This delicious and super easy recipe for healthy peanut sauce noodles is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and great for a quick lunch or dinner.
Easy Peasy Peanut Sauce Noodles
When it comes to weeknight meals my go-to these days is anything that fits the motto “quick, easy, stress-free, minimal preparation, and family friendly”. The less thought that has to go into our meals right now the better.
That doesn’t mean I don’t care about health-factor and quality, I definitely do. It just means that healthy meals can’t require a whole lot of fuss. Not at this taking-care-of-a-newborn-and-toddler stage in my life anyway! These healthy peanut sauce noodles fit the bill and taste amazing. Win-win.
How To Make Peanut Butter Sauce for Noodles
What I love about this recipe is that it’s also really flexible. The main components are noodles and a delicious peanut sauce made with natural peanut butter, and then you can decide to add a protein like chicken, shrimp or tofu if you wish, vegetables of your choice, and any other add-ins you might enjoy.
To make the sauce you need only a handful of ingredients and the star is natural, unsweetened peanut butter. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Natural peanut butter (with just peanuts, no added oils or sugars)
- Lime
- Red wine vinegar
- Rice wine vinegar
- Coconut palm sugar
- Gluten free soy sauce
- Water
- Cornstarch
The sauce is creamy, tangy, slightly sweet and perfectly salty, with a wonderful peanut flavour that goes great with your favourite noodles. To keep this dish on the healthier side I chose to use gluten-free spaghetti noodles made only from brown rice but you can use Asian-style brown rice noodles, white rice noodles, or any other noodle of your choosing.
Add-Ins For Peanut Sauce Noodles
As mentioned before, you can get creative with this recipe and add in other ingredients that make this meal healthier or even more filling. Here are the add-ins I mixed with the peanut sauce noodles:
- Red cabbage
- Broccoli florets
- Red bell pepper
- Green onion
- Sesame seeds
Other Add-In Options
If you want to change this meal up a little, here are other add-in options that would go great with these peanut sauce noodles:
- Protein of your choice: shrimp, chicken, tofu, tempeh, etc.
- Crushed peanuts for extra crunch
- Fresh copped cilantro
- Crushed peppers or chili peppers for some heat
- Sriracha sauce for more heat!
How to make butter noodles
Cook noodles according to package directions and then drain and rinse. Return to pot and add in 1/4 cup of butter and salt to taste. Stir to combine.
Garlic butter noodles
You can modify the butter noodles, by adding in some garlic and parmesan cheese to make garlic butter noodles. It’ll taste like a whole new dish. Yum!
FAQs
What are soba noodles?
Soba noodles are a thin Japanese noodles made with buckwheat. They’re usually served in a sauce or with a dipping sauce and they can be found anywhere from fast food locations to high scale restaurants as well. Soba noodles would be great tasting in this recipe!
How to cook noodles
When in doubt, always cook your noodles according to the package directions. They will give you a great estimated cooking time for that specific noodle variety so you know about how long it will take.
Are rice noodles healthy?
Rice noodles are low in fat and about average or moderate in calories making them a great choice for those avoiding wheat (like those with Celiacs or gluten intolerances).
Are egg noodles healthy?
Egg noodles are delicious and can be made into a healthy meal when paired with low carb ingredients and proper portion sizes but on their own they have a lot of carbs and are not the healthiest of noodle options.
Is chicken noodle soup healthy?
Some chicken noodle soup recipes can be healthy or at least healthier than storebought soup in a can. This is because soups often contain a high amount of sodium thanks to the broths and flavorings used. You can make chicken soup much healthier by making smarter choices and choosing low-carb noodles, fresh veggies, and low sodium broths.
This mouthwatering, seemingly-indulgent dish has incredible flavor and reminds me of a peanut noodle dish you might find at a trendy restaurant but with a healthier sauce, more veggies, and gluten-free brown rice noodles.
In just 15 minutes you can have supper on the table or yummy lunch leftovers. My daughter is a big carb-lover so I like to give her whole-grain carbohydrates that she will still gobble up so brown rice noodles are a big staple in our kitchen! If you are the same (a carb lover or a toddler parent!) be sure to give these healthy peanut noodles a try!
Are you a fan of peanut sauce? How do you enjoy this sauce in other meals? Tell me about it in the comments and be sure to pin the photo below the recipe to save this one for later!
Healthy Peanut Sauce Noodles
This delicious and super easy recipe for healthy peanut sauce noodles is vegan, gluten free, dairy free, and great for a quick lunch or dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado or olive oil
- 4 cups cooked noodles of your choice (I used brown rice spaghetti noodles)
- 1/2 cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup chopped broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper
Peanut Sauce
- 3 tablespoons creamy natural peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons lime juice (1 small lime)
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar
- 1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
Garnishes
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup sliced green onion
Instructions
- In a small bowl whisk together the sauce ingredients (or blend in a small food processor) until totally smooth.
- Cook the noodles al-dente according to package instructions. Once cooked, drain and rinse noodles under cold water and set aside.
- Heat a large wok or pan over medium-high heat and add in the oil.
- Add in the cabbage, broccoli, and bell pepper and saute for 2-3 minutes until slightly tender.
- Give the peanut sauce one more stir and pour into the pan with the vegetables.
- Reduce heat to medium and stir for 1 minute or so until the sauce begins to thicken and bubble slightly.
- Add in the cooked noodles and mix in the pan so the sauce can coat the noodles and vegetables for 1-2 minutes and the noodles are heated through.
- Remove from heat and garnish with the sesame seeds and green onion.
- Divide peanut sauce noodles between 3-4 bowls and enjoy!
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More Noodle Recipes To Try:
Easy & Healthy Pad Thai Noodles
Healthy Cold Soba Noodle Salad
This sounds great! Do you think you could replace the creamy natural peanut butter with PB2?
Link to it- https://pb2foods.com/
I love this stuff! I eat it instead of peanut butter all the time.
Hi Kelsey, I’m familiar with PB2! You could definitely use it you’ll just need to mix the powder with water to create a creamy consistency that can be mixed in with the sauce!