Thai Peanut Zucchini Noodles are zoodles sauteed with fresh, everyday vegetables and tossed in a delectable Thai peanut sauce. Zucchini pasta is an easy dinner recipe that can be served warm or chilled as a pasta salad for lunch.
Thai Peanut Zucchini Noodles
This Thai zucchini pasta packs SO much personality into one meal! It's sweet, spicy, and tastes like summer in a bowl, yet can be made any season of the year. Serve zucchini pasta warm as an easy dinner recipe, or chill it for your weekday lunch.
Thai zucchini noodles answer all the demands of healthy, delicious, minimalist cooking all year, just like my Zoodle Quinoa Buddha Bowl. Also, if you love vegetable pasta, check out my Baked Spaghetti Squash recipe. It's quite versatile and healthy, just like zoodles!
Thai Peanut Zucchini Noodles Recipe Ingredients
- avocado oil (or your oil of choice)
- green onions
- red bell pepper
- carrot
- purple cabbage
- zucchini noodles (zoodles)
- 5-minute peanut sauce (peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup, ginger, garlic, sriracha or chili paste, water)
- garnish: crushed peanuts, cilantro, lime
What’s the best spiralizer for zucchini noodles?
I have owned and LOVED this OXO spiralizer for a few years. [not sponsored btw, just an OXO fangirl]. It does everything I need, and at $40, it has more than paid for itself many times over.
Handheld Spiralizer:
If you don’t have a countertop spiralizer, you can use this handheld Titan Vegetable Julienne Peeler and Slicer. I owned this before I got the OXO tabletop version.
Can you cut zucchini noodles ahead?
Yes! In fact, we spiralize our zucchini noodles as part of our weekly meal prep routine. Then we refrigerate them in an airtight container and use them through the week for pretty much everything we eat, like salads, wraps, stir fry, eggs, and of course, this Thai zucchini pasta recipe.
Can you freeze zucchini noodles?
No. I would not freeze raw zucchini noodles just as I would not freeze most raw vegetables.
However, once cooked, I would consider freezing them, but only in a pinch because their texture may still be weird and potentially unappealing.
How to avoid watery zucchini noodles
1. Don't overcook - If you like zucchini noodles springy and not soggy, cook them al dente, leaving them slightly firm.
2. Go easy on the sauce - Zucchini noodles aren’t starchy like wheat pasta, so there's nowhere for excess moisture to go, except to the bottom of the bowl. So for this Thai zoodle recipe, the trick is to use just enough peanut sauce to barely coat the zoodles.
3. Salt - Salt draws moisture away from zucchini noodles. To do this, sprinkle a little salt over the noodles and let them sit for 20 minutes. Then dab the noodles dry with a paper towel.
To be honest, I'm too impatient for the salt method, so I skip it and rely on the first two methods.
Thai Peanut Zucchini Noodles Recipe Steps
Step 1: Prep the vegetables
Spiralize the zucchini, shred the carrots, slice the bell peppers and cabbage, and chop the green onions (separate white and green parts).
Step 2: Make the 5-minute peanut sauce
Whisk the peanut sauce ingredients together. If it needs thinning, add water in small amounts to reach desired consistency. You want it to be somewhat pourable so you can coat the zoodles easily.
Step 3: Saute the vegetables
Sauté the onions, bell pepper, and carrots in a large skillet on medium-high heat.
Add the zucchini noodles and sauté for a few minutes until they’re al dente. Do not overcook them.
Remove skillet from the heat until you’re ready to add peanut sauce. This helps prevent overcooking the zoodles.
Step 4: Add the peanut sauce
Gently fold in the peanut sauce in small amounts until you reach the noodle-to-sauce ratio of your dreams.
Serve the peanut sauced noodles heated, at room temp, or chilled...your choice. Garnish with any of the following:
- green onion tops
- chopped peanuts
- chopped cilantro
- fresh lime wedges
Pro tip: Bring the peanut sauce to room temperature (or briefly microwave) to soften it, making it easier to coat the noodles.
Thai Zucchini Noodles Meal Prep Steps
Meal prepping saves time and lets me hop right into a beautiful, healthy dinner instead of reaching for the frozen heat-and-serve. Here's how I meal prep this recipe on Sunday to eat later in the week:
1. Prep all produce (slice and spiralize) and store in one large airtight container. I prefer to store the zoodles separate from the other vegetables.
2. Make the peanut sauce and store separate from the vegetables.
3. On serving day, resume the saute instructions in the recipe and serve warm.
Recommended Tools
- chef knife and cutting board
- spiralizer
- vegetable peeler (for the carrots)
- small mixing bowl
- Microplane zester (to grate garlic and ginger)
- silicone tongs
- 12" nonstick skillet
- airtight container
Vegan Asian easy dinner recipes
- Kale Sesame Noodles
- Turmeric Chickpea Buddha Bowl
- Zoodle [Zucchini Noodle] Quinoa Bowl
- Vegetable Lo Mein Noodles
- Stir Fry Vegetables in Black Bean Sauce
- Banh Mi Buddha Bowl
- Vegan Thai Lentil Chickpea Curry
- Thai Coconut Soup
Thai Peanut Zucchini Noodles [Zoodle Recipe]
Ingredients
Peanut Sauce (makes 1/2 cup)
- 1/3 cup Natural Peanut Butter, unsweetened
- 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce, Tamari for gluten-free
- 1 Tbsp Unseasoned Rice Vinegar, or lime juice
- 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- 1 tsp Ginger, finely grated
- 1 large Garlic clove, finely grated
- 1 tsp sriracha, or chili paste or pinch cayenne pepper
- Water, as needed to adjust consistency
Vegetables and Zoodles
- 2 Tbsp Avocado Oil
- 2 Green Onions, thinly sliced; green and white separated
- 1 large Carrot, 1 cup shredded
- 1/2 large Red Bell Pepper, 1 cup thinly sliced
- 1/4 lb Purple Cabbage, 1 cup thinly sliced
- 1/2 lb Zucchini, 4 cups spiralized
Equipment
- chef knife
- spiralizer
- vegetable peeler (for the carrots)
- small mixing bowl
- 12" nonstick skillet
- airtight container
Instructions
Make the 5-minute peanut sauce
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together PEANUT BUTTER, SOY SAUCE, RICE VINEGAR, MAPLE SYRUP, GINGER, GARLIC, and CAYENNE until well-combined.
- Slowly add small amounts of WATER and continue whisking until sauce reaches desired consistency.
Cook the zoodles and vegetables
- In a large skillet, heat OIL on medium-high heat.
- Add GREEN ONION (white part only), CARROT, BELL PEPPER, and CABBAGE; sauté a few minutes until tender.
- Add spiralized ZUCCHINI; sauté about 2 minutes until zoodles start to soften. Turn off the heat.
- Gently fold in PEANUT SAUCE in small amounts as desired for consistency.
- Serve warm or chilled. Garnish options: green onion tops, crushed peanuts, cilantro, and lime.
Traci's Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition data provided as courtesy estimates using unbranded ingredients from a nutrition database. Please consult preferred resource for precise data.
Virginia Planchon says
I made this and served it for company. It was great! Will do it again.
Yay! So glad to hear it 🙂 Thanks!
Myrna Gonzalez Childress says
Amazing dish! I didn’t have any peanut butter so I used tahini instead. Also because I can’t help myself for taking creative liberties when I cook, I used a broccoli slaw bag in place of peppers and 1 zucchini and added edamame and tofu. It was amazing! I served it with quinoa on the side. Thank you!
Sounds like perfection! So glad you gave it a go ... thanks for the review! 🙂
Pam says
Made it tonight adding cubed chicken and doubling the sauce. This is going into the rotation. Seriously stupidly good.
Awwww yay!! I'm so glad to inspire this. Love the chicken add-in. Thanks so much for the feedback!
Jenifer says
Hi!
Can I cook this the day before and serve cold? We're doing an outdoor dinner and no way to heat up before serving. Wondering if if would stay well and still taste good?
Thanks!
You sure can! It's meant to be served warm or cold. I personally like to go light on coating the noodles with peanut sauce because you can always serve it with extra sauce on the side. Hope you enjoy!
Hannah K says
My husband and I LOVE this recipe!!! We have made it about 5 times now and don't get sick of it! So yummy and satisfying without feeling heavy or unhealthy. One of our all-time favorites!
Oh yayyyy! I'm so glad my recipe found its way into your world and that you LOVE it like we do 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to let me know Much appreciated!
PATTI L says
Very tasty and colorful. I substituted spaghetti squash for the Zoodles and it came out good. I think I might add fish sauce to the peanut sauce to give it a little more "umami" I added lime and Siracha but it seems to need something more.
PATTI L says
Delicious! I used very few zoodles but just the vegetable mixture with the peanut sauce was wonderful in itself. I added a squeeze of lime and a sprinkling of dry roasted peanuts. It could be a meal in itself. Maybe add tofu or chicken breast for a more substantial dish.
Awesome, Patti! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. Yep Thai peanut zoodles really are great on their own or with add-ins. Thanks for the review 🙂
Angea says
This turned out great! I didn't add but a tsp of maple syrup because the natural peanut butter was sweet enough! This recipe will be added to my a quick, easy go-to meal/side!
So glad to hear it, Angea! Thanks for taking the time to let me know
KIRU says
TOO GOOD
Hey Kiru...glad you think so! Thank youuuu
Tim says
I love this recipe. I had all the ingredients at hand and except for red cabbage but this is a “ pick your veggies” sort of dish and I had snow peas available so in they went.
This is a very satisfying vegetarian dish, especially considering I’m a big meat eater. This really hit the spot. I’ll be doing this one again! Thanks for sharing
Tim...boom!!! I'm so glad you loved this! You're right...Thai peanut zoodles is totally "pick your veggies" Thank you so much for taking the time to comment Much appreciated!!