Cheesy Vegetarian

15 Minute Peanut and Sesame Noodles

These simple peanut and sesame noodles are the perfect Asian-style side dish or main meal, with an irresistibly silky peanut sauce.

A portion of peanut noodles in a bowl topped with sesame seeds and chopped nuts.

It’s time for another 15 minute recipe! Because I just don’t have the brain power these days to spend any longer in the kitchen. These peanut and sesame noodles are coated in a luscious peanut and sesame sauce that you’ll want to eat by the spoonful.

A bowl of peanut and sesame noodles being twirled with a fork.

Asian-style noodles

These peanut noodles aren’t inspired by any one country in particular – I suppose they’re just a mixture of all of my favourite flavours from Asian cuisine.

The end result is a simple noodle dish that could be served alongside any other Asian-inspired dish, or even just on their own.

Probably not authentically anything… but delicious all the same, and oh-so-easy to make.

How to make simple peanut noodles

Step 1: Boil some noodles and veg

First, get your noodles on to boil. I chose some simple dried egg noodles, which cook in about 5 minutes.

I always like to add some extra veggies when I’m boiling noodles or pasta, as it’s so easy to do, and extra veg are always beneficial. This time I added some chopped green beans, as that’s what I had in the fridge. To be honest, any green veg would work well here – see below for some more ideas.

A silky peanut sauce in a food processor bowl.

Step 2: Blitz up the sauce

Next, the sauce… ohhhh, the sauce.

This incredible, silky peanut sauce can be whizzed up in a food processor in about 2 minutes, so do it while the noodles are cooking. I used my mini food processor (almost identical to this one on Amazon UK* – here’s a similar one on Amazon US*). It’s perfect for making small batches of sauces (as well as dressings, dips, etc.), and it’s easier to use and clean than my larger food processor.

The sauce is made from all sorts of tasty things, which all happen to live in my kitchen cupboards permanently. As long as you have a fairly well-stocked pantry, you’ll probably already have everything you need to make this peanut sauce:

peanut butter
sesame seeds
soy sauce
sriracha (or similar hot sauce)
honey
garlic

When these simple ingredients are blitzed up together, they make the most irresistibly exquisite sauce. It’s salty, it’s sweet, it’s spicy – it’s got a bit of everything.

Peanut sauce in a food processor bowl being scooped with a spoon.

Step 3: Combine!

When the noodles are cooked, drain them, and add the peanut and sesame sauce. I find a pair of kitchen tongs is best for tossing the noodles through the sauce.

Peanut noodles in a pan with green beans.

Step 4: Garnish with plenty of toppings

Garnish may sound like an optional extra, but it’s a pretty important part of this recipe.

Without the garnish, you have an admittedly delicious, but pretty simple bowl of peanut noodles.

With the garnish, you have a completely irresistible bowl of noodles, with all sorts of different textures and flavours.

A bowlful of creamy peanut butter noodles topped with green veg and nuts.

How to garnish peanut noodles

I always think it’s a good idea to highlight individual ingredients from a recipe in the garnish. So I topped my bowl of noodles with extra chopped peanuts and sesame seeds, to give a beautiful crunch.

Fresh veggies are also always welcome – some chopped spring onions not only an extra pop of vibrant green to the plate, but also a fresh flavour that lifts the dish and stops it from being too stodgy. Some fresh coriander (cilantro) would have the same freshening effect.

Aerial shot of peanut noodles with lots of toppings.

How can I adapt this recipe?

If you’d like to make this recipe your own, feel free to mix things up a bit:

Swap the green beans for a different green vegetable, such as edamame (I love the frozen ones), broccoli, pak choi, peas, or anything else remotely similar.
Add lots of extra stir fried vegetables for a more substantial dish (more like a peanut-flavoured chow mein).
If you’re missing one ingredient from the sauce, experiment with a substitution, e.g. cashew butter instead of peanut butter, or a small piece of onion instead of the garlic.
For a vegan version, swap the egg noodles for rice noodles, or even just rice.

How to serve peanut noodles

I served my peanut and sesame noodles on their own for lunch.

Each bowlful contains a very impressive 20g of protein (read more about vegetarians and protein here!), as well as fresh veg and carbs – so there’s no real pressure to add anything else on the side.

However, if you do fancy serving something alongside your peanut noodles, to add a bit of interest, there are all sorts of things that would work well:

extra stir fried vegetables
spring rolls
vegetarian egg fu yung
vegetarian Asian-style dumplings
tofu (perhaps teriyaki tofu or lemon and black pepper tofu)

However you serve your peanut and sesame noodles, just heap them up high, add plenty of toppings, and enjoy!

Peanut and Sesame Noodles

These simple peanut and sesame noodles are the perfect Asian-style side dish or main meal, with an irresistibly silky peanut sauce.

Course Main meals, Side Dish

Cuisine Asian, Chinese

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings people

Calories 556kcal

Author Becca Heyes

Ingredients

175 g (~ 6 oz) green beans, sliced
225 g (~ 8 oz) dried egg noodles (or vegan noodles, if needed)
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp soy sauce (I used dark)
1/2 tbsp sriracha (or similar hot sauce)
1/2 tbsp honey
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
3 tbsp water
To garnish (choose at least 2): Sliced spring onions, sesame seeds, chopped peanuts, fresh coriander (cilantro), etc.

Instructions

First, cook the green beans and dried noodles in a pan of boiling water. The noodles I used cook in about 4-5 minutes, so I boiled the green beans for a couple of minutes before adding the noodles. The beans should end up soft enough to eat, but still with a bit of bite.
While the noodles are cooking, add the next 7 ingredients (peanut butter through water) to a food processor (I used a mini one), and blitz for around 60 seconds, until smooth. It should all come together into a smooth, runny sauce – add more water if needed.
When the noodles are ready, drain the water, and add the sauce. Cook for a couple of minutes over a medium heat to warm the sauce.
Serve the peanut noodles topped with your choice of garnish.

Nutrition

These peanut noodles would be perfect served alongside some vegetarian egg fu yung:

The post 15 Minute Peanut and Sesame Noodles appeared first on Easy Cheesy Vegetarian.

Cheesy Vegetarian

Creamy Three Bean Stew

This creamy three bean stew is the ideal healthy comfort food – with fresh veg and three types of beans, in a luxurious creamy tomato sauce!

Overhead shot of a bowl of creamy three bean stew with a dollop of sour cream.

This creamy three bean stew is basically my perfect dinner. It feels like a luxurious, comforting meal, but is packed with fresh vegetables and protein-rich beans (three kinds, in case you couldn’t have guessed) – all coated in a creamy, silky sauce with heaps of flavour (swoooon).

It ticks all the boxes!

A bowlful of creamy three bean stew topped with parsley and a dollop of sour cream.

Healthy comfort food

Veggie-packed comfort food has got to be my all-time favourite food category, and it doesn’t get much better than this creamy three bean stew. It’s absolutely full of goodness, but is about as far from rabbit food as you can get (I’ve never been much of a salad person).

After eating a meal like this, you feel totally satisfied, and your body thanks you too.

Close up photo of a spoon being dipped into a bowl of creamy bean stew.

What’s in this creamy three bean stew?

There are 3 main elements to this hearty vegetarian stew:

the vegetables – I chose carrots, courgette (zucchini) and mushrooms
the beans – three different types! I used black beans, kidney beans and cannellini beans
the sauce – made with tomatoes, creamy tomato soup, and an extra dollop of cream for good measure

As long as you make sure your bean stew contains these three elements, it will be a success – even if you decide to switch things up a bit (see below for some ideas for how to adapt the recipe!).

A spoon taking a scoop of vegetarian bean stew from a bowl.

How to make creamy three bean stew

Step 1: Fry off the vegetables

Start by dicing your veggies, and adding them to a large saucepan. Cook them for a few minutes until they’re just starting to soften.

Diced vegetables being cooked in a saucepan.

Step 2: Add most of the remaining ingredients

We’re already at the ‘add everything else’ stage – this recipe really couldn’t get much simpler.

Add the beans and sauce ingredients to the pan, and leave everything to simmer for a little while, until the sauce has thickened nicely and the vegetables and beans are totally soft.

Three bean stew being cooked in a saucepan.

Step 3: Make it extra creamy

As a little finishing touch, I like to add one more little dollop of something to make it extra creamy. To be honest, there are lots of ingredients you could use for this purpose, which would all have pretty much the same effect:

cream
sour cream
Greek yogurt
cream cheese

Just be careful if you’re using the low fat version of any of these ingredients, as low fat dairy products can sometimes split and curdle in this kind of situation.

It’s best to stick to the full fat version if you can, or if you really want to use low fat, temper the ingredient first. To do this, mix a spoonful of your hot stew into the yogurt (or whatever you’re using) first, then add it all back into the pot. This helps to minimise the temperature shock, and reduces the risk of curdling.

A dollop of sour cream being added to a rich tomatoey bean stew in a saucepan.

The difference that one good dollop of sour cream had on my three bean stew was really pretty amazing:

It makes the whole thing so much more luxurious, and transforms a simple bean stew into something seriously tempting.

A bowlful of creamy vegetarian three bean stew topped with parsley and sour cream.

How to serve three bean stew

This stew already contains all the most important food groups, so there’s no need to serve anything alongside it if you don’t want to. Just a nice big bowl and a spoon are all you need.

Personally though, I think a bit of garlic bread or some crusty bread and butter are absolutely perfect for mopping up the bowl and adding a nice bit of crunch…

A hand using a piece of garlic bread to scoop up some three bean stew.

How to adapt the recipe

One of the best things about this recipe is that it’s endlessly adaptable – it’s such a good fridge clearer. I would be willing to bet that almost all of you could make this three bean stew entirely from ingredients you already have in the house.

Who doesn’t already have a cupboard full of random tins of beans? And a fridge full of veggies that could do with being used up?

Just chuck ’em all in – the more the merrier.

You could choose different vegetables, different beans, or adjust the sauce ingredients, and you’ll almost certainly still end up with a really tasty meal. In fact, it’s pretty fun if it ends up slightly different each time you make it.

Creamy Three Bean Stew

This creamy three bean stew is the ideal healthy comfort food – with fresh veg and three types of beans, in a luxurious creamy tomato sauce!

Course Main meal

Cuisine Mediterranean

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings

Calories 368kcal

Author Becca Heyes

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil
1 onion, sliced or diced
2 medium carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium courgette (zucchini), diced
~ 5 medium mushrooms, diced
400 g tin cannellini beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
400 g tin black beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
400 g tin kidney beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
400 g (~ 1⅓ cups) tinned tomatoes
400 g (~ 1 1/3 cups) tin cream of tomato soup
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp black pepper
1 vegetable stock cube, crumbled
2 tbsp cream, cream cheese, sour cream or Greek yogurt (full fat versions)
Small bunch fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Instructions

Heat a dash of oil in a large saucepan, and add the diced onion and carrot. Cook over a medium heat for a few minutes, stirring regularly, until the onion has softened slightly. Add the garlic, courgette and mushrooms, and cook for a further 5 minutes, until the vegetables are beginning to soften.
Add the three drained tins of beans, tin of tomatoes, and tin of tomato soup. Also add the oregano and black pepper, along with a crumbled stock cube (or just some salt, if you prefer).
Bring to a simmer, and cook for around 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced to produce a thick sauce.
Add the cream, mix to combine, and serve warm, garnished with fresh parsley if desired.

Notes

Feel free to use different vegetables or different beans, depending on what you have in the kitchen.

It’s best to use full fat dairy products for cooking, as low fat varieties tend to split and curdle when added to heat. If you really need to use a low fat dairy ingredient, temper it before adding it to the stew. To do this, mix one spoonful of the hot stew into the low fat yogurt (or whatever it is), and stir it together. Then add it back into the stew. This reduces the temperature shock to the yogurt, and minimises the risk of curdling.