15-Minute Easy Edamame Peanut Noodles

Make Easy Peanut Noodles in just 15 minutes with this make-ahead vegan recipe with edamame, spinach, and garlicky peanut sauce.

These edamame noodles are one of my favorite quick and easy dinners to make when I'm short on time and ingredients. I can prep and cook the whole meal in less than 15 minutes with foods that are pretty much always in my kitchen.

This recipe is inspired by the flavors of Thailand. Think of it as a simplified, plant-based take on pad Thai.

The best part is the homemade peanut sauce with spicy ginger and garlic. I sometimes like to make a double or triple batch so I have extra for salad dressing and topping chickpea bowls.

Ingredients

• Udon noodles or rice noodles - Look for them in the "Asian" aisle of the grocery store.
• Frozen shelled edamame - Edamame is a green, immature soybean. You want shelled edamame, which has already been removed from the pod.
• Spinach - Either baby spinach or regular spinach work. Use whichever you prefer.
• Peanut butter - I usually use creamy, but chunky peanut butter can also be delicious since it adds a little more texture (and you can always use a food processor or blender if you want to smooth out the peanut pieces, too).
• Rice vinegar
• Soy sauce
• Garlic
• Ginger

You can also top these peanut noodles with a bunch of different garnishes. A few of my favorites are:

• Chopped fresh herbs, including basil, cilantro, and mint
• Roasted peanuts 
• Lime wedges
• ground Thai chili pepper or crushed red pepper

Instructions

The first step is cooking the noodles. Boil them in a pot of water according to the package instructions. Mine are usually done cooking in about four or five minutes.

While you wait for the water to boil to cook the noodles, steam the frozen edamame, and start gathering ingredients for the peanut sauce.

To make the sauce, whisk peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and water together in a large bowl. (You want the bowl to be big enough to mix in the remaining ingredients later!) If the sauce is too thick, add another tablespoon of water and whisk again.

How to Steam Edamame

Some edamame comes in a steamable bag that you can heat up in your microwave. In this case, you can just cook it according to the package instructions.

To use a traditional steamer basket, fill the bottom of a steamer pot with one inch of water. Add the frozen edamame to the top steamer basket and cook over medium heat until it's completely thawed and warm.

After you cook the noodles and edamame, you just have to mix everything together and you're done.

Add the noodles, edamame, and spinach to the large bowl of peanut sauce. The heat from the noodles and edamame warms up the sauce and wilts the spinach so you don't have to cook them. (Another way this recipe is extremely quick and easy!)

Can you make it ahead of time?

This recipe is great for meal prepping ahead of time. Store the finished dish in an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to about four days.

I sometimes like to eat these peanut noodles cold, too!

Potential Ingredient Substitutions

• Instead of edamame (or in addition to it), try crispy tofu. You can also add more roasted peanuts for a little extra plant-based protein.
• If you don't have rice vinegar, substitute regular white vinegar.
• Instead of soy sauce, swap in coconut aminos or tamari.
• Substitute ½ teaspoon garlic powder and ¼ teaspoon ground ginger for the fresh garlic and ginger if that's what you have on hand.

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