Thai-Style Sweet Potato Noodles
Sweet potato noodles tossed with a creamy almond-peanut style sauce, stir-fried vegetables and extra-firm tofu. Serve with cilantro, toasted nuts and lime wedges.
Equipment
- spiralizerhandheldorhand-crank
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1/4 cupcreamy almond butter or peanut butter
- 2/3 cupwater
- 1/4 cupfreshly squeezed lime juice
- 1/4 cupsoy sauce regular or tamari
- 1 tbspminced or grated ginger
- 1 tbspminced garlic
- 1 tbspmaple syrup or agave syrup
- 1 tbspavocado oil or another neutral oil
- 1/2 yellow onion diced or thinly sliced
- 1 Thai chili pepper or 1/2 jalapeño pepper minced, optional
- 1/2 red bell pepper chopped or thinly sliced
- 1 cupthinly sliced red cabbage
- 1 cupchopped broccoli
- 1 cupcubed extra firm tofu about 1/2 a 12 oz. package
- 2 mediumsweet potatoes peeled, tips removed, and spiralized (see notes)
- 1/2 cupchopped fresh cilantro loosely packed
- 1/4 cupchopped toasted almonds or peanuts
- lime wedges for serving
Instructions
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine the almond butter, water, lime juice, soy sauce, minced or grated ginger, minced garlic, and maple syrup. Whisk over medium heat until the mixture is smooth and begins to simmer.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover the saucepan, and cook the sauce for 10 minutes, uncovering to stir periodically. Keep the sauce warm on the lowest heat until ready to use.
- Meanwhile, heat the avocado (or neutral) oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the diced or thinly sliced yellow onion and the minced Thai chili or jalapeño (if using) and the chopped or thinly sliced red bell pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes, until the onion and pepper begin to soften.
- Add the thinly sliced red cabbage and chopped broccoli to the skillet. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until the broccoli turns bright green and begins to tenderize.
- Push the vegetables to the outer edges of the skillet to make a clear space in the center. Add the cubed extra-firm tofu to the center and cook without stirring for about 3–5 minutes, until the bottom of the tofu is lightly golden. Then stir the tofu together with the vegetables.
- Continue to cook the combined vegetables and tofu for another 3–5 minutes, until the broccoli is tender to your liking. If the pan becomes dry or the vegetables begin to stick, add a splash of water (up to about 1/4 cup) and stir to deglaze the pan. Transfer the cooked vegetables and tofu to a clean bowl and set aside.
- Wipe the skillet if needed, then add the spiralized sweet potatoes to the empty skillet. Pour the warm almond sauce from the saucepan over the sweet potatoes and gently toss or stir to coat the noodles evenly.
- Cover the skillet and cook over medium heat until the sauce is gently simmering, then continue cooking covered for about 8 minutes. Test the sweet potatoes for doneness; they should be tender but not mushy. If needed, continue cooking up to a total of 15 minutes, checking every few minutes.
- When the sweet potatoes are cooked to your preference, remove the skillet from the heat and fold the reserved cooked vegetables and tofu back into the sweet potato noodles until everything is evenly combined and heated through.
- Divide into bowls and garnish with the chopped fresh cilantro and chopped toasted almonds or peanuts. Serve with lime wedges alongside; the dish can be served hot, at room temperature, or chilled.
Notes
Spiralizer: This appliance cuts vegetables into long spaghetti-like shapes, making it one of the easiest ways to make spiralized sweet potato noodles at home. You can buy free-standing spiralizers, spiralizer stand mixer attachments, and multi-purpose machines with spiralizer settings.
Julienne Peeler: For a more affordable method that requires a bit of elbow grease, consider this hand-held spiralizing tool. It’s similar to a vegetable peeler but has additional vertical blades that julienne the veggies with each swipe.
Pre-Cut Noodles: If you’re looking for the most convenient option, pre-cut noodles are for you! Many well-stocked grocery stores now sell fresh sweet potato noodles in the prepared produce section.
Refrigeration:Leftover sweet potato pasta noodles keep covered in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freezing:Once cooled to room temperature, you can also freeze the noodles in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Defrost them overnight in the refrigerator.
Reheating:Warm the sweet potato pasta in a saucepan over low heat with a splash ofvegetable stockor broth for 5 minutes, stirring periodically, or in the microwave on gentle heat until hot.
Multitask.Save time by simmering the sauce while stir-frying the vegetables and preparing the garnishes while the sweet potato noodles cook.
Prep the ingredients ahead.For the smoothest cooking and multitasking, have the sweet potatoes spiralized and the rest of the ingredients chopped and measured before firing up the stovetop.
Adjust the sweet potato cooking time.Test the noodles after 8 minutes of simmering. If they are too firm, continue cooking them, checking them every few minutes for doneness. To prevent mushy noodles, don’t cook them longer than 15 minutes.
Serve at any temperature.For a warm meal, serve it piping hot, though this sweet potato noodle recipe is also totally tasty served cold or at room temperature.
Julienne Peeler: For a more affordable method that requires a bit of elbow grease, consider this hand-held spiralizing tool. It’s similar to a vegetable peeler but has additional vertical blades that julienne the veggies with each swipe.
Pre-Cut Noodles: If you’re looking for the most convenient option, pre-cut noodles are for you! Many well-stocked grocery stores now sell fresh sweet potato noodles in the prepared produce section.
Refrigeration:Leftover sweet potato pasta noodles keep covered in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freezing:Once cooled to room temperature, you can also freeze the noodles in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Defrost them overnight in the refrigerator.
Reheating:Warm the sweet potato pasta in a saucepan over low heat with a splash ofvegetable stockor broth for 5 minutes, stirring periodically, or in the microwave on gentle heat until hot.
Multitask.Save time by simmering the sauce while stir-frying the vegetables and preparing the garnishes while the sweet potato noodles cook.
Prep the ingredients ahead.For the smoothest cooking and multitasking, have the sweet potatoes spiralized and the rest of the ingredients chopped and measured before firing up the stovetop.
Adjust the sweet potato cooking time.Test the noodles after 8 minutes of simmering. If they are too firm, continue cooking them, checking them every few minutes for doneness. To prevent mushy noodles, don’t cook them longer than 15 minutes.
Serve at any temperature.For a warm meal, serve it piping hot, though this sweet potato noodle recipe is also totally tasty served cold or at room temperature.