In this flavorful Instant Pot Thai Peanut Noodles recipe, plain spaghetti is elevated to the next level with a homemade, vibrant Thai peanut sauce. This recipe for Thai Noodles in Peanut Sauce can be made vegetarian by omitting the chicken and substituting fish sauce with soy sauce.
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Table of Contents
Introduction
This Instant Pot Thai noodles recipe is my take on a Thai restaurant favorite of pad thai. Rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, and chili garlic sauce gives the Thai peanut sauce its delicious tangy, sweet, spicy flavor.
When I prepare this recipe on the stovetop, I make it with rice noodles or chow mein noodles. However, pressure cooking those kinds of noodles in the Instant Pot would turn them to a gelatinous mush, so I substitute spaghetti.
The spaghetti holds up to pressure cooking with the peanut sauce and still has a chewy consistency. I love to serve these noodles as a main dish but I also like to serve them as an accompaniment to my Instant Pot Thai Grilled Chicken (Gai Yang) or other grilled dishes. In that case, I omit the chicken and just use veggies.
Of course you could make this recipe on the stovetop, but I love the convenience of cooking the noodles and sauce together. Less mess, and there’s no need to watch over it. Just add the ingredients and walk away!
If you enjoy Thai food, you’ll love my spicier recipes like Instant Pot Red Curry, Instant Pot Green Curry, or Instant Pot Yellow Curry. For milder dishes, try Instant Pot Panang Curry, Instant Pot Massaman Curry or Instant Pot Thai coconut soup. White Instant Pot jasmine rice or my brown Jasmine rice Instant Pot recipe is a perfect side dish.
[Read: Instant Pot Pot-in-Pot Cooking Method to learn how to cook rice and curry together!]
Tips and Substitutions
Lime juice
The Thai peanut sauce has a bold tangy flavor that my family loves. If you’re not a big fan of tangy flavors, I would suggest that you add half the quantity of lime juice before cooking and add more at the end, to taste. Substitute tamarind paste for lime juice for a more authentic pad thai flavor.
Make it vegetarian
To make this dish vegetarian, you can omit the chicken and add some extra veggies. Substitute fish sauce with soy sauce. No other changes are needed to the recipe.
Fish Sauce
I really like the quality of Red Boat fish sauce which you can find at Asian grocery stores or on amazon. But it is more expensive than other fish sauce brands. Tiparos is another brand of fish sauce I’ve used – it’s more affordably priced.
There’s no substitute for fish sauce. It adds that depth of flavor, the umami, to dishes. I’ve had vegetarian readers recommend the Fysh brand of sauce. But I haven’t tried it. You may need to add a little extra.
Soy sauce is also a substitute for fish sauce, but there is a flavor difference.
Spaghetti
The spaghetti I use for this recipe is Barilla Spaghetti No. 5 which is a medium thickness. Its stove top cook time is 9 minutes. If the cook time listed on your package is different, you may need to change the pressure cook time.
Spaghetti tends to clump together when cooked in the Instant Pot. You can reduce the clumping drastically by spreading out and layering the dry spaghetti in a criss-cross pattern. If there are still clumps when pressure cooking is completed, stir the spaghetti and separate the clumps using a fork.
Liquid
You may find that there’s extra liquid when you open the Instant Pot. Just allow the Instant Pot Thai Peanut noodles to rest for a few minutes and they should thicken up nicely.
Chili Garlic Sauce
I like to use the Huy Fong brand of chili garlic sauce. It has a tangy, garlicky flavor that I love. You could substitute sriracha sauce or sambal oelek, but they don’t have the same garlic flavor so you may need to add some garlic.
Toppings
I add chopped peanuts, green onions, and bean sprouts as a garnish for these Thai peanut noodles.
If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, you might find it helpful to first read one of the following guides and then come back here to learn how to make this recipe.
- General Instant Pot Instructions for Beginners
- Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO EVO PLUS Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO NOVA Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO GOURMET Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO CRISP Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot PRO Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot PRO CRISP Beginner’s Manual
Instant Pot Thai Peanut Noodles Ingredients
- Broth
- Chicken
- Green onions (white parts)
- Chili garlic sauce
- Brown sugar
- Vegetables
- LIme juice
- Cilantro
- Fish sauce
- Spaghetti
- Green onion (green parts)
- Peanut butter
- Ginger
- Rice wine vinegar
How to Make Thai Peanut Noodles in the Instant Pot (Step by Step Instructions)
- Make sauce
- Turn on Saute mode
- Saute vegetables
- Saute chicken and add broth
- Add noodles
- Pressure cook
- Quick release pressure
- Add reserved vegetables and garnish
Make Sauce
- In a medium bowl, combine rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, and peanut butter.
- Stir with a whisk until well blended.
How to Turn on Saute Mode
- Instant Pot DUO: Select the Saute function.
- Instant Pot ULTRA: Select the Saute function and press Start.
Saute vegetables
- Once the Instant Pot has pre-heated, add oil to the inner pot and allow it to heat up.
- Add bell peppers and carrots or any vegetables of your choosing.
- Saute for a couple of minutes, until tender-crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside
Saute chicken and add broth
- Saute ginger, green onions (white parts only), and chicken until chicken is no longer pink, about a minute. *
- Press ‘Cancel’ to turn Instant Pot off.
- Deglaze with a couple of tablespoons of broth if there’s anything stuck to the bottom.
- Stir in remaining broth and reserved peanut sauce.
* If the Instant Pot becomes too hot and the ingredients are burning, turn it off to cool it down and turn back on once cooled. Add a tablespoon of broth to deglaze the inner pot if you find that the ingredients are browning too quickly.
Add noodles
- Break the angel hair pasta strands in half.
- Add the noodles in 4 batches, alternating the rows in a criss-cross pattern.
- Push down with a spatula after each addition.
Instant Pot Duo Pressure Cook 6 minutes
- Close the lid and make sure steam release handle is in ‘Sealing’ position
- Press Manual (or Pressure Cook) and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until the display reads ‘6‘ (6 minutes).
Instant Pot Ultra Pressure Cook 6 minutes
- Close the lid.
- Select Pressure Cook mode and adjust the time to 6 minutes (00:06).
- Press Start.
Pressure Cooking Process (Duo and Ultra)
- Instant Pot display will change to On.
- Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
- The display will count down to 0; it will then switch to Keep Warm mode and display L0:00 or 00 00 and begin to count up the number of minutes since pressure cooking completed.
How to Quick Release Pressure (QR) on the DUO
- Move the steam release handle to Venting. Steam will come out of the steam release handle.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- Press Cancel and open the Instant Pot.
How to Quick Release Pressure (QR) on the ULTRA
- Press down on the Steam Release Button until it locks into place, and steam begins to come out of the Steam Release Valve.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- Press Cancel and open the Instant Pot.
[Find out more about the pressure release methods and how and when to use them. ]
✏️ Pro Tip for Releasing Pressure in Small Bursts
- For some foods such as noodles, I find it helpful to release the steam in small bursts: less than 1-second intervals. Once the steam coming out is less forceful, release the remaining pressure in a steady stream. Read more about the different pressure release methods.
Add vegetables
- Stir the Instant Pot Thai peanut noodles and if there are any strands of spaghetti stuck together, use a fork to separate the strands.
- Add back the reserved sauteed vegetables, cilantro and green onion stalks.
- Stir to combine.
- If you find the noodles to be too liquidy, allow them to rest for 3 to 5 minutes, and they will absorb the extra liquid.
Instant Pot Thai Peanut Noodles
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
- 1 tablespoon lime juice or tamarind paste, to taste
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce
- ¼ cup peanut butter (creamy)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ cup bell peppers julienned
- ½ cup carrots julienned
- 1 tablespoon ginger minced
- 4 green onions sliced (white and green parts separated)
- 2 ¼ cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup boneless skinless chicken thighs (approximately 8 oz.) cut into strips
- 8 oz. dry spaghetti (226 grams) – strands broken in half
- 2 tablespoon cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine rice wine vinegar, chili garlic sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, fish sauce, and peanut butter.
- Stir with a whisk until well blended and set aside.
- Select the Saute function and pre-heat the Instant Pot.
- Add oil to the inner pot and saute the bell peppers and carrots until tender-crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Saute ginger, green onions (white parts only), and chicken until chicken is no longer pink, about a minute. Add more oil as needed.
- Press Cancel to turn Instant Pot off.
- Deglaze with a couple of tablespoons of broth and scrape any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the inner pot.
- Stir in remaining broth and the reserved peanut sauce.
- Divide spaghetti into three batches. Add spaghetti to the inner pot in a criss-cross pattern: add one-third of spaghetti into the broth, spreading it out vertically. Add the next one-third of spaghetti, spreading out horizontally. Add the final layer, spreading out vertically. (see blog post for step by step photos).
- Using a spatula, push down on spaghetti until submerged in the broth.
- Close the lid and pressure cook on High Pressure for 6 minutes.
- Do a quick release in bursts: release pressure a little at a time until the steam is less forceful and then release any remaining pressure. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
- Press Cancel, open the lid and stir the noodles. If there are any strands of noodles stuck together, use a fork to separate the strands.
- Add in the reserved sauteed vegetables, cilantro, and green onion stalks.
- Stir to combine. *
Notes
- Prep time does not include steps that are already accounted for in the ingredient list, e.g. minced garlic, cut vegetables, etc.
- * If you find the noodles to be too liquidy, allow them to rest for 3 to 5 minutes, and they will absorb the extra liquid.
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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Primrose Bohne says
Love this recipe. While I like the convenience of the IP, I didn’t really like the starchy taste and noodles often gumming together. So tonight I used my wok, and cooked the pasta separately. After cooking the ginger, chicken and onion (white part) for a few mins, I added the sauce mixture and 1 cup of chicken broth, and let is simmer for about 10 mins. Then added in the cooked pasta, veggies and cilantro, and let it cook for 1-2 mins. Game changer.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Primrose, thank you for taking the time to comment and for trying the recipe out a different way! The original recipe is cooked on the stovetop and very similar to what you’ve done. I’m in the process of adding in alternate cooking methods on my IP recipes 🙂
Memee4 says
So delicious!! I was happy to see suggestions did making this without an Insta pot b/c I don’t have 1 but it sounded so good! I pretty much did it this same way, tossed in a couple of extra veggies to use them up (snow peas for example) and it was delicious. Hubby said it smelled amazing while I was cooking and then when he tasted it, he said it tasted better than it smelled! Going into regular rotation. I normally have all these sauce ingredients anyway so I’m thrilled to find this recipe. Thank you for sharing it and thank you Primrose for the tips.
JJ says
The flavor of this recipe is good. It hits the four s’s. I served it with a saimin (ramen) noodle red bell pepper, carrot, brussel sprout and leftover garlic shrimp. It was yummy. However I did not use the IP. Stovetop was quick. This is a great weekday recipe. Comes together quickly.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks for your review – glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Jeff Pochepan says
I absolutely love this Thai Peanut Noodles dish and have been enjoying it for a couple years now. I am wondering if it’s possible to substitute a gluten free rice noodle and still be able to pull this dish off in an instant pot. If so, please recommend the rice noodle type, cooking time variance (if any) and any other different recipe steps to make this work. Thanks so much!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Jeff, thanks for the question. I would try it with pad thai rice noodles (so, thick rather than thin noodles), push down on the noodles after the addition of each batch (make sure they’re fully submerged), decrease the pressure cooking time to 3 or 4 minutes. You might need to decrease the liquid by a few tablespoons, not sure. The noodles will be clumpy because of the amount of starch that gets released. Use a couple of forks to pull them apart after pressure cooking. If you do try it out, please do let me know how it goes. It might take a couple of tries to get it just right.
Christina says
Could I use ramen noodles instead of angel hair? Any changes to cooking times?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Christina, the ramen noodles will overcook, unfortunately. You could just cook the beef and ramen separately and you won’t need the same quantity of liquid. Just enough for the Instant Pot to come to pressure.
Keith Hutchinson says
Hi Neena,
I just got an Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus and I’m really excited to try so many of your recipes. But first, I just want to take a moment to compliment you on your demonstration videos; they really are outstanding! I create CBT videos professionally (so I speak from experience). Your presentation style, camera work, lighting, and crystal clear, concise delivery may be the new gold standard for my work. Thank you for sharing your craft. Keep up the great work!
V/R, Keith
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Wow, what a wonderful compliment – thank you, Keith! I’m definitely an amateur in video creation, so your words mean a lot to me. I keep learning new things everyday – all self-taught! I hope you enjoy your new Instant Pot and do let me know how things go!
Melanie says
SO good! Question: can we leave out the fish sauce? I have 2 kids that are allergic to fish 🙁
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Melanie, I think you can try and substitute Japanese soy sauce. There’s also a vegetarian fish sauce called Fysh, that some of my readers have recommended, but I have not tried it.
Laurie says
This was amazing! My kids wanted more noodles after so I just put the peanut sauce, chicken broth and spaghetti (following your spaghetti instructions) and it cooked perfectly! I’ve only had my instant pot 2 days!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Happy kids = happy mom, right? Laurie, I’m so glad your family liked the recipe and thank you so much for sharing.
Mary Sue McClain says
Great recipe! The sauce was so well balanced and delicious. I used a pound of chicken instead of 1/2 pound. It did not seem like too much, and I think you need this much chicken for a family of four. Next time I will increase the veggies too. I love these recipes where you cook the pasta and everything in the same pot.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you, Mary, for sharing your modifications. I’m thrilled that you like the recipe.
Linda says
Can I put the sauce on top of the noodles to be sure I won’t get the burn notice?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Linda, I would be more concerned about the noodles giving you a burn error rather than the sauce. So I would recommend that the noodles go on top. Good luck!
Kat says
Just having this for lunch and it has great flavor. However, I found it to be heavy on the spaghetti noodles. I followed the recipe exactly but it didn’t look like your photos. Mostly sauce and noodles…and the sauce was a little pasty…maybe it was the type of peanut butter I used. Next time I’d use half the pasta and at least double the veggies, maybe adding some green beans, and maybe a little more chicken.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Kat, thanks for you comment. You can definitely make those changes to suit your tastes. Adding more veggies shouldn’t change anything else in the recipe.
Lynne says
I love this recipe! It is absolutely one of my favorite instant pot recipes. I use oyster sauce instead of fish sauce. Still a lot of flavor. There are never any leftovers when I make this!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Lynne, thank you for sharing. I love this recipe too, because it’s so easy to make.