Spicy Tahini Peanut Noodles
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Juicy seared shrimp, bouncy udon noodles, and baby spinach get tossed in a high protein creamy blended silken tofu sauce that features roasted sesame, peanut and chili oil flavors. These Spicy Tahini Peanut Noodles are easy to make on a weeknight, full of bold flavors, and incredibly satiating!
About This Recipe
Creamy, nutty, spicy, full of punchy flavors and high in protein! This Spicy Tahini Peanut Noodles recipe is easy to whip up on a weeknight, full of bold flavors, and creamy and smooth textures!
This high protein blended silken tofu sauce features creamy tahini, smooth peanut butter, flavorful aromatics and spicy chili oil.
I’ve used udon noodles for their incredible chewy and bouncy texture, added some spinach to cut through the richness of the creamy sauce, and tossed through some seared jumbo shrimp to make this high protein meal even more satiating!
While I’m obsessed with the flavors in this noodles dish, the straightforward easy method is what I really love about this recipe. You simply blend up the sauce, sear the shrimp, cook your noodles, then just combine everything and mix through some spinach and green onions and BOOM! Dinner is served and in just 30 minutes!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutes
- Silken Tofu: The base of our creamy sauce. It’s packed with protein and the flavor won’t be distinguishable in the final blended sauce. You can use firm or hard tofu but silken tofu works best to yield a completely smooth and creamy sauce.
- Aromatics: Red onion (substitute with shallots/eschalot or yellow onion in a pinch), the bottom bulb/white and light green parts of spring onion, garlic, ginger, and fresh red chilies. I used Thai Bird’s Eye chilies but use any variety that is easily available to you.
- Tahini: A Middle Eastern smooth and creamy sesame paste. Look for runny, hulled tahini made from lightly roasted white sesame seeds for the best flavor and texture. Substitute with Chinese sesame paste like the one in these Spicy Dan Dan Noodles or almond butter.
- Smooth Peanut Butter: I used Skippy because it results in a more cohesive sauce but you are welcome to use a natural peanut butter instead.
- Low Sodium Light Soy Sauce: If using regular light soy sauce, use a little less and add water for the rest of the amount specified so that it’s not too salty.
- Chinkiang Vinegar: A Chinese black vinegar with a deep, tangy and slightly sweet flavor profile. Find it in an Asian supermarket. Substitute half white and half balsamic vinegar for a similar flavor.
- Chili Oil (with sediment – flakes and seeds): I used Min Hong Chili Oil, a Hong Kong chili oil that is made with canola oil, garlic, chili, shallots and salt. You can use your favorite chili oil, chili crisp or chili crunch. Though, everything will become smooth and creamy once blended so use a chili oil you love the flavor of instead of prioritizing the texture.
- Sesame Oil (unpictured): Adds a fragrant toasted sesame aroma to compliment the flavors of the tahini and peanut butter.
- Udon Noodles: I used frozen sanuki udon noodles for this recipe. You can find them at your local Asian supermarket. They are incredibly chewy and have a wonderful bite to them! Vacuum sealed packs of pre-cooked fresh udon noodles or dried udon noodles will work too. However, dried udon won’t be as chewy or bouncy as frozen or fresh udon.
- Shrimp: Use any size you like but I prefer the juicy, sweet flavor in larger shrimp and used size 16/20 (which means there are 16-20 pieces per pound of shrimp). We’ll season the shrimp with just salt and pepper.
- Peanut Oil: Or use your preferred cooking oil to cook the shrimp.
- Baby Spinach: The slight bitterness cuts through the creamy texture and rich flavor of the sauce.
- Lime Juice: Freshly squeezed for the best flavor! The acidity brightens up the whole dish at the end.
Spicy Tahini Peanut Noodles
Juicy seared shrimp, bouncy udon noodles, and baby spinach get tossed in a high protein creamy blended silken tofu sauce that features roasted sesame, peanut and chili oil flavors. These Spicy Tahini Peanut Noodles are easy to make on a weeknight, full of bold flavors, and incredibly satiating!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Noodles
- Method: Pan-sear and Mix
- Cuisine: Asian-inspired
Ingredients
Silken Tofu Tahini Sauce:
- 12–12.34 ounces / 340-350 grams block Silken Tofu (soft tofu)
- 2 tablespoons / 30 grams Tahini (sesame seed paste, substitute Chinese sesame paste or almond butter)
- 1 tablespoon / 16 grams Creamy Peanut Butter (I used Skippy)
- 2 tablespoons Low Sodium Light Soy Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinkiang Vinegar (Chinese black vinegar)
- 2 teaspoons Chili Oil (with flakes and seeds/sediment – note 1*), to taste
- 1 teaspoon Toasted Sesame Oil
- ¼ small / 45 grams Red Onion – diced
- 3–4 / 20 grams Garlic cloves – roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon / 6 grams minced Ginger – roughly chopped
- 1–6 pieces / 3-18 grams fresh Red Chilies, to taste (optional – I used Thai Bird’s Eye red chilies but any variety will work, omit for milder dish – note 2*) – roughly chopped
- 1 medium stalk / 10 grams Spring Onion (Scallion/Green Onions, white and light green parts only, reserve dark green parts for later) – chopped
Shrimp:
- 8 ounces / 230 grams peeled and deveined Shrimp or Prawns (frozen weight, 8–10 pieces if using size 16/20) – thawed and rinsed thoroughly
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt, to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly cracked Black Pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon Peanut Oil (or any other neutral flavored oil for cooking)
Noodles:
- 14 ounces (2 packs) / 400 grams frozen Udon Noodles
- 2 cups / 66 grams Baby Spinach
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed Lime Juice, or more to taste
- To Serve: Reserved spring onion dark green parts
Instructions
Prep:
- Prepare the shrimp: Thaw the frozen shrimp and rinse thoroughly.
- Prepare all the fresh ingredients: Prepare the red onion, garlic, ginger, fresh red chilies (if using), and spring onion, separating the white and light green parts from the dark green parts, as indicated in the ‘ingredients’ section.
Spicy Tahini Peanut Noodles:
- Make the blended silken tofu tahini sauce: Drain the liquid from the block of silken tofu. Combine the tofu, tahini, peanut butter, soy sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, chili oil, sesame oil, red onion, garlic, ginger, red chilies, and spring onion white and light green parts in a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
- Cook the shrimp: Heat 1 teaspoon of peanut oil in a medium-sized deep sauté pan or deep edged skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and spread out the pieces in the pan. Season with half of the sea salt and black pepper. Allow to sear for 1-2 minutes, then flip the pieces and season the other side with the remaining salt and pepper. Cook for another 1-2 minutes or until just cooked. Transfer to a clean bowl and set aside.
- Cook the noodles: Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once rapidly boiling, lower the heat and add the udon noodle cakes. Use tongs to gently shake the noodle cakes until the strands loosen and soften – about 1 minute. (Do the same if using vacuum sealed packs of fresh udon noodles. For dried udon noodles, cook according to package instructions in a pot of boiling water.) Reserve half a cup of noodle cooking water, then drain into a colander and set aside.
- Combine everything: Pour the blended sauce in the same pan you cooked the shrimp in and set to medium-low heat. Allow the sauce to heat up, stirring occasionally – about 2 minutes. Then add the cooked udon noodles and shrimp and mix to combine until everything is evenly coated. Swirl ¼ cup of the reserved noodle cooking water in the blender jug you used to make the sauce. Then add that water along with the baby spinach to the pan and mix until the spinach has just wilted – 1-2 minutes. Stir through most of the spring onion dark green parts (reserve some for garnish) and lime juice, then switch off the heat.
- Serve: Divide evenly onto two plates and garnish with the reserved spring onion dark green parts. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Chili Oil. I used Min Hong Chili Oil, a Hong Kong chili oil that is made with canola oil, garlic, chili, shallots and salt. You can use your favorite chili oil, chili crisp or chili crunch! Note that everything will become smooth and creamy once blended so prioritize flavor over texture when choosing which one to use for this recipe.
- Fresh Red Chilies. Use more or less chilies based on your heat level preference. Leave them out for a milder dish.
- Be sure to check out the full article for ingredient notes and substitutions, storage information, and tips on customizing this recipe!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 of recipe
- Calories: 710
- Sugar: 4.7g
- Sodium: 1190.4mg
- Fat: 28.6g
- Saturated Fat: 8.6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 20g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 72.2g
- Fiber: 5.2g
- Protein: 42.9g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
For more silken tofu sauce udon noodle recipes, check out my Creamy Buldak Udon Noodles and Creamy Mapo Tofu Udon Noodles!
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Cook’s Tips and Variations
- Drain the tofu well. The liquid the tofu is submerged in doesn’t taste great so se sure to drain it off well to avoid having the tofu water flavor be prominent in the blended silken tofu sauce.
- Switch the tahini to peanut butter ratio. Using more tahini than peanut butter results in a creamy and lightly roasted sesame seed flavored sauce. For a sweeter and nuttier flavor, use 2 tablespoons peanut butter and 1 tablespoon tahini instead.
- Tailor the spice level to your preference. Use more or less (or omit completely) fresh red chilies and chili oil for a milder flavor.
- Add cheese. A quarter cup (20-24 grams) of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese will add nutty and complex savory flavors. Or use another hard Italian cheese like Grana Padano or Pecorino Romano.
- Use frozen sanuki udon noodles. I prefer sanuki udon over other varieties in silken tofu sauce noodles because they have a firm and bouncy texture but are perfectly slurp-able because they are smooth and slippery too! Other types of udon noodles like Inaniwa udon noodles are thin and silky but not as bouncy.
- Use noodle-type pasta. Linguini, fettuccine, pappardelle, bucatini, and spaghetti are some great options if you don’t have udon noodles on hand.
- Switch up the protein. If you’re allergic or simply not a fan of shrimp, lean ground chicken like in my Creamy Kimchi Chicken Udon Noodles, lean ground turkey, beef or pork would all work well with the flavors in this sauce!
- Multitask. If you have two gas hobs/induction cooker hobs, prepare the noodles while the sauce heats up in the pan on another hob. Transfer the noodles directly into the pan. This saves the need to use a colander for draining the noodles which equals one less thing to wash but also time saved!
- Double the recipe. This recipe makes 2 generous adult sized servings or 3 servings if serving with other dishes. It can easily be scaled up to serve 4 people or for meal prep. Click the ‘2x’ button at the top of the recipe card to display double the ingredient amounts to make 4 servings. Use a larger pot to prepare the udon noodles and a larger pan to cook the aromatics and veggies so that there is enough room to mix the blended tahini silken tofu sauce with the noodles.
Dietary Modifications
- Vegan: Omit the shrimp and add a cooked plant-based protein of your choice instead. Or you can add sautéed shiitake or other mushrooms if you prefer. Or double up on soy protein and use Crispy Pan-fried Tofu or tempeh.
- Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free udon rice noodles or any gluten-free noodles or noodle-type of pasta of your choice. If using pasta, you’ll need about 200 grams dried pasta or 400 grams fresh pasta.
How to Make Spicy Tahini Peanut Noodles – Step-by-Step
Add tofu, tahini, peanut butter, soy sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, sesame oil, chili oil and the aromatics to a blender (image 1). Blend until smooth and creamy (image 2) and set aside.
Cook the shrimp in peanut oil and season with salt and pepper (image 3). Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Then cook the udon noodles in a pot of boiling water. Reserve some of the noodle cooking water in a cup, then drain into a colander (image 4).
Pour the blended sauce in the same pan you cooked the shrimp in and allow it to heat up while stirring occasionally (image 5). Add the cooked udon noodles and shrimp (image 6) and mix to combine until everything is evenly coated in the sauce.
Add the baby spinach and mix until just wilted (image 7). Stir through most of the spring onion dark green parts and lime juice (image 8).
Divide evenly and top with the reserved spring onion. Then enjoy!
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
- Storing: Store leftovers in a sealed airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
- Reheating: Reheat in the microwave on high for 2-3 minutes, stirring halfway through, until hot throughout. You can also reheat in a pan on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add a splash of water to help loosen up the sauce if needed.
FAQs
I don’t recommend freezing the blended silken tofu sauce alone or with the noodles and shrimp. The sauce will become watery when thawing and the noodles will become mushy when reheated with the sauce. Thawed, cooked, refrozen and thawed again shrimp is a bad idea so definitely do not attempt to freeze the fully cooked dish.
While you can, silken tofu will give you the smoothest and creamiest sauce because it has a higher water content. If using hard or firm tofu, be sure to add at least ¼ cup of noodle cooking water when blending the tofu sauce so that the tofu turns into a smooth sauce and is not grainy.
Here on my blog, you’ll find Creamy Mapo Tofu Udon Noodles (my version of the viral Instagram recipe), Creamy Buldak Udon Noodles and Creamy Kimchi Chicken Udon Noodles showcasing spicy and bold Korean flavors, and Creamy Mushroom Udon Noodles. Each have their own unique flavors but are all high in protein and delicious!
A high-speed one like a Vitamix or Blendtec blender will break down the tofu and aromatics quickly and efficiently. A lower powered one may require some scraping. A Nutribullet or Ninja Blast mini blender will be too small to hold all the ingredients. I’ve used my Vitamix here and love it so much for how quickly, easily and smoothly it handles all sorts of tasks! I use it to make homemade oat flour for my baked oats, sauces sauces like this silken tofu one, or soups even!
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