Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles
Hungry but don’t have time to cook?! These spicy peanut butter noodles are just for you. They’re vegan, gluten free, easy to whip up, ready in just about 20 minutes and packed with delicious peanut flavor.
I didn’t think I could love a noodle recipe more than I love my sesame noodles, yet here I am, loving these spicy peanut butter noodles more than ever.
When a recipe involves both noodles AND peanut butter (I see you Pad Thai), I feel like it just has to be good. And this one is good. Like really good.
It starts with perfectly cooked rice noodles (like my creamy curry noodles) that are chewy yet still have a sliiiiight crunch that’s just barely detectable, but still there so you know you’re eating noodles and not a pile of mush.
Then, they’re smothered in THE MOST luscious peanut sauce I have ever made. Plus, rice noodles are egg free so this recipe is safe for vegans or anyone with an egg allergy. However, you don’t have to use rice noodles, virtually any noodle or pasta works well!
It’s spicy (not quite as spicy as my chili garlic noodles, but spicy), it’s savory, it has a mild hint of sweet, and the rice noodles soak it all up so perfectly you’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven.
Did I mention it all comes together in only 15 minutes? Sounds too good to be true, but it’s not. Try my chicken crunch salad, miso noodles or a recipe from my roundup of the best asian noodle recipes next!
How to make peanut noodles
Cook noodles. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook noodles according to package instructions.
You can use any type and shape for these peanut butter noodles, I used brown rice fettuccine to give it a Pad Thai feel. Anything goes!
Saute garlic. To start making the sauce, you’ll want to finely mince the garlic and add to a saute pan with 1 tbsp of oil. Any oil will work here, I used olive. Coconut, avocado, etc. all work well too.
Saute the garlic over low heat for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown and very fragrant.
Add all sauce ingredients. Add in all remaining sauce ingredients and whisk together until smooth.
Combine with noodles. Add about 1/2 of the sauce to cooked pasta and mix together. I intentionally made extra sauce in case you want to add some chicken, tofu, veggies etc.
I don’t recommend adding all of the sauce at once because it may be too much, so start with 1/2 and add more depending on your preference.
Serve. Serve exactly as is or top it off with chopped cilantro, red pepper flakes, scallions or crushed peanuts for some crunch.
WANT TO SAVE THIS RECIPE?
Enter your email below & we’ll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week!
Serving Suggestions
You can have this recipe so many different ways. With veggies, with chicken, tofu, no veggies, in a salad and more.
One of my favorite ways to have it is warm with a side of steamed broccoli and either salmon or grilled chicken.
You can turn it into a stir fry by adding some tofu and sauteed veggies like cabbage, carrots and bell peppers. Or, just eat the noodles as is for a lazy (but deliciously satisfying) meal. I fully support you. Plus, there’s plenty of protein in the sauce thanks to the peanut butter, so it’s still totally filling just as is.
Serve hot or cold!
Peanut noodles can be eaten hot or cold! This makes it the perfect meal prep recipe since you can keep it in a container and just grab and go for lunch!
Add in some freshly chopped veggies for a cold noodle salad (or just try my Thai noodle salad), or serve alongside some steamed broccoli and grilled chicken (or the chicken from my kung pao chicken noodles) for an easy weeknight meal.
Flavor tips
The peanut sauce can get too salty very easily if you’re not careful! I recommend using unsalted peanut butter and low sodium soy sauce so the salt isn’t overpowering.
Even low sodium soy sauces carries plenty of salt, so don’t worry about the flavor if that’s what you use.
How to store
Once prepared, this recipe will store in the fridge for 5 days stored in an air tight container.
The sauce tends to dry up as it sits, so if you want to get it saucey again, add the noodles to a pan with a splash of water, broth, or soy sauce and heat until warm.
Rice noodles tend to stick together a lot when they sit, so this may happen, but the flavor will still be delicious.
They usually fall apart a bit when they cook as well, so just keep this in mind! Rinsing right after cooking can help prevent some of this.
You may also like..
- Teriyaki Tofu
- Sesame Chickpeas
- Spicy Ramen Noodles
- Sesame Cauliflower
- Vegetable Lo Mein
- Korean Gochujang Noodles
- General Tso’s Chickpeas
If you want more recipes straight to your inbox, be sure to subscribe to my email list. As always, if you make this recipe, be sure to tag me on instagram and leave a comment below so I can see your creation!
Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles
by: claire cary
Ingredients
- 16 ounces brown rice noodles
- 3 large cloves garlic or 4-5 small
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ⅔ cup creamy peanut butter low/no salt*
- 4 tablespoons low sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 1/3-1 cup hot water hot water mixes with peanut butter more easily than cold
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1-2 tablespoons sriracha
- 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes can omit for less spice
- Optional: 2 tsp chili garlic sauce
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook noodles according to package instructions.
- Finely mince the garlic and add to a saute pan with 1 tbsp of oil. Any oil will work here, I used olive.
- Saute over low heat for about 2 minutes or until golden brown. Add in the grated ginger and saute for 1 more minute.
- Remove from heat and add in all remaining sauce ingredients (start with 1/3 cup of water) and whisk together until smooth, adding more water as needed to reach your desired consistency.
- How much you need will depend on the brand of peanut butter you used as well as your personal preference.
- Taste and add more soy sauce, sriracha, or any other seasonings as desired. I usually add more soy sauce because I like it saltier.
- Add about 1/2 of the sauce to cooked pasta and mix together. I intentionally made extra sauce in case you want to add some chicken, tofu, veggies etc.
- I don’t recommend adding all of the sauce at once because it may be too much depending on your preference, so start with 1/2 and add more depending on your needs. I usually end up adding all of it because I like it saucey, but up to you!
- Serve with crushed peanuts, scallions, red pepper flakes and enjoy! Delicious alongside veggies and protein of choice.
Notes
Comments
-
LOVED THIS! So so so tasty
-
Love, love, love Thai food. This was a quick and delicious recipe. I usually use recipes for a guide and add or subtract ingredients, but the only adjustment I made was adding more water from the noodles into the sauce (about another 1/4 Cup). Really tasty and quick. It’d be great with an addition of shredded carrots and broccoli. It’s in my rotation! Thank you!
-
Thank you, Jennifer! So glad you loved it 🙂
-
-
Made up fast and the sauce is yuuuummmmmy!
-
Awesome recipe! I subbed siracha dor tabasco as that’s what I had on hand and used crunchy peanut butter for added texture. Rotisserie chicken was a great protein addition for those who aren’t vegan. Delicious! I think next time I will garnish with a lime slice
-
Sounds great, thanks Sam!
-
-
This recipe was delicious. I used it on some leftover noodles that I had in the fridge. I am hoping I am able to can the sauce i didn’t use. I think this woukd be an excellent dipping sauce for Thai or Filipino BBQ Chicken skewers.
-
Thank you, Vince!
-
-
This was fantastic! I used TJ Thai wheat noodles that come precooked so that made this virtually a no-cook recipe. Will try again without siracha for the kids.
-
Absolutely divine! I added a few drops of fish sauce, replaced the rice vinegar with white wine and used a little pasta water to make it more fluid. Explosion of flavours and phenomenal balance of spice, richness, acidity, nuttyness. Many thanks!
-
Love those additions! So glad you enjoyed it.
-
-
-
Hi! It sounds absolutely amazing. Would this also freeze?
-
I haven’t tried that, rice noodles will likely fall apart when your re-heat, but flavor wise it would still be delicious.
-
-
Sounds interesting. I’m usually disappointed with rice noodles. Would this work with egg noodles? Thanks!
-
Yes egg noodles will be fine!
-
-
delicious and quick
-
This was amazing. I looked at other comments and added half a can of coconut milk and left come if the water w the Thai noodles and added green beans. So good thank you
-
Hello from India. We made this for dinner today – we used fusilli as that’s what we had – and paprika instead of pepper flakes. Omitted the sriracha and chilli garlic sauce, we didn’t have it and don’t like spicy food (! yup). Garnished with roasted peanuts and spring onion greens. Served with a side of broccoli. It was easy and absolutely delicious. We’ll be making this regularly from now on. Many thanks!
-
this was delicious, easy and quick! Since my PB was salted, I reduced the Soy Sauce by 1 Tbsp, I also reduced sriracha to 1 Tbsp as I wasn’t in the mood for something spicy. It still had enough spice to make it tasty and to round out the flavours. I also added in some crispy tofu and julienned carrots, peppers and broccolini to make it a complete meal. Thanks for sharing, this is going into my rotation!
-
Sounds delicious! So glad you loved it.
-
-
I’ve been looking for a great peanut noodle recipe, and this one is excellent. I didn’t have any rice noodles, so I substituted spaghetti noodles. I added a can of coconut milk because the peanut taste was a bit strong for me and I wanted a creamier sauce to go with the spaghetti noodles. I have plenty of leftover sauce and cannot wait it make it again. Thanks for such a great recipe!
-
Amazing! So glad you made it work for you.
-
I followed the recipe almost exactly but substituted smooth, unsweetened cashew butter for peanut butter (peanut allergy), sauteed the garlic and ginger in toasted sesame oil, and used 2 tbs instead of 3 of regular tamari since I didn’t have low sodium. Used sweetened rice vinegar and half maple, half honey. Served over Japanese noodles (not rice noodles). Very tasty.
-
Sounds perfect! So glad it works with cashew butter, thank you!
-
-
-
This was so delicious and really did take 15 minutes.
-
I found this recipe two days ago, and today was the day! Omg! It was delicious. I followed everything to the T. For the garnish, I forgot about the scallions and we sprinkle toasted sesame seeds instead. I also added steamed garlic to the pasta and fried tofu. This is a keeper. I’m making it again for Saturday
-
Sounds perfect, thank you Gloria!
-
leave a comment and rating