By Jennifer Provenza at Good Food From The Heart
This vegan stir fry with creamy peanut sauce contains fresh, colorful vegetables, crispy tofu, and warm, soft brown rice noodles topped with a rich, delectable sauce.
Updated 5/30/2022
Whole foods plant based, oil free, sugar free, gluten free
Vegetable Forward Dinner
You are going to love this recipe. It comes together easily and is super healthy and filling. The best part, though, is the incredible peanut sauce. Feel free to make extra sauce and pour it over rice or vegetables any time. It’s a great meal to serve when you would like a detox from heavy holiday foods. This one finds a frequent rotation in my house in January.
Ingredients
Vegetables/Edamame: The vegetables in this recipe are a colorful mix of both starchy and non starchy vegetables and beans. The more colorful the mix of vegetables, the wider range of vitamins you get, I also love to use something with some protein, such as edamame.
Tofu: Adds protein and heft.
Shallot/Green Onion/Garlic: These ingredients add some great flavor.
Noodles: The noodles make this dinner really have staying power and add whole grains.
Peanut Butter: This is the building block of the sauce and gives that great creamy texture and lots of protein.
Lime Juice: Adds a delicious fresh tangy taste.
Ginger: Gives a wonderful heat and flavor.
Tamari Soy Sauce: Adds a salty, umami taste. I use low sodium, otherwise I’m chugging water the rest of the night.
Stevia or Maple Syrup: This adds a lovely sweetness to the sauce. Maple syrup (an unrefined sugar) will give you the best flavor, but stevia will give you a completely sugar free option.
Substitutions
For the vegetables or edamame: Feel free to use any veggies or beans that sound good to you. Sweet potatoes would be good, as would chickpeas.
For the garlic/onions/green onions: You could leave any of these out if you need to, but the result will be less flavorful. Regular onions would be fine too.
For the noodles: Feel free to use brown rice, quinoa, couscous, etc…
For the tofu: If you can’t have soy, you could leave it out, but then I would add some chickpeas or something with protein and heft.
For the peanut butter: This sauce is best with peanut butter, but almond butter or any other nut butter will work too. If you have nut allergies, you can substitute sunflower seed butter.
For the tamari: Coconut aminos can be substituted for the tamari if necessary.
For the lime juice: You could use lemon juice instead, but I really prefer the taste of lime.
FAQs
Yes! The peanut butter is high in fat, but it is a healthy fat and all other ingredients are pretty low calorie.
In addition to those in the recipe, I love using sweet potato, chickpeas, or broccoli.
This vegan satay sauce is also excellent over a bowl of brown rice or on top of a Buddha bowl. It can even be used on a salad.
Yes! You may just need to cook the vegetables in more than one batch.
It will keep for a few days in the refrigerator. The sauce can be frozen indefinitely.
How To Make This Vegetable Stir Fry With Peanut Sauce
Make the brown rice ahead of time if you decide to serve over rice. (Alternatively, you could serve over quinoa, cauliflower rice, couscous, etc…) I prefer this served over brown rice noodles, which you can cook as you are doing the stir fry.
First, whip up that peanut sauce. All you need to do is mix all the ingredients, heat, and whisk to combine thoroughly.
Then cut up all the vegetables. Set those aside and get the tofu going. I cut into cubes and cook in the air fryer (you can add a spritz of nonstick spray and a dash of salt and pepper). I cook at 370 degrees for 15 minutes. I love the tofu in this recipe when cooked in an air fryer, but if you don’t have one, you can cook it in a nonstick pan instead. Simply spritz with nonstick spray, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook for a few minutes on each side, until lightly browned. Speaking of the tofu, if you want to save time, try to find pre-pressed tofu so that you don’t have to bother pressing the water out of it. Otherwise, you just have one extra step to do.
Then cook the garlic and shallot over medium heat in a non stick pan. Use a little vegetable broth or water to keep it from sticking. Cook until the shallot turns translucent.
Add the veggies, and cook until they are reasonably tender (but not soggy).
Now, you are ready to combine all the ingredients. Simply divide the brown rice noodles between 2 or 3 plates, top with the vegetable mixture and the tofu, and drizzle with peanut sauce.
To finish, you might top with chopped peanuts, green onions, and wedges of lime. It also goes great with my Vanilla Bean And Rose Lemonade. If you love vegetables, you should also try my Vegan Vegetable Noodle Soup.
Vegetable Stir Fry With Peanut Sauce, Brown Rice Noodles and Crispy Tofu
Equipment
- Non Stick Pan
- Sharp knife
- Cutting board
- Spatula or long handled spoon
- Small bowl
- Large pot with lid
- Pasta strainer
- Optional: air fryer
Ingredients
For Stir Fry
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 2 teaspoons shallot minced
- 2-4 tablespoons vegetable broth or water
- 1 cup carrots diced
- 1 small zucchini chopped
- 1/2 red pepper sliced thin
- 1 cup snap peas chopped
- 1/2 cup edamame shelled
- 2 tablespoons green onion minced
- 2 tablespoons peanuts
- 1/2 block firm or extra firm tofu pressed
For Sauce
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste or fresh ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon pure liquid stevia (or 2 tablespoons maple syrup)
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons lime juice freshly squeezed
For Serving
- 8 ounces thin brown rice noodles (or 1 cup brown rice)
Instructions
- If you plan to serve over rice, cook the brown rice about an hour ahead of the time you want to eat. Boil two cups of water and add one cup of brown rice. Cover and simmer for about an hour until water is absorbed. If you plan to serve over brown rice noodles, follow the directions below.
- Begin by making the peanut sauce. To a small bowl, add the garlic, peanut butter, tamari soy sauce, ginger, stevia or maple syrup, water, and lime juice. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. If the peanut butter can smoothly be stirred in, you have heated long enough. If not, try another 30 seconds in the microwave and then stir the sauce again. (You can also heat on the stovetop if you prefer). If the sauce seems too thick, you can add a little water or more lime juice. Set aside.
- Chop all vegetables.
- Either press your tofu between a folded kitchen towel or use a tofu press to drain it. Even better, if possible, start with pre-pressed tofu (this is what I do). Cut your cube of tofu in half, wrap up and store one half in the refrigerator and then slice the half you will be using into small bite sized squares. Preferably, spray with a little non stick spray and cook in an air fryer for 15 minutes at 370 degrees. If you don't have an air fryer, spray a non stick pan with a small amount of non stick spray and cook the tofu over medium heat until lightly crisp. Turn the tofu slices over and repeat on the other side. Set aside.
- Add the garlic, shallot, and vegetable broth or water to the non stick pan. Cook, over medium heat, until the shallot is translucent. As you cook, add more broth or water as necessary to keep the vegetables from sticking to the pan.
- While the shallot and garlic are cooking, fill a large pot with enough water to cover the noodles, put on the lid, and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Add the carrots, zucchini, snap peas, red bell pepper, and edamame to the pan with the shallot and garlic. Continue cooking, adding more broth or water as necessary, for about fifteen minutes, stirring frequently.
- Meanwhile, when water is boiling, add the brown rice noodles and cook according to the package directions.
- When the vegetables are soft enough to your liking (but still retain some crispness), remove from heat.
- Check to see that the noodles are finished cooking and then drain.
- To assemble: Divide the noodles between two plates, top each with half of the vegetable mixture and half of the tofu. Sprinkle a tablespoon each of green onions and peanuts over each plate and drizzle with peanut sauce. This recipe can easily be doubled, but you may need to cook the vegetables and/or tofu in two batches. Leftover peanut sauce goes great over rice or vegetables as a side dish.
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This looks delicious and filling! I’m always looking for ways to pack in more veggies for dinnertime. We’ll be trying this recipe soon!
Yum! I love a good veggie stir fry, and it is always great the next day for leftovers. I am excited to try your peanut sauce! Thank you for sharing!
This looks amazing and delicious! I’m a meat girl, so I would tweak it by mixing the tofu in favor of chicken or shrimp, but I love stir fry recipes! 🙂
This looks and sounds so yummy! I’ve been a vegetarian for years but for some reason have never made a stir fry with tofu. I really need to give it a go. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it.
The veggie stir fry and the soup sound wonderfully flavorful. I plan to try both this week. Good luck with all the online school the kids must go to. It’s very challenging from what I hear. Good healthy food helps!