Spicy Peanut Noodles. Chewy wide noodles smothered in a spicy, nutty savory sauce. Ready in 10 minutes and vegan!
There is nothing like a good bowl of hot and spicy peanut butter noodles to cure any bad day! Give me a big bowl of these noodles and I’m a happy girl. These spicy noodles are so easy to make in just one bowl with simple pantry staples and are perfect for a quick meal.
They're a great base or foundation to add to. Feel free to add vegetables (like bell peppers, snow peas, julienned carrot, snap peas, or cucumbers), extra protein or swap out the noodles for ones that you enjoy. It's a very versatile recipe.
What does it taste like?
The first time I had these noodles, I fell in love with the spicy savory flavor from the homemade chili oil, garlic and the nutty taste from the peanut butter. I love the taste of spicy sesame peanut noodles because its sweet and salty thanks to the sugar and the soy sauce.
This Asian food really hits all of your taste buds and that’s why this dish is so addictive. It's one of my favorite noodles for good reason because the taste palate is very appeasing to many especially if you enjoy spicy food. The best part is it can also be served as cold spicy peanut noodles too!
Very Easy to make!
This spicy peanut noodles recipe is very easy to make! You are simply mixing your sauce ingredients into a large bowl and boiling your noodles until al-dente. Then mixing everything together in that same bowl! It is that simple!
I show you how to make these Chinese sweet and spicy peanut noodles if you scroll to the very bottom and click the video.
Ingredients
Please see the below ingredients for my spicy garlic peanut noodles and scroll down to recipe card for full measurements:
- Ribbon wheat noodles: or substitute with any noodles of choice. Great options include: soba noodles, rice noodles, ramen, egg noodles, or any type of noodle that suits your fancy! If you choose to cook with different noodles, please follow the provided package instructions.
Key Sauce Ingredients:
- Smooth peanut butter: is recommended unless you enjoy crunchy peanut butter with your cooked noodles. If you only have chunky peanut butter or natural peanut butter and would like the nutty sauce totally smooth, run the peanut butter through a blender or food processor before making your noodle sauce.
- You may also substitute with almond butter, sunflower butter, cashew butter, Chinese sesame paste, tahini for this spicy peanut noodle recipe
- Gochugaru or Sichuan Red Pepper Flakes: gochugaru are Korean red pepper flakes which are milder and Sichuan red pepper flakes are spicier. So the choice is up to your spice preferences for this spicy peanut butter noodles recipes.
- You may use normal red chili flakes. Many Asian grocers or select online retailers, like Amazon, carry gochugaru or Sichuan red pepper flakes. Feel free to also sub with chile paste or chili sauce to taste.
Other Sauce Ingredients:
- Regular soy sauce: just your regular all purpose soy sauce. You may substitute with fish sauce or low sodium soy sauce.
- If you use light soy sauce or dark soy sauce, please add to taste and do not sub at a 1:1 ratio as they both contain different sodium levels. In fact light soy sauce is saltier than regular soy sauce and dark soy sauce is less salty. Many Asian grocers or select online retailers, like Amazon, carry this ingredient. You may also find it at your Western grocer.
- Dark soy sauce: this type of soy sauce adds a dark color to the creamy peanut butter sauce.
- Chinese black vinegar: sub with half portion white vinegar, or rice vinegar or omit if unavailable. I wouldn't suggest apple cider vinegar as it's quite strong. Many Asian grocers or select online retailers, like Amazon, carry this Chinese black vinegar. It's also not the same as balsamic vinegar. This specific ingredient gives our spicy peanut butter noodles recipe some acidity to balance out the salty flavors.
- White granulated sugar: or substitute with honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, cane sugar or any sweetener of your choice.
- Neutral oil: any flavorless oil such as avocado oil, peanut oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil with a high smoke point. Please avoid using sesame oil, coconut oil, or olive oil as these are very overpowering in taste and smell.
- For a low-calorie version, omit the oil and sub with a bit of water from noodles as you boil them and add as much as you need to create a smooth luscious sauce. I would start with a couple of tablespoons.
Sauce Aromatics:
- Green onions: The green onions add a wonderful aroma to our spicy peanut noodles recipe.
- Garlic: The hot oil will saute garlic without you having to cook it separately in a sauté pan - win win situation here! The garlic also adds much flavor and aroma to our noodles.
- Toasted sesame seeds: A little bit of sesame oil goes a long way and adds a nutty taste and flavor to our peanut flavor noodles.
How to make Spicy Peanut Noodles
- In a large bowl, add all your sauce ingredients, except for the oil.
- Heat your oil in a saucepan over medium heat. To check if it is hot enough, place a chopstick into the oil and watch for bubbles. Once you see bubbles, pour hot oil into the bowl with the sauce ingredients. Mix until well combined.
- In a large pot of water, bring to a boil. Add noodles to boiling hot water and cook according to package directions or over medium high heat for 3-5 minutes until al dente. Strain immediately. Do not rinse off with cold water.
- Transfer hot noodles into bowl with sauce and mix until each noodle is coated in hot sauce. Enjoy!
FAQ
How long will this last?
Up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
What if I'm allergic to peanuts?
If you don’t like peanuts or you’re allergic to them, omit the peanut butter and you’ll have simple Chili Garlic Oil Noodles!
Where can I find these noodles?
Any Asian grocer will carry them in the dried noodle aisle. If you don't have an Asian grocer nearby, feel free to substitute with any noodles that you enjoy! They're also called "dough sliced wheat noodles".
Other recipes you may like!
- Sichuan Dan Dan Noodles
- Chili Garlic Noodles
- Chinese Scallion Oil Noodles
- Chili Garlic Ramen
- Stir Fried Ramen For One Recipe
- Quick Spicy Ramen Stir-Fry
- Vegan Asian Sesame Noodles
10-min. Easy Spicy Peanut Noodles
Ingredients
- 227 grams wheat noodles dried kind
Sauce:
- 2 tbsp peanut butter smooth kind
- 1 ½ tbsp Sichuan red pepper flakes or gochugaru (Korean hot pepper flakes)
- 1 ¾ tbsp regular soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp Chinese black vinegar aka Chinkiang vinegar
- 1 stalk green onions finely sliced
- 1 tsp garlic minced
- ½ tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tsp white granulated sugar
- ¼ cup avocado oil or any neutral oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add all your sauce ingredients, except for the oil
- Heat your oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. To check if it is hot enough, place a chopstick into the oil and watch for bubbles. Once you see bubbles, pour hot oil into the bowl with the sauce ingredients. Mix until well combined.
- In a medium pot of water, bring to a boil. Add noodles to boiling hot water and cook according to package directions or over medium high heat for 3-5 minutes until al dente. Strain immediately. Do not rinse off with cold water.
- Transfer hot noodles into bowl with sauce and mix until each noodle is coated in sauce. Enjoy!
Dan dan noodles are one of my favourite! Delicious!
I am loving this noodle dish. The flavors in your spicy peanut sauce are simply unbeatable!
Loved this recipe!!! So easy and works well with many types of noodles.
So good! Have a peanut allergy in my household, so substituted in sunflower butter and it was delicious. Thanks for a fast and easy recipe that I can use whenever I'm craving something spicy and filling!
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for this kind review Jordyn! I'm so glad you enjoyed my Spicy Peanut Noodles! I also share a nut-free version here if you're interested 🙂 The latter has become my newest obsession! - Christie