Asian Peanut Butter Pasta
Spicy Asian peanut butter pasta is the perfect base for tossing in fresh stir fry veggies and chopped cooked chicken for an easy weeknight dinner. You can adjust the heat from mild to hot, whatever your family loves best!
This delicious creamy peanut butter pasta has been a family favorite for years.
My kids love the creamy peanut butter sauce while I love the crunchy raw veggie slaw that can be served stirred in or sprinkled over the top. It's perfect for any picky eaters at the table who might want to eat it on the side!
I personally enjoy it with chopped honey garlic chicken for extra protein, but you can keep this a vegetarian-friendly dish for a meatless dinner, too.
Why This is the Best Recipe
- Vegetarian-Friendly: You can prepare the pasta with or without the honey garlic chicken on top. If you're serving mixed company, prep the chicken but serve it on the side.
- Awesome Texture: The vegetables in this dish are left raw, the heat of the pasta gently softens them but they retain their delicious crispy texture which pairs nicely with the tender pasta.
- Full of Flavor but Not Too Spicy: This dish has some heat but isn't too spicy for the kids at the table.
Ingredients
The ingredients for peanut butter pasta are so easy, you probably already have most of them in your pantry:
- Long Pasta: fettuccine or thin spaghetti are our two favorites for this dish.
- Peanut Butter: Whatever creamy-style peanut butter you love.
- Honey: I used plain honey for years, but I'm now obsessed with Mike's Hot Honey seasoned with chiles. It adds just the right amount of heat to this dish without being too spicy. Use whatever honey your family enjoys.
- Soy Sauce
- Minced Garlic
For the finished dish, you'll want these fresh produce items:
- Cabbage Slaw Mix: You can buy the prepared cabbage slaw bag or simply shred a fresh green cabbage on your own.
- Shredded Carrots
- Red Bell Pepper
- Cilantro
- Green Onions
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
NOTE: If this list of ingredients looks like too much for your family, you may prefer my spicy peanut butter noodles with ground pork.
It has a very similar flavor but is much quicker and has a lot fewer vegetables in the mix.
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Prep the Peanut Butter Sauce
Set a large pot of salted water over HIGH heat for boiling your pasta.
Meanwhile, add the peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, and red pepper flakes to a small mixing bowl and whisk them together.
The sauce will be VERY thick at first.
Boil the pasta for the lowest time listed on the package so it is al dente.
About 2 minutes before the pasta is finished, strain 1 cup of the boiling pasta water into a heatproof measuring cup.
Pour 1/2 cup of the pasta water into the prepared peanut butter sauce and stir.
Strain the pasta and set aside.
How to Assemble the Pasta
While the pasta is boiling, you'll have time to chop the red pepper and green onions.
Place them in a bowl with the cabbage and carrots.
Once the pasta has been strained, add the thinned down peanut butter sauce to the empty pasta pot. Be sure to do it OFF the burner or the peanut butter may burn.
Whisk the sauce briefly, the heat of the pot will begin to soften the sauce even more. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss to coat.
Adjust the thickness of the sauce by drizzling in as much of the reserved 1/2 cup of pasta water as needed to reach your desired consistency.
Add the prepared veggies to the pasta and toss to combine.
Hint: The amount of pasta water you'll need to thin the sauce will depend on the shape and brand of noodle you choose. Some absorb more liquid than others.
Add Honey Garlic Chicken (Optional)
I recommend topping this dish with our favorite honey garlic chicken thighs.
This recipe is one of my favorites so I shared all the step by step photos and instructions you need to make it in a separate post. This lets you print the recipe off by itself in case you want to use it for other dinners, too!
For all the tips you need, you can reference the honey garlic chicken thighs recipe here but I've included the ingredients and instructions as an option in the recipe card below as well.
Make Ahead Tips & DIY Meal Kit
This recipe is best served immediately after preparing it.
However, if you know you want to get some of the prep work done in advance, this makes an excellent DIY Meal Kit!
Simply prep the following elements for easy assembly the night you want to serve it:
- Veggie Slaw: You can prep the sliced cabbage, bell peppers, shredded carrots, and chopped green onions up to 4 days in advance and keep them each stored separately in an airtight storage bag in the fridge. Just assemble before serving. I recommend chopping the cilantro fresh just before assembling the dish.
- Peanut Butter Sauce: You can pre-measure the sauce and store it in the fridge but it will remain very thick until you add the reserved pasta water.
- Honey Garlic Chicken: You can marinate the chicken up to 24 hours in advance for easy baking the night you assemble the pasta. You could also pre-roast the chicken and even chop and freeze it so it is ready to be thawed and stirred into the pasta.
Tips for Leftovers
If you know you'll have leftovers, I recommend the following tweaks to the recipe:
- Keep the Veggie Slaw Separate: Do not stir the veggies into the noodles, just spoon them over the top of each dinner bowl. They can be stored separately so when you reheat the pasta in the microwave, they retain their crunch.
- Pour a Splash of Pasta Water in the Storage Container: The pasta will absorb the peanut butter sauce as it sits in the fridge and become very dry. If you add a splash of the cooking water in the bottom of the dish, it will help rehydrate the noodles as they reheat in the microwave.
Serving Suggestions
The peanut butter pasta with fresh veggie slaw makes an amazing vegetarian dinner to serve mixed company. Those who want protein on top can simply add it to their own dishes and the vegetarians can enjoy a thoughtful dinner that includes them fully in the meal.
Honey garlic chicken is my favorite protein topping for this pasta. But, you could also use our healthy chicken tenderloins from the air fryer, or cooked frozen shrimp.
If you want to add even more flavor but keep it vegetarian-friendly, try spooning some roasted red peppers and pineapple on top, too!
More Easy Asian Recipes
📖 Recipe
Asian Peanut Butter Pasta
Ingredients
For the Honey Garlic Chicken (Optional: For a vegetarian dish, simply omit the chicken)
- 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 5 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
For the Peanut Butter Pasta:
- 1 (16 oz.) box long pasta like linguine
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- Healthy sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking water
For the Veggie Mix:
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh cabbage I like to mix purple and green cabbage, a bag of prepared coleslaw mix would work as well
- 1/4 cup grated carrots
- 1/2 fresh red bell pepper sliced very thinly
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 3 green onions chopped
Instructions Start Cooking
Marinate and Roast the Chicken: (Optional)
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil, soy sauce, honey, minced garlic, and ginger. Add the chicken and turn to coat. You can do this up to 24 hours in advance.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Arrange the chicken in a 9x13-inch baking dish and pour the marinade over the top. Bake the chicken for 50 minutes. Turn it 3 times (after 25 min., another 15, another 10) during cooking so that it gets nice and caramelized by the heat.
Boil the Pasta:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions. Be sure to reserve a generous two cups of the cooking water before you drain the noodles. Drain the pasta and set aside.
Prepare the Peanut Butter Pasta Sauce:
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, soy sauce, minced garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes.
- Add 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water, this will help to loosen the sauce. It comes together nicely with the bit of heat the pasta water gives it. You can add more or less of the reserved water to get the consistency you prefer.
Assemble the Dish:
- Pour the peanut butter sauce into the empty pasta pot. Add the drained pasta and toss to coat, adjusting the sauce consistency with more pasta water as needed.
- Add the cabbage mix, grated carrots, sliced red pepper, and chopped cilantro and green onions. Toss to combine. The heat of the pasta will just slightly wilt the vegetables but they will still be full of crunch.
- Chop the roasted honey garlic chicken. You can toss it in with the pasta before serving or spoon it over the top.
Recipe Notes
Storage/Leftovers:
Be warned, the pasta will get very dry when left to soak up the peanut butter sauce overnight. If you serve the veggies as separate mix-ins at the table, you will be able to store the pasta alone with just a few tablespoons of the reserved pasta water laying at the bottom of the container. When you want to eat the leftovers, simply reheat the noodles in the microwave and the water will turn to steam and rehydrate the noodle sauce after a good toss. The chicken and veggies will store perfectly if kept separate. Just assemble your leftovers as needed.Save This Recipe to Your Recipe Box
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This is one of our favorite meals. I've made it numerous times and its always a big hit, especially with my little ones!
Wow, Tiffany; how exciting! It's beautiful and sounds really yummy; I can't wait to try it! Also? So excited for YOU that Tim is craving more flavor 🙂 #Winning!