Creamy Thai-Inspired Peanut Noodle Soup

You know those cold weeknights when you’re craving something warm and comforting, but just don’t feel like cooking? Same here.

That’s why I’m so excited to share this recipe for my new favorite weeknight meal: Creamy Thai Peanut Noodle Soup.

This soup has it all: a creamy, nutty broth that’s packed with flavor, tender noodles that soak up all that goodness, and the perfect balance of sweet, salty, and a little bit spicy. It’s a warm & delicious hug in a bowl.

This soup comes together in just about 15 minutes. Yep, you read that right: just 15 short minutes stand between you and a steaming bowl of noodle soup perfection.

So how do we make this magic happen? It all starts with the ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need:

Nothing too crazy, right? The key players here are the evaporated milk and peanut butter, which create an incredibly creamy base for this soup.

As for the noodles, I always opt for something higher in protein when I can help it (which is why I use chickpea pasta in a lot of recipes). For this one, I experimented with high-protein instant ramen, but honestly, any noodles will work here. Rice noodles, udon, even good ol’ spaghetti – use whatever you have on hand.

Depending on the ingredients you use, the nutrition facts will vary slightly. But if you follow as-is, each serving contains 330 calories and 20 grams of protein.

The star of any soup is the broth, and this one is made with a combination of beef or chicken broth combined with evaporated milk. I like to use evaporated milk, which is simply milk that has had most of the water content removed, to get a creamier result.

Coconut milk is a great substitute for evaporated milk, and if you want to save calories, you can use your favorite low-calorie milk as well, just know that your soup won’t be nearly as creamy if you go that route.

The next important ingredient for the broth is powdered peanut butter. If you’ve never used it before, powdered peanut butter is made from roasted peanuts that have been pressed to remove most of the oil, then ground into a fine powder. It has all the flavor of regular peanut butter but with fewer calories and fat.

Don’t have powdered peanut butter? No problem! You can easily swap in regular creamy peanut butter, it will just result in more calories (but, if I’m being honest, more flavor as well).

Don’t have powdered peanut butter? No problem! You can easily swap in regular creamy peanut butter, it will just result in more calories (but, if I’m being honest, more flavor as well).

To balance out the richness of the peanut butter and evaporated milk, I add a generous splash of lime juice and hot honey. The acidity from the lime juice brightens up all the flavors, while the hot honey adds a subtle kick of heat that takes this soup to the next level.

Now, let’s get cooking! Here’s how to make this soup:

1. In a large pot, whisk together all of your broth ingredients: the beef or chicken broth, evaporated milk, peanut butter, hot honey, lemon juice, soy sauce and sesame oil. Give it a good whisk until everything is combined.
2. Bring that mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Once it’s simmering, take a little taste and adjust any flavors to your liking. Want it spicier? Add another squeeze of hot honey. Need more salt? A splash of soy sauce will do the trick.
3. Next, crank up the heat and bring the broth to a boil. Once it’s bubbling, add in your noodles and cook them according to the package instructions. Most instant noodles only take about 3-4 minutes, which is part of the beauty of this recipe.
4. Once your noodles are tender, it’s time to serve! Ladle the soup into bowls and load it up with your favorite toppings.

And that’s it! In about 15 minutes you’ve got a steaming bowl of creamy, flavorful noodle soup that’ll warm you up from the inside out.

I love topping my soup with chili crunch because it adds a ton of flavor, but I understand that not everyone will want to use extra oil as a topping. If calories are a concern, Trader Joe’s carries a seasoning that has all the same flavors without the calories:

I highly recommend either as a topping, but you can customize this soup however you’d like.

Go one step further and add sliced bell peppers, mushrooms, shredded chicken, crispy tofu, you name it. I find this soup to be filling on its own, but I’d never stop you from elevating it even further.

Want to make this dish even heartier? Try reducing the amount of broth by 1/2 to 1 cup. This will give you more of a saucy noodle dish rather than a soup, which is equally delicious and works really well with the Thai-inspired base.

However you choose to customize it, I hope this Creamy Thai-Inspired Peanut Noodle Soup becomes a new weeknight favorite for you, too! If you’ve got 15 minutes to spare, fire this one up.

And if you want some other simple Asian-inspired dishes (that are also quick & easy) here are some of my favorites:

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