Spicy Peanut Chicken Noodles
These spicy chicken noodles are so easy to make, saucy, subtly sweet with hints of peanut butter and completely gluten free. They’re ready to eat in under 45 minutes and perfect for a simple weeknight dinner.
And we’re back with another Asian noodle recipe! But this time it’s with chicken. These spicy chicken noodles are my favorite weeknight dinner recipe. They’re saucy, spicy with hints of sweet, peanut butter and so easy to make.
While there’s plenty of types of Asian Inspired spicy noodles, this particular recipe doesn’t fit into one category. There’s dan dan noodles, gochujang korean noodles, but this is a cross between sesame noodles, peanut noodles and spicy chili noodles.
This recipe is high in protein thanks to the chicken, but you can definitely use ground beef, turkey or a plant-based “ground” to make it vegan!
You don’t need any fancy ingredients to make this recipe, and you most likely have everything in your pantry already! Just some ground chicken, rice noodles and basic spices/condiments like chili paste, tomato paste, honey and soy sauce. Try my peanut butter chicken, chicken crunch salad or spicy ramen noodles next!
Before we get started…
- Store any leftover noodles in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. To reheat simply do so in a microwave safe dish or on the stove with a splash of water or oil.
- You can swap the peanut butter for sunflower seed butter if you need a nut free option! The flavor will be slightly different, but still delicious!
How to make spicy chicken noodles
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook noodles according to package instructions. Cook al dente because we will continue to cook the noodles in the sauce. So, if the package says to cook for 7 minutes, cook for 5-6 so they don’t get too mushy.
Heat the sesame oil in a pot and add the chicken.
Cook until browned and completely cooked through. The meat will continue to cook with the sauce, but just to be on the safe side, ensure there is no pink in the chicken.
Add in the ginger and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add in the honey, peanut butter, tomato paste, chili paste, tamari and rice vinegar.
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!
Saute for about 5 minutes to let the flavors blend. Add in the water and bring to a low boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes to thicken.
Once thickened, add in the noodles. Simmer to allow all of the flavors to blend. Garnish with fresh cilantro, chopped peanuts and red pepper flakes. Enjoy and try my gluten free lo mein or gluten free ramen next!
Serving suggestions
I like serving these spicy chicken noodles with some pan fried or steamed veggies to help round things out! We already have protein from the ground chicken, so this is totally a full meal in its own right.
Change the spice level
If you really love spice, you can add some sriracha or your favorite hot sauce, increase the chili paste, or add a full teaspoon of red pepper flakes. You can also decrease the spice or add extra honey to balance out the spice with a little extra sweetness. The recipe as written is a good balance of spicy, savory and sweet, so feel free to customize to your liking.
What noodles are best?
I used white rice noodles, but any kind of noodle will work! You can use white rice, brown rice, ramen, or regular old spaghetti or linguini. Same with my miso noodles!
Make it vegan or vegetarian!
You can easily make these noodles vegan by subbing the chicken for crumbled tofu, pan fried tofu or chickpeas. Same goes for my peanut chicken lettuce wraps!
If you use tofu, I recommend using less water (3/4 cup instead of 1 1/2 cups) because you don’t want it to get too mushy. If using chickpeas, I suggest two cans, drained and rinsed, that you can mash up slightly, then saute with the sesame oil to crisp them up a bit.
More noodle recipes you’ll love!
- Sesame Garlic Noodles
- Peanut Butter Noodles
- Vegetable Lo Mein
- Curry Noodles
- Kung Pao Chicken Noodles
Follow along on on instagram and subscribe to my email list for more recipes and updates. Leave a comment and rating below if you try this recipe and let us know how it turns out!
Spicy Peanut Chicken Noodles
by: claire cary
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 tablespoons chili paste (sambal oelek)
- 4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 ½ cup water
- 12 ounces rice noodles
- Cilantro and peanuts to serve
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook noodles according to package instructions. Cook al dente because we will continue to cook the noodles in the sauce.
- Heat the sesame oil in a pot and add the chicken.
- Cook until browned and completely cooked through.
- Add in the ginger and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add in the honey, peanut butter, tomato paste, chili paste, tamari and rice vinegar.
- Saute for about 1-2 minutes to let the flavors blend.
- Add in the water and bring to a low boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes to thicken.
- Once mostly thickened, add in the noodles. The noodles will continue to help the sauce thicken. Simmer to allow all of the flavors to blend.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro, chopped peanuts and red pepper flakes. Enjoy!
Notes
Comments
-
Just made this, it was absolutely delicious. Will definitely make again. 😋
-
I was looking for something peanut-y with a kick, but this was overwhelmingly chili flavored and spicy when I followed the recipe (and I like a good spicy pad thai). So I doubled the amount of peanut butter and added in some half & half as well as brown sugar to bring down the spice level and then my husband and I LOVED it. Will make again, probably with less chili paste next time.
-
I have made many variations of this dish and can say hands down this is the best. The heat is intense – more than I would normally do but I haven’t reduced it after the third time making it because the taste is amazing! A+!
-
This is the third recipe that I have made this week from this website! I really, really love your recipes!
I modified this recipe based on what I had on hand, it was delicious! I will add more heat next time!!!
I made this dish two days ago and I have been craving it since. This is a definite keeper.
Thank you!!!-
Thank you, so glad you’re finding recipes you love!
-
-
This was so good! Tasted like I was out to eat! Only thing I would do different next time is add less chili paste just because my tolerance for spice is not high. Otherwise it was delicious and will be made again soon!!
-
This is so good (and easy)! I made it with shirataki noodles to cut the carbs, and it was delicious. Will definitely make it again.
-
My husband coarse ground chicken tenderloin using his grandma’s meat grinder from the 1950s. This recipe was a huge hit-especially amongst my teenage boys. My gourmet husband loved this recipe and plans to make again soon!
We’ll definitely be checking out more of your recipes.-
Love it! Thanks, Bonnie!
-
-
Can I use regular cut up chicken instead of ground?
Thanks!-
You can if you prefer!
-
-
My whole family really liked this. Like another reviewer, I wasn’t sure what to make of the tomato paste peanut butter combo, but the overall flavor with the other ingredients was wonderful. I was in a hurry and didn’t let the sauce simmer down to thicken, but instead added another couple of tablespoons of peanut butter. I also didn’t have sambal oelek, so instead used gochujang (sweet/spicy) as a sub, and backed off the honey a bit.
-
Why is there such a big difference between this recipe and the Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles?
-
These are just two different recipes!
-
-
My whole family LOVED these noods. I am an avid cook and have tried several peanut sauce recipes in search of the perfect peanut-spice-sweet-savory combo. Then I stumbled across this and it is a winner!! Dare I say it’s because of the tomato paste?! I would have never have thought to add tomato paste to a peanut sauce recipe, but it just acts as the perfect anchoring unifier to all the other flavors in the sauce, yielding a balanced, sweet, savory, complex, yet spicy and peanut-y perfection! I am always trying to watch carbs and hide extra veggies in our meals so I used brown rice noodles and added finely shredded carrot and green cabbage at the same time as the noodles to make them go further, and then added some crunchy bean sprouts toward the end before serving. Bean sprouts just brighten up everything noodly noodly in my opininion! I topped it with cilantro, and crushed peanuts. Sriracha is always close by too when we have noodle dishes for dinner. This tasted like healthy Pad Thai and everyone raved about it! HOME RUN recipe!!!
-
This just made my day! So happy you and your family enjoyed this recipe!
-
leave a comment and rating