The Very Best Peanut Sauce! Smooth, drizzle-able, garlicky, and gingery with a good spicy sesame kick. Perfect for noodles, salads, protein, or as a dipping sauce!
The Very Best Peanut Sauce
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I make this peanut sauce all the time! It is lick-the-bowl delicious, it can dress up any sad vegetables.
Anna Rae Goethe
I scream, you scream, we all scream for… easy delicious sauces for summer!
Let’s get real for a second. When it’s summer and you’re grilling more and going to the farmer’s market sometimes and getting gifted things from neighbors gardens or CSA boxes, sometimes “regular meal prep” doesn’t cut it. Sometimes what you really need is just a good sauce or two to get you through the week – be it for dipping, drizzling, salading, spreading, or dunking with all your freshly grilled, roasted, or chopped up summery stuff.
Enter: the very best peanut sauce!
This peanut sauce. Wow oh wow oh wow.
It * is * the * very * best. Did I already say that?
This peanut sauce has been around the block a few times here on Pinch of Yum – it started with these zoodles, re-purposed its way into these firecracker lettuce wraps, and resurfaced briefly for a dressing application in that quinoa crunch salad. Over the last few years it has become THE ESSENTIAL PEANUT SAUCE of this blog and/or my life.
What’s different about it from normal peanut sauce:
- It’s smooth and drizzle-able.
- No, but seriously. This is important. It’s NOT thick and gloppy. No peanut sauce glops allowed!
- It uses fresh garlic and ginger, yes, but most notably, it features a hefty pour of sesame oil! which makes the flavor, well, the very best.
Everybody goes in:
And the very best peanut sauce comes out:
Ways I love to use this sauce:
- Noodles
- Rice Bowls
- Grilled Chicken
- Sauteed Tofu
- Salad Dressing
- Dipping Sauce
Just try throwing some in a skillet with some chicken or tofu for a little trick. The way it gets browned and crispy and beautiful (like what’s in the pictures here)?
YES. You are right to think that it’s life-changing.
Check Out Our Video For How To Make Peanut Sauce:
The Very Best Peanut Sauce
- Total Time: 5 mins
- Yield: 1 1/2 cups (6 servings – 1/4 cup each) 1x
Description
The Very Best Peanut Sauce! Smooth, drizzle-able, garlicky, and gingery with a good spicy sesame kick. Perfect for noodles, salads, protein, or as a dipping sauce!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil (toasted or dark)
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sambal oelek or chili paste (this is where the “spicy” comes in, so add to taste)
- 2–3 tablespoons sugar, honey, or agave
- a small knob of fresh ginger, peeled
- a clove of fresh garlic, peeled
- 1/4 cup of water
Instructions
- Blend all the sauce ingredients together in a small blender or food processor until smooth and creamy.
- Find everything in your house that can be dunked in this ridiculously good sauce and then get to work.
Notes
VEGAN: No adaptations needed.
GLUTEN FREE: Use tamari or coconut aminos in place of soy sauce.
SUB FOR PB: You can use almond butter! It’s delicious.
FREEZABLE: Yes!
KEEPS IN THE FRIDGE: About 1 week.
CAN I SKIP THE SUGAR: Sure. I prefer it with sugar but you can skip it.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Blend
- Cuisine: Thai-Inspired
Keywords: peanut sauce, thai peanut sauce, easy peanut sauce
Drizzle This Peanut Sauce On:
Spicy Sesame Zoodles
Firecracker Vegan Lettuce Wraps
Quinoa Crunch Salad
Crispy Tofu
Thai Summer Rolls
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our Sauces That Make Everything Better roundup. Check it out!
May 13, 2019
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
Did you make a recipe? Tag @pinchofyum on Instagram so we can find you!
Sounds super tasty! Thanks for the recipe. Do you think instead of classical Chili paste gochujang would work as well? I was thinking the Smokey flavour might complement the peanuts well.
Agreed – should taste great!
LOVE this!! You wont believe the first time I had a savoury peanut butter sauce was – when I tried your recipe for soba noodle salad. I have lost count of how many times I have made that for dinner!! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I agree that this is absolutely the best peanut sauce! Adding a squeeze of lime juice makes it extra good.
Sorry, but this is but a very pale imitation of the best Chinese Peanut Sauce by Nina Simond. Published under the Rainbow Noodles recipe in Asian Noodles, also on the internet, this is wildly delicious, piquant, and better than sex. I generally enjoy your recipes, but you struck out this time.
We all have different taste buds- Just because you didn’t care for it, doesn’t mean she will strike out for the rest of us. It looks delicious to me!!! yum!
Are you advertising your own blog post under this recipe?! The recipe you cite has almost the exact same ingredients…people on the internet 😮
Three is no link to or mention of her blog. Additionally, while the ingredients are mostly the same, the differences are crucial. Chinese black vinegar in place of a sweet rice vinegar, much more garlic, and the addition of Serrano chili can make a big difference in flavor. Personally, I think both versions look delicious and I can’t wait to try them.
This is what ChatGPT told me 🙂
The difference in taste between the two recipes for peanut sauce can be attributed to the type of vinegar used. Each vinegar imparts its unique flavor profile, which will affect the overall taste of the sauce.
Rice vinegar: It is a mild, slightly sweet vinegar made from fermented rice. This vinegar has a subtle, delicate flavor, which can brighten the peanut sauce without overpowering it. Using rice vinegar in the recipe will result in a lighter, more balanced sauce that allows the peanut flavor to shine through.
Chinese black vinegar: This vinegar, also known as Chinkiang vinegar, is made from fermented grains such as rice, wheat, and millet. It has a complex, rich, and slightly smoky flavor. Using Chinese black vinegar in the peanut sauce will result in a deeper, more robust flavor profile with a hint of smokiness.
Worcestershire sauce: This is a fermented sauce made from ingredients like vinegar, molasses, sugar, salt, anchovies, tamarind extract, and various spices. It has a tangy, savory, and slightly sweet taste with a hint of umami. Using Worcestershire sauce in place of Chinese black vinegar will also result in a more robust sauce, but with a different flavor profile, adding a unique savory and tangy twist to the peanut sauce.
In summary, using rice vinegar will give you a lighter, more delicate peanut sauce, while using Chinese black vinegar or Worcestershire sauce will result in a bolder, more complex sauce with different flavor nuances. Your choice should depend on your personal taste preferences and the specific dish you’re using the sauce for.
Thank you for taking the time to review the sauces. It is so appreciated, because some people feel either entitled to push their opinion on others or have not even tried the recipe.
This peanut sauce looks incredible!! I’d love it on rice noodles 🙂
Never thought of making Peanut sauce before but this surely looks good. 🙂
Oh my this peanut sauce looks delicious! I would love to have it with rainbow rolls!
Alia,
Would you happen by chance to have a YouTube video of what your rainbow rolls look like? 🙂
Yum!
This looks so yummy! I was wondering what you could substitute for the chili paste. Unfortunately, I am allergic to corn and most of the time distilled vinegar comes from corn 😞and I haven’t found a chili paste yet that doesn’t have distilled vinegar or that uses another type of vinegar. Thanks!
Ashley,
You can leave out the chili paste and it still tastes great. I do this all the time because I am allergic to the nightshade family (peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant).
Will definitely try without, thanks!
I love all your recipes. What brand of chili paste do you use?
We typically use the Huy Fong sambal oelek!
Which kind of peanut butter is used? The picture looks like natural peanut butter, the one that has the layer of oil at the top. Just making sure since natural PB has much less sugar and a different texture than the typical Jiffy variety. Excited to try the recipe!
It’s pretty forgiving – we typically use just standard peanut butter!
When you say “standard” peanut butter, do you mean JIF or KRAFT or Skippy (with added sugar & other ingredients), or do you suggest all natural PB without any added ingredients (peanuts and salt only)? I think the type of PB makes all the difference. Thanks!
Hi, Angela! Natural peanut butter works great here, but if you have Jif or Skippy on hand, that can work, too.
Hi!! I was wondering if you used toasted sesame oil or plain sesame oil. I normally use toasted but I wasn’t sure if you thought 1/3 cup of toasted sesame oil would be too overwhelming.
We typically do toasted! Feel free to cut it a little if it’s too much for you.
Made this yesterday. Pretty darn good. Tip – be sure and use LOW SODIUM soy sauce as stated in the recipe. I did not and it came out way too salty. Prolly should’ve cut the SS with some water.
I really want to make this right now! Have you tried it using dried ginger? I’m all out of fresh!
Yes! Works just fine. We’d use 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon of dried depending on how much ginger you like!
thank you for letting me know this is freezable! It is nice not to have to experiment. I just discovered a brilliant idea, I use a bistro chalk marker–erases with water–to mark the date contents of my dressings and sauces. I think I will use it on freezer items too and write on the front of the freezer (in the garage) what yummy things are inside. thank you!
Peanut sauce is the BEST type of Vietnamese/Thai sauce there is. Hands down. Fish sauce better watch its back. But anyways, my friend always told me that the secret to the best peanut sauce entail nailing the ratios every single time. Peanut butter, soy sauce, everything. This looks like such a killer recipe and I am certain it is one of the best out there!
Do you know many servings this makes (when using the 1X scale)?
Yep! Six servings – about 1/4 cup each.
This was super yummy! I used it with some pan-sauteed tofu (gotta practice making it crispier!)
Bet it’d be awesome with chicken too!
If you coat the tofu in some cornstarch first it will come out crispier. Just make sure you’ve pressed as much water out of it as possible. Set a plate with something heavier on top of it and set that on another plate or I use my cutting board because it has a rim that will catch the extra water.
This is the first recipe I tried, and I didn’t even do a good job. I was making tilapia bowls and I usually make a sriracha cream sauce for the top. But…somebody cleared out the sriracha, so I had to find a quick backup. I didn’t have any rice vinegar or chili paste, so I used water instead. It was still killer, bowl licking yummy. Can’t wait to try the recipe as written, at least once a week!
Came here to fix a peanut sauce recipe I found off another blog (one of the first google search results). Added the rice vinegar and sesame oil, what a difference they make! Will def check here for everything first now, haha.
Can confirm- this is THE VERY BEST peanut sauce! I didn’t add sugar because my pb already had sugar in it. Otherwise made as directed–and it was perfect!
This tastes so bad. I threw it out. Sesame oil is wrong in peanut sauce.
What kind of oil would you sub for the sesame oil? I am allergic to sesame seeds.
A neutral oil like vegetable or sunflower oil could work!
Way too much sesame oil. That’s all I taste!
I’m sorry to say this didn’t do it for me. It’s missing something or the quantities are not right. I feel bad saying that but it’s what I think.
What food processor do use? I have been looking for one and it seems like yours works great!
There’s 2 kinds of peanut sauce I’ve had: one is the amazing sweet kind they have at Thai restraints & one is that stuff out of the bottle that sucks. This is the recipe for the kind out of the bottle. 🙁