Spicy Peanut Noodles

5 from 5 votes

A quick and easy meatless main or tasty side dish. This is a terrific spicy noodle dish with loads of flavor that will satisfy your peanut loving family.

Prep Time20

Cook Time15

Total Time35

Course: Dinner, Main Course, Meatless Monday

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: noodles, peanut, spicy

Servings:

Calories: 561kcal

Author: Tricia

Ingredients

For the noodles:

1 pound spaghetti or rice noodles
¼ cup reserved 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 regular peanut butter smooth or crunchy

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 ¼ 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.

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 information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. When multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.

Nutrition