Sweet Potato Noodles

What are Sweet Potato Noodles?

Sweet potato noodles are a type of “noodle” made from spiralizing sweet potatoes into a shape similar to spaghetti or angel hair pasta. You can buy spiralized sweet potato noodles at the grocery store or make them at home by feeding skinned sweet potatoes through a spiralizer.

The sweet potato spiral noodles we are featuring in this recipe are not the same as Korean sweet potato glass noodles (also known as japchae noodles, Korean potato noodles, and Korean vermicelli potato noodles). Korean sweet potato noodles consist of sweet potato starch and water, whereas my noodles come from whole sweet potatoes.

I use a spiralizer to make the sweet potato spaghetti used in this recipe. However, you can find out below how to make spiralized sweet potato noodles without a spiralizer.

How are they Made?

If you’ve ever wondered, “How are sweet potato noodles made?” you’ll be happy to see that they are super easy to make. Yes, you do need a spiralizer (I use this Paderno Spiralizer – affiliate link), but it is a rather inexpensive one-time investment.

Once you have your equipment ready, spiralizing sweet potatoes requires the following three steps:

1. Cut and peel the sweet potatoes: Use a sharp knife to cut off both ends of the sweet potato. Then, peel off the skin using a vegetable peeler. Once peeled, cut the sweet potatoes in half, right down the middle.
2. Align the sweet potato: Secure your spiralizer on the countertop to keep it from moving (for instance, my spiralizer has suction cups on its bottom to help keep it in place). Take one of your sweet potato halves, line it up with the center prong on your spiralizer, and press it firmly into the prong. Then, press the other end of the spiralizer to secure the sweet potato from both sides.

3. Spiralize: Once you secure the sweet potato half, spin the side handle of the spiralizer clockwise while applying pressure. Continue turning the handle until you spiralize the entire sweet potato half. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you have spiralized all of your sweet potatoes.

What if I Don’t Have a Spiralizer?

If you don’t have a spiralizer, don’t worry! You can also prepare them using a julienne peeler (affiliate link). Just keep in mind that this method will likely require more physical effort. Also, because the noodles will turn out thinner, they will take less time to cook than spiralized vegetable noodles.

To reduce preparation time, you can also buy pre-prepared sweet potato noodles at the grocery store in lieu of using a spiralizer.

Recipe Ingredients

To make this recipe with sweet potato noodles, you’ll need two sets of ingredients:

For the sauce, you’ll need unsweetened, smooth peanut butter, tamari (or soy sauce), sesame oil, maple syrup, freshly grated ginger, minced garlic, fresh lime juice, salt, and vegetable stock.

For the noodles, you’ll need olive oil, onion, red or yellow bell pepper, sweet potatoes, vegetable stock, edamame, and fresh cilantro.

You can also garnish them with sesame seeds, green onions, and lightly salted peanuts (roughly chopped).

How to Cook?

Cooking sweet potato noodles is a simple, healthy way to treat yourself to full-bodied Asian flavor. You can have this delicious dish from spiralizer to table in just half an hour.

1. Spiralize the sweet potatoes: Trim, peel, and cut your sweet potatoes to prepare them for spiralization. Then, attach the sweet potato halves to your spiralizer, one by one, and turn the handle clockwise until you spiralize each half. Continue spiralizing your sweet potato halves until you have enough noodles.
2. Mix the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, tamari, sesame oil, maple syrup, ginger, minced garlic, lime juice, salt, and vegetable stock. Refrigerate the mixture until you are ready to use it.
3. Saute the veggies: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and pepper to the skillet and cook them, frequently stirring, until they turn translucent (5-7 minutes).
4. Cook the noodles: Add the spiralized sweet potatoes and vegetable stock to the skillet. Using a pair of kitchen tongs, cook sweet potato noodles tossing gently every few minutes until they are al dente and lose most of their volume, for 6-7 minutes.

5. Add the dressing: Pour the dressing over the noodles and toss the mixture until the noodles have an equal layer of dressing. Cook the coated noodles until they are warm (2-3 minutes).
6. Stir in the edamame: Take the noodles off the heat, then stir in the edamame and chopped cilantro.
7. Serve: Divide the noodles among four bowls and garnish each dish with sesame seeds, green onions, and peanuts. Serve.