Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles in the Instant Pot are a creamy, saucy dinner made with a rich peanut butter noodles recipe, sweet chili heat, tender Thai noodles, and plenty of vegetables for a balanced bite. This easy, best-of-both-worlds meal leans vegan and vegetarian but still feels hearty enough for kids, with a peanut sauce that tastes indulgent while staying healthy, light, and surprisingly cheap. You'll see how instant pot noodles come together fast, making this one of those quick dinner ideas for family nights when you want easy dinner ideas without extra cooking stress. Pin this now so you always have a lazy dinner recipe ready for busy evenings when time is short but flavor still matters.

Why is this the best spicy Thai peanut noodles in the instant pot recipe

This spicy Thai peanut noodle recipe is versatile. It's perfect for any family meal or party. You can customize it to your guests' preferences and add any topping.

This easy peanut noodle recipe is absolutely delicious! The combination of tender noodles, fresh sautéed vegetables, and a spicy sauce with peanut butter, sweet chili, and fresh cilantro is divine!

This recipe makes the best Instant Pot peanut noodles anytime! It's super easy to make and quick enough for busy weeknight dinners. Add protein or a side salad, and it's a whole family meal you can feel good about serving.

There's minimal cleanup because this recipe uses a single bowl to make the spicy sauce, which is all you need to wash. All other ingredients will cook in the Instant Pot, and that cleanup will take a minute or two, at most.

This is an easy recipe for spicy peanut Thai noodles. Mix the veggies and noodles in the instant pot, make a quick, spicy sauce in a separate bowl, and combine. That's it!

The ingredients for the dish are common and easy to find. You likely already have most of the basic ingredients for this easy spicy Thai peanut noodle recipe in your Instant Pot and pantry. If you need an ingredient or two, you can easily find them in most local grocery stores or on Amazon!

This peanut butter noodles recipe tastes amazing! This spicy peanut Thai noodle recipe is delicious on its own, topped with fresh cilantro, peanuts, and sesame seeds. To tailor it to your preferences, you can add chicken, beef, or shrimp!

What you'll need to make Peanut butter noodles

Equipment

Instant Pot - one-pot cooking, less cleanup. No boiling pasta separately or juggling multiple pans.
Garlic press - A garlic press is the best way to use fresh garlic because it crushes the cloves into a thick paste. If you don't have one, you can use a chef's knife. Place it flat-side down over the garlic clove, smash the clove, remove the papery skin, and mince the smashed garlic with the sharp edge of the knife.

Ingredients

See the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page for all measurements and nutritional information.

green bell pepper - All the veggies should be sliced Julienne-style which means in long, very thin strips.
red bell pepper
carrot peeled and sliced Julienne style or shredded. I buy these pre-shredded in the grocery store.
green onions - Use both the greens and whites, chopped
purple cabbage - chopped or shredded
fresh garlic cloves, pressed or minced
ground ginger - This is the dried powder, but you can substitute fresh ginger if you have it. Fresh will taste better.
sesame oil - This is very very potent. Don't go overboard on the measure or your noodles will taste only of sesame oil.
spaghetti or a similar pasta shape. Don't use rice noodles in this dish because they will turn to mush in the Instant Pot.
vegetable broth - Or chicken broth if you prefer.
olive oil - to sauté the vegetables.

For the spicy peanut butter sauce

You may want to make extra spicy peanut sauce because it's delicious and the noodles are even better when they're wetter. You may want to stick some extra sauce in the fridge because the noodles do dry up a bit when they're stored, as do all noodles. It is nice to be able to stir in a little extra peanut sauce when reheating.

peanut butter - I prefer creamy but you can use whatever peanut butter you want.
white vinegar - You need an acid in the sauce. You can replace with apple cider vinegar or fresh lime juice if you have it. Lime juice is actually my preference, but white vinegar is easier and more commonly available in most kitchens.
low sodium soy sauce - I prefer the flavor of low sodium soy sauce, but you can use regular if you want to.
brown sugar - You need sugar in this sauce, but you can substitute with honey or maple syrup if you want to.
sweet chili sauce - This gives a sweet heat to the sauce, and you will miss it if you don't have any. You can substitute sriracha or a hot sauce, but use much less and increase the amount of sugar.

For serving the Thai peanut noodles

These are all for garnish. They add to the flavor and give the dish a beautiful presentation. I do not recommend skipping them.

peanuts chopped
fresh cilantro chopped or snipped
sesame seeds

How to make Thai peanut noodles

Set the Instant Pot to sauté and add the sesame oil. When the oil is hot, add the vegetables and sauté for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger. Remove from the Instant Pot and set aside.Pin
Add a splash of broth to the Instant Pot to deglaze the pot. Add the remaining broth and spaghetti noodles. Break noodles in half and crisscross them so they are all in the liquid.
To deglaze the Instant Pot means to add a small amount of liquid (vegetable broth in this case) and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any dark brown bits of food that have stuck to the sides and bottom of the pot as the vegetables were cooking. You do this because these brown bits have a lot of flavor that adds to the dish, and your Instant Pot may stop cooking and display a burn error later if you don't.
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Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook for 4 minutes. This will prepare the noodles al dente.
While the noodles are cooking, add the sauce ingredients to a mixing bowl. To make saucier noodles, double the sauce. Whisk to combine.
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Quick release the pressure and drain the noodles.
Add the olive oil to the Instant Pot and set it to sauté. Toss the noodles and vegetables in the pot on sauté for 3 minutes.
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Turn off the heat. Mix the sauce into the noodles.
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Serve topped with fresh cilantro, peanuts, and sesame seeds for garnish.
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Substitutions & variations

You can swap the noodles with zucchini noodles, sweet potato noodles, or rice noodles in this recipe, but I do not recommend cooking any of those in the Instant Pot. If you make this substitution, you will need to prepare the recipe on the stovetop to avoid your noodles turning to mush.

Add protein to create a complete meal, like chicken, shrimp, beef, pork, or tofu.

If you'd like more heat, add red curry paste, sriracha, crushed red pepper flakes, or diced jalapenos.

Storing leftovers

Cool completely before storing to prevent sogginess. Transfer to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. If possible, store extra sauce separately; this keeps the noodles from soaking up too much sauce and drying out later. Add the extra sauce just before reheating.

Reheat gently on the stove top or in the microwave. Add 1-3 tablespoons of water or broth to loosen the sauce.

Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles in the Instant Pot

Why is this the best spicy Thai peanut noodles in the instant pot recipe