Kale Chickpea Stir Fry
This vegan Kale Chickpea Stir Fry with Miso Peanut Sauce is delicious, easy to make and can be paired up with veggies, rice, noodles or roasted sweet potato for a complete meal.
You will love this simple stir fry topped with the most delicious, creamy miso peanut sauce. I’d recommend serving it over roasted sweet potatoes but you can also serve it with roasted vegetables, tofu, rice or noodles or stuffed in a baked potato. You can also just make the sauce and serve it with everything and anything!
Ingredient Notes
Let’s go over some of the key ingredients you’ll need make this easy stir fry:
For the Miso Peanut Sauce
- Peanut Butter. Looks for natural peanut butter with 1 or 2 ingredients, either just peanuts, or peanuts and sea salt.
- Miso. The recipe calls for red miso but white or yellow will also work. Red miso has a stronger, saltier flavour.
- Sweetener. The sauce can be sweetened with agave, brown rice syrup or maple syrup. Coconut sugar would also be suitable.
- Vinegar. Vinegar is used to add acidity and help balance the miso and sweetener. Use brown rice vinegar, regular rice vinegar or seasoned rice vinegar. In a pinch, apple cider vinegar will also work.
Aside from those, you’ll need a few other basic ingredients such as lemon, sesame oil and garlic.
For the Stir Fry
- Sesame oil. Sesame oil adds flavour to stir fries so it makes a good choice for cooking, however, you can make the recipe oil-free by cooking in a splash of water or vegetable broth.
- Onion and garlic. Lots of onion and garlic are a must for a good stir fry. The recipe calls for a red onion but white and yellow are fine too if that’s all you have.
- Chickpeas. You’ll need 1.5 cups of cooked chickpeas, or roughly a 14 oz. can, drained and rinsed.
- Kale. Choose organic kale if you can and give it a good wash.
Aside from some basic seasonings, that’s all you’ll need for the stir fry.
Method
Step 1. Make the miso peanut sauce.
Add everything to a blender and process until smooth. Set aside while you make the stir fry.
Step 2. Make the stir fry.
Cook everything but the kale for a few minutes then add the kale and cook until wilted.
Serving Options
Try the stir fry and sauce served with:
- a baked sweet potato or roasted sweet potato chunks
- roasted potato
- baked or fried tofu or tempeh
- white or brown rice, quinoa or another whole grain
This recipe has been republished with permission from Bold Flavored Vegan Cooking by Celine Steen, Page Street Publishing Co. 2017.
Related Recipes
Here are some more simple vegan bowl recipes you’ll enjoy:
- Brown Rice and Baked Tempeh Bowls
- Roasted Potato Avocado Buddha Bowls
- Easy Veggie Stir Fry with Tempeh and Rice
- Sweet Potato Cabbage Cashew Stir Fry
- Easy Vegetable Curry with Tofu
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Click here to leave a review.
PrintKale Chickpea Stir-Fry with Miso Peanut Dressing
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Prep Time: 10 mins
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Cook Time: 10 mins
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Total Time: 20 minutes
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Yield: 3-4 1x
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Category: Main Dish
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Method: Stovetop, Blender
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Cuisine: Asian
- Diet: Vegan
So quick and easy, this flavor-packed, smoky stir-fry is great served alone. It’s also a perfect match with roasted sweet potatoes to make for a colorful complete meal. While definitely good for you, this dish is quite a treat too.
Ingredients
For the Drizzle
- 1/3 cup (85 g) natural peanut butter
- 1 tbsp (18 g) red miso, more if needed
- Juice from 1 lemon (2 tbsp [30 ml])
- 2 tsp (10 ml) toasted sesame oil
- 2 tsp (13 g) agave nectar or brown rice syrup
- 2 ½ tbsp (15 g) chopped scallions
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) brown rice vinegar or seasoned rice vinegar
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) water, more if needed
For the Kale and Chickpeas
- 2 tsp (10 ml) sesame oil
- 1 small red onion, chopped
- 1 ½ cups (256 g) cooked chickpeas
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced (to taste)
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp chipotle powder
- 1 large bunch kale (about 14 oz [397 g]), ribs removed, washed and chopped
Optional, For Serving
- roasted or baked sweet potato
- sesame seeds for topping
Instructions
- To make the drizzle, place the peanut butter, miso, lemon juice, sesame oil, agave, scallions, garlic, vinegar and water in a blender. Blend until perfectly smooth. Adjust the miso to taste, and add more water if needed to get a thick yet pourable dressing. Set aside while preparing the rest of the dish. I like to use a squeeze bottle to serve the drizzle; it makes for a prettier presentation.
- To make the kale and chickpeas, place the sesame oil, onion, chickpeas, garlic, salt, paprika and chipotle powder in a large skillet. Heat on medium-high and stir-fry until the onion is golden brown and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Be sure to stir frequently to prevent scorching. Add the kale and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes.
- Serve with roasted sweet potatoes and drizzle peanut sauce on top. If there are sauce leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It tastes great on tofu bowls, baked potatoes and roasted vegetables.
Notes
Credit: Published with permission from Bold Flavored Vegan Cooking by Celine Steen, Page Street Publishing Co. 2017.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe
- Calories: 335
- Fat: 19 g
- Carbohydrates: 34 g
- Fiber: 10 g
- Protein: 15 g
Keywords: kale stir fry, chickpea stir fry
This post was originally published November 5, 2017. It was updated December 2019 with new photos and text.
Yet another delicious and foolproof recipe! The smoky flavor of the stir fry was fantastic and the idea to serve this on a bed of roasted sweet potatoes was genious!
★★★★★
Extremely good, flavorful and comes together quickly. Another awesome recipe. Thanks, Deryn!
★★★★
So glad you enjoyed it!! Thanks, Winnie!
WE LOVE this recipe! Have made it several times. I make extra peanut sauce because it’s so good!
★★★★★
This was delicious and so healthy!
★★★★★
This was my first, ever, vegan meal. I’ve always been a major meat eater, so this is a BIG change for me. I looked at different blogs and Instagram pages, and stumbled on this one. My boyfriend and I were a bit scared to be honest, we’re both gym rats and we were afraid it wouldn’t be enough or tasty. Boy was I wrong! It was a party flavour in my mouth. There was just sooo many different flavours, from sweet, to spicy! So great!!!!! Id give it 4.5 stars but I didn’t have the option. Mainly because my boyfriend didn’t like the sauce much because it was a bit too spicy for his liking. (Might’ve been my mistake and not the recipe) also, I’m not a big fan of peanut sauces either, but this one was still really good. For a first time try, This recipe was easy to make, and follow; did not require a ton of ingredients that I didn’t already have at home, and it was packed with flavour. Totally recommend it.
★★★★
I’n so glad you decided to give it a try, and enjoyed it!
We ate this cold as I had prepared most of it during the day. I had roasted white, hawaiian and sweet potatoes as a base. I fried up the chickpeas and made the drizzle sauce earlier. We only had to steam the kale.
The most amazing dish of the virus.
This would be great to take to a bbq as a salad for everyone….non vegans. I think the smokiness of the sauce would go so well with bbq eggplant slices.
★★★★★
Awesome! Some amazing with the mixed potatoes. So glad you enjoyed the recipe and thanks so much for leaving a review!
Quick, easy and delicious! Will definitely make again.
★★★★★
Holy yum! This was SOOOO good! I sautéed the onions and chickpeas a bit more (to my own preference). The peanut sauce is out of this world.
Will absolutely make again!
★★★★★
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it.
This dish was awesome. My 7-years olds even complimented this one! We served it over both baked sweet potato and rice (for leftovers), and it was great both ways!
An added tip, I eliminated the added sugar and just put in a few drops of liquid stevia for the sauce. Just a small taste of sweet is all it needs!
★★★★★
Yay! So happy it was 7-year old approved. Thanks for the review!
Best Vegan dish I have made!
★★★★★
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it!
Yes, this is a treat. Love the sauce!!
★★★★★
So amazing. Satisfying. Served over roasted butternut squash. Gonna be a regular rotation for our home. Thanks so much!
★★★★★
This recipe was incredibly delicious! So easy to make too. I couldn’t find any miso in any of the stores near me, so I substituted with coconut aminos and I worked perfect. My husband loved it too.! Will be making again 🙂
★★★★★
Such an easy one, isn’t it! So happy you enjoyed it!!
Just tried this recipe and it’s AMAZING! Thank you so much!
★★★★★
Amazing! Is this gluten free?
Yes, it is. Hope you enjoy it.
I must say this was outstanding. I have never tried any recipe you’ve posted that wasn’t DELISH.. Such great recipes and the variations you offer are tremendous. Made me wonder how long it takes you to write one post with the many options you suggest. OH SO GOOD ! My hubby still has not completely bought into a vegan diet but every time I make one of your recipes, he raves about the delicious flavors and combinations of textures. Yum! I did serve this a la Buddha bowl with roasted hubbard squash and couscous.
Thank you so very much! Hearing that inspires me to keep sharing and creating, so I really appreciate it! So happy to hear you’ve enjoyed the recipes you’ve tried so far. That Buddha Bowl sounds so good!
Absolutely delicious. It’s was very quick and full of flavors. I will certainly make this dish again.
Awesome! So happy to hear that. Thanks for the feedback!!
Looks awesome. I am all in to try it this weekend.
What’s the best alternate for peanut butter for drizzle?
★★★★★
Any nut or seed butter should do the trick. I would recommend almond butter. Enjoy!
Thanks. I’ll try it with almond butter.
★★★★★
I didn’t have peanut butter and used almond butter. It was delicious.
Great. Thanks for letting us know!
The dressing has some very delicious combination of ingredients. I cant wait to try this recipe for the weekend. It does not even seem very difficult to prepare.