My absolute favourite dish! This Vegan Peanut Noodles recipe is simply addictive and will have got you asking for seconds! Inspired by Thai peanut noodles.
Why this recipe works
There are a few things that make this recipe absolutely fantastic, and here are some of them:
- it's 100% vegan and plant-based
- there is a simple gluten-free option (simply swap the pasta and make sure to use gluten-free tamari soy sauce)
- the peanut sauce is super creamy and more-ish
- it's simply delicious and totally addictive (be warned, ha!)
- it's great loaded with veggies
- the recipe is easy to follow
- it's the perfect dish for lunch and dinner - or to share!
I have brought this dish to work a few times and man - my colleagues were jealous! They could all smell that awesome peanut sauce and everyone constantly asked me what I am eating there. Even my partner who normally dislikes peanut butter eats and enjoys this dish!
Find the recipe for my all-time favourite comfort food dish below: Vegan Peanut Noodles! I've first made this dish a couple of years ago and it was inspired by a Thai peanut salad I saw on Facebook (sadly I don't recall the source!). Over the years I've made this dish plenty of times. It has easily become my favourite dish to make and I've even served it to family and friends.
Everyone who's had these Vegan Peanut Butter Noodles over the years has been absolutely wowed by how delicious this recipe is. It also smells amazing, so whenever I ate this dish as an office lunch before, I've always received plenty of questions about what great smelling lunch I'm having. Everyone that's tried them loved them so far and I regularly get messages from people asking for the recipe as they have some serious cravings for this dish.
This is my absolute number 1 favourite dish - and not just because I love peanut butter... This dish is simply fantastic and so easy to make - and it is also the most delicious peanut sauce recipe that I have tried so far!
Ingredients & Notes
You only need a few simple ingredients and pantry staples to make this easy dish:
- Noodles - Udon or any other type of noodles work great for this recipe. See variations below!
- Courgette - Cut into thin sticks for better mixing. Can also be spiralized.
- Carrot - Julienne style, cut into 2-inch-long strips. Can also be spiralized or roughly shredded in a food processor.
- Peppers - Thinly slice red and yellow bell peppers for a colorful mix.
- Peanut butter - Use smooth unsweetened peanut butter for a delicious and smooth sauce.
- Soy sauce - Use tamari or regular soy sauce, adding a little extra for the same flavor effect.
- Vinegar - Use rice, apple cider, white, coconut, or pomegranate vinegar. Avoid thick and balsamic vinegar.
- Oil - Use toasted sesame, peanut, or regular sesame oil, or a flavor-neutral alternative like canola oil.
- Sriracha - Add a small amount for a subtle kick, adjust to personal preference.
- Maple syrup - Add for a sweet balance, or replace with brown sugar or agave syrup. Check if peanut butter already contains sugar.
For garnish (optional):
- green onions
- fresh cilantro
- crunchy peanuts
- sesame seeds
- red pepper flakes
Variations & Substitutions
Of course, you can replace a few ingredients if you don't have them handy - however, swapping the peanut butter would be tricky 😉
- Noodles - I love this dish with udon noodles, but if you don't have them to hand, you can easily go with your noodles of choice. Here are some I've tried and tested, and they were all delicious:
- rice noodles
- tagliatelle
- stir fry noodles (those ready-made packs from the grocery store!)
- edamame pasta
- buckwheat spaghetti
- soba noodles
- thai noodles
- ramen noodles
- courgetti (spiralized courgette)
Check the package instructions of your noodles to see if they need to boil or simply be covered in hot water to cook. If you want to use gluten free noodles, I recommend choosing rice noodles.
- Hot Sauce - If you do not have Sriracha at home, simply use another hot sauce you have to hand or if you're not a fan of a little spice, just leave it out entirely! The amount depends on how spicy you like your food to be of course and is down to trial and error - better start with a little, you can always add more hot sauce later, if you are one of that sort.
- Vegetables - You can swap out any of the veggies (carrots, peppers & courgettes) for other vegetables of your choice! Broccoli florets, peas, baby corn and mangetout all work really well, just make sure to cut them up into bite-size pieces and steam them upfront where needed.
- Vinegar - The vinegar serves 2 main. roles in this recipe: Adding acidity and breaking down the peanut butter into a smooth sauce. If you don't have any suitable vinegar to hand, you can also use the juice of a lemon.
- Ginger - add a naturally spicy kick by grating fresh ginger into your peanut sauce
- Coconut - For an extra creamy peanut sauce, stir 2 tablespoons of coconut milk into the sauce!
- Garlic - grate 1-2 cloves garlic into the sauce, delish!
- Oil - if you love the taste of toasted sesame, add a few teaspoons of toasted sesame oil into the peanut sauce or simply drizzle the oil over the finished dish.
- Protein - add some tofu for extra protein or some Seitan such as my Vegan Chicken pieces!
Optional additions for this easy vegan recipe
- lime juice: drizzle the dish with a little fresh lime juice before serving for an extra zing!
- sesame seeds: like it crunchy? Me too! I love adding a sprinkle of sesame seeds on top, so delicious!
- chopped peanuts: another delicious and crunchy addition for your bowl of peanut noodles! Go for the raw or roasted kind, both add a tasty nuttiness.
- green spring onions
Equipment
- sharp knife
- frying pan or skillet
- saucepan
- large bowl & whisk (or a fork)
Optional: spiralizer & food processor
Recipe Instructions (Step-by-Step)
If you're making this dish for the first time, make sure to fully read all instructions first.
- Step 1 - Noodles & Preparation: Prepare the noodles according to packaging instructions. Whilst they're cooking, wash and chop up all the veg into thin strips.
- Step 2 - Vegetables: Add a little (sesame) oil to your frying pan over medium heat and sauté the veg whilst you're whipping up the vegan peanut sauce.
- Step 3 - Peanut Butter Sauce: For the peanut sauce simply combine all ingredients in a bowl and slowly begin to whisk them up. The vinegar in the sauce will help in breaking down the thick peanut butter, but you will need to slowly whisk for a few minutes to break it all down. Continue to whisk until smooth.
- Step 4 - Assembly: Once your noodles are cooked, drain them and add them to the softened veg in the frying pan. Remove the pan from the heat and add your peanut sauce. Stir well to combine.
- Step 5 - Garnish (optional): Serve your vegan peanut noodles with crunchy peanuts, a sprinkle of sesame seeds or green onions.
Serving
You can serve these peanut noodles on their own or top them with crunchy peanuts, a sprinkle of sesame seeds or green onions and fresh cilantro.
If you love a bit of spice, you can also add some chili flakes aka red pepper flakes, sriracha or sprinkle with shichimi seasoning.
Storage
You can store the finished dish in an airtight container and enjoy it the next day - just as delicious! This recipe also tastes fantastic with cold noodles and it's delicious as a cold noodle salad in summer!
Extra tip
This recipe is also perfect for cooking in bulk as it stays fresh in the fridge for a couple of days. So help yourself to double/triple/etc the recipe to get the perfect portion size. It's also delicious cold!
More Noodle Recipes You'll Love
If you love noodles just as much as I do, try my Vegan Pad Thai with tempeh or this flavor-loaded Vegan Black Bean Ramen. And I'm sure you're also going to love this easy recipe for vegan Sesame Noodles for dinner this week.
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Vegan Peanut Noodles
Equipment
- 1 large skillet or wok
- 1 bowl
- 1 whisk
- 1 sharp knife
Ingredients
- udon noodles (300 g)
- 1/2 large courgette (or 1 small)
- 1 large carrot
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
For the peanut sauce:
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (4 oz, 110 g)
- 1/4 cup tamari soya sauce (60 ml)
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar (60 ml)
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil (14 ml)
- 2 tbsp sriracha (28 ml)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup optional
- 1/4 cup cold water (60 ml)
Optional toppings:
- crunchy peanuts
- sliced green onions
- sesame seeds
- fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Prepare the noodles according to their packaging instructions.
- At the same time, wash and chop up your vegetables - carrots, courgette and peppers - into thin strips.
- Add a little sesame oil to a frying pan over medium heat and sauté the vegetables until soft.
- In the meantime, prepare your peanut sauce: simply combine all ingredients in a bowl and slowly whisk up the sauce until smooth. It will need a little whisking for the peanut butter to break down - just continue whisking for 1-2 minutes until it's all smooth and creamy.
- Drain the cooked noodles, add them to the pan with the vegetables and remove the pan from the heat. Pour in the peanut sauce and stir well to combine.
- Serve hot or cold and top with crunchy peanuts, a sprinkle of sesame seeds or fresh spring onions.
Notes
- Noodles - this peanut noodles dish will taste best in combination with Udon Noodles (they're my personal fave!) but you can also substitute for any other rice or wheat pasta that you have to hand.
- Vinegar - swap out the rice vinegar for apple cider vinegar if you don't have any rice vinegar to hand. The vinegar will help break down the peanut butter in the mixing process and also add a subtle tart flavor that works perfectly with the creamy texture of the dish.
- Storage - You can store the finished dish in an airtight container and enjoy it cold or reheated the next day - just as delicious!
- Serving - Serve these noodles on their own or top them with crunchy peanuts, a sprinkle of sesame seeds or green onions and fresh cilantro. For a bit of spice, you can also add some red chilli flakes aka red pepper flakes, sriracha or sprinkle with shichimi seasoning.
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Mary Ellen
I do wish you included the peppers, carrots and zucchini in your ingredients. I think I spiralized too many vegetables for the amount of sauce.
romylondonuk
Thanks for the feedback Mary! I'll make sure to update the recipe 🙂
Thecead
This is the first recipe I made from your blog and it was delicious! I made a few changes, used tahini (sesame paste) instead of peanut butter, some noodle cooking water instead of the oil. Loved it for dinner last night and just had leftovers for lunch, yummie! Thanks for the recipe.
romylondonuk
Ohh thanks so much for the feedback! So happy you've enjoyed the recipe - the version with tahini sounds fantastic tbh!
Paul and Alison
We can see why this is your favourite recipe. So simple yet so delicious. The second time we had a go at it we swapped the noodles for swedehetti (spiralized swede cooked al dente).
You are quickly becoming our go person for new recipe ideas.
Many thanks
romylondonuk
Thanks so much for the kind feedback, Paul & Alison! I'm so happy to hear you've enjoyed these peanut noodles that much 🙂 It sounds delicious with the swedehetti, I'm sure it was a delicious pairing! Here's to many more 😉
Valerie
Made this for lunch this week and omg - definitely addiction potential! Never thought peanut butter would make for such a delicious sauce, but here I am!
Ida
Eating this for lunch right now! Added grated high protein tofu. Also added sambal olek in combination with other sauce ingredients. Will definitely make again, thanks!
romylondonuk
Hey Ida, thanks so much for the lovely comment! So glad you're enjoying the recipe! The addition of Sambal Olek sounds divine, I'll definitely have to give that a go myself 🙂
Alexandra
I am utterly in love with these peanut noodles and wish it was acceptable to eat them every day of my life! Thank you for the recipe!!!
Jen
Completely get why this is a favorite recipe! It’s so delicious 😍