This peanut sauce recipe makes a salty, sweet & spicy dip and dressing for all things Asian. It's a 5-minute peanut butter sauce made with pantry staples and customizable for even more authentic Thai peanut sauce flavors.
Easy Peanut Sauce
There's no secret formula to a good peanut sauce recipe. In fact, there are endless ingredient combinations, so it's really about loosely following a recipe and customizing to your liking. It's so easy too! It's made with a handful of everyday pantry staples whisked together to make one of the best sauces in your collection! Our personal favorite is Thai Peanut Zoodles.
Peanut Sauce Ingredients
- natural peanut butter
- soy sauce or gluten-free tamari
- unseasoned rice vinegar or lime juice
- maple syrup
- ginger
- garlic
- sriracha, or chili garlic paste, or cayenne pepper
- water
* see full recipe below
What to eat with peanut sauce
- Veggie Quinoa Banh Mi Bowl
- Turmeric Chickpea Buddha Bowl Recipe
- Thai spring rolls (also called summer rolls)
- Asian salad
- dumplings or gyoza
- lettuce wraps
- stir fry
- chicken satay
- vegetable crudité
What other sauce, besides ranch dressing, has this many uses?!
How to make peanut sauce
- Place soy sauce, grated ginger, rice vinegar, maple syrup, finely grated garlic, sriracha (or any chili flavor), and peanut butter in a bowl. Feel free to substitute your favorite gluten-free soy sauce.
- Whisk ingredients together until well-combined.
- Add small amounts of water and continue whisking until you reach your desired consistency.
Pro tip: It's way too easy to make this sauce way too watery. So, be diligent about adding only "small" amounts of water to reach the right consistency.
Authentic Thai peanut sauce
This recipe is mildly flavored for a Thai dipping sauce. To give it stronger, more distinct Thai flavors, start by substituting coconut milk for water in this recipe. Then add any of the following ingredients in small amounts:
- lime juice
- chili garlic sauce
- fish sauce
- lemongrass paste
- tamarind paste
- galangal
- Thai red curry paste
- sesame oil
It's fun to experiment with these ingredients. if you overuse any of them, it can quickly become not delicious and difficult to correct, so go easy!
How to thicken peanut sauce
Oh snap! You went and made your sauce too thin, did ya? We've all been there. If this happens, simply whisk in more peanut butter to adjust it.
You can even use peanut butter powder to make the adjustment...it acts like flour, which is very cool! It's spendy...because it doesn't include peanut oil. It has a million uses, just like peanut butter.
Does Thai dipping sauce have dairy?
This sauce is naturally vegan and naturally dairy-free! There's no need to add animal products to it because it's scrumptious on its own.
Next to hummus, I can't think of a more popular plant-based condiment that's so universal to non-vegans everywhere!
Recommended Tools
- microplane (to finely grate ginger and garlic)
- small mixing bowl
- fork or whisk
- airtight storage container
Grab these easy Asian recipes
- Pickled Carrots and Daikon
- Thai Coconut Soup
- Vegan Thai Coconut Vegetable Curry
- Teriyaki Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Kale Sesame Noodles
- Thai Cucumber Salad
- Asian Slaw Quinoa Salad
- Banh Mi Buddha Bowl
Peanut Sauce [Thai Peanut Sauce]
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup Natural Peanut Butter, unsweetened
- 1 Tbsp Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce, or Tamari (for gluten free)
- 1 Tbsp Unseasoned Rice Vinegar, or lime juice
- 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- 1 tsp Ginger, finely grated
- 1 clove Garlic, finely grated
- 1 tsp Sriracha, or chili garlic paste, or pinch cayenne
- Water, as needed to adjust consistency
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together PEANUT BUTTER, SOY SAUCE, RICE VINEGAR, MAPLE SYRUP, GINGER, GARLIC, and SRIRACHA until well-combined.
- Slowly pour in small amounts of WATER and continue whisking until sauce reaches desired consistency.
NOTE: If the sauce is too thick for your liking, add a little water to thin it out. If it's too thin, add a little peanut butter to thicken it.
Recipe Notes from TKG
- coconut milk
- lime juice
- chili garlic sauce
- fish sauce [not vegan]
- lemongrass paste
- tamarind paste
- galangal
- Thai red curry paste
Nutrition
Nutrition data provided as courtesy estimates using unbranded ingredients from a nutrition database. Please consult preferred resource for precise data.
Only1 says
So do I just guess the measurements?
The Kitchen Girl says
I'm not sure what you mean. There's a printable recipe card with the full recipe measurements and instructions.
Patti says
Substituted the one tablespoon of soy sauce with one tablespoon of fish sauce and added a whole tablespoon of Siracha. Really gave it a kick with umami!
The Kitchen Girl says
Awesome...so glad you enjoyed it! I like fish sauce in it too, but I kept it vegan knowing it could be added. Thanks for the review! 🙂
Natasja says
Made peanut soba noodles with this and it tasted so good! Even the picky eaters in my house loved it.
We will be eating this a lot more.
The Kitchen Girl says
Yay! I'm so glad to hear it, Natasja! This peanut sauce really goes well on a lot of things. Glad your family is enjoying it...thanks for letting me know!
K says
Tastes great! How long would this last stored in the refrigerator? I'd love to whip up a large batch and set aside for future use.
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks K! I've had mine up to a week or 10 days easily...maybe even more, but mine never lasts that long lol. Glad you're enjoying the recipe 🙂
GC says
Delicious sauce! I used it as a dipping sauce for dumplings. I had to use double the amount of water though for it to have a nice consistency.
Traci Antonovich says
Yay, so glad you enjoyed it! And yes, the water can easily be adjusted to change consistency. Glad you found your sweet spot 🙂
PJ says
I tried two other recipes before yours. Both batches went down the garbage disposal. Yours was absolutely perfect! It was exactly the flavors that I was looking for! Thank you so much. These made my lettuce wraps scrumptious!!
Traci Antonovich says
Wow PJ! So glad you enjoyed this recipe 🙂 Thanks for the kind words...makes my day!
Glenda says
Delicious! Thank you! Will use for my spring rolls, pasta, stir fry, and so much more .
Traci Antonovich says
Woohoo! Love hearing that...thanks for the feedback, Glenda! 🙂
Sheri says
Please add 5 stars to my review!
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks Sheri, done!
Sheri says
My favorite restaurant features a Buddha bowl with luscious peanut sauce.
My budget, unfortunately, doesn’t accommodate dining in as frequently as I’d like, which put me on the hunt for a comparable homemade alternative.
I’ve tried a lot but your recipe hits the nail on the head!
I particularly appreciate that it’s not overly sweet.
The recipe is flavorful as given but adding any of the suggested, optional ingredients allows you to customize to taste. Made enough for 3 generous servings.
Great job!
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks Sheri! Well this makes my day...and I too love peanut sauce that's isn't too sweet. This recipe is so flexible for someone to add sweetness, or spice, or more traditional ingredients. Thanks again for your feedback 🙂
Carmy says
I've never added cayenne pepper to my pb sauce before. I'll have to try that. I almost always have some in my fridge since it goes with everything! It is a staple for us! Especially when making stir frys!
Traci Antonovich says
Awesome and thanks! Yeah the cayenne is a nice way to not add extra salt and/or fat (via Sriracha, chili paste, or chili oil)...even though I love all of those things 😉