This easy peanut sauce recipe is spicy, savory, and creamy. Though initially intended to be served over noodles, this sauce can also be used as a peanut sauce for spring rolls.
I love this recipe so much that I make these peanut butter noodles at least once a week! I finally updated the pictures to capture the amazing creaminess that makes these noodles so good.
Not only is this delicious as a creamy vegan pasta, but the sauce is also amazing when used as a spring roll sauce or as a Thai peanut sauce for dipping summer rolls, egg rolls, or even your favorite veggies.
Ingredients
Pasta: You can use spaghetti, penne, or even ramen noodles! Any type of pasta that you prefer is just fine.
Peanut Butter: These vegan peanut noodles get the incredibly creaminess from the peanut butter.
I prefer to use a crunchy peanut butter for extra texture, but creamy peanut butter is great too.
Soy Sauce: I opted for a classic soy sauce but you can use a low sodium version or swap for a gluten free substitute instead (see below under "Substitutions and Additions".
Sriracha: The sriracha gives this pasta dish an amazing kick of spice and flavor and is what brings this spicy peanut sauce to life.
Ginger: Freshly grated ginger is ideal for this recipe for the best possible flavor.
Garlic: Freshly ground garlic is preferred, but pre-minced jarred garlic will work as well. As a last resort, you can use a pinch of garlic powder as a substitution for fresh garlic.
Crushed Red Pepper: Another way to give these spicy noodles a good kick.
Maple Syrup: The syrup adds a perfect balance of sweetness to this spicy recipe. Can be replaced with a teaspoon of brown sugar or agave nectar if you don't have maple syrup on hand.
Sesame Oil: The sesame oil adds a great amount of flavor to this pasta. Can be omitted if necessary, but not ideal.
See recipe card below for quantities.
Instructions
This vegan pasta recipe is incredibly easy to make.
Simply cook the pasta according to package instructions and while your noodles are cooking, mix all of the remaining ingredients together to make the peanut butter sauce for noodles or for a dipping sauce.
One the pasta has finished cooking to your liking, drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and mix in your vegan peanut sauce.
Substitutions and Additions
As mentioned above, this recipe was originally intended to be a peanut noodles recipe, but you can omit the pasta and make this a peanut dipping sauce instead.
If you would like to make this a vegan and gluten free pasta recipe, simply swap the pasta for a gluten free option, and replace the soy sauce with either tamari sauce or coconut aminos.
This article outlines some easy and delicious soy sauce substitutes.
Though this recipe doesn't call for any extra protein, you can add tofu making yummy tofu peanut noodles instead. The same can be done with tempeh!
If you're not a big fan of spicy food, you can omit the sriracha and crushed red pepper flakes. If you prefer less spice, use half of the sriracha and half of the crushed red pepper.
If you're looking for more delicious vegan recipes, be sure to try these next:
Spicy Peanut Noodles
Ingredients
- ½ pound pasta
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ¼ cup soy sauce low sodium
- ½ tablespoon ginger grated
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon sriracha
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package instructions, drain, and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, mix together all of the remaining ingredients to make your peanut sauce. Stir well and add to a sauce pan over medium heat for a minute or two so the garlic cooks slightly.
- Mix the sauce with the cooked noodles, garnish as desired, and enjoy!
Beth says
Hi , this tasted nice but the sauce was so thick, even adding a fair bit of extra water to it . Once i added the noodles it was virtually unworkable and looked a claggy mess . Sadly i wont cook this again
Kelsey says
Hi Beth, I am so sorry to hear that! Sometimes different peanut butter brands can have different consistencies. I use less thick nut butters and that might be the problem we're running into here. I totally understand if you don't want to give it another shot but if you do I would try using a thinner peanut butter or use half the amount of peanut butter if it's a thick type. Sorry that this recipe didn't work out for you <3
Marilyn Ciccotosto says
Can this be served cold?
Kelsey says
Yes 🙂 the sauce might be a bit thick after refrigerating and not reheating but if that's not a problem for you, I say go for it! We've enjoyed it as a cold leftover meal many times!
Alexandra P. says
Hi. I hope you can help me with this recipe. I followed the instructions but my dish didn’t turn out nearly as nicely as yours. The sauce tasted delicious but once I added the rice noodles (8 oz package) the whole thing became a dry tangled mess. Not creamy or appetizing looking at all. My kids and husband thought the taste was fine but I’d love to improve on this. Any tips? I feel like some oil or something was missing.
Kelsey says
Hi Alexandra! I'm so sorry the dish didn't turn out as expected. It sounds like the problem is with the noodles. I would recommend just switching up the pasta you're using and use a classic spaghetti noodle instead. You can also set aside some pasta water or regular water to thin the sauce as needed. I hope it turns out better the second time around 🙂