Peanut Chilli Oil Noodles

Peanut Chilli Oil Noodles are ten minutes of work, and the sauce is stirred together raw in one bowl while the noodles boil.

What Peanut Chilli Oil Noodles Are, and Why They Take Ten Minutes

Peanut Chilli Oil Noodles (also spelled peanut chili oil noodles) are a spicy, creamy, nutty bowl that leans on the richness of peanut butter and the heat of chili oil. Nothing in the sauce is cooked. Peanut butter, chili oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, salt, garlic and ginger go into a bowl, hot water loosens them into a sauce, and the only thing on the stove is the noodles. The recipe card below puts it at 5 minutes of prep and 5 minutes of cooking, 10 minutes in total, for 150g of noodles.

The flavour comes from Sichuan cooking, which built its reputation on chili infused oil. The peanut butter is the fusion part. The closest Sichuan original is dan dan noodles, which uses sesame paste instead of peanut butter and adds pork mince and preserved mustard greens, so it is a longer cook.

What Goes Into the Sauce, and What Each Part Does

Quantities are in the recipe card. This is what each part is doing.

The noodles

• Your favourite noodles (the card uses knife cut noodles): the base of the dish, and the chewy texture the sauce clings to.

The sauce

• Peanut butter: the body of the sauce, and what makes it creamy and nutty enough to coat every strand.
• Chili oil: the heat, plus the smoky aroma that ties the rest together.
• Sesame oil: a toasty, nutty note behind the peanut.
• Soy sauce: the salt and the umami, which keeps the peanut butter from tasting flat.
• Rice vinegar: the sharp note that cuts through all that creaminess.
• Sugar: a small amount, to offset the chili.
• Salt: rounds the sauce out and makes sure it is seasoned all the way through.
• Garlic and ginger, both minced: depth from the garlic, a fresh edge from the ginger. Both go in raw. There is no step in this recipe that cooks them.
• Hot water, 2 to 3 tbsp: thins the peanut butter into something pourable. This is the quantity you adjust to get the consistency you want.

The garnish

• Chili oil: a last drizzle for heat and gloss.
• Crushed peanuts: crunch, and more of the same nuttiness.
• Fried onions: crisp and savoury.
• Sesame seeds: a sprinkle of nuttiness, and they show up well against the dark sauce.
• Spring onions: the fresh, green finish.

How to Make Peanut Chilli Oil Noodles, Step by Step

1. Cook your favorite noodles according to the package instructions.

2. In a bowl, add garlic, ginger, peanut butter, chili oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Mix until everything is combined.

3. Drain the noodles and immediately add the noodles to the sauce. Give it a good mix.

4. Garnish with fried onions, spring onions, crushed peanuts, chili oil and sesame seeds. Enjoy!

Getting the Sauce to Coat Instead of Clump

Peanut butter straight from the jar is too stiff to coat a noodle, which is what the hot water is for. The card allows 2 to 3 tbsp, so add it gradually and stop once the sauce is smooth and easy to mix through.

Cook the noodles to just al dente. Mixed through a thick sauce, noodles that were already soft in the pot go mushy. Drain them and get them into the bowl straight away while they are still hot, as step 3 says, rather than letting them sit and set.

Then taste it. Spicy, sweet and salty should all be present without any one of them running the bowl, and the way to get there is to adjust one component at a time rather than several at once. Rice vinegar is the ingredient doing the cutting through, so that is the one to reach for if the sauce tastes heavy.

Which Noodles to Use

The card calls for 150g of knife cut noodles. Fresh wheat noodles are the texture this sauce is built around, with a slightly chewy bite, and knife cut or udon noodles both give you that in a heartier form. The photos in this post were shot with wide rice noodles.

For a gluten free bowl, use rice noodles or gluten free ramen, which carry the sauce just as well. For a lower carb one, zucchini or sweet potato noodles work, with a lighter result and a different texture.

Turning the Heat Up or Down, and Swapping the Nut Butter

Heat is the part of this recipe most worth setting to your own taste. For more, add chili garlic oil or fresh chilies on top of the 2 tablespoon of chili oil already in the sauce. For less, cut the chili oil back and leave the fresh chilies out.

Almond or cashew butter in place of the peanut butter gives a different, subtler nuttiness. To lose the nut butter altogether, the sesame soba noodles on this site are the cold, sesame based version of the same idea.

For protein, grilled chicken or shrimp work, and tofu or tempeh keep it vegetarian. Sautéed mushrooms add texture without adding meat. If you are here for the chili oil rather than the peanut, try the miso chili noodles or the chili oil soy sauce chow mein.

Serving It, and How It Keeps

A fresh cucumber salad on the side is the thing to serve with this. The bowl is creamy and spicy the whole way through, and the crispness of cold cucumber is the contrast that balances it.

Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat them gently on the stovetop, adding a splash of water to loosen the sauce if it needs it, so the noodles keep their creamy consistency.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Make This Dish Ahead of Time?

The noodles are best eaten fresh, but the sauce is not. Mix the sauce ahead, keep it in an airtight container, and stir it through freshly cooked noodles when you are ready to serve. If it has thickened in the fridge, loosen it with a little more hot water.

How Can I Make the Dish Less Spicy?

Reduce the amount of chili oil or omit fresh chilies to create a milder version. You can also add a splash of coconut milk for extra creaminess and to tone down the heat.

What Vegetables Can I Add?

Add bell peppers, cucumbers, or bok choy to enhance the dish. These vegetables not only add crunch but also complement the creamy and spicy flavors.

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Peanut chilli oil noodles

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• Author: Genio Ng
• Prep Time: 5
• Cook Time: 5
• Total Time: 10 minutes
• Category: Noodles
• Method: Easy
• Cuisine: Chinese

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 150g of your favorite noodles - I use Knife Cut Noodles
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp of ginger, minced
• 2 tbsp of peanut butter
• 2 tbsp of chili oil
• 1 tsp of sesame oil
• 2 tbsp of soy sauce
• ½ tbsp of rice vinegar
• 1 tsp of sugar
• ¼ tsp of salt
• 2-3 tablespoon of hot water - adjust to your liking

Garnish:

• Chili Oil
• Crushed peanuts
• Fried Onions
• Sesame seeds
• Spring onions

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Instructions

1. Cook your favorite noodles according to the package instructions.
2. In a bowl, add garlic, ginger, peanut butter, chili oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Mix until everything is combined.
3. Drain the noodles and immediately add the noodles to the sauce. Give it a good mix.
4. Garnish with fried onions, spring onions, crushed peanuts, chili oil and sesame seeds. Enjoy!

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Genio Ng

Hi there, I'm Genio. I really appreciate you taking your time and visiting me here. As an international student from Indonesia coming to Sydney right after Covid lockdown - it was challenging for me to make friends and find myself in a new city. I've never cooked before but I found my passion in food content creation and testing Asian inspired recipes - I learnt that cooking can be incredibly easy, cheap and fun so I'm super happy to be able to share this with you! Please come by my socials and say Hi - always keen to make new friends! Genio

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