Noodles with Peanut Sauce
on Oct 11, 2019, Updated Oct 26, 2023
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A delicious and easy 15-minute meal you can throw together with pantry ingredients and any vegetables you like. And the sauce — absolutely addicting, and useful in so many other ways!
Peanut noodles are one of the most slupurably delicious foods around, and they are so quick and easy to make. These peanut noodles are nutty, just a bit spicy, and very flexible. You can eat them warm or cool, as is in their perfect simplicity, or with any number of add-ins.
If you glance at the ingredient list, you’ll see this is a pasta dish that many of us could make for a last-minute dinner with ingredients already in the pantry. A jar of this homemade peanut sauce in the fridge means that with a little ingenuity, you will have some dinner at some point.
Try this with Healthy Orange Chicken, Stir-Fried Broccoli, Chicken and Spinach Stir-Fry, or Simple Stir-Fried Vegetables. Or maybe whip up a batch of Shiitake Mushroom and Chicken Dumplings if you’re going for a full meal.
Table of Contents
Noodles with Peanut Sauce: A delicious and easy 15-minute meal you can throw together with pantry ingredients and any add-ins you like.
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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!
Variations
- If you want to add some other vegetables, slivered peppers, or carrots, you go right ahead. Try halved and sliced cucumbers, peeled and shredded or thinly sliced carrots, tiny cooked broccoli florets, and slivered bell pepper.
- If you want a non-vegetarian version, shredded chicken or pork would be an excellent add-in.
- 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!
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
You could drizzle it over a piece of grilled salmon or steak, or you could 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, and it becomes a protein-packed meal. You could also serve this with dumplings or spring rolls of all kinds, or chicken or beef satay or skewers. Or, 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.
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.
Pro Cooking Tips
- Your kids can measure and dump the sauce ingredients into the blender or food processor. With appropriate supervision, they can toss the hot noodles with the sauce. They can decide what else might be good to add to the noodles and shred or slice anything you feel is okay for them to shred and slice, depending on age and experience.
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
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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!