The Weeknight Kitchen · Asian

Thai Peanut Noodles

Name: Thai Peanut Noodles
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 280 g rice noodles; 130 g natural peanut butter; 120 ml coconut milk; 45 ml soy sauce or tamari; 30 ml lime juice; 30 g brown sugar; 15 ml rice vinegar; 15 ml sriracha; 2 garlic cloves; 10 g fresh ginger; 60 ml warm water; 1 red bell pepper; 100 g shredded carrots; 3 scallions; Crushed roasted peanuts, chopped cilantro, and lime wedges to serve

Rice noodles in a creamy coconut-peanut sauce, brightened with lime and a little heat, finished with crushed peanuts. Serve warm or cold.

25 min total

Spoon cost

Time ●○○○○ Anytime

Vegan

Servingsamounts scale to match

Units

Ingredients

Whisk the peanut sauce until it is pourable before the noodles finish. It should coat a spoon but still drip off it — too thick and it clumps on the noodles; loosen it with warm water or a splash of the noodle cooking water.

Method

Cook's notes

Natural peanut butter matters — pourable, just-peanuts-and-salt peanut butter makes the silkiest sauce. The stabilized kind (Jif or Skippy) works but is sweeter and stiffer, so cut the brown sugar a little and add extra warm water.

Warm or cold, both are great. Eat it right away while warm, or chill it and serve as a cold noodle salad — a good make-ahead lunch. The sauce thickens as it sits, so loosen leftovers with a splash of warm water.

Taste before you toss. Peanut, lime, salty, sweet, and heat should all be in balance — nudge the sauce in the bowl before it ever touches the noodles.

Add protein if you like — leftover chicken, seared shrimp, pan-crisped tofu, or a handful of edamame all fold right in.

Full-fat coconut milk gives the richest sauce; light coconut milk works but comes out thinner.

Easier, if you like

Use a jarred Thai peanut sauce (Thai Kitchen Peanut Satay Sauce, in the Asian foods aisle, ~$4) — thin it with a little warm water and fresh lime, then toss with cooked rice noodles and shredded veg.

Vegan as written; easy GF and nut-free swaps

Gluten-free: tamari in place of soy sauce; rice noodles are already gluten-free (check the label).

Vegan: already vegan as written — keep it plant-based with tofu or edamame for protein.

Nut-free: sunflower-seed butter (SunButter) in place of peanut butter gives a similar creamy sauce without nuts.

More authentic depth: swap 1 tbsp of the soy sauce for 1 tbsp fish sauce (no longer vegetarian) for a rounder, savory backbone.