This Pad Thai Peanut Sauce is a super easy recipe that can be used as a dipping sauce for spring rolls, drizzled over chicken or pad thai, or thinned down to make a simple Thai peanut dressing. It’s sweet, salty, tangy and only takes about 10 minutes to make.
If you are looking for more Thai food with peanut sauce, you can also try these Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles, Thai Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing, or this Thai Chicken Chopped Salad.
Pad Thai Peanut Sauce
As condiments go, this recipe for Pad Thai Peanut Sauce is one of the ones I make the most. It’s beyond quick and easy, absolutely delicious, and can turn all sorts of noodles, salads, wraps, veggies, and chicken dishes into something amazing. It’s sweet and salty, tangy, super creamy, and uses just a few ingredients.
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Depending on what you want to use it for, and the flavors that your family likes, you can feel free to add fresh ginger, a minced clove of garlic, or a dash of hot sauce for some spice. Serve as a dipping sauce for Thai lettuce wraps, drizzled over grilled chicken, tossed with rice noodles, added to stir fry, or thinned down and served as a dressing for your favorite green salad.
Key Ingredients
- Peanut Butter – while I usually use creamy peanut butter, you can definitely use crunchy if you don’t mind a sauce that isn’t completely smooth.
- Water – water helps to thin down the sauce a bit. Instead of water you could substitute coconut milk.
- Sugar – this recipe calls for granulated sugar, but brown sugar or even cane sugar would make a great substitute. You could even use a touch of maple syrup or honey.
- Soy Sauce – you can use regular soy sauce, low salt, or even tamari.
- White Wine Vinegar – this helps round out the flavors. You could substitute a bit of rice wine vinegar.
- Lime Juice – for the best flavor, use fresh lime juice. This should be added after the sauce has cooked so that the flavor stays nice and fresh.
How to Make Peanut Sauce for Pad Thai
- Heat the ingredients. In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, add the peanut butter, water, sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes very smooth and the sugar has dissolved.
- Stir in the lime juice. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice.
- Use or store. Peanut sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Serve warm or cold as a dipping sauce or dressing for any of your favorite Asian-inspired dishes. Enjoy!
More Ways to Use Pad Thai Peanut Sauce
While the possibilities are endless, here are a few of my favorite peanut sauce uses:
- Use as a dipping sauce for spring rolls, satay skewers, or even raw veggies.
- Take your stir-fry game to the next level by adding this to a wide range of stir-fried vegetables, proteins, and noodles.
- Turn your ordinary grilled chicken or tofu into something special by thinning down and using as a simple marinade.
- Jazz up a green salad by thinning down with water or coconut milk and using as a salad dressing.
- Instead of the usual condiments, slather some peanut sauce on your sandwich bread or burger buns.
Frequently Asked Questions
Peanut Sauce is an Americanized term for Asian satay sauce, which is made from ground peanuts (or peanut butter) and a combination of other Asian ingredients such as coconut milk, fresh ginger, soy sauce, tamarind, garlic, lemongrass, and spices such as red pepper flakes and cumin. Different Asian countries have different versions, but they all have peanuts as the main ingredient.
Sure! The only source of gluten in this peanut dipping sauce is soy sauce, so choose a gluten-free soy sauce option such as tamari.
You can store Thai Peanut Sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Absolutely! This sauce tastes great as a Thai Peanut Dressing. You can just thin it down with just a touch of water or coconut milk, mixing well as you add about 1 teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.
Storage Instructions
- Refrigerator: store in an airtight container or jar in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Peanut Sauce can be frozen in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 2 months. To thaw, transfer to the fridge overnight.
- To reheat: if you want to serve Peanut Sauce warm, or if you simply need to loosen it up a bit, you can gently microwave for about 30 seconds, or heat in a saucepan over low heat while stirring.
Pad Thai Peanut Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (65 g) peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) water
- 2 tablespoons (24 g) sugar
- 1 tablespoon (18 g) soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon (1/2 teaspoon) white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) lime juice
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, add the peanut butter, water, sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes very smooth and the sugar has dissolved.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice. Peanut sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Serve warm or cold as a dipping sauce or dressing for any of your favorite Asian-inspired dishes. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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More Of Our Favorite Asian-Inspired Recipes
- Asian Beef Kabobs
- Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Korean Beef Stir Fry
- Quick Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry
- Chili Spiced Sweet Potatoes
- Grilled Teriyaki Salmon
- Coconut Rice
- More Salad Recipes
- More Condiments
This Pad Thai Peanut Sauce recipe is salty, sweet, tangy, and super delicious. It’s a quick and easy recipe that can be used on all of your favorite Asian-inspired dishes.
