Super Simple Spicy Thai Noodles
These super simple spicy thai noodles are unique and fantastic, and so fast to put together (we are talking 20 minutes)!
Whether or not this Thai-inspired dish is truly authentic or not, just know that these Asian-whatever-Thai-thingie-noodles are delicious. And simple.
How’s that for two 20-minute meals in a week? Awesome blossom, I’d say.
For these noodles, you start out by taking a bit of red pepper and letting the heat infuse into toasted sesame oil. Stir in some sweetness and other flavorful goodness to the spicy sesame oil and toss it with tender noodles.
Lastly, load it up with cilantro, shredded carrots, chopped peanuts, cilantro and really whatever else you want to throw on there. Why not, right?
Wow, the whole combination is so good.
Unique and really fantastic, did I mention this meal is super quick? So fast to put together and they would be delicious with grilled chicken or shrimp. Yum!
Methinks I need to end this post and get in the kitchen to make these right now. I hope I get some before the fam slurps them up. You have to look out for yourself around here.
What To Serve With This:
Shrimp or Lemon and Garlic Grilled Chicken
Cut up apples with Toffee Apple Dip
Steamed peas or broccoli
One Year Ago: Chocolate Peanut Butter Fun Cake
Two Years Ago: Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
Three Years Ago: Chicken Tortilla Bake
Super Simple Spicy Thai Noodles
Ingredients
- 1 pound linguine
- 1-2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ cup toasted or regular sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice or rice vinegar
- 6 tablespoons honey
- 6 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- Chopped green onions, shredded carrots, chopped peanuts, chopped cilantro for topping
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, heat the sesame oil and red pepper flakes on low heat for 10-15 minutes. Pour the oil through a fine strainer into a liquid measuring cup and discard the pepper flakes. To the warm oil, whisk in the lime juice (or vinegar), honey and soy sauce. Set aside.
- In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the linguine according to package directions. Drain the noodles and return them to the pot or to a large bowl. Toss the noodles with the oil mixture.
- Serve the noodles warm, room temperature or cold with the desired toppings sprinkled on top.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from A Small Snippet as spied on Pinterest
71 Comments on “Super Simple Spicy Thai Noodles”
Yum!
I love it!
I only used 1tsp of red pepper flakes and it’s just right for us. We added shrimp, garlic, broccoli, and matchstick carrots to make it a whole meal.
Could avocado oil be substituted for most of the oil? I find sesame oil to be extremely overpowering as a flavor- can’t imagine using half a cup!!
Sure, you can sub another kind of oil.
This was so easy and so good! We liked it even better the next day Because the sauce seemed to soak into the noodles even more. Perfect summer recipe and awesome left overs!!!
Yummy! I halved the amount of noodles (just two of us eating) but forgot to half the sauce– and (since we spent many years living in Thailand) didn’t strain the peppers !– …added almost a whole package of matchstick carrots and some sweet peppers also sliced very thin to the boiling water with the noodles about 2 minutes before the noodles were done and 2 cups of frozen pea pods about 1 minute before the noodles were done… drained the noodle/veggies mix, then mixed it all up with the sauce, topped with peanuts, green onions and cilantro-= delicious! Thanks, Mel.
i pinned this to my personal favorite pins board….. I added just 1 tblsp. of the red pepper flakes, along with bite sized chicken thighs and it was exceptional. I will definitely be making this often.
So I added a mere teaspoon of red pepper flakes and it was perfect. Even for the kids. We loved this easy recipe!
Loved this! I made mine with 2T red pepper and it was too spicy for my little kids but older kids loved it! We added steamed broccoli and garlic too.
I made this tonight. Yes, it’s spicy, and my nose is still running, but this is good! My husband wanted a “light” dinner. He says I have to make this a lot more often.
Hi Mel,
Do you like lime juice or rice vermicelli near better in this?
I love all f your recipes!
Do you mean rice vinegar? Honestly, both are delicious, but I probably mostly use rice vinegar.
Thank you, thank you Mel for all you do. You have for sure helped me put delicious, new, and always to be counted on dishes on our table! Without a doubt, every day we enjoy something great from your website. I am so glad I found it and I appreciate all your diligence in making every recipe so good that the question asked at supper is, ” This tastes great. Is this a recipe from your friend Mel?”
Thanks so much, Sherry!
This recipe didn’t disappoint. So simple, so much flavour. I went easy with 1/2 tbsp of chilis and it still has a good kick, especially a couple hours after cooking as a cold salad once the spice has a chance to soak in. This will be a go-to.
A couple questions…is there a huge difference in flavor between uses lime juice and rice vinegar? I love both flavors. Also, if I were to add say broccoli and/or cabbage along with the shredded carrots would it be best to cook them?
Yes, there is definitely a change in flavor, but both are delicious, I think. I think as long as the broccoli and/or cabbage are finely chopped/shredded, it would be fine, but if you want them in larger pieces, I’d probably steam or cook them until crisp-tender.
Yes! I cut some broccoli into small pieces, and tossed them to the pot with the cooking pasta for a short time — just enough to soften them a tad. No extra muss, no fuss. Easy peasy.
This is a go to for my family. This is really good with the Udon noodles CostCo sells in the refrigerated section. Super easy too. Added some shrimp tonight.
I make this at least twice a month, and I always forget to comment (actually, I’ve been reading your blog for years, Mel, and have never commented before now!). This is the most delicious recipe ever, and I never, ever get tired of making or eating it. Thanks, Mel, for a truly scrumptious, simple noodle dish that I always look forward to.
Thanks, Lauren!
I always appreciate the detailed instructions that you usually give. I guess I needed a few more details on this one about how to heat the oil without burning it. Yuck–stinky stuff. I’ll try again…but now I’m out of sesame oil.
Darn, Kami – sorry this didn’t work out. I’m not really sure what else to add except that I use the lowest heat setting on my stove so it doesn’t burn. I suppose if your stove cooks hot, you might need to decrease the time in that step.
Delicious! The second time around, I cooked up a pound of ground beef along with some cabbage, broccoli, shredded carrots, and onions to add it to the noodles… made for a very hearty main dish. The whole family loves it! 🙂
It was not what we had hoped. There was not enough flavor. My family didnt finish it.
This sounded too good to be true……but I tried it anyway!!!! And it is wonderful!!!!
For my hubby and myself I used 3/4 lb. of pasts (spaghetti). 1/4 cup of the sesame oil and 1/2 tsp of the dried chili flakes…………….I halved the remaining ingredients….this was delicious. I sliced red pepper very thinly, added some sauteed mushrooms for my hubby, shredded carrots, and the green onions, oh! and only had dried cilantro leaves so sprinkled a bit in the sauce……Will definitely be making this again and again. Thanks Mel.
I *love* this! Making it again this week
I tried this recipe out last night and it was DELICIOUS! And you were right, 1 tbs of crushed red peppers was the perfect amount of spicy. This recipe will be used on a regular basis…I’m ready to make it again! lol
This was a little bit of an experiment because I ventured out and used Japanese Udon noodles that were going to go bad in my fridge. Not necessarily authentic to the recipe, but it was goo-ood. We all loved it, spicy and all and my husband said he is excited for the leftovers tomorrow! That means he really liked it. Thanks for sharing a recipe I wouldn’t have found otherwise.
This recipe was on my pinterest board for a while and oh my god, am I happy tried it! It’s so good!
This was delicious! I stir fried some broccoli in coconut oil to go with it from the beef and broccoli recipe of yours and added some Thai sauce before serving and it was very tasty. It makes great leftovers too! Thank you for continuing to stretch my culinary muscles! 🙂
I made this recipe last night to go with a Mongolian beef recipe I found on another blog. I cut back the honey to five tablespoons and it was still a little too sweet for our taste, but for something that came together so fast it was a nice compliment to the beef. I’ll probably cut back the honey a bit more the next time I make it.
omg!
So GOOD, even though I skipped the red pepper due to allergies.My finicky kid said he “wanted to drink the sauce’!yum!
I finally made this tonight. Yum! I added shrimp that I sauteed with a little bit of oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Topped it with cilantro, green onion, peanut, and carrot as you suggested. I used about 1TBSP of red pepper which was definitely enough, and next time I’ll reduce the oil to about 1/3 cup, maybe even 1/4. The 1/2 cup was a lot – I ended up straining the leftover noodles to avoid them “swimming” in the oil once packed away in the fridge. Thanks for another great recipe! Now on to your newest banana bread 🙂
Excited to try this for dinner tonight! Mel if I wanted to add chicken, how would you suggest I prepare it?
Hi Jessica, if it were me, I’d just grill it (or broil it) so it’s golden and juicy. This recipe would pair really well with the noodles if you want to actually have a flavor profile. Good luck!
My husband loved this! The kids thought it was too spicy and I only used 1/2 Tbsp because I knew they are wimps. I had to use spaghetti cause we didn’t have linguini, and it worked fine. I will definitely make it again, but reduce the red pepper flakes even more. I like the idea of peanut butter to thicken the sauce, maybe I’ll try that too.
Thanks!
oh my goodness! This is now a staple in our house. The only thing that I have changed is that I add 2 Tbsp of peanut butter to thicken the sauce. Wonderful!
Followed this just as listed. It came out perfect. I did add stir fry vegetable with it and offered the guest a small side of soy sauce if needed. This indeed is a spicy dish so if you aren’t a spicy person I would suggest only use half of the peppers.
Thank for this I will def make it again.
Wayyyyyy too spicy for me! I used one tablespoon. I can’t imagine using more than that! How do you get your kids to eat something that spicy??!! The rest was great though. I may experiment with it again and just use the tiniest bit of spice!
This is a positively great recipe! I followed the user suggestion of Thai fish sauce, but forewent another’s idea of curry, at least for now. To make things simpler yet, instead of a cup of sesame oil, I used a quarter-cup of hot Chinese chili oil (which already has the crushed red pepper, plus garlic and ginger oils along with the sesame oil; used the oil only, not needing to mess with the peppers) and a quarter-cup straight sesame oil. Worked like a charm. Goes great with pot stickers and fried tilapia.
I saw this exact recipe on another person’s blog, published much earlier than this…
Tera – yep, it’s been a popular recipe all over the place on the blogosphere and I gave credit underneath the recipe to where I spied it: http://asmallsnippet.com/2011/03/spicy-thai-noodles.html
I am concerned. This recipe has been ‘up” for weeks now. I hope you are ok!
Ok! Just had these last night and I had to blog about them immediately. I threw them on my blog today (with a few tweaks for my audience) with calorie counts and all. I’m so happy that I made double the amount of oil/dressing so that I can whip these up for a quick meal later in the week. Thanks again for your wonderful recipes!
I have made a lot of your recipes over the last year and 99.9% of them were delicious. This one rocked! I used toasted sesame oil, and both lime juice and rice vinegar. My favorite part was adding the crushed red pepper to the oil first. Next time I will add more. Delish!!
Tried this tonight for dinner. FANTASTIC! Although a tad too spicy for my one year old- he ended up eating something else. Next time I’ll only put 1 T of red pepper instead of 1 1/4 T (I was trying to be daring!). I also added cubed chicken and pineapple chunks. Yummy!
Homerun! I have two ‘wannabe’ vegetarians at the dinner table and a hungry meat-eating husband – everyone was happy! I subbed a little grapeseed oil because I didn’t have enough sesame oil…tasted fine to us. Also used rice noodles (seemed appropriate) and loved them. I served this warm, which we enjoyed. I really wanted to try the leftovers cold, but alas, there were none.
Delicious! I used rice noodles and tamari sauce (for a gluten free option). Loved!
This looks really good. I always stay away from Thai food because I hate lemongrass and ginger. I love that you’ve left them both out though and can’t wait to try this!
Made this Friday night with soba noodles and it was AMAZING!!! Thank you so much for the quick supper. We have been eating Thai food more lately and this was just perfect and so easy to make. I did add a bit of peanut butter as suggest by another comment and it was very good. Will add this to my list of meals!!! THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO!!!!
I’ve made this before and even added a tbs of peanut butter to give it more of an Authentic Thai flavor. It’s delicious both ways!
This looks yummy! Must include it for this week’s menu list. I buy sesame oil at the Asian market and the price isn’t outrageous there. Mel, I keep hoping to see the next installment in your wheat grains series. You have me hooked.
This looks delicious and a quick supper which is awesome, can’t wait to try it!!! 🙂
That giant bowl of noodles is calling my name! Pinning for sure.
I bought a bottle of “Fiery Toasted Sesame Oil” in a discount bin at the grocery store and have been wondering how to use it… Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
I’m so in love with these noodles. I make them as often as possible. Try mixing a little peanut butter into the hot mixture. Ugh. Can’t even handle it.
I suppose rather than focus on one ingredient that might be a bit expensive (sesame oil), I should focus on the fact that there isn’t any expensive meat driving up the expense! LOL! This is definitely an economical meal! I will try it as written 😀
This looks delicious!! Definitely being made this week 😀
Yum! This looks great, as does your new blog look. I love opening up your blog to find your cute picture at the top 🙂 Love the blog makeover!
This looks delicious! Thank you!
Looks delicious thanks Mel!
i LOVE all your recipes 🙂 HUGE fan! i make something very similar to this, but i also add 1 tblesp of curry powder
I am soo excited to try these!! I’ve been wanting a Asian noodle meal for a while. I tried a pad Thai and had no luck. These look amazing and I could use my gluten free noodles too!! Yay!! Thanks once again Mel!!
Gotta love quick dinners like this! Yum!
1/2 cup of sesame oil seems like such an expensive and strong flavored ingredient to use in that quantity. Would it take away a lot from the dish to use a milder oil for the majority and then just add in a couple of tablespoons of sesame oil?
Add a little fish sauce to make it more ‘Thai’… it smells horrendous when you are adding it, but it makes the dish taste SO AMAZING!
Kate – that’s a great idea! I detest the smell of fish sauce but love the dash of flavor.
Sandra – I’ve tried this dish with other oils and it was really oily and greasy which is why I eliminated them from the recipe. When I make it now with just sesame oil – yes, it has a bit of an oily texture from the sesame oil but not overpowering and the flavor surprisingly isn’t overly strong with that much sesame oil. I’ve also made it with 1/3 cup sesame oil and it’s great that way, too. I guess what I’m saying is, I don’t like the texture and feel using other oils but if you want to experiment, you could definitely venture out. Also, I don’t know where you live but if the sesame oil you are seeing is overly expensive, you might want to shop around if you can. I can find a jar (6 ounces) of it for about $4 or so. And one final note (which I’ll add to the recipe), I forgot to put in there that you can use toasted or regular sesame oil. The toasted has a bit deeper, nuttier flavor but either can work.
TWO 20 minute meals in a week!!!! I love it! This is really simple and I’m sure many steamed veggies can be added in. Thank you for sharing this!
I love meals like this. I love the opportunity to eat raw veggies!
A change in my usual italian style pasta. I really, really, really love this recipe Mel! And your larger pics!