This Peanut Sauce Stir Fry is easy to make and done in just 30 minutes! This delicious recipe is great for the whole family and can be served over rice or noodles. It's a healthy alternative to takeout that everyone will love.
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🌟Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Perfect for busy weeknights. This stir fry recipe is made with simple ingredients and in one pan, making it a great recipe for crazy nights.
- Great for peanut butter lovers. If you love peanut butter you are going to love this delicious peanut sauce stir fry. You probably already have most, if not all of the ingredients at home. This will be your new favorite alternative to takeout! Try my Peanut Butter Cookie Bars with Chocolate Chips for dessert.
- Easy to customize. You can easily swap in your favorite veggies and proteins to make this meal perfect for you.
🥘Ingredients
- Chicken- the recipe calls for chicken breasts but chicken thighs will also work.
- Peanut butter- use unsweetened, natural creamy peanut butter. I recommend one made with just peanuts or only peanuts and salt as the ingredients.
- Coconut aminos- I prefer coconut aminos to soy sauce for the lower sodium content, but you can use soy sauce or tamari.
- Lime juice- fresh lime juice adds some acidity and brightness to the peanut sauce recipe.
- Red pepper flakes- I added red pepper flakes to give the sauce a little kick. Add more if you prefer or eliminate the red pepper altogether if you don't like spice. I love adding a sprinkle of this spice to Angel Hair Shrimp Scampi and Orzo Salad with Pesto.
See the recipe card below for the remaining ingredients and quantities.
📖Substitutions & Variations
- Switch up the vegetables. Cauliflower, zucchini, snow peas and asparagus are all great options. Feel free to even use a bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables to make this recipe even easier.
- Swap out the protein. Make it a shrimp or tofu stir fry instead.
- More ingredient swaps: if you don't have limes at home, use fresh lemon juice or rice vinegar instead. Brown sugar or even maple syrup can be used in place of the honey.
🔪Instructions
Step 1: Begin by dicing the chicken and vegetables. Add them to a hot pan with some oil and cook for a few minutes.
Step 2: While the vegetables and chicken are cooking, add the peanut sauce ingredients to a small bowl.
Step 3: Whisk the ingredients together until smooth.
Step 4: Add the sauce to the pan and simmer until everything is cooked. Serve and enjoy!
💭Recipe FAQs
Yes! This would be a great meatless meal. The peanut butter already provides some protein, but if you want more, use tofu or tempeh in place of the chicken.
Satay is a popular Southeast Asian dish that typically consists of skewered grilled meat that is served with a peanut dipping sauce on the side.
Peanut sauce is made from peanuts or peanut butter, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and other ingredients. It can be used as a dipping sauce, marinade or for stir-fry dishes.
Yes, you can use store-bought peanut sauce. There are many different options out there so make sure you choose one with flavors that you like.
👩🏻🍳Top Tips
- Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for about 3-4 days. If you want to make this as a freezer meal, let it cool completely, then store it in a freezer-safe container or bag. Let it thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat it in the skillet.
- Adjust the spice as needed for your taste.
- Use high-quality peanut butter. I recommend one without added sugars or oils.
- If your sauce is too runny, thicken it up by making a slurry. Use about 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, flour or arrowroot powder mixed with 2 tablespoons of cold water. Pour into your stir fry and it will thicken as it simmers.
🥗Serving
I recommend serving this recipe over white or brown rice, cauliflower rice, quinoa or rice noodles. Top it with sesame seeds and green onions for garnish.
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Did you make this recipe? Please leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating & comment below to let me know how it came out. Thanks for visiting!
🍳Recipe
Peanut Sauce Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 2 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
- ½ teaspoon salt
Peanut sauce
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ¼ cup coconut aminos or soy sauce
- ½ lime, juiced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add onion, red pepper and broccoli and sauté for 4-5 minutes, until slightly softened.
- Add the chicken to the pan with ½ teaspoon of salt and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl or container. Once mixed together, pour into the pan with the chicken and vegetables.
- Allow the stir fry and sauce to simmer for 5-10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. If the sauce appears too runny, create a slurry by combining 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, flour or arrowroot powder with 2 tablespoons of cold water and pour this into the pan to help thicken the sauce.
- Turn off heat and serve over rice or noodles. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for about 3-4 days. If you want to make this as a freezer meal, let it cool completely, then store it in a freezer-safe container or bag. Let it thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat it in the skillet.
- Adjust the spice as needed for your taste.
- Use high-quality peanut butter. I recommend one without added sugars or oils.
- If your sauce is too runny, thicken it up by making a slurry. Use about 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, flour or arrowroot powder mixed with 2 tablespoons of cold water. Pour into your stir fry and it will thicken as it simmers.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Steve H says
I made up my own version of this years ago and just looked. I think you are the only one that comes close. I also add grated Ginger, szechuan sauce for spice (housx of Tsxxx) and dry sherry. I have also added Teriyaki sauce from a jar and judge the thickness to see how much cornstarch to add. It needs to be thick enough to coat and stick to veggies, but too runny and it ends up at the bottom of your bowl, and too thick and it globs and doesn't coat the rice if you eat it on rice.
This is a great recipe, unique and fun to play with but the base of soy, sesame oil and peanut butter is a great start!
Steve H says
I forgot to rate it, of course 5 stars!
Sarah Holt says
Hi Steve, thanks so much for the kind words. I love that you played around with it and enjoyed it!
CJ says
Doubled the sauce recipe, used some of it to marinade the chicken and added ground peanuts on top. Delicious!
Sarah Holt says
Hi CJ, the peanuts on top sound so good, will have to try that next time!!
Myles says
This sauce turned out very nice but a little thick from the peanut butter. I kept adding water but it stayed a bit sticky thick.. I think adding a liquid like pineapple or orange juice to the recipe may be helpful. I enjoyed the taste though.
Sarah Holt says
Hi Myles, the sauce should thin out when added to the pan. Glad you enjoyed it though!
Nancy says
Made tonight, family loved it!
Sarah Holt says
So happy everyone enjoyed it!