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
-
Late night munchies, skip the pizza. I made this, and softened rice paper wrappers added bean sprouts, romaine. A squirt of Sriracha. Chopped honey roasted peanuts. Crunch factors:)!!
Dang, no more munchies until breakfast! Um, read comments, it makes a generous amount of peanut sauce. Add what you like
-
I don’t know if it’s the metric measurements on this recipe that were off or the organic peanut butter i got was too heavy, but the peanut butter completely overpowered the rest of the ingredients.
-
Sorry this didn’t work for you! The metric may be a bit off since it’s automatically calculated, but this is supposed to be very peanut forward as it is a recipe for peanut butter noodles.
-
-
I just made this with soy noodles and frozen “stir fry blend” vegetables. Delicious!
-
Perfect! Thanks, Ruth!
-
-
This is the first recipe I tried & gave it to my son & work mates for their opinion. They all loved it so I will be making it again! I particularly loved using the sesame oil.
-
Absolutely delicious! Ate this with rice paper noodles and it hit the spot
-
Can i use soynut butter instead of peanut butter if I’m allergic? Will it turn out the same?
-
I am not familiar with soynut butter, I would try sunflower seed butter or maybe tahini! Definitely won’t be the same flavor as this is designed to be made with peanut butter.
-
-
This sauce is all raw ingredients.. nothing is cooked down and you can taste the vinegar and heavy peanut butter in the sauce.. when cooked into a sauce the soy sauce, vinegar and sugars from the peanut butter should meld into something balanced without being able to differentiate each individual sauce ingredient.. I tried it, but couldn’t eat it.. not my favorite sauce
-
Lots of sauces are uncooked! Pesto, bbq sauce etc. are examples of uncooked sauces where the ingredients are simply blended or mixed together. If you prefer to cook the sauce you can.
-
-
excellente recette avec poulet et légumes wok
-
Very good! I made some substitutions, but it was still very yummy.
I used spaghetti as I didn’t have any other kind of noodle, crunchy peanut butter instead of regular peanut butter, I used Lao Gan Ma chilli crisp oil instead of siracha and gochugaru instead of red pepper flakes.Will definitely make it again!
-
I had to use granulated garlic bc I ran out of fresh garlic and was in a hurry. It tasted delicious but then needed a little more salt and acid once I poured it onto my noodles and veggies. I added a squeeze of lime and a dash of fish sauce and will see how flavors develop overnight for the next serving.
For the person looking for a peanut sub, you can try cashew butter or sunflower butter. Those are good too! -
I have been trying multiple peanut sauces. Last week I looked for one specifically for tofu bowls, then tried yours for the instant ramen. Both were delicious. I baked some chicken and drizzled the sauce over it and served with matchstick carrots and cucumber. Saved the cold ramen that wasn’t eaten, because as you said , it’s just as good cold! Peanut sauce is SO good!
-
Love it! You can try our roasted red pepper sauce next- great with chicken!
-
-
Oh my goodness! Even my picky husband asks me to make this for dinner! Tastes just like the restaurants! Absolutely delicious and only recipe you need for peanut noodles!
-
Made this a few times now and it’s absolutely delicious, I scrape that pan clean of the sauce while cleaning up, it’s that good. Omitted the spice a couple times for my 4 year old, she also approves! Zero recipe adjustments beyond that though.
-
Love it! Thanks, Ellen!
-
-
This recipe is absolutely delicious! My boyfriend is mildly allergic to peanut butter, so I have to wait until he travels to make it lol. But I’m going to try with almond butter next time and see how it is, so hopefully he can enjoy it too. I use 8oz of noodles because I like it saucy.
-
Been looking for a quick tasty peanut noodle recipe. This will be in our rotation from now on!
leave a comment and rating