Peanut Butter Stir Fry

This Peanut Noodle Stir Fry is the perfect quick and easy dinner. It’s versatile, loaded with flavour and takes just 20mins to make!

This also makes the perfect date night dinner. Mainly because it’s quick & easy, but also because you can neatly pair off the prep i.e. one person makes the sauce and one person stir fries the veg. Plus who doesn’t love noodles on date night?! If you ain’t eating copious amounts of carbs on date night you’re doing it all wrong 🤪. Anywho, peanut butter noodles. Follow me…

Peanut Butter Stir Fry Sauce

The peanut butter sauce is the star of the show here. If you haven’t guzzled the entire thing before it hits the stir fry you’re a better person than me! Let’s take a quick look at what you’ll need:

• Peanut Butter – Crunchy or smooth. I usually go crunchy just for an extra bit of texture.
• Soy Sauce – I recommend dark soy sauce. It’s got a more intense rich flavour than regular soy sauce. Not a deal breaker though if you’ve only got regular.
• Lime Juice – Lime and peanut is a match made in heaven. This also cuts through the richness/sweetness of the peanut butter.
• Sugar – Heightens the sweet tones of the peanut butter.
• Ginger & Garlic – Both fresh and preferably both grated/minced. You don’t actually cook the sauce before hand so it’s important to have the ginger/garlic quite fine, otherwise you’ll end up with big chunks of raw garlic in your teeth – not fun!
• Chilli Flakes – Adds a nice bit of heat to the stir fry. Work to preference!
• Sesame Oil – This is very strong so you won’t need much. It enhances the nutty flavours in the sauce.
• Water – This thins out the sauce so it doesn’t clump up in the noodles.

Can I make the peanut butter sauce ahead of time?

Yep! It’s pretty quick to make because you don’t cook it, but you can make it in advance if you want to get ahead of the game. Just tightly store in the fridge then bring to room temp before needed (or warm slightly in a pan to loosen up sauce).

Process shots: add all sauce ingredients apart from water and whisk together (photo 1), whisk in water until smooth (photo 2).

Peanut Butter Stir Fry

Alrighty, peanut butter sauce done and dusted, let’s talk stir fry.

Tips for making a great stir fry

• Prepping Veg – Make sure you prep all the veg ahead of time, just so it’s ready to quickly hit the pan when needed.
• Cooking Veg – Stir fries happen over high heat, so make sure the wok/pan is smoking hot before you start adding in the veg. Cooking veg low and slow makes it limp and too soft. You want the veg to be nicely browned and still have a slight bite to it. Only high heat can achieve this!
• Order of Veg – Different veg will cook at different speeds, so make sure you add the more dense/firm veg in first (i.e broccoli/carrots) and place the softer veg in towards the end (leafy greens/beansprouts).

Best veg for peanut butter stir fry

In reality you can use most vegetables here! The usual suspects for me are carrots, pepper, spring onions and mushrooms, but cabbage, edamame, onion, broccoli, beansprouts and mangetout all go perfectly!

Peanut Butter Noodle Stir Fry

Sure, stir fries are great, but noodle stir fries are better 😋. Again, most types of noodles will work great here. But I usually go for rice noodles, mainly because that’s usually what I’ve got on hand. You’ll want to cook them per packet instruction, which usually consists of soaking in boiled water for a couple of mins.

Process shots: add oil to wok/pan (photo 1), once smoking hot add carrot and fry (photo 2), add in pepper, mushrooms and spring onion (photo 3), fry until browned and slightly soft (photo 4), add noodles (photo 5), pour in sauce and green parts of spring onion (photo 6).

Peanut Stir Fry FAQ

What can I use as garnish?

I usually go for crushed peanuts and sesame seeds. Both lightly toasted. Garnish is optional though!

Can I reheat this?

If there’s leftovers just stir fry again with a dash of water to loosen up the sauce.

Do I have to add noodles?

Nope! Just add more veg and/or protein (i.e. chicken or prawns/shrimp)

How to make Peanut Butter Stir Fry (Full Recipe & Video)

Peanut Butter Stir Fry

This Peanut Noodle Stir Fry is the perfect quick and easy dinner. It's versatile, loaded with flavour and takes just 20mins to make!

5 from 3 votes

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Servings (click & slide): 2

Course: Dinner / Main Course

Cuisine: Asian

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Calories per serving: 549kcal

Author: Chris Collins

Cost per serving: £4 / $5

Equipment:

• Small Mixing Bowl & Whisk (for peanut sauce)
• Wok or Large Skillet (for stir fry)
• Bowl/Dish (for soaking noodles)
• Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
• Tongs
• Wooden Spoon

Ingredients (check list):

Peanut Butter Stir Fry Sauce

• ▢ 1/4 cup / 80g Peanut Butter (crunchy or smooth)
• ▢ 2-3 tbsp Water
• ▢ 2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce (can sub regular if that's what you have, dark has slightly more intense flavour/darker colour)
• ▢ 1 tbsp Brown Sugar
• ▢ 1 tbsp Lime Juice (approx 1/2 a whole lime)
• ▢ 2 tsp Sesame Oil
• ▢ 1 tsp Garlic, grated/minced (approx 1 clove)
• ▢ 1 tsp Ginger, grated/minced
• ▢ Chilli Flakes, to preference

Stir Fry (see notes for subs)

• ▢ 3.5oz / 100g Dried Noodles, (here I use Rice noodles, any will work though)
• ▢ 3.5oz / 100g Carrot, sliced into matchsticks (1 large carrot)
• ▢ 3.5oz / 100g Pepper, sliced (1 large pepper)
• ▢ 3.5oz / 100g Mushrooms, sliced
• ▢ 3-4 Spring/Green Onions, sliced into 1" chunks & divided into white/firm part and green part
• ▢ 1 tbsp Vegetable or Peanut Oil

Garnish

• ▢ Crushed Peanuts, optionally toasted (see notes)
• ▢ Sesame Seeds, optionally toasted (see notes)

Instructions:

• In a small mixing bowl combine peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, sugar and lime juice. It will split at the beginning but keep whisking and it'll come together. Whisk in 2 tbsp water to smooth it out then place to one side.
• Prepare noodles as per packet instruction (usually just need to soak in boiled water for a couple of minutes). Drain when cooked.
• Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok or skillet over high heat until it's nice and hot. Add in carrots and fry for a couple of minutes until they just begin to pick up colour/soften. Add in mushrooms, pepper and the firm parts of your spring onions. Continue frying until the veg starts to brown and begins to soften slightly, shaking the pan frequently.
• Turn heat down to medium and add in cooked noodles, peanut sauce and the green parts of your onions. Toss to evenly distribute the sauce. Depending on how dry your noodles are you might need another tbsp of water to loosen up the sauce.
• Serve with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and crushed peanuts!

Quick 1 min demo!

Notes:

a) Toasted Peanuts/Sesame Seeds - Place peanuts in a DRY pan over high heat, shake frequently until they lightly char then remove. This will take a couple of minutes. Add in sesame seeds and shake frequently until they turn golden. Careful, sesame seeds burn quickly. In a roasting hot pan they'll take less than a minute to toast.

b) Stir Fry Veg - You can use any veg you fancy, just cook them in order of texture (i.e firmer veg goes first as they take longer to cook). In total you'll want to use around 14oz/400g.

c) Lime Juice - I use lime juice because lime and peanut is a gorgeous combo. It's also for the acidity though, just to cut through the richness/sweetness of the peanut butter. As such you can use rice vinegar as a sub.

d) Calories - based on half the whole recipe:

Your Private Notes:

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Nutrition:

Nutrition Facts

Peanut Butter Stir Fry

Amount Per Serving

Calories 549 Calories from Fat 258

% Daily Value*

Fat 28.68g44%

Saturated Fat 5.181g26%

Trans Fat 0.06g

Polyunsaturated Fat 10.135g

Monounsaturated Fat 11.811g

Sodium 650mg27%

Potassium 750mg21%

Carbohydrates 62.3g21%

Fiber 6.1g24%

Sugar 11.84g13%

Protein 14.44g29%

Vitamin A 10067IU201%

Vitamin C 74.3mg90%

Calcium 72mg7%

Iron 2.1mg12%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Looking for more?You'll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook 'Comfy'

If you’re after another delicious stir fry recipe check out my Pork & Pineapple Stir Fry!

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