These 20 minute Spicy Peanut Noodles are loaded with spiralized veggies and the BEST peanut sauce you could ask for.
I've been on a bit of an eating kick recently. Working on some recipe development projects will do that to a girl. There are 2-3 recipes coming out of the What's Gaby Cooking kitchen on a daily basis (don't worry, you'll get them all soon!) and I eat each and every one of them. So when it's time to just whip something simple up for dinner and enjoy, this Spicy Peanut Noodle situation seems rather perfect. It's not just any noodle though! Sure, there is some regular pasta in there, but there is also spiralized carrots, spiralized zucchini and spiralized yellow squash because we're healthy-ish here on WGC. Balance, right? If you don't have a spiralizer, you're missing out. They've been all the rage for the past few years, and I don't think there is any reason they should go away! Order one, they are super cheap, and then make this! You won't regret it!
So before we go forth and noodle... here are some tips and trick!
How to Make Thai Peanut Noodles
There are 3 components to this dish. First: the pasta and the vegetables. Everything get cooked and/or spiralized so it's a uniform consistency. Second: the sauce. Below you'll find a few ways to customize the sauce but the regular recipe is incredible. You can use any leftovers on chicken or steak too! Third: the topping! I like a ton of fresh herbs on the top of my noodles, but you can also add chopped peanuts, sesame seeds or red fresno chiles if you'd like!
Can I customize the peanut noodles?
Sure can! Best way to do so is to change up the noodle variety - maybe you want to use soba noodles or a ramen. Add different vegetables like cucumbers or cabbage. And play with the sauce! You could add a bit of sesame oil or sambal to give it a new spin.
Can the noodles be served hot and cold?
You can serve these peanut noodles at room temp, cold or warm. Really depends on the time of the year and your own personal preference.
What type of peanut butter can I use?
Use your favorite variety of smooth peanut butter. If you're in a pinch, chunky peanut butter is fine too but the smoother the sauce, the easier it is for it to get soaked up into the noodles.
Can I use another nut butter?
Absolutely! If you want to use something other than peanut butter, I'd say sunflower butter is the best bet on keeping the flavor. Cashew butter would be great too.
How to control the heat?
These aren't all that spicy. If you want to reduce the heat entirely, just leave out the red pepper flakes. If you want to amp up the heat, you can use more red pepper flakes or add some sambal to the peanut sauce!
What type of noodle can I use?
Dealers choice but I prefer a spaghetti or linguini! It's the same size roughly as the spiralized vegetables so it makes for a great consistency.
More Thai inspired recipes:
- Spicy Beef Larb with Coconut Rice
- Chopped Thai Salad
- Thai Style Baby Back Ribs
- Thai Chicken Pizza
- Chicken Larb Bowls
- Turkey Larb Lettuce Cups
- Zucchini Pad Thai
- Thai Chicken Coconut Curry
Spicy Peanut Noodles
Ingredients
For the pasta
- 10 ounces spaghetti
- 1 zucchini spiralized
- 1 yellow squash spiralized
- 1 carrot spiralized
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 persian cucumber sliced
Garnish:
- Fresh mint
- Fresh cilantro
- Fresh basil
- Thinly sliced scallions
- Crushed peanuts
For the Sauce
- 1 lime juiced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup hot water
- 4 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with water, add 2 generous pinches of salt, and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.
- Combine the lime juice, red pepper flakes, garlic, honey, peanut butter, hot water and soy sauce in a small bowl and whisk together.
- Drain the pasta in a colander and add the zucchini and yellow squash noodles on top of the pasta so the remnant heat from the pasta slightly cooked the vegetables. After about 3 minutes, toss the pasta and veggies with the peanut sauce. Add in the carrot, red bell pepper and cucumber. Garnish with the cilantro, mint, basil, scallions and crushed peanuts serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Photo by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Recipe by What’s Gaby Cooking
We made this tonight and it was a winner. We love spicy food so we added some sambal oelek to our peanut sauce ...... YUM! We're excited to have an easy leftovers dinner tomorrow night! Thanks for a great recipe.
I just made this for my family and my kids SCARFED it down! Definitely adding this recipe to the rotation. Thanks Gaby!!
I made this last night and it was SO good! Is the hot water measurement for the sauce correct? I used 4 T of hot water and it seemed more than thin enough.
All these spiraled veggies. Perfect.
Gaby,
I have been wanting a spiralizer for awhile now, is this one easy to use?
very easy!!
Thanks I am ordering it!
Loving the combo of true pasta and veggie noodles!!! Its the best of both worlds... and the only way I can con my fam into the whole veggie noodle thang;) P.S. Asian inspired peanut sauces are the BEST!! Great combo (as usual)!
My favorite kind of noodles!!! Love this Gaby!