Rice Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Chicken

Get these Rice Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Chicken on the table in 20 minutes.  This meal is perfect if you like spicy asian noodles, creamy peanut sauce, tender chicken breast all in a one pot meal.  These noodles are thick, luscious, creamy, slightly chewy and totally take on the flavor of the sweet, spicy, savory peanut sauce.

Recipe Highlights

• Sugar free naturally sweetened spicy peanut sauce slathered over noodles
• Its a one pot meal on the table in under 20 minutes
• Swap chicken for beef, prawns, pork or make it vegetarian
• Eat these saucy peanut noodles hot or cold, like these vegetable yaki udon
• Easy to add in green beans or snow peas
• Great for low calorie meal prepping, and makes 4 servings
• Easy to adjust the spice level up or down

Check out my Chicken Meatballs with Peanut Butter Sauce! Its one of my most popular recipes!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

• Uncooked stir fry rice noodles:  I used Thai Kitchen brand. I like to use flat rice stir fry noodles for this recipe, but it can be substituted for egg noodles, soba noodles, udon noodles, ramen noodles, or any other kind stir fry noodle.
• Peanut butter: I recommend using a no added sugar creamy peanut butter, either smooth or crunchy will work.  Alternatively you could use almond butter but I personally prefer using natural peanut butter.
• Sugar free maple syrup:  this is my favorite way to sweeten this creamy peanut sauce and the flavor is not really noticeable. you could use honey or regular maple suryp, or even granulated sweetener (such as monkfruit) since the sauce is heated.
• Chicken:  2 medium chicken breasts, thinly sliced across the grain about 450 grams or 1 pound of chicken. Slices are about ½ inch thick before they are cooked.
• Oil:  I used olive oil, but you could also use vegetable oil or sesame oil.
• Garlic:  minced garlic from the jar will work, but you can't beat fresh garlic

• Soy sauce:  light or regular soy
• Sugar free maple syrup:  this is my favorite way to sweeten and balance the salty / spicy flavors in this recipe, you don't taste the maple syrup and it just adds a nice mild sweetness. There are plenty of varieties available at the supermarket and my favorite is Lakanto Sugar Free Maple Syrup.
• Sriracha sauce:  this adds a very mild spiciness to this recipe, you can of course add more if you prefer it to be spicier.  You could substitute with chili paste, sambel olek, or even a sugar free BBQ sauce would work
• Cornstarch and Water:   adding water is not only for the slurry to help thicken the sauce, it also helps balance out some of the more intense flavors by watering it down slightly. And it adds a little more bulk to the sauce which helps it cover all the noodles. If needed, you could add a little more water if you find the sauce is too thick.

Rice noodles are incredibly easy to work with.  They have a slightly chewy texture and fully soak up the sauce which means they take on all the intricate flavors within the sauce.  Yes, the sauce melds into the noodles and doesn't fall off.  Great for when your slurping them up with chopsticks!

In case you're wondering, there are several types of rice noodles, with variations in width and thickness. Common types include:

• Vermicelli (thin and often used in soups or spring rolls)
• Flat rice noodles (wider and great for stir-fries)
• Pad thai noodles (wide and thick, ideal for saucy dishes)

The ones I used in this recipe were Flat rice noodles, but pad thai noodles would also work great. I love using noodles to create low calorie chicken recipes!

Preparing Rice Noodles

To prepare rice noodles, follow these steps:

1. Boil a large pot of water.
2. Add the noodles and cook for 5-10 minutes or until they're tender but still slightly firm (al dente).
3. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and remove excess starch.
4. They're now ready to use.

How to Make

1. Prepare Noodles:  Cook rice noodles according to package instructions.
2. Cook Chicken:  Sauté garlic in a large skillet, then cook chicken until golden and not pink.
3. Mix sauce ingredients:  soy sauce, peanut butter, maple syrup, and sriracha into a sauce.

4. Thicken: Thicken the sauce with a water and cornstarch mixture.
5. Combine: Combine noodles with the sauce, garnish with scallions, sesame seeds, and peanuts, and serve warm.

Storage Instructions

• Store leftover peanut butter sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.  It's great to use as a dipping sauce with chicken skewers, or for air fryer meatballs!
• Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.  Reheat in the microwave, or allow to thaw overnight and reheat on the stove top.

Substitutions

• Type of Noodles:  Substitute white rice noodles with brown rice noodles, egg noodles, soba noodles, or udon noodles.
• Protein:  Leave out chicken or swap for beef
• Sweetener:  Substitute sugar free maple syrup for granulated sweetener like Monkfruit.
• Vegetables:  crunchy veggies like julienned carrots, red bell peppers (or red capsicum), or a general mix of stir-fry vegetables

Recipe Tips

• Extra Sauce:  Make a double batch by doubling the ingredients if you like like lots of sauce
• Spicy Sauce:  Add extra sriracha or hot sauce, or red pepper flakes for extra levels of spiciness. Or you could try my Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles
• Extra Zing:  Add a squeeze of fresh lime juice to the peanut sauce, stirred through to give it an extra bit of punchiness.
• Fresh Ginger:  Adding a half or whole teaspoon of grated ginger adds more heat and zing.  If adding lime juice though, I wouldn't add the ginger as the balance may be out.

Imagine savoring each silky strand of rice noodle, perfectly coated in a luxurious, velvety peanut sauce that's rich, savory, and slightly sweet.

Here's why it's a must-try:  indulgent but simple, bold and flavor packed, lots of possibilities for add ins, its quick, and its suitable for the whole family.  Plus these peanut butter noodles are even better the next day!

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