These Thai Peanut Noodles are an incredibly easy and inexpensive was ty to get that Asian noodle fix. This recipes uses a lot of pantry staples and you can make it in about 20 minutes! It’s a perfect quick weeknight dinner, but I also often serve it when we have guests because it’s always such a huge hit! Don’t be scared of peanut butter in the sauce–although it sounds different, it’s a pretty solid staple in peanut-sauce-y dishes because of it’s smooth texture and intense peanut flavor. Even better, it’s fresh, quick, easy, and addictive–for us, this is Asian takeout, minus the takeout!
Ingredients Needed
- Peanut Sauce
- Chicken or vegetable broth
- Creamy Peanut Butter
- Sriracha chili sauce (optional)
- Honey
- Soy sauce
- Fresh ginger
- Fresh garlic
- Noodles and Garnishes
- Linguine noodles – Regular linguine works really well, but you could also use Asian udon type noodles, like these (I use an entire 1 lb 5 oz package). For a gluten free option, try fresh (if you can find them) or dried Thai rice noodles. We’ve even had readers use ramen noodles (just discard the seasoning packet). For a low carb option, try these Thai Peanut Zoodles.
- Green onions
- Cilantro
- Limes
- Chopped peanuts
- Chili crisp oil (optional)
- Shrimp, grilled chicken, or steak (optional)- If you want to make this a little more hearty, feel free to add some grilled shrimp, chicken, or steak (I would thinly slice the chicken or steak and keep the servings around 2-3 ounces per person so you don’t overwhelm the noodle aspect of this dish).
How to Make Thai Peanut Noodles
- If you’re making noodles that need cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, wash and chop the ginger, garlic, green onions, cilantro, lime, and nuts. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions.
- While the noodles are cooking, gently sauté garlic and ginger in a bit of oil for a minute in a small saucepan, and then add the broth, peanut butter, Sriracha, honey, and soy sauce. Cook over medium-low heat until the peanut butter melts and the ingredients are combined.
- When the noodles are done, drain and place in a large bowl.
- Add the peanut butter sauce and toss to combine. Divide the noodles evenly among individual serving bowls then top with meat (if desired), chopped green onions, cilantro, lime wedges, and peanuts. Squeeze the lime juice over the noodles and, if you’d like, add another squeeze or two of Sriracha or a drizzle of chili crisp.
Storing and Other Tips
- If you have leftovers, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consume within 3-4 days for best results. This sauce will thicken as it sits, so just add a little warm water or broth to loosen it up.
- When making the sauce, I prefer to sauté the garlic and ginger for a bit before adding the rest of the sauce ingredients. If you prefer, you can skip this step and just mix everything together at once and heat as instructed.
- If you really love the peanut flavor, feel free to add an additional tablespoon to the sauce- this will also make it a little thicker.
- The sauce will thicken as it cools. If necessary, add a little broth (or even hot water) to bring it back to your desired consistency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yep! While I prefer it fresh, feel free to make the sauce ahead of time, or the whole dish. Note that the noodles will soak up some of the sauce, so you you’ll ned to add a little extra broth when reheating, or double your sauce when you make it the first time so you have some extra when it’s time to reheat.
While I haven’t frozen it personally, readers have said it freezes well. You could try freezing the finished noodles mixed with sauce, or just freeze the sauce in cubes for future use.
Of course! Readers have reported using lots of different veggies with great success. Some things they’ve added include: slivered carrots, snow peas, bean sprouts, cabbage, peppers, or frozen stir fry mix. One reader said to keep things easy, she tosses some frozen veggies in the boiling pasta water for about 1 minute before draining and tossing everything together. Keep in mind that the more additions you add, the more sauce it will use, so if you plan to add both protein and veggies, you may want to double the sauce.
If you’re not big on spicy food, you don’t have to add any. If you have differing tastes in your family, you can add the Sriracha or chili crisp oil right to the individual bowls. Most readers report 3/4-1 teaspoon of Sriracha (for the whole recipe) being a good place to start without making it too overwhelming!
This recipe has not been tested with anything other than peanut butter. If you make it and have a good substitute, please come back to let me know! I think if I was going to try it, I would try tahini in place of the peanut butter, and maybe reduce the broth a little since tahini is thinner than peanut butter.
Thai Peanut Noodles
Ingredients
- 8 ounces linguine noodles or Asian style noodle of choice
- ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 ½ tablespoons finely minced fresh ginger or a heaping 1/4 teaspoon dry ginger in a pinch
- 3 cloves garlic pressed or minced
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons peanut butter creamy
- 1 ½ tablespoons honey
- 1-2 teaspoons Sriracha chili sauce plus more for serving if desired (see note below), optional
- 1 bunch green onions chopped
- ½ cup cilantro chopped
- 2 limes cut into quarters
- ¼ cup peanuts chopped
Optional:
- chili crisp oil as desired, for serving
- 8-10 ounces Shrimp or grilled, sliced chicken or steak
Instructions
- If using noodles that require cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions. Some Asian style noodles are already cooked and can be added directly to the warm sauce and cooked there.
- While the pasta is cooking, peel and mince the ginger and garlic, slice green onions, chop cilantro, and prepare lime and nuts.
- To prepare sauce, in a separate sauce pan, combine broth, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, peanut butter, honey, and sriracha. (note: I sometimes saute my garlic and ginger in a couple teaspoons of oil first, but that isn't totally necessary- either way works!) Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until the peanut butter melts and the ingredients are combined. Cook on a very low simmer for 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened. If desired, you may add an extra tablespoon of peanut butter if you like a thicker, more peanutty sauce.
- When the noodles are done, drain well and return to pot. Immediately add the peanut sauce and toss to combine. Divide the noodles evenly among individual serving bowls then top with chopped green onions, cilantro, and peanuts. Squeeze a little lime juice over each serving and serve with an additional lime wedge if desired. If you'd like, add another squirt of sriracha or some chili crisp oil. Serve immediately. If it sits for a bit before serving and becomes too thick, just add a little broth, or even hot water, to loosen it up.
Notes
- A little note about Sriracha: 1 teaspoon is mild with a bite, 1 1/2 teaspoons is medium, and 2 is pretty hot. You can always err on the side of caution and not add too much, then allow people to add more Sriracha to their own servings according to their personal tastes. You may also choose to leave it out for zero spice at all.
- If you have leftovers, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consume within 3-4 days for best results.
- When making the sauce, I prefer to sauté the garlic and ginger for a bit before adding the rest of the sauce ingredients. If you prefer, you can skip this step and just mix everything together at once and heat as instructed.
- If you really love the peanut flavor, feel free to add an additional tablespoon to the sauce.
- The sauce will thicken as it sits. If it’s thickened before you’re actually serving it up, just add a little broth to loosen it up.
- Nutrition facts are calculated for 1/3 of a batch, with no protein added.
Questions & Reviews
I’m a college student, and love your website!
I don’t know why I didn’t try this recipe earlier, I had all of the ingredients besides honey, so I bought some, and it was well worth it! 🙂
This will definitely be one of my quick, go to meals for next semester. Thank you! 🙂
I’ve been eyeing this recipe on and off for a year or so and I finally made it tonight since I’m a recent sriracha addict. It was amazing! Next time I would totally add vegetables and tofu.
It looks sooo yummy!!
I just became vegetarian so this is a great dish for me and the family! Thanks for sharing!
Wow! We made this tonight, and it has become an instant favorite! The flavors were perfect- I have tried other Thai recipes and different peanut sauces, and this one was amazing! We added the chicken as suggested, and I couldn’t stop eating it plain as I waited for the sauce to cook! Great flavor combos, and great recipes! This is my new go-to site for any good recipe! Truly, thank you! You ladies are wonderful!
I made this tonight. OMYUM! (that’s oh my yum for you). I am excited to try the other adian peanut recipe you gals have on here, but this one was very easy, delicious and I will for sure make it again!
I love these noodles! This is one of my favorite lunches now…in addition to the tuna salad!
Soooo good! My husband and I have this once a week! Add slivered carrots, snow peas and bean sprouts for some veggies!
Why did it take me so long to try this recipe?! Absolutely AMAZING!!! I made it along with chicken satay and roasted broccoli and it seriously tasted like something from a restaurant. Thanks so much for your awesome recipes 🙂
Oh my freakin' yum!
Made this for dinner last night and loved it! Great amount of flavors, especially the peanut butter. Will definitely make this again.
I used rice stick noodles instead since that is what I had. I added some stir fry veggies (frozen mix) which I cooked in some light soy sauce. Also, cooked some chicken with a bit of red curry paste (for an extra kick). Yum!
this recipe is fantastic. my sil has made it several times and i finally bought the ingredients to make it myself. thanks!
ps. i am a sriracha sauce wimp too…if you don't like spicy either skip this step or DO NOT use more than 1tsp
Maria–Most of our recipes don't have them, but it's super easy to calculate them if you're a WW member! 🙂
Sorry if you have addressed this before – but do you have the nutritional values (including WW points) for this recipe? Thanks!
Love these noodles. The cilantro and lime complete the recipe! Thanks so much for sharing!
made this for dinner tonight and i'll admitt i was skeptical (i made a similar sounding recipe once that was almost inedible) but it was DELICIOUS!! my whole family LOVED it!! thanks!
I just scorched my tongue "testing" the broth but YUM~O! Can't wait til it's done!!
Oh.My.Goodness… The noodles were fantastic! Even my daughter who is going through an 'I don't like anything' phase right now, told me that although she didn't expect to like them,'they were actually pretty good"!!! That's music to my ears!
Made this tonight and it was so good! We doubled it so we wouldn't have leftover broth or noodles and it was perfect. This one is a keeper for sure!
we officially LOVE this! I made it tonight with ramen noodles (we ditched the "seasoning" packet of course) and it's a hit. It's also really filling, which is nice. My husband and eight-month baby girl happily slurped it down. (I used sugar instead of honey and lowered the spice so it'd be okay for the baby. And she didn't get any toppings.)
Making these tonight 🙂 I love noodles and company too. Seeing as this post was over two years ago you might have found the recipe for Bangkok Curry already but just in case you haven't: http://www.todaystmj4.com/features/saturdaymorningbrunch/50723992.html
It is down at the bottom, they call it Coconut Curried Vegetables with Shrimp but same thing 🙂 I can't wait to try both recipes!
Fantastic! Hubby said this is his new fav. Go easy on the sauce if you have little ones. I made a double batch and used 2 tsp it was too spicy for them. I LOVE IT!!!
Oops! I meant if you plan on eating some the next day make extra sauce!
oh my goodness!! These are to DIE for! I cooked the chicken up just as you suggested and it was amazing! Just a note, if you don't eat it right away or plan on left overs as the noodles (at least the linguine noodles) soaked up the sauce. Thanks it is one of my favorites!
I don't know who is in charge of this website but I LOVE the humor and the recipes look FANTASTIC!
awesome recipe, i am enjoying it as i type.
i envy you guys in america where you might even be able to get all the ingredients at one stop!
i have to travel all over for these. but so worth it! thanks.
~lytha
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1111679717736
found this video of a guy from noodles & company making bangkok curry. i didn't know if you'd already seen it (and he was a little sketchy about his sauce 🙂 but in case you missed it –
lisa
this recipe was so good 🙂 I'm glad I could use up some of my asian ingredients because I bought chili sauce for a dish I made months ago and didn't know what else to use it for. I doubled it for a family of 5 and even with some having seconds there was a little left over. I also added thawed frozen asian vegetables (green beans, broccoli, chopped onion & mushroom) as well as chicken and shrimp. I think it would be better with just chicken since shrimp tends to add a more seafood type taste and this is more sweet. I did the 1.5 tsp (doubled for the recipe)chili sauce and only tasted a hint of it so I think others will be fine with that amount. For some reason it was cold when I served it so I might not have waited for the sauce to heat through since I just waited for it to blend..most recipes say wait til it simmers or boils and this didn't so I guess I forgot haha. Thanks again for a great recipe 🙂
I just stumbled across this recipe and realized this is exactly what i've been craving for several days now. Making shopping list now. Mmm.
I just discovered this blog and settled on this recipe because I happened to have almost all the ingredients in my kitchen already. This was seriously one of the best meals I've ever made on my own. I threw in some chicken to make it a one-dish meal and it was great! For the record, I used 1 and 1/4 teaspoons of sriracha which definitely gave it a kick. I can't even fathom how spicy it would have been with 2. I will definitely be making this one again and I'm excited to try out some others from the blog as well!
I'm a sriracha wimp, 1 tsp. is too hot for me!!! I'll do 1/2 tsp. next time, and there will be a next time because these are really good! (except for the burning tongue!)