The easiest peanut sauce stir-fry noodles, ready in 20 minutes. Packed with peanut flavors and is balanced with freshness from cilantro and lime. This satay chicken noodle stir-fry is perfect for a delicious dinner on busy days!
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Why This Recipe Works
With this peanut sauce stir-fry noodles recipe, you'll get such fresh flavors that come from cilantro and lime. It balances the creamy peanut butter and the savory soy sauce. A touch of heat just completes the package. Trust me, you'll never make anything this delicious!
The amazing peanut stir-fry sauce comes together in merely seconds. No cooking, no heating, no whisking is needed. We're all about being convenient and practical here, like in my 10-minute lo mien noodles, easy beef pho, Thai basil beef, and easy mee goreng. Fast recipes!
Also, you don't need to cook the rice noodles first! Good rice noodles just need some soaking in tap water for a few minutes. We want them to be pliable, so they cook beautifully without falling apart later like my delicious stir-fry pad Thai noodles and char kway teow.
The Easiest Stir-Fry Peanut Sauce
This peanut butter stir-fry sauce is the secret to this amazing recipe. It's so fresh, nutty and has the perfect balance of savory, sour, sweet, and spicy that you look for in Asian meals.
This is Thai-inspired that combines the flavors of a satay. It's like making quick satay noodles or spicy peanut noodles. Oh la la!
How to make peanut sauce? I simply add my fresh cilantro, peanut butter, lime zest , lime juice, less sodium soy sauce, sugar, sambal, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, and water in a jar and blend everything together with an immersion blender. It takes me 15 seconds, max.
No need to heat the peanut butter, cook the sauce on a stove, or struggle to blend the peanut butter with the rest of the ingredients using a hand whisk. Let's be practical, we want to eat like, right now.
This peanut butter sauce (or quick stay sauce!) is extremely versatile in that it's not only used in this peanut sauce stir-fry noodles. You can use it as a dipping sauce, to condiment steamed or stir-fried veggies, or drizzle on salads. Use it to marinate your chicken, beef, or shrimp for grilling. It's magical!
Best Noodles For Stir Fry
Dry rice noodles - Like the one for pad Thai, or vermicelli rice noodles, and find good quality ones. Rice noodles are faster, just soak them in water for a few minutes until they're pliable, no need to boil them first.
Never boil any type of rice noodles that are going to be used in stir-fry recipes! They'll get too soft and break apart later. You want them to cook only once, which is in the stir-frying process.
Fresh noodles - Like rice noodles, egg noodles, udon, and yakisoba noodles. They're also faster since no pre-cooking is needed. Also, never boil them first! Just throw them in with the sauce and they'll get untangled in a few minutes. You might need to add a splash of water to help the process.
Dry egg noodles - Or ramen, spaghetti, even udon. You have to cook them according to the packet's instructions first. They involve an extra step and time but if you don't mind, they still taste delicious!
Ingredients For This Recipe
Peanut butter - Natural one, with the only ingredient being roasted peanuts. Smooth or chunky works great! Common peanut butter also works, don't worry. I love to cook with peanut butter like in my 30-minute chicken massaman curry and 5-minute satay sauce, so amazing!
Noodles - I use flat rice noodles for this peanut sauce stir-fry noodles; hence, no pre-cooking is needed.
Soy sauce - I have been using less sodium soy sauce for years like in my crispy Chinese spring roll and my Chinese steamed fish! I can use more amount for more flavor without worrying about over-salting my dish. Try it, you'll never go back to normal soy sauce.
Fish sauce - Don't worry about its name; it won't taste fishy at all! Fish sauce gives you a wonderful umami touch and a depth of flavor, like in my nasi goreng kampung and Malaysian satay sauce. Use less sodium soy sauce if you can't find it.
Chicken thigh - Great for stir-fry recipes because they don't dry up so easily, like chicken breast (which is also doable). Swap for other proteins like shrimp and beef, or make it vegetarian by using tofu. Chicken thighs are also perfect to use in my easy chicken satay and honey sriracha chicken!
Veggies - The red and green bell peppers combo is great because they cook fast and lend beautiful contrasting colors to our noodles. Think of veggies that don't release too much liquid to avoid the noodles getting soggy. Use mushrooms, carrots, bean sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, or pak choy, for example.
Sambal - My Malaysian sambal gives a lovely touch of heat! I always have a jar in the fridge. Other hot sauces like sriracha, gochujang, or even my 5-minute chili oil work great.
⭐ See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step-By-Step Instructions
1. Prepare all ingredients. Marinate chicken thigh strips with soy sauce. Prepare the stir-fry sauce by blending peanut butter, coriander, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, sambal, garlic, ginger, and water. Prep all the veggies. When you're about to cook, soak rice noodles in some room-temperature water.
2. Brown the chicken. Heat some oil in a pan on medium heat. Brown the chicken on both sides. Add minced garlic and cook until it's golden brown.
3. Stir in the veggies. Add in onion, red and green bell peppers. Mix well and cook for 1-2 minutes until they're slightly soft.
4. Add in the noodles and sauce. The noodles should be pliable by now. Drain and add them into the pan together with the stir-fry sauce.
5. Mix and serve. Using 2 kitchen spatulas, mix everything together and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add a splash of water to loosen up the noodles, if needed. Enjoy your peanut sauce stir-fry noodles!
Recipe Expert Tips
- Don't boil the rice noodles first. They'll get too soft and break apart when you throw them in your stir fry. Just soak for a few minutes until they're pliable. Your peanut butter stir-fry noodles will be amazing!
- Prepare the ingredients first before cooking. Asian stir fry recipes take more or less 10 minutes to cook. Chop, slice, and measure everything before cooking.
- Freshen the noodles with water. Since we're using peanut butter, these peanut sauce stir-fry noodles tend to look dry as they sit after they're cooked. Mix them with a splash of water to bring back the beautiful luscious creamy look.
Recipe FAQs
This peanut sauce is fresh, bursting with a nutty flavor, and has a perfect balance of savory, sour, sweet, and with a touch of heat. You'll love it!
Basically everything! Use it as a dipping sauce with my delicious chicken satay, to condiment steamed or stir fry veggies and salads, or as a marinade for chicken, shrimp, and beef for grilling and stir fry.
Absolutely! Use tofu as the protein source. Swap soy and fish sauce for tamari sauce.
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More Recipes With Peanuts
📖 Recipe
Peanut Sauce Stir-Fry Noodles
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 (200 g) skinless and boneless chicken thigh , cut into strips
- 1 tablespoon less sodium soy sauce
Peanut Sauce
- ¼ cup (10 g) coriander leaves with stems , packed
- ¼ cup (70 g) natural peanut butter
- 1 garlic clove
- ½ inch ginger
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon less sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon sambal , or any hot sauce if using
- zest of 1 lime
- juice of ½ lime
Main
- 1 garlic clove , chopped
- ½ yellow onion , sliced
- ½ green bell pepper , cut into strips
- ½ red bell pepper , cut into strips
- 4 oz (100 g) dry flat rice noodles
Instructions
- This will not take more than 10 minutes to cook. So chop, and slice your veggies and chicken before you start cooking.
Chicken
- Mix chicken with less sodium soy sauce. Set aside.
Peanut Sauce
- Add all the peanut sauce ingredients to a jar and blend for a few seconds until smooth using an immersion blender. Set aside.
Noodles
- When you're about to cook, soak the rice noodles in room temperature tap water. They should be pliable by the time you need them.
Cook
- Heat some oil in a pan on medium-high heat. Brown the chicken. Once they're beautifully golden brown, add in the garlic. Mix and cook until it's softened.
- Add in onion, green and red bell peppers. Stir everything together and cook for 2-3 until the veggies soften a bit but still have a bite to them.
- Drain the noodles and add them to the pan together with the peanut sauce. Use 2 kitchen spatulas to help mix everything well. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the noodles are fully cooked. If the noodles get too lumpy and dry, add a splash of water to help loosen them up. Serve immediately, and enjoy!
Notes
- Find good quality dry rice noodles (usually in Asian stores or in the "International products" aisles). The noodles should be pliable within 3-4 minutes of soaking and they cook in 1-2 minutes.
- If for some reason your noodles need a longer time to cook and the pan is dry, don't worry. Just add a splash of water to help with the cooking.
- If you're using dry egg noodles, then cook them first as per the packet's instructions before using them.
- This peanut butter stir-fry noodles tend to get dry as they sit (due to the peanut butter), just add a splash of water and mix well to bring back the shiny, creamy look. But I doubt that they'll sit that long!
Nutrition Facts
The nutrition facts provided are an estimate per serving. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Originally published on Jun 27, 2019. Updated with improved text, recipe, and pictures on Aug 5, 2023.
George Machado says
made this for family. very simple, easy to follow, no crazy cooking tricks. what a great dish. family loved it. mum had 2nds
Bea says
Yeay 🙌! Happy that everybody loved it, especially your mum 😍. Thank you so much for your feedback. Do check around here for more stir fry recipes, if you're interested 😊.
Agnieszka says
wowwww ! this is the best peanut sauce I've ever eaten! Thanks! 🙂
Bea says
Glad that you liked it, thank you Agnieszka! 😍
Fiona Martin says
I absolutely love this recipe I have used it probably 3-4 times and its so nice. Thank you 🙂 Let me know does its freeze well ?
Bea says
That's awesome Fiona! From my personal experience, the flat rice noodles don't freeze as well (they tend to break when I defrost & reheat). You might want to change the type of noodles if you plan to freeze it. Hope it helps.
Mary jane burias ramos says
Thank you for sharing your recipes. Love this peanut sauce i will give this a try. God bless you and your husband 💖💖💖🥰
Bea says
Hi Mary Jane! Yes this is a very simple and delish stir fry. Thank you so much! XOXO
Mary jane burias ramos says
Thank you for sharing your recipes especially this peanut sauce i loved peanuts. Thank you again. God bless you and your husband 💖💖💖