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Quick Satay Peanut Stir Fry

By:Nagi
120 Comments
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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!

This Satay Peanut Stir Fry is almost too good to be true - it's SO FAST and SO EASY and tastes incredible! recipetineats.com

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!

This Satay Peanut Stir Fry is almost too good to be true - it's SO FAST and SO EASY and tastes incredible! recipetineats.com

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

This Satay Peanut Stir Fry is almost too good to be true - it's SO FAST and SO EASY and tastes incredible! recipetineats.com

This Satay Peanut Stir Fry is almost too good to be true - it's SO FAST and SO EASY and tastes incredible! recipetineats.com

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This Satay Peanut Stir Fry is almost too good to be true - it's SO FAST and SO EASY and tastes incredible! recipetineats.com

Quick Satay Peanut Stir Fry (any protein)

Author: Nagi
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 7 minutes
Total: 17 minutes
Dinner
Asian
5 from 46 votes
Servings3 - 4 people
Tap or hover to scale
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VIDEO below. A gem of a recipe given to me by a reader, this is a brilliant QUICK Satay Stir Fry that tastes like Chinese style satay that you get from Chinese restaurants here in Australia. Make this with your choice of protein - great with beef (pictured), chicken, pork, shrimp or tofu. Use shredded shaped vegetables - ideal for this sauce which is not the saucy type. 

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:

1. Fish Sauce has more layers of flavour than soy sauce. But if you are a fish sauce hater or are concerned about this tasting fishy (which I do not think it does), then feel free to sub some or all of it with light or all purpose soy sauce (not dark or sweet soy sauce).
2. Protein - This recipe works very well with any protein. It would even work with fish but it would need to be a sturdy one cut into cubes that can hold up to stir frying, or cook it separately then spoon over Satay Vegetables (that's a good way to make this for fish).
TIP: Tenderise chicken or beef the Chinese restaurant way. See How to Velvet Chicken and How to Velvet Beef.
3. STIR FRY TIP: Finely chopped garlic works better for stir fries than using a mincer or from a jar because it's not wet so it doesn't stick to the wok, and also because the pieces are slightly larger it doesn't burn as quickly. If using a jar or mincer (yes I do!), then add the garlic with the onion.
4. I used pre shredded carrots. I always have a bag of Just Veg pre-shredded carrots in my crisper because it lasts for weeks and weeks, it is excellent quality because it's made by the wives of QLD Carrot Growers and they are packaged within a few hours of being pulled from the ground. Available only at Woolworths in Australia. Super handy for extra hit of veggies to throw into sandwiches, omelettes, soups, salads, stir fries etc.
5. STIR FRIED NOODLES: To make stir fried noodles, double Sauce and add about 350g/12 oz of fresh noodles or 200g/7oz of dried noodles (rehydrate/cook per packet). Add it with the Sauce, toss to coat then serve.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 363cal (18%)
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

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. 🙂

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

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120 Comments

  1. Michelle says

    5 stars
    Excellent recipe! Fast and easy. I didn’t have any beef on hand, so I made it vegetarian. I used leftover spaghetti noodles, and it turned out great. This is a new addition to the monthly menu rotation. Thanks, Nagi!

    Reply

  3. Sally says

    5 stars
    Excellent dish with prawns. Doubled recipe but used 1kg of prawns (more than double!) and worked really well. Also swapped half the carrot for thinly cut broccoli florets. Delicious. Kids gobbled up broccoli and bean sprouts I was amazed!

    Reply

  5. Neil Chambers says

    5 stars
    Very clear and easy to follow recipe. We are vegetarian/vegan so added some marinated Tempeh instead of the beef and, as suggested, soy instead of fish sauce. Also when I went to the store cupboard found that the peanut butter my wife said we had was peanut butter with cocoa. Probably would not have been good, but luckily had cashew butter and cashews. This worked well.
    As vegetarian/vegan I often adapt meat recipes and the instructions are not always easy to adapt. These ones were really clear and easy to use. Thanks!

    Reply

  6. Catherine says

    5 stars
    Hi! I’m excited to try this recipe. I’m from the UK. What cuts of beef would you recommend to get? Especially on the more price-friendly margin?

    Reply

  7. Aideen Ross says

    5 stars
    Tired and emotional after a long long day. Selected this meal on the way home in the car – even velveted the chicken – delish, delish. Hubby happy that there’s leftovers as well. You never fail me Nagi, always inspiration within these pages. Love your work.

    Reply

  9. Fiona says

    5 stars
    Absolutely loved this! The chicken velveting trick is fabulous and the chicken melted in our mouths. Love your enthusiasm, passion, intelligent notes & Dozer life tales

    Reply

  10. TinaH says

    5 stars
    YUMO! I made this for dinner Saturday night (tried only a bit) and it was delicious. How great, quick and simple. I have a lot left so can’t wait to have it for work lunches. Love your recipes Nagi, I would recommend them to everyone.

    Reply

  11. LisaMcG says

    5 stars
    The sauce base is on regular midweek rotation in our household. I use firm tofu for the stirfry. I also double the recipe to have leftovers for work lunches. It’s a firm favourite for us, thanks Nagi!

    Reply

  12. Anita says

    5 stars
    This was amazing! Used a packet of stir fry vegetables instead of carrot and beansprouts, which worked well.

    Nagi, in the video you add pepper to the sauce. Is it white pepper? And how much?

    Thanks for a great recipe! Wishing you and Dozer all the best for 2021 x

    Reply

  15. Sonja says

    Hey Nagi, would it be appropriate and acceptable to replace the curry powder in this recipe, with your Red Thai Curry Paste?

    I’m a bit anal when it comes to using store bought recipes; I prefer to make my own. I actually make my own ‘Madrid Curry Powder’ using dried Kashmiri Chillies.

    I was give a Red Curry Paste recipe from friends years and years ago (1998 to be precise) LOL and they used their red curry paste as a base for their Beef Satay.

    I use both your Red Curry Paste and Green Curry Paste recipes for my Thai curries now.

    I’m just in the process of tweaking a Beef Satay using your Red Curry Paste with my friend’s Satay method.

    I’m looking forward to hearing from you 🙂

    Reply

    • Nagi says

      Hi Sonja, curry paste is completely different to the Indian style curry powder – you need the curry powder in this one for that flavour profile unfortunately. N x

      Reply

  18. Rachel says

    5 stars
    Yummy! Made it with leftover zucchini & broccoli as well and another delicious easy meal I will make again!

    Reply

  20. Freya says

    Once again, a hit recipe! This was delicious! I doubled the sauce and added heaps of veggies so we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Used beef strips after using the tenderising trick – it worked so well! Also added some Sriracha for a bit of kick. So tasty.

    Reply