very easy and filling. I used frozen green beans, broccoli, and an onion over rice and it was delicious. Excited to make this one again!
Is the carb count including rice or without?
The nutrition data provided is calculated using all ingredients listed on the recipe card, including any ingredient listed as optional. Keep in mind that recipes that involve marinades, breading, salad dressings, oil for frying, or salt for cooking pasta and potatoes may be skewed because some of these ingredients will be discarded and not included in the final edible portion.
So good! I used mushrooms, spinach, red bell pepper, red onion, and broccoli and I thought those vegetables worked perfectly!
This is a great starter sauce that can be made to suit various tastes with additional condiments on the side such as more lime, fresh pineapple, fresh jalapeños, minced fresh herbs, and fried tofu. I added double the amount of veggies for a less saucy variation, it was delicious! Thanks for sharing , I love this blog!