Looking to spice up your Asian inspired meals? Try this Thai vegetable stir fry. It's packed with a vibrant blend of fresh vegetables, spices, and cashews. It's so delicious and so satisfying, you won't miss the meat. Plus, the homemade peanut sauce is so good your picky kids will lick their plates clean. This recipe is also vegan and gluten free!
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Ingredients
This Thai vegetable stir fry is very forgiving. If you need to use up leftover vegetables from your fridge or pantry, pick what you think would taste best together. Use the list below to use as a basic formula to customize the stir fry.
- Fresh Vegetables: choose crunchy ones that have a variety of colors and textures (1 ½ cups of raw vegetables per serving)
- Nuts: peanuts, cashews, walnuts, or almonds. (¼ cup per serving)
- Optional Protein: tofu cubes or crumbles, chicken cubes, sliced beef, pork, or shrimp (4 ounces per serving)
- Peanut Sauce: make enough to coat the vegetables and a bit extra for the rice to absorb (¼ cup per serving)
- Starch: white or brown rice, Thai rice noodles, cauliflower rice, quinoa, or ramen (½ cup per serving)
- Garnish: toasted sesame seeds, green onion, cilantro, Thai basil (optional)
How to Make
Gather all the ingredients. Mince the garlic, grate the ginger, peel and coin the carrots. Chop the red onion and bok choy. Separate the broccoli into small florets, then measure out the liquids and spices.
- To make the peanut sauce, add all the ingredients into a small saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until it simmers and is combined, roughly 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Dry toast the cashews over medium high heat for roughly 2 minutes. Make sure the cashews are moved around a lot with a wooden spoon to prevent burning. Remove them from the wok and place in a large bowl.
3. Over medium high heat, heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then add the small broccoli florets, carrot coins, bok choy stems, and sliced shiitake mushrooms. Keep the vegetables moving so they don't burn, and don't overcrowd the wok or the vegetables will steam. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, then remove from the heat and place in a bowl.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat, then add the aromatics (minced garlic, grated ginger, finely chopped red onion, and red pepper flakes). Cook while constantly stirring for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Remove from the wok and place in a bowl.
5. Over medium high heat, heat up one tablespoon of olive oil, then add the red bell pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Add the snow peas and cook for 1 minute. Add the bok choy leaves and cook until they wilt.
6. Remove the wok from the heat and add the rest of the vegetables, aromatics, and toasted cashews. Pour in the peanut sauce. Stir well to coat the vegetables.
7. Over medium high heat, keep the vegetables, cashews, and peanut sauce moving until they are heated up, which should take about five minutes.
8. Serve immediately with a side of rice, cauliflower rice, or Thai rice noodles.
Recipe FAQs
The vegetables that take the longest are cooked first. Hard vegetables like broccoli, carrots, bok choy steams, and mushrooms fall into this category. If these vegetables are cut small and uniform, they cook quicker. Quicker cooking vegetables like snow peas and bok choy leaves are cooked last.
Don't add vegetables that have a lot of moisture still on them. If they're wet, blot them with a paper towel before cooking. Also, don't overcrowd the wok, or the vegetables will steam.
Here are some suggestions to tailor a stir fry to your taste buds. Ingredients you can add are dried spices, fresh herbs, lemongrass, more aromatics, citrus zest, fruit juice, no sodium broth, and low sodium soy sauce.
Make sure the amount of sauce you are adding is correct. The correct ratio is 1 cup of sauce to 6 cups of uncooked chopped vegetables. If this ratio is off, the stir fry won't taste as flavorful.
The most common way to thicken a stir fry sauce is with a 1:1 ratio of water and cornstarch or arrowroot. For this recipe, we didn't feel like a thickening agent was needed. The peanut sauce coats the vegetables beautifully without it.
Variations
- Want more protein? Try chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, or tofu.
- Want it spicy? Add Thai red chili peppers or more red pepper flakes.
- Garnish ideas? Some include green onion, sesame seeds, cilantro, or Thai basil.
- Don't want rice? Use Thai rice noodles, quinoa, cauliflower rice, ramen, or zoodles.
- Want a different nut? Swap it out with peanuts, walnuts, or sliced almonds.
- Need the fat lower? Use water instead of olive oil if using a non stick wok.
Expert Tips
- Don't overcrowd the wok to keep moisture to a minimum.
- Cut all the veggies about the same size.
- Stir constantly to prevent the veggies from browning or burning.
- The ratios are 2 cups cooked rice, 6 cups veggies, 1 pound protein, and 1 cup sauce.
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Recipe
Thai Vegetable Stir Fry
Ingredients
For the Peanut Sauce
- ¼ cup smooth peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ cup coconut aminos
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon grated ginger
For the Stir Fry
- 1 cup cashews
- 3 tablespoons light olive oil
- 2 tablespoons grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons red onion, minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 cup carrot coins, peeled
- 1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup small broccoli florets
- 1 cup bok choy stems, cut on the diagonal
- 1 cup red bell pepper, cut into strips
- 1 cup snow peas
- 1 cup bok choy leaves, chopped
Instructions
- If you are planning on serving this with rice or some other grain, cook it according to the package instructions.
- Put all the ingredients for the peanut sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until combined and simmering, roughly 3 minutes.
- Dry toast the cashews in a wok over medium high heat. Remove from the heat and tip them into a large bowl.
- Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the wok, then cook the aromatics (onion, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes) over medium heat until softened. Dump them into the bowl of cashews.
- Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the wok, then cook the carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, and bok choy stems over medium high heat. Constantly stir with a wooden spoon to prevent browning. Once they are cooked, remove them from the pan and place in the bowl.
- Pour in the last tablespoon of olive oil, then add the red pepper and cook for a minute before adding the snow peas. Stir constantly until almost done, then add the bok choy leaves and cook until they have wilted.
- Return the all of the vegetables, aromatics, and cashews back to the wok. Pour in the peanut sauce and stir with a wooden spoon until every piece is coated and heated through. This should take 5 minutes.
- Serve over rice, cauliflower rice, zoodles, or noodles.
Notes
- Don't overcrowd the wok or the veggies will steam.
- For quicker cooking, cut all the veggies about the same size.
- Keep the veggies moving in the wok by stirring constantly.
- 1 cup sauce to 6 cups raw veggies, makes for the best flavor.
Beth
This Thai stir fry is great! The veggies are very crunchy, and the sauce is flavorful without being spicy. I like the nuts in here as well. The peppers and peas add a splash of color.
Emma
Thanks for your kind review, Beth!
Alex
This stir fry smells delicious. I love it!! I never thought of having peanut butter in a stir fry. The veggies are crunchy and yummy, and the rice is fluffy. I declare this to be yummy!
Emma
Peanut butter sounds like an unconventional choice, but it really is delicious in this sauce. We're so pleased that you enjoyed it, too, Alex!