Peanut Butter Noodles Recipe

By Hetty Lui McKinnon

4.3

(62)

Active Time

5 minutes

Total Time

10 minutes

These peanut butter noodles have "a depth of flavor and dimension that belies what a fast, easy, flexible, and mindless (and therefore brilliant) solution it is when time and energy are low," writes cookbook author Hetty Liu McKinnon.

You can think of her peanut butter noodles recipe as a formula: "A nutty, full-bodied base thinned out with a mix of something acidic to cut through the richness, something sweet for balance, and something salty for a jolt of umami." It's easily adapted to what you have on hand and to accommodate allergies and gluten-free diners.

Someone in the house opposed to peanut sauce? Use tahini. Out of maple syrup? Using sugar or honey as the sweetener works just fine. For the noodles, almost any Asian variety will work (try instant ramen, udon noodles, rice vermicelli, or soba noodles), but so will spaghetti. (Cook whatever you choose according to the package directions.) The veggies are flexible too. Crunchy cucumbers and green onions are great, but thinly sliced snap peas and carrots, or shredded cabbage would also do the trick.

This dish is just as good served immediately for a weeknight dinner as it is packed up for the next day's lunch—store the cooked noodles, peanut butter sauce, and the chopped peanut garnish separately. And have ready chili oil or sriracha and sesame oil, plus cilantro, toasted sesame seeds, and lime wedges for squeezing so everyone can customize their bowl whenever they’re ready to eat.

If you’re looking for a peanut butter noodle dish with meat, try Chris Morocco's version with crispy pork, sautéed collard greens, and rice noodles.

4 Servings

12

½

2

4

1

1

4

2

⅓

Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender. Drain and rinse under cold running water; set aside.

Whisk peanut butter, vinegar, maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, and ¼ cup warm water in a large bowl until smooth. Dressing should be the consistency of heavy cream; if too thick, add a little more water as needed. Season with salt and pepper. If noodles are sticking together, rinse briefly to separate; drain well. Transfer to bowl with dressing; toss to coat. Add cucumbers and scallions and season well with salt and pepper.

Divide noodles among bowls; top with peanuts and drizzle with oil.

How would you rate Peanut Butter Noodles With Cucumbers?

Leave a Review

I don't like spicy food and I've been looking for a good peanut sauce that isn't spicy but still is tasty. I finally found it. I followed the recipe exactly as written (without the chili oil) and found it fast and easy to make. I used my pasta machine to make fresh udon noodles which only needed about three minutes to cook. The consistency was perfect. I did add chopped sweet peppers and blanched kale along with the cucumber and unsalted chopped peanuts. Thanks for a great recipe. I'm tired of substituting or eliminating the spicy parts and finding that what is left is not worth the trouble.

Anonymous

The villages Florida

6/8/2023

This was super solid and easy. I made it with somen because that's what I had and some Persian cukes that were alllllmost over the hill. Def would love to add garlic chips, chili crisp-- nice base recipe and I've tried other tahini or peanut sauces like this that ended waaaaayyy too stodgy, so happy to have found this ratio.

ML Character

Los Angeles

4/18/2023

Good base for a recipe. I added three big spoonfuls of chili garlic sauce to the sauce and left out garlic and it was perfect for our family.

Anonymous

4/5/2023

Lots of irrelevant advertising in this post, lots of introductory matter, lots of comments. But darned if I could find the recipe or a link to it.

Filatura

New York, NY

6/20/2022

Where the recipe???????????????

Anonymous

6/20/2022

Made a lot of changes, but started with the sauce as directed. Found it too sweet, so increased the vinegar and soy sauce, also doubled the garlic. Next time, will halve the sweetener. Added julienned carrots and red bell peppers with the cuke, also cilantro and chives in the absence of scalllions. Finally, the noodles were brown rice vermicelli. Added sriracha at table. Will make it again.

Fran

Mexico

6/13/2022

I was first drawn to this recipe since it is vegan. Turned out to really like the flavor and it was very easy to make. I have to figure out what I did wrong with the peanut butter because it was mostly a glob versus a sauce, but still tasted really good!

Anonymous

Arlington Heights, IL

9/11/2021

I'm a huge Hetty fan, but this recipe is very unbalanced, leaning way too hard on the pb. I added a ton of chill oil, black vinegar, and cilantro but it was still too heavy/too pb-esque.

Anonymous

8/3/2021

Pro tip: Top this with the Trader Joe's Chili Onion Crunch and it is perfection.

Anonymous

Boston, MA

3/25/2021

A solid base for playing around. I used spicy PB, without which I wouldn't have enjoyed the recipe so much. After adding the right amount of warm water, the sauce was great, but too thick. I thinned it out to the heavy cream consistency, but then it was watered down too much - won't make that mistake again. A squeeze of lime juice brightened it up, too

Annamarie

California

3/17/2021

I've lived in three Asian countries, and some version of this dish was always available somewhere. I've been back in the States for over a decade now, and for the sake of nostalgia, I thought I'd give this recipe a try. I'm really glad I did. Not only is it extremely easy to put together, it was truly delicious. I'm surprised other reviewers thought it lacked flavor. I think it's the best version of the dish I have ever tasted. Given how easy it is to prepare, I stuck this one in my recipe drawer. I'll have it again soon.

Johnny Bellrock

Sedona, AZ

3/16/2021

Sauce as-written turns into slightly seasoned peanut butter. Definitely needs more soy sauce, sweetener, and rice vinegar than what is listed. Also found the sauce quite thick so I thinned it with some warm pasta water, which worked well. I used cilantro instead of scallions for the topping , which was also good.

Anonymous

Atlanta

3/8/2021

Marlene: If you splashed on the chili oil at the table, you should get the red and liquidy look that you see in the picture. Sounds like you mixed in the chili oil instead? I do agree the sauce has a strong PB flavor, but I enjoyed that , especially when serving the dish at slightly below room temp (ie, out of the frig for about 15 mins before eating).

Dan W

Connecticut

2/27/2021

I was disappointed in this recipe. The sauce just tasted like peanut butter. I added more vinegar, garlic, soy sauce and chili oil. The photo shows liquid in the bottom of the plate. The peanut sauce is thick and there was no liquid at all. That's not a bad thing, but the sauce in the shot is red and liquidy where the sauce in real life is peanut butter colored ant thick.

Marlene's Cuisine

San Francisco

2/24/2021

Pretty simple to make with great flavor payoff! Chicken goes really well with this dish - I crisped up some leftover Nashville Hot Chicken (another bomb BA recipe) and added it to the noodles. Didn't need the extra salt when there's already soy sauce and peanut butter in the sauce. Squeezing on some lime juice at the end really brightened up the dish.

Georgie

Boston, MA

2/20/2021