This Thai Peanut Noodles recipe is fantastic for a quick and delicious better-than-takeout meal. The noodles are cooked in a rich and delicious Peanut Sauce. The recipe comes together, start to finish, in under 30 minutes, and it all happens in your Instant Pot!
Listen up everyone, because you need to make this recipe for Thai Peanut Noodles right now!! This recipe is absolutely delicious. The flavors come together in a spectacular way that makes this dish full of umami flavor but also sweet and salty at the same time.
The recipe all comes together in your Instant Pot, which means that you have relatively no dishes, and a super quick meal! In fact, this recipe comes together in less than 30 minutes from start to finish…. And it only cooks for 6 minutes!
I enjoy this recipe more than any Thai Peanut Noodles takeout I’ve ever gotten! You’re going to love throwing this recipe together and then watching the magic unfold.
What Ingredients are in this Thai Peanut Noodles Recipe?
Carrots, peeled into strips with a peeler
Red pepper
Olive oil
Garlic
Chicken stock
Spaghetti
Green onions
Cilantro
Peanuts
Thai Peanut Sauce
What is Thai Peanut Sauce Made Of?
Creamy peanut butter
Rice vinegar
Sesame oil
Lime juice
Soy sauce
Brown sugar
Chili paste
How to Make Thai Peanut Noodles in the Instant Pot?
In a small mixing bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients and whisk together. Set aside.
Turn your Instant Pot to the low saute setting. Warm 2 tbsp olive oil. Once warm, add chopped garlic. Saute about two minutes, or until the garlic begins to change color.
Add the red pepper and carrot in the pot and saute for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are sauted to a texture you’d like to eat. Use tongs to remove the vegetables from the Instant Pot. Put in a small bowl and set aside.
Add the chicken broth into the Instant Pot, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any burnt bits.
Pour the Sauce into the instant pot, and whisk together with the stock.
Add the noodles (broken in half) into the Instant Pot. Spoon some liquid over the noodles if necessary.
Place lid on Instant Pot and set to MANUAL for 4 minutes. When the cooking cycle is complete, allow for a 2 minute natural release, then perform a quick release.
Open the Instant Pot and turn to KEEP WARM. The pasta will be liquidy. That is okay. Allow the pasta to sit without the lid for about 5-10 minutes on KEEP WARM until the extra liquid is absorbed. While you are waiting, add the sauteed vegetables back into the pot. Also add your cilantro, green onions, and peanuts.
When the sauce has reached your desired consistency, Enjoy! Top with extra peanuts or garnishments if desired.
Leave a comment on this post letting me know what you thought.
How to Cut the Carrots
For this recipe, the vegetables must be very, very thin. Instead of taking my time (and risking my fingers) to cut the carrots into matchsticks, I used my vegetable peeler!
Initially, I peeled the outer layer off of my carrot to get away any dirt. Then, instead of cutting my carrot, I continued to use the peeler to peel off layer after layer. I reserved these peelings, and it’s what I used for my carrots!
I like making carrots this way because they are thinner than you’d ever safely be able to get them with a knife. It’s also so much faster using your vegetable peeler than cutting the carrot into such thin, small pieces!
Why is my Sauce Watery when I Open my Instant Pot?
The Instant Pot needs 3 cups of liquid to every 8 ounces of pasta that it is cooking. This means that when you open the lid to your Instant Pot, the sauce may be a bit more liquidy than you’d prefer. That’s okay!
Keep the lid off of the pot, and turn it to the KEEP WARM function for 5-10 minutes. The noodles will absorb the excess liquid, and the noodles will reach your desired consistency.
As the noodles continue to cool they will absorb more of the peanut sauce. Be careful to not overcook them, as you don’t want the sauce to dry out later!
What Goes with Thai Peanut Noodles?
We love eating these noodles with chicken! Normally my mom will just pan fry some chicken tenderloins and then top them with some peanut butter and lime juice.
If you have frozen chicken, you can add them on top of the raw noodles and cook as described. You do not need to increase cook time.
If you are a fan of seafood, you can also serve shrimp with this dish! If you have frozen shrimp, you can add them into the Instant Pot on top of the raw noodles and cook as described. You do not need to increase cooking time for this option, either!
How to Garnish your Thai Peanut Noodles
The very best part of this dish are the garnishments that go on top! The sauce is spectacular, but piling the noodles high with garnishments make it that much better.
My favorite options are taking extra peanuts and chopping them up with a knife or a nut chopper. I sprinkle these on top of the noodles.
You can also cut up green onions and pile those on as well. I love the easy, fresh taste that the green onions give to the peanut sauce.
If you’re more of a spicy-food-lover (unlike myself) you can top the noodles with chiles or extra chile sauce. Feel free to customize your toppings as much as you’d like. This is your dish after all!
Did you like this recipe for Thai Peanut Noodles? If so, leave a comment on this post letting me know what you thought! Don’t forget to post a photo on Instagram or Facebook with the #TheForeignFork and tag @TheForeignFork.
If you liked this recipe, you’ll also love these other Foreign Fork Instant Pot Pasta Recipes!
Thai Peanut Noodles in the Instant Pot
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 large carrots, peeled into strips with a peeler or cut julienne
- 1 red pepper, cut julienne
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic
- 2 ½ cups chicken stock
- 8 oz spaghetti noodles, broken in half
- ¼ cup green onions, + more for topping
- ¼ cup cilantro, + more for topping
- ½ cup peanuts, chopped + more for topping
Sauce Ingredients
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- Chili paste to taste
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients and whisk together. Set aside.
- Turn your Instant Pot to the low saute setting. Warm 2 tbsp olive oil. Once warm, add chopped garlic. Saute about two minutes, or until the garlic begins to change color.
- Add the red pepper and carrot in the pot and saute for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are sauted to a texture you’d like to eat. Use tongs to remove the vegetables from the Instant Pot. Put in a small bowl and set aside.
- Add the chicken broth into the Instant Pot, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any burnt bits.
- Add the Sauce into the instant pot, and whisk together with the stock.
- Add the noodles (broken in half) into the Instant Pot. Spoon some liquid over the noodles if necessary.
- Place lid on Instant Pot and set to MANUAL for 7 minutes. When the cooking cycle is complete, allow for a 1 minute natural release, then perform a quick release.
- Open the Instant Pot and turn to KEEP WARM. The pasta will be liquidy. That is okay. Allow the pasta to sit without the lid for about 5-10 minutes on KEEP WARM until the extra liquid is absorbed. While you are waiting, add the sauteed vegetables back into the pot. Also add your cilantro, green onions, and peanuts.
- When the sauce has reached your desired consistency, Enjoy! Top with extra peanuts or garnishments if desired.
- Leave a comment on this post letting me know what you thought.
Anita Hennesy says
Want to make this, not sure what to use for noodles. Regular spagetti not rice noodles?
The Foreign Fork says
Yes, regular spaghetti noodles!
Sharon Barcikowski says
I made this tonight and I felt it was too much peanut butter. I would make it again, but with half the amount of PB.
The Foreign Fork says
I’ll admit, we LOVE peanut butter in this house! I’m glad you liked it enough to make it again with some edits 🙂 Thanks for the comment Sharon!