Spicy Peanut Noodles with Sesame

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Spicy Peanut Noodles – serve warm, cold or room temperature

Try our Spicy Peanut Noodles for a quick and easy meatless main or tasty side dish.

I never get tired of these delicious Spicy Peanut Noodles! They’re great for any meal of the day, even breakfast. Okay, you may not love them for breakfast like I do, but don’t pooh-pooh that idea until you try it.

Leftovers are absolutely amazing and can be eaten straight out of the refrigerator. If preferred, add a little hot water to loosen up the sauce and you’re good to go!

The key to delicious Spicy Peanut Noodles is the combination of ingredients.

For the base recipe you’ll need:

• spaghetti, rice noodles or your favorite Asian noodle, cooked and drained
• toasted sesame oil
• grated carrots
• sliced green onions
• cilantro leaves
• chopped peanuts

For the peanut sauce you’ll need:

• peanut or vegetable oil
• crushed red pepper flakes
• fresh grated ginger
• minced garlic
• rice vinegar
• honey
• soy sauce
• hot sauce (optional)
• peanut butter

How to make Spicy Peanut Noodles:

• First, cook the noodles according to package directions, drain and rinse. Next, toss the noodles in a little sesame oil. This simple step helps prevent the noodles from sticking together while you prep the remaining ingredients. It also adds a great base of flavor as the cooked noodles soak up the sesame oil.

While the noodles are cooking, gather the remaining ingredients needed for the salad.

• Chop the peanuts and cilantro leaves, slice the green onions and grate the carrots. Set aside.

Next, toast the sesame seeds:

• In a large, dry skillet, toast the sesame seeds and set aside.

Prepare the peanut sauce:

• Add peanut oil and crushed red pepper flakes to the now empty skillet. Cook for just a few minutes to flavor the oil and bloom the flavor of the dried peppers.
• Remove the skillet from the heat and add the garlic and grated ginger. Off-heat, sauté until fragrant. Immediately add  the salt, honey, vinegar and hot sauce, if using.
• Once blended, add the peanut butter and stir until combined.

Assemble the dish:

• Pour the warm sauce over the cooked spaghetti, carrots, half the sesame seeds, cilantro, peanuts and green onions.  Toss to combine.
• Add a little reserved pasta water to thin, if needed for desired consistency.
• Garnish individual servings with the remaining sesame seeds, peanuts, cilantro and green onions. Serve!

Can Spicy Peanut Noodles be made ahead?

The cooked and cooled sesame noodles, peanut sauce and vegetables can all be made ahead and stored separately in airtight containers for up to 2 days. Bring the ingredients to room temperature before combining. Add warm water to thin if needed.

What are the best kind of noodles to use in this dish?

For our Spicy Peanut Noodles you can use fresh Asian noodles, dried soba or rice noodles, or plain old spaghetti or linguine. I prefer the firmness of spaghetti noodles and I always seem to have them on hand.

If you have a good Asian grocery store in your area, feel free to experiment with fresh noodles or any variety of rice noodles. It’s all good!

Can you add other vegetables or protein to Spicy Peanut Noodles?

Feel free to adapt or adjust the ingredients in this noodle salad to your taste. Here are a few more ideas for optional add-in’s:

• Cucumber, quartered and sliced thin
• Bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• Cooked, shredded chicken
• Serve the noodle salad over a bed of lettuce and cabbage, or make lettuce wraps

If your family is not into spicy, adjust the amount of crushed red pepper and hot sauce to make it a little more mild. As written, this dish has a nice warm heat, but does not burn or overwhelm the flavors.

This is a terrific dish with loads of flavor that will satisfy your peanut loving family. I can’t stop eating these noodles and leftovers are the best!

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5 from 4 votes

Spicy Peanut Noodles

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 35 mins

Yield: 8

Course: Dinner, Main Course, Meatless Monday

Author: Tricia

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Ingredients

For the noodles:

• 1 pound spaghetti or rice noodles
• ¼ cup pasta cooking water
• 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

For the peanut sauce:

• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• ⅓ cup peanut oil or other vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon crushed red peppers
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
• 1 clove garlic minced
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar or 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons honey
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce like sriracha or chili paste
• ⅔ cup smooth or crunchy regular peanut butter

Add-ins:

• 1 medium carrot grated
• 3 sliced green onions plus more for garnish
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves
• ½ cup dry roasted peanuts chopped (68g or 2 1/2oz)

Instructions

To prepare the noodles:

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta cooking water to thin the peanut sauce, if needed.
• Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water. Transfer the cooked noodles to a large bowl or back into the cooking pot. Toss with the sesame oil, set aside.

To prepare the sauce:

• Toast the sesame seeds in a medium skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently. Watch carefully to ensure they don’t burn. Set aside to add to the finished dish.
• In the now empty skillet combine the vegetable or peanut oil and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook gently over low to medium-low heat for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Don’t allow the mixture to get too hot as the peppers will burn and may be bitter.
• Remove from the heat and add the grated ginger and minced garlic. Carefully stir to combine. Next add the salt, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and hot sauce. Stir until blended. Finally add the peanut butter and stir until the mixture is smooth. Set aside.
• Add the carrots, half the green onions and half the peanuts to the cooked noodles and toss to combine. Pour the peanut sauce over the cold noodles and toss to coat. Add a splash of pasta water as needed to adjust consistency. Transfer noodles to a serving bowl or individual plates and garnish with green onions, cilantro, chopped peanuts and toasted sesame seeds.

Recipe Notes

To Make Ahead:

• The cooked and cooled sesame noodles, peanut sauce and vegetables can all be made ahead and stored separately in airtight containers for up to 2 days. Bring the ingredients to room temperature before tossing together. Add warm water to thin if needed.

Optional Add-ins:

• Cucumber, quartered and sliced thin
  Bell pepper, cut into thin strips
  Cooked, shredded chicken
  Serve the noodle salad over a bed of lettuce and cabbage, if desired.

Noodles:

• Use fresh Asian noodles, dried soba or rice noodles, spaghetti or linguine

Nutrition

Calories: 561kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 783mg | Potassium: 404mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1649IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 2mg

We love good Asian style dishes we can make at home. You’ve probably read the phrase “better than take-out.” We have several Asian-style recipes that are so much better when made at home.

Our classic Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry has been a family favorite for years. It’s a restaurant quality dish that doesn’t skimp on flavor. A must try!

Another fabulous favorite is our Spicy Dan Dan Noodles recipe. So much flavor and plenty of sauciness making it perfect for slurping.

Finally, don’t miss our Spicy Basil Chicken Recipe. Classic Asian flavors with tender bites of juicy chicken in a sweet and spicy sauce. This is one dish you’ll want to put on repeat.