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This peanut noodles recipe makes a fresh and simple meal! The bowl stars creamy peanut butter sauce, crunchy veggies, cilantro, and lime.

Peanut noodles

Need dinnertime inspiration? Cozy up to a bowl of these creamy, zingy peanut noodles! This is one of our favorite fresh, easy dinner recipes and it comes together in less than 30 minutes. The peanut butter sauce is lusciously creamy, bursting with flavor from soy sauce, fresh lime juice and honey or maple syrup. Mix it together with luscious noodle strands and crunchy veggies and top with loads of fresh cilantro and crunchy peanuts. You’ll never want the bowl to end!

Ingredients in this peanut noodles recipe

There are many ways to make peanut noodles: here’s our favorite way to do it! It starts with a simple 5-ingredient peanut sauce and a handful of vegetables. For the noodles, use whatever type of long noodles you like! We used udon, but you can use soba or substitute rice noodles for a gluten-free option. It even works with spaghetti in a pinch! Here are the ingredients for this peanut noodles recipe:

  • Udon or rice noodles (or noodles of choice)
  • Creamy peanut butter
  • Soy sauce (or tamari or coconut aminos)
  • Sriracha hot sauce
  • Lime juice
  • Maple syrup or honey
  • Neutral oil
  • Carrots
  • Red pepper
  • Green onions
  • Snap peas
  • Cilantro, for garnish (optional)
  • Chopped peanuts, for garnish (optional)
Peanut Noodles

Rinse your noodles to remove starch

Here’s an important note about cooking this recipe: rinse the noodles after they’re done cooking! Rinsing pasta is not required for something like Italian spaghetti or penne. But for udon, soba and rice noodles, rinsing is helpful to remove the starch that builds up during cooking.

If you don’t rinse, the noodles can become very gummy and mushy, absorbing the sauce and becoming dry instead of saucy. Rinse your noodles after cooking, and you’ll notice a big difference.

Protein adders for peanut noodles

This peanut noodles recipe is very simple: stir together the peanut sauce, cook the noodles, cook the veggies, and stir it all together! On its own, it’s a tasty vegan dinner recipe. Because it doesn’t have a protein other than the peanut butter, you may want to add more protein to make it more filling. Here are a few ideas:

Peanut Noodles

Storage info

These peanut noodles are best the day they are made, because the creamy sauce smothers the pasta best when it is piping hot! When you refrigerate peanut sauce, it becomes very thick and solid (just like peanut butter does in the refrigerator).

You can store the noodles for up to 2 days refrigerated. Before serving, reheat them on the stovetop and add a splash of water or lime juice to make the sauce creamy again. You may also want to add a few pinches of salt or a little soy sauce to enhance the flavors.

Diet variations

This peanut noodles recipe is versatile and can flex to meet many dietary needs. Here’s how to adjust the recipe:

  • Dairy-free and plant-based: Make the recipe below
  • Vegan: Use maple syrup instead of honey
  • Gluten-free: Use rice noodles and tamari instead of soy sauce
Peanut Noodles recipe

More easy dinner recipes

This peanut noodles recipe is an easy dinner recipe that’s ready in under 30 minutes (that also happens to be a vegan dinner!). Here are a few more quick and easy plant-packed dinner recipes you might enjoy:

This peanut noodles recipe is…

Vegetarian, dairy-free, plant-based and vegan. For gluten-free, use tamari or coconut aminos and rice noodles.

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Peanut noodles

Peanut Noodles


  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x

Description

This peanut noodles recipe makes a fresh and simple meal! The bowl stars creamy peanut butter sauce, crunchy veggies, cilantro, and lime.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 12 ounces dry udon, soba or rice noodles
  • 6 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
  • 1 ½ tablespoon soy sauce (or tamari or coconut aminos)
  • 1 ½ teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus more for garnish if desired
  • 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or honey
  • 6 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons neutral oil
  • 2 carrots, thinly sliced
  • 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 6 ounces snap peas
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
  • 1 handful fresh cilantro, for garnish
  • Chopped peanuts, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

  1. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions. Drain and rinse under cold water (this removes extra starch so the noodles don’t become gummy).
  2. In a medium bowl, stir together the peanut butter, soy sauce, Sriracha, lime juice, maple syrup or honey, and water.
  3. In a large skillet, heat the neutral oil over high heat. Add the vegetables and ½ teaspoon kosher salt and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, until just tender and lightly charred.
  4. Remove the heat. Add the cooked noodles, sauce, and the remaining ½ teaspoon kosher salt to the pan and stir to combine. Add 2 tablespoons or so of water and apply heat until it becomes smooth and saucy.
  5. Serve topped with torn fresh cilantro leaves, chopped peanuts and lime wedges, if desired. The dish tastes best the day it is made, but leftovers store up to 2 days and are best reheated (the sauce turns thick when cold, so reheat on the stovetop with a splash of water or lime juice and a pinch or two of salt).
  • Category: Main dish
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan

Keywords: Peanut noodles, peanut butter noodles, peanut noodles recipe, peanut sauce noodles

About the authors

Sonja & Alex

Meet Sonja and Alex Overhiser: Husband and wife. Expert home cooks. Authors of recipes you’ll want to make again and again.

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4 Comments

  1. Mmmmmm! Just finished eating this for lunch on a sunny day on my deck! I love all of your recipes and this one was amazing too!
    (I stirred in some cocktail shrimp, minus the tails 😁) Yum! Thank you for making cooking so fun!

  2. This was amazing! I love the flavor of the sauce–so yummy. And I had never tried your baked tofu–what a great find to add to the recipe. I have tried making crispy tofu–but this was just perfect with this meal and so easy to make–thank you!