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This Thai-inspired Saucy Curried Peanut Noodles recipe is made with the yummiest creamy coconut curry peanut sauce and your choice of noodles, veggies and protein. One of my favorite quick weeknight noodle recipes!
Say hello to your new favorite weeknight noodle stir-fry! ♡
If you’ve followed this blog for awhile, you know that my husband and I have a slight obsession with making some sort of Thai-inspired curry noodles at least once a week. But this latest version with some extra peanut butter stirred into the coconut curry sauce — plus some crunchy peanut sprinkled on top — is definitely a new favorite in our house. It features an irresistible blend of rich, savory, sweet, and slightly spicy flavors. And best of all, the whole dish comes together in a snap!
As with any noodle stir-fry recipe, the type of noodles, protein and veggies that you use here are up to you. So it’s a great way to clean out any leftover veggies in your crisper drawer. And it’s completely up to you whether you would like to add meat or seafood, or keep the recipe totally vegetarian or vegan. If you happen to have any peanut allergies in your house, I’ve also tested this recipe using various kinds of other nut butters or seed butters which work great as a peanut alternative too.
Let’s make some noodles!
Thai Curried Peanut Noodles Ingredients:
Before we get to the full recipe below, here are a few quick notes about the ingredients you will need to make this Thai-inspired curried peanut noodles recipe:
Noodles: I prefer to use rice noodles (any width) for this recipe, but feel free to use whatever type of noodles you prefer or have on hand.
Protein: The protein in this recipe here is up to you. I added in some thinly-sliced chicken, but beef, pork, shrimp, scallops, tofu, or any other protein that you love best would work too. OR you can skip the added protein entirely, and just stick with noodles and veggies.
Veggies: Likewise, the veggies included are up to you too. I cleaned out my crisper drawer and used broccoli, yellow bell peppers, carrots, shiitake and mushrooms in the batch photographed above. But any stir-fry-friendly veggies will work here! I recommend adding about 4 to 6 cups of sliced veggies total.
Garlic and ginger: I also recommend adding some fresh garlic and ginger to the stir-fry for the best flavors. But if you don’t happen to have either on hand, you are welcome to add in some garlic powder and/or ground ginger instead, to taste.
Curried peanut sauce: This simple sauce is easy to whip up with coconut milk (I highly recommend using full-fat coconut milk for the creamiest texture/flavor), veggie stock (or chicken stock), creamy peanut butter (I used natural PB), Thai red curry paste (add your desired amount, to taste), fresh lime juice (however much you prefer), and fish sauce (this is my favorite brand).
Toppings: Finally, be generous with your toppings! This curry shines when garnished with lots of chopped fresh cilantro and/or Thai basil. I also like to sprinkle on some chopped peanuts for extra crunch, and usually serve the curry with extra fresh lime wedges so that people can make their individual servings as citrusy as they prefer.
Possible Recipe Variations:
Want to customize this peanut noodle stir fry a bit? Feel free to…
Make it gluten-free: This recipe is already naturally gluten-free if you use rice noodles (and all other ingredients) that are certified gluten-free.
Make it vegan: This recipe can also be made vegan if you choose to use a vegan protein, such as tofu, seitan, tempeh, etc.
Make it spicy: Feel free to add in some thinly-sliced fresh chiles (such as Thai bird chiles or serrano peppers), crushed red pepper flakes, or cayenne powder to kick up the heat in this curry.
Make it milder: If you are averse to spice, I recommend starting with just 1.5 tablespoons of Thai curry paste in the sauce, and then you can always add more if you’d like.
Add some extras to your sauce: Other ingredients that would taste delicious in this sauce could include fresh lemongrass (or lemongrass paste), coconut sugar (to make the sauce sweeter), or makrut lime leaves (for a deliciously different lime-y flavor).
More Favorite Noodle Stir Fry Recipes:
Looking for more delicious noodle stir fry recipes to try? Here are a few of my faves:
Make the sauce. Whisk all of the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth.
Cook the noodles. Cook the noodles just shy of al dente, according to package instructions. Drain the noodles and set aside until ready to use. (If the noodles are ready considerably earlier than your veggies, I recommend briefly tossing the noodles with a drizzle of oil to prevent them from sticking to one another.)
Stir-fry the chicken (or other protein). Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large sauté pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the sliced chicken and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a clean plate and set aside.
Sauté the veggies. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the hot pan along with the veggies. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they nearly reach your desired level of doneness. Add in the garlic and ginger and sauté for 2 more minutes, stirring frequently.
Combine. Add the sauce, cooked chicken and cooked noodles to the pan and toss the mixture for about 1 minute, until thoroughly combined.
Season. Taste and season the noodles with salt, pepper and/or extra lime juice as needed.
Serve. Serve immediately, garnished with lots and lots of fresh toppings, and enjoy!
Great! You could microwave the noodles. (I usually add a drizzle of water to my noodles when microwaving them as leftovers.) Or you could reheat them in a skillet with a small drizzle of oil. Hope that you enjoy them!
Made this for dinner tonight for the whole family! They absolutely loved it, it was just the right amount of sauce and such great flavor. Would definitely make this again as I am a HUGE fan of Thai food and this was so easy to prepare as well.
Perfect recipe :D
This was an awesome surprise. I got to refrigerated pad thai noodles in my Hungry Harvest, and this recipe was perfect for them. My limes were ugly, so I swapped some mirin for sweet acidity. For veggies, I used Wegman’s ASian slaw mix, a couple of red bell peppers, 1.5 sweet onions, and a crown of broccoli. We topped with cilantro and green onions because thai basil is hard to come by around here at this time of year. We will definitely repeat!
Just wondering why you’ve chosen to remain silent about violence against the Asian community when you so clearly benefit from appropriating their food. Oh, wait.
Made this for dinner yesterday – subbed the chicken with tofu. Really delicious and easy, and it yielded a ton so we have leftovers for a couple of days!
Also, congratulations on the baby! So exciting!
This was SOOO good! The only change I made was adding hoisin sauce instead of fish sauce (I’m allergic to shellfish) and it was excellent still. Your Thai curry recipes are always my go-to and I loved how this one uses peanut butter to make it have some extra oomph.
This has become an instant family favorite for us! A couple tweaks we’ve discovered we prefer: adding crushed red pepper to the sauce and using coconut cream instead of coconut milk for a slightly thicker sauce. Last night we had a jalapeño that needed to be used up so we diced it up very fine and threw it in- delicious!
Made this recipe as is (with shrimp) and loved everything about it. Chopped all the veggies ahead of time which made the cooking time super quick. We loved how saucy the dish was!
Substituted fettuccine noodles for the rice noodles since that’s what I had available, added cut asparagus and carrots and just a little bit of corn starch to thicken the sauce at the end. Topped it off with a handful of cashews. Delicious.
Hi! This looks delicious! I was wondering if you think this could be frozen after cooking and then baking to reheat? Looking to make this for a friend who just had a baby and may need the option of freezing.
This was delicious!! I think if you’re not adding any protein you should consider doubling the noodles; we ended up with a HUGE amount of leftover sauce.
Great flavors! I added a little brown sugar to sweeten it (~1/2tbls) and it was delicious. The peanut butter wasn’t a strong flavor, but gave it a warmth and depth of flavor. I’ll be making it again before too long!
I had such high hopes for this! The pictures look exactly like a delicious peanut curry from a local Thai restaurant I frequent. Sadly, that was not the case.
I followed this recipe to the letter and I have to believe that 1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock must be a typo. As written it made peanut curry soup, not sauce. I had to scoop all the chicken and veg out of the sauté pan and simmer the “sauce” until it was reduced by half, and then still had to add a little cornstarch to thicken it further. I suggest omitting the stock entirely – the coconut milk provides plenty of liquid – or add 1/4 of stock, at most. It could also benefit from a little sweetness. Maybe a teaspoon of brown sugar to round out the flavors.
Hey, I’m Ali!
My favorite thing in life is time spent around the table. And all the better with some seriously tasty food to bring us all together. more about me »
Hi there! Do you think this would work with a different nut butter? It looks delicious but I’m allergic to peanuts ??
Sure, almond butter would be a delicious alternative! :)
will this taste good without fish sauce or any substitute?
Thanks.
Can’t wait to try this for dinner tonight! Any suggestions about the best way to reheat leftovers? Thank you!
Great! You could microwave the noodles. (I usually add a drizzle of water to my noodles when microwaving them as leftovers.) Or you could reheat them in a skillet with a small drizzle of oil. Hope that you enjoy them!
Can I make this with almond butter instead of peanut butter?
Sure, that will work too!
This is awesome, we added Garlic Chili Paste for some heat.
Can the sauce be frozen.
Excellent recipe that’s loaded with flavor and very easy to make. This will def become a staple in our house.
Made this for dinner tonight for the whole family! They absolutely loved it, it was just the right amount of sauce and such great flavor. Would definitely make this again as I am a HUGE fan of Thai food and this was so easy to prepare as well.
Perfect recipe :D
This was an awesome surprise. I got to refrigerated pad thai noodles in my Hungry Harvest, and this recipe was perfect for them. My limes were ugly, so I swapped some mirin for sweet acidity. For veggies, I used Wegman’s ASian slaw mix, a couple of red bell peppers, 1.5 sweet onions, and a crown of broccoli. We topped with cilantro and green onions because thai basil is hard to come by around here at this time of year. We will definitely repeat!
Just wondering why you’ve chosen to remain silent about violence against the Asian community when you so clearly benefit from appropriating their food. Oh, wait.
Made this for dinner yesterday – subbed the chicken with tofu. Really delicious and easy, and it yielded a ton so we have leftovers for a couple of days!
Also, congratulations on the baby! So exciting!
This was SOOO good! The only change I made was adding hoisin sauce instead of fish sauce (I’m allergic to shellfish) and it was excellent still. Your Thai curry recipes are always my go-to and I loved how this one uses peanut butter to make it have some extra oomph.
This was awesome, this will go in my recipe book.
Great recipe! I just made it for dinner and it was so tasty and easy to make.
This has become an instant family favorite for us! A couple tweaks we’ve discovered we prefer: adding crushed red pepper to the sauce and using coconut cream instead of coconut milk for a slightly thicker sauce. Last night we had a jalapeño that needed to be used up so we diced it up very fine and threw it in- delicious!
Made this recipe as is (with shrimp) and loved everything about it. Chopped all the veggies ahead of time which made the cooking time super quick. We loved how saucy the dish was!
Substituted fettuccine noodles for the rice noodles since that’s what I had available, added cut asparagus and carrots and just a little bit of corn starch to thicken the sauce at the end. Topped it off with a handful of cashews. Delicious.
Hi! This looks delicious! I was wondering if you think this could be frozen after cooking and then baking to reheat? Looking to make this for a friend who just had a baby and may need the option of freezing.
Thanks!
This was delicious!! I think if you’re not adding any protein you should consider doubling the noodles; we ended up with a HUGE amount of leftover sauce.
Easy. Full of flavor.
I changed my protein to tofu coated in cornstarch and then added it to the top of the noodles. The kids loved it!
Great flavors! I added a little brown sugar to sweeten it (~1/2tbls) and it was delicious. The peanut butter wasn’t a strong flavor, but gave it a warmth and depth of flavor. I’ll be making it again before too long!
How would green curry pasted be in this?
I had such high hopes for this! The pictures look exactly like a delicious peanut curry from a local Thai restaurant I frequent. Sadly, that was not the case.
I followed this recipe to the letter and I have to believe that 1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock must be a typo. As written it made peanut curry soup, not sauce. I had to scoop all the chicken and veg out of the sauté pan and simmer the “sauce” until it was reduced by half, and then still had to add a little cornstarch to thicken it further. I suggest omitting the stock entirely – the coconut milk provides plenty of liquid – or add 1/4 of stock, at most. It could also benefit from a little sweetness. Maybe a teaspoon of brown sugar to round out the flavors.