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Simple-to-make Chili Crisp Peanut Noodles. Full of delicious spicy Thai flavors and made in just 30 minutes. These noodles are tossed in a delicious peanut sauce made with Thai red curry paste. Then simply add in plenty of vegetables, top with crispy halloumi cheese, and toss with chili garlic oil, herbs, and sesame seeds. Once everything is together, you’ll have the most delicious vibrant peanut noodle bowls.
Monday noodles! Oh, how I love these bowls. There’s something about peanut noodles that are just so delicious. But I really have to be in the mood for them. And something about these warm summer days always puts me in that mood. Maybe because it’s somewhat of a lighter noodle dish, yet still so filling, and obviously full of flavor. Spicy, sweet, saucy, and vegetable-filled.
Totally delicious.
To be honest, these noodles were really inspired by my chili crisp chicken cucumber rice bowl. And also a bowl of peanut noodles I made years back. The noodles from years back had one very unusual ingredient, crispy halloumi. Halloumi is a Greek grilling cheese that’s not usually used in a peanut noodle dish. But who’s to say you can’t toss in something different?
I love a crispy, chewy bite with my noodles. Most people would use tofu. However, I really don’t enjoy tofu, so halloumi has always been my go-to replacement. It often shocks people at how well it pairs with so many different flavors.
The details
As with most peanut noodle dishes, this is not very involved, but there are a fair amount of ingredients in the sauce. Don’t let that scare you! The sauce is a really yummy mix of peanut butter, tamari (or soy sauce, of course), red curry paste, honey (to balance out that spice), and then lots of ginger.
Nothing fancy, but a really great mix of flavors. And of course, the peanut butter in the sauce makes it especially delicious.
I like to make the sauce first and toss it with warm noodles. For the noodles, I use either a linguine rice noodle or a traditional Italian linguine noodle. Either works well, it’s just more what you prefer and or are in the mood for.
I’ll usually make the sauce while the noodles boil.
Once I have the noodles tossed I then cook the halloumi and chili garlic oil. Both are quick. Simply pan-cook the halloumi in a skillet until it’s crisp. It takes about 5 minutes and is super easy.
To the same skillet, I add sesame oil, garlic, and chili flakes. Cook the mix together until the garlic turns a pretty golden color and becomes crisp. Just be sure to watch closely. The garlic can go from crisp to burnt real fast.
At this point, toss the halloumi with the oil, herbs, peanuts, and sesame seeds.
Serve the noodles topped with the halloumi and an extra drizzle of the chili crisp oil.
I know this may seem involved, but it’s really not. Just make the sauce, toss with the noodles, then crisp up some garlic in a skillet. Worth every step too!
The noodles are extra saucy, with just the right amount of spice. And I love all the fresh vegetables and herbs. This is a really nice summery noodle dish!
Looking for other light summer recipes? Here are some favorites:
Chili Mango Summer Rolls with Ginger Peanut Sauce
Peanut Chicken Spring Roll Bowls
20 Minute Red Curry Basil Garlic Oil Noodles
Lastly, if you make this, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Chili Crisp Peanut Noodles with Crispy Halloumi
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 496 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces rice noodles or long cut pasta
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup Thai red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 2 carrots, shredded
- 2 bell peppers, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon, plus 1/4 cup sesame oil
- 8 ounces halloumi cheese, cubed and patted dry
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 3 tablespoons chopped peanuts
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
Instructions
- 1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and add to a large bowl with the carrots and peppers.2. Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine the peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, curry paste, ginger, and 1/3 cup water. Pulse until combined and smooth. Pour the sauce over the warm noodles. Tossing well.3. Heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the Halloumi and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from the skillet.4. To the skillet, add 1/4 cup sesame oil, the garlic, and a pinch of chili flakes. Cook until the garlic crisps, about 5 minutes. Toss the Halloumi with 1/2 of the garlic oil, cilantro, basil, peanuts, and sesame seeds. Add the lime juice. 5. Divide the noodles between bowls and top with the halloumi, herbs, and additional chili garlic oil. Enjoy!
The sauce is delicious but the dish is so salty! If I make it again, I will use low sodium soy sauce and leave out the cheese which had a great texture but, taste wise, only added more salt.
It also took longer than 30 minutes and I had a lot of dirty dishes for a one pot meal.
Hi Andrea,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear you didn’t love it:)
This tastes very yummy but how do I manage to avoid the rice noodles from sticking to each other? I usually runs them by cold water and that does the trick but here we need to use them warm to soften the raw veggies, do we need to then undercook them a little or how can we go about it? I loved the taste of the recipe but ended up with overcooked and very sticky noodles that were breaking upon serving when cooked by following the packaging instructions 🙁 Thank you Tieghan!!!
Hey Ana,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try! Sorry about the noodles, I just try to work quickly and toss them with the veggies and then you can drizzle some olive oil on them while you make the sauce. I hope this helps! xx
This recipe is so delicious! I love adding the red curry paste to a typical peanut sauce- so many layers of flavor! After reading all the comments about actual prep time for this recipe I set a timer while I cooked. Pasta alone took 25 minutes. Total dish was more like 45 minutes. I will make this again, but it’s definitely a weekend meal for me (and my husband the dishwasher).
I probably would not cook the halloumi in sesame oil again- the smoke point is really low and I’m not sure the extra flavor stood out amongst everything else going on in this dish.
PRO TIP: Cook the halloumi in a non-stick pan.
Hi Jackie,
Perfect!! I appreciate you giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was a winner! Thanks for sharing your feedback! xTieghan
We used grilling cheese because it’s what we could find. Galvani has a great one and it seems (to me) to be similar to halloumi! It’s also way cheaper for those struggling to find it.
Anyway! This was soooooo good. We added some leftover rotisserie chicken and it was AMAZING. Definite on my make-again list. Thanks as always for the amazing recipes!!
Sorry that was supposed to be Galbani * 🙂
Hi Nicole,
Happy Sunday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for making it! xT
Halloumi instead of tofu? Genius! The texture & taste are so much more satisfying. What a brilliant discovery. I’m already thinking about revisiting some of the tofu recipes I’ve bypassed…
As for cooking time, I find that many recipes give an estimated time that begins AFTER all the ingredients have been washed, shredded, chopped, grated, etc. Someone with my mediocre knife skills needs a lot of time for prep, so I always plan for an extra half hour.
Hi Virginia,
Fantastic! I truly appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your feedback, I am so glad it was tasty for you! xT
Wow, this was really delicious! I had my doubts about the sequence of steps in the directions, but followed it anyway (especially since you had emphasized it in response to a recent comment), and it turned out to be right — the hot rice noodles softened the raw vegetables and were still warm enough when I was done with everything else. We didn’t think the halloumi was too salty, as some have said, although it was hard to find a cheese imported from Cyprus here. I do agree, however, with all the people who said the preparation time was unrealistic — it took me at least an hour, not 20 minutes, to get everything ready to cook. Maybe it would be best to add some time for “normal” cooks ;-). Anyway, we love noodle recipes, and I’ll definitely be making this one again.
Hey Helen,
Awesome!! I am so glad to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks for making it! Sorry this took longer than expected. Hope you’re off to a great Saturday! xT
Amazing recipe!!! I could literally drink this peanut sauce. It was perfect.
The combination of ingredients made for a well balanced dish with lots of flavor and texture.
I am a seasoned home cook and would agree with the other comments… this took about an hour. Definitely not a 30 minute meal.
Hi Lacey,
Perfect! I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I love to hear that it was a hit! xxT
Very flavorful and unique recipe. I doctored my sauce with 1 tablespoon each of rice wine vinegar and fish sauce for some bite and umami.
It is pretty frustrating however when recipes say it will take “30 minutes to prepare” when in fact it actually takes hours (prepping, etc). [Am I doing something wrong?]
Also, the order of preparation doesn’t help when the first item to prepare should be the last. The sauce prep should be first. Just saying…
Hi Andy,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback. Sorry this took longer for you to make than expected. The sauce prep is first:) xTieghan
Omg. Could not stop eating this. The heat of the garlic oil, slightly sweet, slightly spicy peanut sauce, herbs for some freshness, and delicious halloumi – it all comes together so perfectly. Addicting!
Hey Sophie,
Amazing!! I love to hear that you enjoyed this recipe, thank you for making it:) xx
Loved this! I may try it next time with tofu instead of the Halloumi.
Hi Amy,
Happy Sunday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for sharing your review and making it! xxT
Hi Tieghan, long time fan here but first time commenter… this is so amazingly delicious! Just made this for dinner and I’m literally licking the bowl of the sauce. Thanks for everything you do! Can’t wait to make this one again already!
Hey Claire,
Wonderful! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks for trying it out! Have a great weekend:)
The flavors were soooooo good! I substituted chicken for the halloumi. Then topped off with Sriracha for an added kick.
Hi Beth,
Happy Friday! I am so excited to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for trying it out! ?xx
MAKE THIS! It’s so good. I used tofu instead of cheese, and only had yellow curry paste but it was still amazing. Making it again ASAP with the original ingredients. But make this. Came together so quick too. ?
Hey Brittany,
Awesome!! So glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! xT
Absolutely delicious dish and the garlic oil on the halloumi was an amazing touch. Will be adding this in regularly
Hey Kelsey,
Thanks so much for your feedback and giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy Monday! xx
Great recipe! It needs a bit of prep but it’s well worth it!
Hey Ines,
Happy Monday! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out, I am so excited to hear that it was a hit! xx
There’s bell pepper and carrots in the ingredient list but there’s nothing about them in the instructions.
Do you add them raw ? Cooked ? Error in the list ?!
Thanks
Gab
It is in step 1 of the directions…
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and add to a large bowl with the carrots and peppers.
Hi Gab,
The instructions for the carrots and peppers are in step 1, they will get warm through from the noodles:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx