Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles

These Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles are sweet, savory, spicy and creamy all in one.  Quick and easy to make, with a creamy peanut butter sauce that has flavours of garlic, chilli, sesame, soy and creamy peanut butter.

Recipe Highlights

• The peanut flavour is spicy, savory, sweet and creamy all at once
• Eat them hot or cold and great for healthy low calorie meal prep
• The noodles soak up all the peanut flavour from the sauce, like these Vege Yaki Udon Noodles!
• Works with lots of types of noodles and especially well with lightly cooked noodles that are still hot as this is what allows the flavours to easily soak in
• Creates a noodle texture that is smooth, silky and still has a little bit of "give"
• The richness of the peanut butter is the sauce perfect base to carry asian flavours
• Perfect for adding in diced chicken or beef, or even extra veges, or peanuts
• Perfect as a dinner or lunch and makes for great leftovers, like this Steak Ramen Noodles with Broccoli.

Who would of thought peanut butter and noodles could be a match made in heaven but they truly are.  All it takes to make a simple peanut sauce is creamy peanut butter, soy sauce , water, rice vinegar and sriracha or gochujang. Want noodles with protein? Check out my chicken rice noodles!

Forget cooking it on the stove, just mix in a bowl or jug and microwave it!  This creates a delicious spicy peanut butter sauce that coats the noodles allowing them to soak up the peanut flavour. If you love peanut butter flavours check out this Chicken Meatballs with Peanut Butter Sauce. Its one of my most visited recipes!

I love using peanut butter in the asian sauces I make because not onyl is it a great base and flavour carrier it creates a nice rich sauce, like with these Butter Chicken Meatballs, this Beef Satay Curry and my creamy Chicken Satay Curry.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Noodles:  Any type of thin asian noodles will work, such as rice noodles, ramen, or egg noodles that you have to cook in water as these will hold the peanut sauce better.  You can use pre cooked noodles like hokkien or singapore noodles but I find they don't absorb the flavour as well.  Curly soba noodles are also a great option to carry the peanut sauce.

Peanut Butter:  Its best to use a creamy natural peanut butter as it will melt well and absorb the other ingredients.  I've tried it with both smooth and crunchy and its just as delicious with either.

Sriracha:  this provides the spice and heat for the peanut sauce which I think is essential to a delicious noodle dish.  Alternatively you could use chilli paste, gochujang, or a teaspoon of red chilli flakes

Soy Sauce:  this adds a saltiness and umami flavour to the spicy peanut sauce.  Regular soy sauce, light soy sauce or tamari are all fine to use.  Avoid using dark soy sauce as its too strong.

Water:  this is for loosening the peanut butter sauce and to get it to the right consistency

Sesame Oil:  You only need a little to provide a big amount of additional richness. You can use pure sesame or toasted sesame oil as both will provide a lovely flavour and add richness.  I tend to use toasted sesame oil most often as I find it has a slightly deeper flavour,  Alternatively you could replace with Chilli oil, which will also provide additional heat.

Garlic and Ginger:  these are essential to create the base flavour for the sauce.  Fresh grated ginger, and pressed garlic will provide punchier flavour, however you can certainly used garlic and ginger paste, or the bottled variety.

Rice Vinegar:  Alternatively you could use Chinese black vinegar

Sesame Seeds:  these are mainly for garnish, but do provide nice texture as well.  Its great if you have time to lightly roast the sesame seeds in a pan, but it also works to sprinkle a few on top for serving.

Veges:  I used diced carrots, snap peas and green onions, but you can use whatever you have on hand such as diced zucchini, bell pepper/capsicum, beans, mushrooms, broccoli, cabbage, and any asian vegetables (bok choi, pak choi, choy sum, Chinese broccoli).

These noodles pair well with this Honey Soy Garlic Chicken, and are so much more interesting than plain rice!

How To Make Noodles with Peanut Sauce

1. Make peanut sauce: Add all of the ingredients to a large microwave safe bowl and heat for 45 seconds. Whisk the sauce together until well combined and then set it aside until ready to use.

2. Cook Noodles:  Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles according to the package directions.
3. Add to Sauce: Drain them under cool water then transfer to the bowl with the sauce and toss to combine.

4. Heat Oil in Pan:  Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sesame oil. When the oil is fragrant, add the diced carrot.
5. Saute Veges:  Saute the carrots for 4-5 minutes, or until they are your desired crispness. Then add the snap peas, garlic, and ginger and cook for an additional minute.

6. Combine Saucy Noodles and Veges:  Add the vegetables to the bowl with the noodles and toss to combine. Serve with sliced green onion on top. Garnish with sesame seeds and chopped peanuts, if desired.

Recipe Tips

• More Heat:  Add red pepper flakes on top to serve for extra spice and heat, or alternatively add ½ a teaspoon to the sauce for more punch
• Less Heat:  Skip adding the sriracha or gochujang and instead add a little low sugar tomato ketchup instead
• Veges:  use diced frozen veges if you don't have fresh ones on hand.  These work just as well.  Run them under hot water to defrost them a little before adding to the noodles.
• Storage: Store noodles in the fridge for 3 days in an air tight container. To reheat, add a little water to loosen and rehydrate the sauce.

Flavour Tips:

• More Spice:  Add ¼ teaspoon of either Szechuan pepper or Chinese Five Spice to the sauce for an extra flavour booster
• More Savoury:  boost the amount of garlic with an extra teaspoon
• More Zing: add an extra teaspoon of freshly grated ginger to the sauce, or alternatively add a tablespoon of lemon or lime juice to the sauce
• Extra Sauciness:  add 1 tablespoon of low sugar sweet chilli sauce to the sauce base
• More Freshness:  add fresh corriander/cilantro on top to serve, or finely chop it and sprinkle on top for serving

Serving Suggestions:

• Chicken Breast/Beef:  add in some cooked diced chicken, or finely cut slices of beef at the end before serving, or serve it on top or off to the side
• Rotisserie Chicken:  shred a pre cooked chicken and toss through
• Salmon:  these noodles are great with pan seared salmon and are similar to my Asian Salmon noodles which is one of my most cooked dishes at home.
• Meatballs:  These Thai Chicken Meatballs would also pair really well with these peanut noodles.

Spicy Peanut Noodles is a dish that can be served hot or cold, but I love eating them hot and fresh when they've just soaked in all that savory, saucy, spicy, buttery sauce. 

This is a recipe to have for lazy days when you don't really feel like cooking but want something filling, with loads of flavour and where you have the option of adding a few veges.