These gluten-free and vegan peanut noodles feature spiralized sweet potatoes, sweet red peppers, red onions, and spinach tossed in a tangy peanut butter sauce! It's easy to make in one pan and it's ready in 30 minutes!
If you have been following my recipes for a while now, you've probably noticed that I love to hide as many vegetables as possible in my meals. Like in this mushroom fried cauliflower rice or this vegan scalloped potatoes florentine. These vegan sweet potato peanut noodles are no exception! This dish is loaded with root vegetables, bell peppers, onions, fresh herbs, and a zesty, oil-free sauce.
Most vegan peanut noodle recipes are made with flour-based pasta, but this peanut sauce is delicious on vegetable "pasta" too! My husband doesn't care for sweet taters at all, but he absolutely loved this dish! It doesn't taste like you're eating a plate full of vegetables, rather it tastes like a truly indulgent meal. Plus, it's easy to make in one pan and it's ready in 30 minutes!
How to Make Sweet Potato Noodles
The easiest way to make vegetable noodles is to use a spiralizer. The spiralizer that I used has a large suction cup that attaches itself to the counter so it doesn't move when you're cranking the handle. It also has three blades to make different shaped spiralized vegetables, I love it!
However, if you don't want another kitchen appliance cluttering your cabinet, you can also make spoodles with a vegetable peeler or with a hand mandolin. If you use either of these options, you'll need to slice the peeled veggies into thinner noodles to look like the picture.
Step by Step Instructions
First, saute the sliced onion and bell pepper in a large pan until soft (Photo 1). While the vegetables are cooking, spiralize the sweet potatoes. Add the spoodles to the pan with the cooked onions and peppers (Photo 2) and let them cook until tender.
While the noodles are cooking, whisk together all of the peanut sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Pour the sauce over the veggie pasta and stir to combine (Photos 3 & 4). Add the fresh spinach and let it cook a few minutes until it starts to wilt. Garnish with fresh cilantro and chopped peanuts before serving.
Serving Suggestions
This dish is pretty hearty and filling on its own, so I usually serve it as a main course with a light side like arugula salad or cilantro lime quinoa. If you want to serve it as a side dish, it would be delicious along with quinoa lettuce cups.
How Long Does it Last in the Refrigerator?
Store the vegan peanut noodles in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Can You Freeze It?
Yes, you can freeze sweet potato noodles. The starch and fiber in the root vegetable help it to hold up very well while frozen. For the best quality, I recommend freezing the spoodles before you cook them because they're easy to overcook when reheating if they've already been cooked once before.
You can freeze cooked spoodles, but keep it in mind they will have a much softer texture once you defrost them.
How to Reheat it
From the Fridge: You can reheat the vegan peanut noodles in a bowl in the microwave for 1-2 minutes or in a small pot on the stovetop over medium heat until warm. You may need to add a little bit of water if it's dry.
From the Freezer: Take the peanut noodles out of the freezer and put the container in the fridge to defrost for 24 hours. Once defrosted, you can reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Recipe Variations
You can enjoy this vegan peanut noodle recipe just like this, or you could serve the vegan peanut sauce with ramen, rice noodles, your favorite pasta, or zoodles. You could also add baked tofu or edamame for an extra boost of plant-based protein.
Substitutions & FAQ
- Spoodle Substitutions: You could use spiralized zucchini, butternut squash, or beets. Also, rice noodles, ramen, or linguini would also be delicious.
- Tamari Substitutions: You can use soy sauce, coconut aminos, or no-soy soy sauce.
- Peanut Butter Substitution: Almond butter can be used instead of peanut butter.
- Can I Make Sweet Potato Noodles Without a Spiralizer? If you don't have a spiralizer, you can use a vegetable peeler or a mandolin to make large, thin noodles that you can cut down into smaller strips.
Success Tips
- Pick out thick sweet potatoes that are uniform in shape, so they're easier to spiralize into long noodles. Wonky-shaped potatoes with long skinny tips won't spiralize evenly and you'll end up with smaller pieces.
- Don't discard the leftover cores of the vegetables once you're done spiralizing. You can dice them and add them to carrot ginger soup or vegan burritos.
- Be careful not to overcook the spoodles, they should taste firm, but not crunchy. You definitely don't want them to be mushy.
- Store the leftover vegan peanut noodles in the fridge for 3-4 days or freeze it for a future meal.
Want More Vegan Sweet Potato Recipes?
Vegan Sweet Potato Peanut Noodles
Equipment
- Spiralizer
- Large Pan
- Small Bowl
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Noodles
- 3-4 tbsp vegetable broth (or water)
- 2 large sweet potatoes peeled (about 2 lbs)
- 1 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 1 medium red bell pepper
- 2-3 cups fresh spinach
- ½ cup cilantro roughly chopped
- ¼ cup peanuts crushed
Peanut Sauce
- ⅓ cup creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup low-sodium tamari
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp hot sauce (add more to taste)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1-2 tbsp water
Instructions
- In a large pan over medium heat, saute the sliced onions and red pepper in 3-4 tbsp vegetable broth until soft.
- While the onions and peppers are cooking, spiralize the peeled sweet potatoes and then add then them to the pan with the onions. If the pan is dry, add more broth to the pan so the spoodles don't stick. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until the noodles are tender, stirring occasionally. Taste one and if it's still crunchy, let it cook a few more minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine ⅓ cup peanut butter, ¼ cup tamari, 2 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp hot sauce, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp water, and ½ tsp garlic powder and whisk it together until smooth. Depending on how thick the peanut butter is, you may need to add an additional 1 tbsp of water to thin the sauce.
- Pour the peanut sauce over the spoodles and stir to combine. Add 2-3 handfuls of fresh spinach and let it cook for a few minutes until the spinach starts to wilt. Garnish with fresh cilantro and crushed peanuts before serving.
Notes
- Pick out thick sweet potatoes that are uniform in size, so they're easier to spiralize into long noodles. Potatoes with long skinny tips won't spiralize evenly and you'll end up with smaller pieces.
- Don't discard the leftover cores of the vegetables once you're done spiralizing. You can dice them and add them to carrot ginger soup or vegan burritos.
- Be careful not to overcook the spoodles, they should taste firm, but not crunchy. You definitely don't want them to be mushy.
- Store the leftover vegan peanut noodles in the fridge for 3-4 days or freeze it for a future meal.
Nutrition
*This vegan peanut noodle recipe was originally shared on 3/23/17, but I updated it on 8/9/20.
just made this and it is DELICIOUS. my whole family loved it
My husband and I both really enjoyed this dish!! I DO have a spiralizer, but it was too small for a sweet potato... so I had to just chop the sweetpotato really small... I have extra sauce, so might try it with zucchini next!
Hi Kristina! I used to run into the same problem. I only had a small hand held vegetti and I could only fit really small skinny sweet potatoes in it so I upgraded to a bigger spiralizer and it works like a charm for any size sweet potato! I'm glad you were able to make it work tho! Zucchini noodles will be delicious too, enjoy! Thank you for leaving a comment, I really appreciate it!
I have made this dish twice with homegrown sweet potatoes, onions, and red bell peppers, and my wife and I absolutely love it! She now loves me more than ever, thank you for an awesome recipe
Thank you, Danny! I'm so happy that you and your wife like the recipe! <3
These look so tasty and I love all the ingredients, too! I've wanted to try sweet potato noodles for so long, I should do that soon!
Yum! I don't normally like sweet potatoes, but I would definitely give these a try! I bet they are delicious!
What a clever idea, Stacey! Really like the idea of using sweet potato noodles in an Asian-y dish, especially since my body doesn't care for wheat noodles anymore. Any excuse to bust out my spiralizer too...I just love using that thing!! 🙂
Never thought of this salad, but it sounds and looks delicious. Hope it is not too hot, many Thai dishes are too hot for my liking. May be the sweet potato tempers the heat a little.
Thanks for sharing
You can definitely adjust the heat! Some nights I'm not in the mood for spicy either so I don't add any hot sauce. Enjoy!
This looks so delicious! I love Thai food. I'v never tried using sweet potatoes to make noodles before but I'm going to have to give it a try!
Sweet potato noodles are my favorite, their consistency is very similar to a regular noodle! I love Thai food too =)
Glad you decided to share this with us after all this time! It looks really delicious, but I must say I never had potato noodles before either but I absolutely love sweet potatoes and I'm always trying to find ways to include it in my meals so I'll be trying this for sure!
You'll be hooked at the first bite, promise! Sweet potato noodles are my favorite! =)
Looks yummy! I. I'm pinning so I can try this soon!
Thank you!
YAY! Another delicious recipe I can try out. I love using my spiralizer.
Me too, it's my favorite tool in the whole kitchen!
These recipes look amazing! Going to try out the sweet potato pad thai
Thank you, enjoy!
Such a good idea!! This looks so yummy and super healthy. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you!