Meet your new midweek secret weapon: an astonishingly quick Satay Peanut Stir Fry that tastes like what you get from Chinese restaurants. On the table in 15 minutes, made with your choice of protein – beef, chicken, pork, prawns/shrimp or tofu!
This recipe is made using one of my master sauce recipe, this Peanut Sauce for Stir Fries. Like my All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce, it can be used for any stir fry or noodles using a “formula” (provided in the recipe) and forms the basis for many recipes I’ve shared over the years!
Quick Peanut Stir Fry
I love being proven wrong over good food.
I can usually read a recipe and have a good sense for what it will taste like. I know, for example, a stir fry made with just soy sauce and sugar would just taste flat and bleh.
And I must confess, when I first saw the relatively short ingredient list for the Satay Peanut Stir Fry Sauce for this recipe, I was a bit dubious – but also curious. Would it have enough depth of flavour, could you taste the peanut, was there even enough sauce??
I was dead wrong.
This, my friends, is a gem of a find. It’s not mine, it’s a reader recipe – Pat The Wanderer, a self declared nomad…..I love the mystery surrounding where “home” actually is!
Long time readers know I’m a fan of Satay, having done my share of various types including Thai Chicken Satay, Indonesian Satay Skewers (easiest of the bunch, Malaysian coming soon), Satay Chicken Noodle Salad (this is epic!), a Chicken Satay Curry and a saucy Chinese Chicken Satay Stir Fry (my copycat of the satay chicken from Chinese restaurants here in Australia).
Though they are all easy, the ingredient list is a bit longer than the typical quick midweek meal I share here, and some require pulling out your food processor. So I’m pretty chuffed to have discovered this QUICK Satay Peanut Stir Fry recipe!
I’ve made this 5 times – 3 times with beef, once with chicken and prawns/shrimp. Try this with Velveted Chicken or Beef (meat that’s tenderised the easy Chinese restaurant way) – it’s incredible!
If you’re a busy person, fan of satay, lover of Chinese food and/or all of the above, this one is for you. Pat The Wanderer, we thank you! – Nagi xx
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Quick Satay Peanut Stir Fry (any protein)
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp curry powder (any – I use hot!)
- 1 1/2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter (smooth also ok)
- 2 tbsp water
Stir Fry:
- 300 – 350 g / 10 – 12 oz beef , chicken or pork thinly sliced (or peeled prawns/shrimp) (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 garlic , finely chopped (Note 3)
- 1 large onion , sliced
- 1 large carrot , julienned (Note 4)
- 1 big handful bean sprouts (~1 1/2 cups packed)
- 1/2 cup finely sliced shallots / green onions (plus more for garnish)
- 1/4 cup crushed peanuts , plus more for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Mix Sauce ingredients EXCEPT WATER together in a small bowl. Then mix in water (easier to combine).
- Place beef in a bowl, add 1 tbsp Sauce. Mix, set aside 10 minutes.
- Heat oil in a wok or large heavy based skillet over high heat. Add garlic and stir until golden (~10 sec) then add onion. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add beef. Cook for 1 1/2 minutes or until it mostly turns brown (some red spots ok). If using pork, chicken or prawns, cook until almost cooked through.
- Add carrots, bean sprouts and Sauce. Cook until veggies are wilted.
- Add peanuts and shallots, stir.
- Serve immediately with rice or noodles, garnished with extra shallots and peanuts if desired. (For a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice!)
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Quick Satay Peanut Stir Fry recipe video!
LIFE OF DOZER
At the time this post goes live, I’ll be up in the air enroute from San Francisco to Sydney, back to my usual routine. This is part of it – every single time I take Dozer to the beach, I open the boot, Dozer leaps out, bolts across the park and all the way down the beach about 500m/550 yards away (Step 1) then a few minutes later, bolts back to make sure I’m coming (Step 2).
Every. Single. Time.
So tomorrow when I land, I’ll be back to it. 🙂
Nagi! I love your blog that includes so much info about travel, food, your dog (most important as I run Mama H Doggy Boarding and Daycare in Calgary) and your all-round love of life! I very rarely make the same meal twice for myself and my husband (being retired) so I always look for inspirations from you each time you post. Thank you so much and hi to your Mom & Dozer! Please keep on posting!!
NO WAY! I have to tell my friend Jo – I stayed with her in Calgary and she just got a new puppy! N xx
Yum! Yum! Yum! I made this for dinner tonight and everyone loved it….even the kids! Thanks again for another fantastic recipe!
YESSSSS!!! So pleased everyone enjoyed this Alison, thanks for letting me know! N xx
I’ve just made this, absolutely delicious – cheated and bought a bag of pre-prepped stir fry veg and even worse pre-cut beef, but the butcher is shut on Mondays so supermarket it was. Thanks!
This is a recipe for cheating!! It’s such a quick meal! 🙂 So pleased you enjoyed it Kath, thanks for letting me (and Pat!) know – N x
Hi Nagi!
Hope you recover quickly!
You recipe calls for one garlic in the Stir Fry section. Do you mean a whole head of garlic, or one clove?
Thanks,
Mimi
Yikes. Whole head of garlic would be a nit much! 😂 Fixed, thanks Micheline, it’s 1 garlic clove. N xx
I hope you have a lovely trip and the weather cooperates~! I love your recipes and look forward to your maps. And I especially love your Mom’s recipes~! Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the lovely message Nanette! I am looking forward to creating the maps! N xx
Looking forward to your food maps…I’m going to NYC in a few weeks…Always in SFO since my kids/grandkids live in Marin.
This recipe looks easy and delicious…I will be making this soon:)
Thanks and give Dozer a big hug…
I promise I am on it! I’ve started the NYC one 🙂 So much fun reliving NYC! PS Hug passed on. I can’t stop hugging him, he’s already sick of me! 😂
Safe travels! I live in Napa, so you should have let me know so I could have given you some insider info! Next time…
When you get back, would you mind including the nutrition info for this recipe? Thanks!
I would love insider info!! Next time I will do a shout out before I plan any travels! 🙂 Doing the nutrition now, thanks for the reminder! N xx
Glad you are home safely and with Dozer again. Nothing like furry, unconditional love waiting for you to get back from a trip. And yes, definitely do a shout out next time you are in Napa. Will be happy to give you some insider info! And thanks for the nutrition info so soon after you got back and then dealing with jet lag!! Greatly appreciated!!
I would love that Marianne! I would like to spend more time in San Fran, I just love it so much! N xx
You bet!! And when you are not whipping up another delicious recipe for me to try out on my family, please be sure to send your food map of SF too! Even us locals need to find out about great food spots too. There are too many restaurants in SF to know them all!
It’s a work in progress!! N xx
Hi Nagi. I seriously wonder how you had the energy to post after all your sightseeing! Good thing you’ve got quick, delicious meals like this. I bet your homeless man will be glad you’re back! PS Love the picture of you with the bib!
That bib!!! I seriously couldn’t figure it out, thought I had to put my arms through! 😂
Oh, Yay!! I have all the ingredients plus I have pork thawed out. I’m still working on my chopstick dexterity — it’s really pathetic!! I’m even going to try out your mom’s method for making rice. By the time I get done with the recipe and post it the credits will look like the ones you find after a movie. 😉 Praying for you safe return!!
I should send you Learner Chopsticks. The ones that are like scissors!!! TE HE HE!!!
San Fran is a wonderful city to visit. Glad you and your mum had a great trip. Looking forward to your food map.
The Quick Satay recipe sounds great, but we have a nut allergy in the house. Have you any suggestion for a substitute? I know the peanut sauce makes the satay, but thought maybe you’d have an idea for a substitute.
Safe travels
Also, you have to let us know how dozer liked his gift.
Hi Ron! Sub the peanut butter with 1 tbsp of tahini or even better, Chinese Sesame Paste 🙂 They didn’t have the outfit in his size….otherwise you KNOW I would have…. 😈
Ron and Cindy…sunflower seeds are a perfect choice, and you can also buy sunflower butter (SunButter) for the sauce that tastes a LOT like peanut butter. No worries about peanut allergies and no loss of flavor in the dish. Our family loves it.
Nagi, it’s good to know you enjoyed your holidays in the US, and I hope your trip home was uneventful. I bet Dozer is sooooooo happy to see you.
This recipe looks terrific! It’s going to be on our table this week! YUM! Having these delicious but fast dinner recipes is a life saver. My hubby works different hours every day and it’s nice that he can call me when he leaves work and I can have his dinner ready when he walks through the door. He deserves a good meal that hasn’t been sitting around for two hours.
Now, do yourself a favor and take a few days to relax and recover. Seriously, you’ve shared so many great recipes, we can find plenty to sample. Take your time…we aren’t going anywhere. 🙂
(PS How can you be sure it’s a BIG handful of bean sprouts? Don’t you mean BABY handful? LOL)
BA HA HA!!!! 😂 (Hence the cup measurement provided – seriously for that very reason!)
Toasted Sunflower seeds work. 🙂
YES! That would be a wonderful way to sub the crushed peanuts! N xx