Noodles with Peanut Sauce
Updated Mar 06, 2026
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Creamy peanut sauce with soy, lime, garlic, and chili tossed with pillowy udon noodles — or whatever long pasta you've got. Ready in 15 minutes, better than takeout, and flexible enough to eat warm for dinner and cold from the fridge the next day.
Peanut noodles are one of those dishes that should be in everyone’s back pocket — the kind of thing you can pull off on a Tuesday night when the fridge is looking bleak and you haven’t been to the grocery store in a week.
The sauce comes together in a blender in about two minutes: peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, garlic, a little chili paste, a touch of brown sugar. Toss it with noodles — udon if you have them, any long pasta if you don’t — and you have dinner. Real dinner. And boy do kids love these.
Eat them warm right out of the pot, or let them cool and eat them at room temperature with crunchy radishes and scallions scattered on top. Both are correct.
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What's In This Post?
Noodles with Peanut Sauce: A delicious and easy 15-minute meal you can throw together with pantry ingredients and any add-ins you like.
Ingredients
- Peanut butter – I like to use creamy for this sauce. You can use any kind you like, from all-natural to any of the jarred brands.
- Noodles – I love this with udon noodles, those soft pillowy slippery Japanese noodles, that are available everywhere, but you can make this with any long skinny pasta you might have on hand.
- Hot water – This loosens up the sauce and helps make it creamy.
- Soy sauce – Adds umami flavor and depth, and also saltiness.
- Lime juice – Adds a nice little punch of acidity and a note of citrus. Please use fresh if at all possible!
- Chili garlic paste – This paste is a combo of chili and garlic, as the name suggests. Many cultures/countries/cuisines have some sort of sauce that is a combo of chili and garlic and Asian cuisines have a lot of them. You can substitute in Sriracha, Gochujang paste, or Sambal Olek. Different kinds of red pepper or chili sauce have different levels of potency, so add slowly, taste the sauce to see how spicy it gets, and decide how spicy you want it.
- Brown sugar or honey – Use brown sugar if you want these noodles to be vegan!
- Minced garlic – Again, use fresh if possible. I am a fan of fresh minced garlic always, but especially when the dish isn’t being cooked. Save the pre-minced jarred garlic or the garlic powder for cooked dishes.
- Slivered radishes and sliced scallions – I love the addition of these crunchy, peppery vegetables at the end, but this is very optional. See below for more substitutions and variations!
Udone Noodles with Peanut Sauce
Most peanut noodle recipes default to spaghetti or rice noodles. This one calls for udon noodles — those fat, soft, pillowy Japanese noodles that are available in pretty much every supermarket now, usually in the refrigerated or Asian foods section. They’re thicker, chewier, and they grab the sauce in a completely different way than thin pasta. If you haven’t made peanut noodles with udon before, it’s a revelation.
That said: use whatever long noodle you have. Spaghetti, linguine, soba, rice noodles — all work. The sauce is the point.
Variations
- Add protein: Shredded rotisserie chicken or leftover pork — just toss it in with the noodles.
- Add vegetables: Julienned carrots, sliced cucumbers, tiny broccoli florets, slivered peppers. Anything crunchy works.
- Make it vegan: Use brown sugar instead of honey.
- Adjust the heat: Sriracha, Gochujang, or Sambal Oelek all work in place of chili garlic paste — each has a slightly different heat level and flavor, so add slowly and taste.
- Top with chopped peanuts: For crunch. Always a good idea.
How to Make Noodles with Peanut Sauce
- Cook the noodles.
- Prep peanut sauce: While the noodles are cooking, put the peanut butter, water, soy sauce, lime juice, chili paste, brown sugar or honey, and garlic in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
- Combine noodles and sauce: When the pasta is cooked, drain it and return the pasta to the pot. Add the sauce and toss until well-coated. You may need to add more hot water to loosen the sauce so it distributes easily over the noodles.
- Top and serve: Turn the pasta into a shallow serving bowl and top with the radishes and scallions and any other add-ins you like. Toss and serve warm or at room temperature.
FAQs
Yes — they’re great the next day, eaten cold or at room temperature. The sauce stiffens in the fridge; just toss with a splash of hot water before serving to loosen everything back up.
This sauce will thicken up as it sits, and the pasta will get a bit clumpy. Still delicious but less silky and saucy. You can add a bit more hot water to loosen the sauce back up before serving. It’s great, even just barely warm.
Udon is the move here — soft, chewy, and substantial. But spaghetti, linguine, soba, or rice noodles all work well. Whatever you have is fine.
Creamy works better for a smooth sauce, but chunky will do in a pinch — just blend it thoroughly.
Swap honey for brown sugar and it’s completely vegan.
Everything.
-Drizzle it over a piece of grilled salmon or steak
-Serve it with vegetables as a crudité dip.
-Spoon it over Crispy Tofu.
-Toss it with some slivered cabbage, particularly napa cabbage, for an impromptu Asian slaw; add shredded chicken if you like
-Serve with chicken or beef satay or skewers.
-Roll up almost anything with a little bit of this sauce in lettuce leaves (like grated carrots and sliced turkey, or shredded chicken and cucumber) and have yourself a lovely Asian wrap.
A jar of this in the fridge means dinner is never more than 15 minutes away.
Pro Cooking Tips
- Blend the sauce, don’t whisk it. A blender or food processor gets you a completely smooth, emulsified sauce that coats the noodles evenly. Whisking works in a pinch but the texture isn’t the same.
- The sauce thickens as it sits. If your noodles clump up or the sauce gets stiff, just add a few tablespoons of hot water and toss again. It comes right back.
- Taste and adjust as you go. More lime for brightness, more chili for heat, more soy for depth. The ratios in the recipe are a starting point, not a law.
- Make more sauce than you need. It keeps in the fridge for a week and is good on grilled salmon, as a dipping sauce for dumplings, drizzled over sauteed broccoli or pan-seared crispy tofu, or just eaten with a spoon.
Storage and Leftovers
The noodles will keep in the fridge for several days, but will get quite stiff. Bring the noodles to room temperature before serving, and toss it with another few tablespoons of hot water to loosen everything back up just before serving. These noodles are great at room temperature.
What to Serve With Noodles and Peanut Sauce
Try this with Healthy Orange Chicken, Chicken and Spinach Stir-Fry, or Simple Stir-Fried Vegetables.
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Noodles with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 ounces angel hair or other skinny pasta (or udon noodles )
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup hot water (or more as needed)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- ½ teaspoon chili garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar or honey
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ cup slivered radishes (julienned, or cut into matchsticks)
- ½ cup sliced scallions (white and green parts)
Instructions
- Cook noodles according to package directions.
- While the noodles are cooking, put the peanut butter, water, soy sauce, lime juice, chili paste, brown sugar or honey, and garlic in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain it and return the pasta to the pot. Add the sauce and toss until well-coated. If you need to add more hot water to loosen the sauce so it distributes easily over the noodles, add more.
- Turn the pasta into a shallow serving bowl and top with the radishes and scallions. Toss and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- If you want to add some other vegetables, slivered peppers, or carrots, for instance, you go right ahead. Try halved and sliced cucumbers, peeled and shredded or thinly sliced carrots, tiny cooked broccoli florets, slivered bell pepper, or if you want a non-vegetarian version, shredded chicken or pork would be an excellent add-in. Again, brown sugar instead of honey results in vegan peanut noodles.
- You can use tamari instead of soy sauce as well, and sub in lemon juice or rice vinegar for the lime juice.
- Add some chopped peanuts on top for a crunchy topping if you like!
- The noodles will keep in the fridge for several days but will get quite stiff. Bring the noodles to room temperature before serving, and toss it with another few tablespoons of hot water to loosen everything back up just before serving. These noodles are great at room temperature.
I add lots of fresh ginger and a pinch or 2 of hot pepper flakes. I also didn’t bother with the blender. The angel hair pasta takes 6 minutes to cook-which is about how long it takes to make the sauce. Quicker than take-out!
Made this tonight. I did add a bit of ginger paste which upped the oomph, but otherwise made as directed. I used Pad Thai brown rice noodles, will try with udon the next time.
I served it as a side with teriyaki glazed salmon and even my pasta disliking husband liked lt.
Delicious family love them
Mmmm!I used PB2 powdered peanut butter (half the amount listed) instead for a healthier/low calorie alternative. I added shrimp, bell peppers, and it on Banza chickpea linguine. It was delicious and easy to make. Thanks for posting this recipe!
I love a good pantry meal. This make your own takeout is a blessing on crazy school nights.
This was great with a little bit of stir fried tofu. The peanut butter really helped the tofu feel a lot more hardy, and the tofu added extra protein and a bit of texture.
tofu is a great addition!
yum! this was delicious!
My version uses chicken broth not water; addition of grated ginger root about a tablespoon; rice vinegar 2 Tbsp.
That sounds delicious! Fresh ginger never hurts!