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The Easiest 12-Minute Peanut Noodles

I absolutely love stir-frys. They don’t take any special skills or crazy ingredients, they’re easy for even a novice cook to throw together, they taste incredible, and they’re quick. Granted, it might be an eternity compared to my 8-minute black bean soup, but this stir-fry is nevertheless one of the tastiest meals you could ever make in under 15 minutes.

In fact, one of the very first recipes I ever posted on 1IC was my Asian Vegetable Stir-Fry with sesame sauce and ginger and other wonderfulness. To this day, that’s one of my favorite recipes to make. It’s just a perfect combination of ingredients and flavors.

This dish, while an homage to that one, is all about the yummy peanut sauce. With just a few Asian-inspired ingredients shaken together in a mason jar, we can turn humble spaghetti noodles into something phenomenal. Combine it with a few crisp veggies and this stir-fry will taste so fancy and flavorful that no one could guess it only took you 12 minutes to make. Set your timer…

Peanut_Noodles_Wok

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Makes 2-3 servings

Ingredients:

  • 12 oz whole wheat pasta
  • 2 cups sugar snap peas
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 4 green onions
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 3-4 tablespoons peanut butter
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 green onion, minced
  • 3-4 tablespoons water

Minute 1

Before starting, boil a stockpot of water and drop the pasta into the water with a pinch of salt once it reaches a boil. Note that this sauce doesn’t cover a whole 16 oz package of pasta very well, so I like to use about 3/4 a standard package, or about 12 oz.

Minutes 2-5

Rinse the sugar snap peas and slice the other vegetables (bell pepper, mushrooms, and 4 green onions). Add them to a wok over medium heat with a splash of water. Cover and allow these to steam for several minutes. Reserve the cilantro for later.
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Minutes 6-8

To make the super-yummy sauce, combine all the ingredients from the second list (rice vinegar, peanut butter, soy sauce, minced green onion, and 2-3 tablespoons of water) into a mason jar, seal the lid, and shake vigorously until combined. That’s it.
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Minute 9

Take four deep breaths. In-out. Inn-oout. Innn-ooout. Innnn-oooout. Okay:

Minutes 10-12

The pasta should be al dente at this point, so quickly strain it but DO NOT rinse (rinsing pasta removes the outer starches that are essential for sauces to bind to the noodles). Quickly transfer the pasta to the wok with the steamed veggies and pour in the glorious peanut sauce. Stir everything together, remove from the heat, and add in the chopped cilantro. Done!

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Peanut_Noodles

23 Comments

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  1. I love how simple this is. What makes it better is knowing how healthy all the ingredients are. Thank you for another amazing meal idea, Andrew!

  2. I loved this! I was also totally encouraged to make it by the 12 minute designation (even though I didn’t quite make it that fast! I need to practice my cooking speed!). It was so tasty without even using oil (which seems to be rare among stir fries).

    • Awesome! Thanks so much for reporting back, Danielle. Sorry it took longer than 12 minutes, but I’m glad you liked it! 🙂

  3. I made this twice in the last 2 days! It is so delicious and super easy! I’ve tried many of your recipes and love every one. The 7 layer dip I used for company and everyone loved it. Thanks so much! I’m a BIG fan!!!

  4. Just made it for me and my 11 y.o. daughter (a reluctant vegan) and we both loved it! She will be taking some to school for lunch. Sadly, I’m quite sure it’s fattening…but it was worth it! Love how easy it was to throw together on a weeknight. Thank you!

  5. This recipe is fantastic! I love the simple ingredients, how easy it is to make and it’s so delicious! Thank you, you are my go to online chef.

  6. Made this today! It was quick and easy!! One mistake I made, I used All Natural Organic Peanut Butter…ewwww! I don’t even like that kind of peanut butter!!!! It made the noodles really sticky! Will try again with my peanut butter instead of my husbands!!!

    • Any kind that is ‘One Ingredient’ (just peanuts, and maybe salt) should be fine – just stay away from the processed peanut butters with additives and things.

  7. Another delicious recipe!! I was pretty sure my 6 and 9 year old wouldn’t eat it but I was wrong. They killed it. My new discovery. I love sugar snap peas. I do not like them cooked. Who knew!! Thanks for sharing this! According to caloriecount when I put the ingredients in this is what it comes up with per serving based on four servings.

    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 521Calories from Fat 74
    % Daily Value*
    Total Fat 8.2g13%
    Saturated Fat 1.3g7%
    Cholesterol 0mg0%
    Sodium 786mg33%
    Potassium 191mg5%
    Total Carbohydrates 87.2g29%
    Dietary Fiber 11.7g47%
    Sugars 7.0g
    Protein 26.2g
    Vitamin A 2% • Vitamin C 154%
    Calcium 8% • Iron 34%
    Nutrition Grade B

  8. Hi there, I made the sauce but it had a very strong vinegar/soy sauce taste. It only had a mild peanut butter flavour. Is this normal? Will the flavours change once cooked?

    • I’m not sure, I don’t recall the sauce having a very strong vinegar taste and without being able to taste yours, I couldn’t say. It may change when cooked, or you could always adjust the ingredients by adding more peanut butter.

  9. 16 oz of pasta my ass. More like 6 oz. Made a gigantic mess before I realized that the recipe’s veggie to pasta ratio is totally off and that now I’m left with a giant wok full of pasta with no veggie and sauce to be found. Get your recipe down straight sir

  10. As rude as the above comment is, he’s right. I’m not sure if others commenting actually made this dish because the pasta to vegetable ratio is ridiculous. Use at least half the pasta (8oz).

    • You may be right. It’s been a few years since I made this and I’m not sure what would account for the differences in results. To be on the safe side, I just shifted the quantities of the recipe slightly, to 12 oz of pasta instead of 16 and a little more water in the sauce to better cover more pasta.

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