Creamy Peanut Sauce Noodles With Vegetables
Peanut sauce noodles are what you make when you have vegetables in the fridge, noodles, and a jar of peanut butter in the pantry. Add cooked protein for more of a complete meal. This adaptable recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, and plant-based.
Looking for more easy pasta dishes? Try my tahini pasta with lemon and garlic, garlic umami pasta, or cold sesame noodle salad.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make noodles with peanut sauce:
- Noodles – I used spaghetti noodles but you can also use soba noodles, ramen noodles, rice noodles, or udon noodles.
- Creamy peanut butter – you can use creamy or crunchy depending on preference.
- Low sodium soy sauce or tamari – this is important. Otherwise, the sauce becomes way too salty.
- Rice vinegar – helps to bring brightness and balances out the flavors of the sauce
- Maple syrup – adds a little sweetness to balance out the salty flavors.
- Toasted sesame oil – adds a nice, nutty flavor.
- Sriracha – add more if you like it extra spicy.
- Fresh garlic.
- Hot water – to thin the sauce and smooth it out.
- Veggies (optional but recommended) – bell peppers, carrots, purple cabbage, broccoli, sugar snap peas, bok choy, etc. I suggest choosing 2-3.
- Cooked protein (optional) – edamame, chicken, tofu, shrimp, etc.
- Garnish (optional) – cilantro, chopped peanuts, or sesame seeds.
How to Make Peanut Sauce Noodles: Step By Step
Here are some quick visual instructions. The full instructions and ingredient list will be in the printable recipe card below!
1. Cook your noodles. Cook your noodles according to the package directions.
2. Make the peanut sauce. Add all the sauce ingredients to a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Start with 5 tablespoons of hot water and add more as needed. Taste and add more acid, heat, or sweetener as needed.
3. Serve. Only toss the noodles, vegetables, additional cooked protein, and peanut sauce you plan on eating right away. Otherwise, the sauce will dry out. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, sliced green onions, or cilantro.
Helpful Tips
I’ve been making some variation of this sauce for years, adjusting the ingredients depending on what I have on hand. Here are a few examples as well as helpful tips for achieving a delicious sauce:
- Add fresh ginger along with garlic or leave them both out.
- Add canned coconut milk with hot water for an extra creamy sauce.
- Leave out the toasted sesame oil.
- Use rice vinegar AND fresh lime juice. The addition of fresh lime juice helps balance the sauce if it ends up too salty and adds extra tang.
- The color of the sauce will vary depending on how dark the roast is of your peanut butter.
- The flavor can change slightly each time you make it depending on the ingredients used. Some brands of peanut butter are saltier than others and the amount of sodium varies from different brands of soy sauce or tamari.
Quick Tip: This recipe is a base for you to work with, but to get the best flavor, use your tastebuds to help guide you. Does it need more acid, sweetness, or heat? Make small adjustments until the sauce has reached your desired taste and consistency.
Storage and Reheating
Fridge: Store the peanut sauce separately from the noodles and vegetables in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheating: This meal can be eaten warm or cold. If eating warm, reheat the noodles and vegetables then mix them with the peanut sauce. Don’t heat the peanut sauce, otherwise it’ll dry out.
Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations
Please remember that recipes are just a starting point.
How can you make these peanut butter noodles using what you already have? Here are some ideas…
- No peanut butter? – Use cashew butter or almond butter.
- No rice vinegar (also called rice wine vinegar)? – use fresh lime juice instead.
- No maple syrup? – Use brown sugar or coconut sugar.
- No toasted sesame oil? – Leave it out.
- No sriracha? – You can also use red pepper flakes, but reduce the amount to 1/4 teaspoon, plus more to taste.
- No garlic? – use garlic powder or leave it out.
- Make it gluten-free – use your favorite gluten-free spaghetti, rice noodles, or pad Thai noodles, and reduced sodium tamari or gluten-free soy sauce.
- Make it soy-free – use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.
- Make it nut-free – use tahini or sunflower seed butter, but you may want to use more sweetener since these options are more bitter than peanut butter.
- Make spicy peanut noodles – add extra sriracha or red pepper flakes.
- Add-ins – edamame, crispy tofu, cooked chicken breast or shrimp, etc., to make it more filling.
Frequently Asked Questions
Peanut sauce has a nutty taste that’s tangy, bright, salty, slightly spicy, and ever so slightly sweet.
Peanut noodles are an Asian inspired Thai dish.
More Easy Noodle Recipes
I hope you love these Peanut Sauce Noodles! If you make it, be sure to leave a comment & a star rating so I know how you liked it!
Creamy Peanut Sauce Noodles With Vegetables
Ingredients
- 12 ounces noodles of choice spaghetti, rice, soba, udon, etc.
- vegetables: bell peppers, carrots, purple cabbage, broccoli, sugar snap peas, bok choy choose 2-3, raw or lightly sauteed
- cooked protein (optional) edamame, chicken, tofu, shrimp, etc.
Peanut Sauce
- ½ cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce or tamari use gluten free if needed
- 1 tablespoons maple syrup plus more if needed, to taste
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sriracha hot sauce plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 5 tablespoons hot water plus more as needed
Garnish
- toasted sesame seeds, chopped peanuts, sliced green onions, or cilantro
Instructions
- Cook your noodles according to the package directions.
- Make the peanut sauce by adding all the ingredients to a large bowl. Whisk until smooth. Taste and add more acid, heat, or sweetener as needed.
- To serve, only toss the noodles, vegetables, additional cooked protein, and peanut sauce you plan on eating right away. Otherwise, the sauce will dry out. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, sliced green onions, or cilantro.
Love that you provide so many variations to recipes. We like peanut sauce with veggies and/or noodles but now, so many more combinations come to mind. Thank you!
Thanks for the great feedback, Vicki! I’m happy to hear that the variations are so helpful.
Made this. Really good! Left out sugar, still a little sweet, so will continue tweaking the suggested list of ingredients. Love the versatility. Thank you very much for this.
I’m so glad you loved it, Katherine! Thanks for letting me know!
I normally don’t comment or rate recipes, but this one was so incredibly good I just had to. I used coconut aminos, red pepper flakes and skipped the garlic (basically just using what I had on hand and skipping what I didn’t have) and it turned out AMAZING! I have also been trying to find a peanut sauce/noodle recipe I like, and this one is by far the best one.
This is the sweetest comment – thank you for making an exception :)! I’m so happy you love it as much as I do! I so appreciate you letting me know.