Easy Peanut Sauce Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What's a good substitute for peanut sauce? ›

Because hoisin sauce has many of the same ingredients I would use in a more involved peanut sauce, it works great here. Hoisin has hints of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, vinegar, and Chile peppers. Some version even have a peanut-esque taste to it, so it's the perfect way to shorten the ingredient list in a peanut sauce.

This sauce is made using peanut butter, sauces like hot sauce, vinegar and soy sauce (tamari for gluten-free), garlic and seasoning. It can be seasoned as you like.

Several different recipes for making peanut sauces exist, resulting in a variety of flavours, textures and consistency. A typical recipe usually contains ground roasted peanuts or peanut butter (smooth or crunchy), coconut milk, soy sauce, tamarind, galangal, garlic, and spices (such as coriander seed or cumin).

Start with a little less than equal parts warm water to nut butter and add more water as needed, until the sauce is your desired consistency. You'll want it thinner for drizzling, and thicker for dipping.

Less sugar – Use only ¼ cup of maple syrup if you want to make the sauce less sweet. Instead of peanut butter – Use cashew butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or your favorite nut or seed butter! Gluten free – Use tamari instead of soy sauce to make gluten free peanut sauce.

Sauces can break for any number of reasons including cooking at high heat, adding too much liquid to a hot pan, or even just waiting too long for everything to combine appropriately.

Although commonly associated with Thai cuisine, peanut sauce actually originated in Indonesia (source).

Also just called peanut sauce or satay sauce, this dipping sauce is a flavorful part of Southeast Asian cuisine, especially Indonesian cuisine, where it's called bumbu kacang or sambal kacang. (These translate literally to “nu*t bumbu spice” or “nu*t sambal.”)

Little Saigon peanut sauces blends peanut butter, soybeans, sweet potato, sesame, garlic and spices to deliver this one of a kind peanut sauce good with almost anything you can think of. Here is a little secret: mix it with Little Saigon Chili Oil to throw in that extra kick.

There are many ways to make a peanut sauce, but the essential ingredients include ground peanuts, something savory (kecap manis or hoisin are common) and fragrant aromatics, like ginger, galangal, tamarind and chiles. The resulting sauce adds rich creaminess and toasty earthiness to whatever it touches.

What is the difference between peanut sauce and satay sauce? ›

The sauce traditionally served with Thai satay is a spicy peanut sauce and coconut milk, flavoured with Thai red curry paste. I call this a peanut sauce, but really it should be called satay sauce because it is a sauce that is ONLY served with satay.

I suggest doubling or tripling the recipe to have throughout the week with salad rolls, roasted veggies, and salads. How long with the sauce last? The Peanut Sauce will last up to 1 week in a tightly sealed container in the fridge.

If the oil is separating from the sauce a bit (this can happen from the oil in the coconut milk and the peanut butter, but it's easy to fix!), add water a few drops at a time and whisk until it comes smoothly back together.

When using peanut butter only, the key is heat. Peanut butter is naturally high in fat, but that fat is nearly solid at room temperature. In order to soften it up, you need some heat. In my case, I heated two tablespoons in a heat-proof bowl and then stirred like crazy.

If your peanut butter is particularly thick, you may need to use the full 4 tablespoons of water to thin out the mixture (or more, if necessary). Feel free to adjust to taste here—for example, sometimes I want my sauce more savory and add another clove of garlic, or a little sweeter, so I add extra honey.

Tomato Paste

This umami-rich paste can transform into a makeshift tomato sauce when mixed with water. Here's how: Sauté tomato paste in olive oil with minced garlic, salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Add water, roughly following a ratio of 1:1, tomato paste to water, and mix well.

Sunflower Seed Butter

The closest spread to peanut butter I've found in terms of flavor and texture is sunflower seed butter. It's also relatively easy to find; I've seen it in large chain grocery stores right next to the peanut butter. Sunflower seed butter has a nice nutty flavor and is smooth and spreadable.

No, tahini and peanut butter have distinct flavor profiles. Tahini has a nutty and slightly bitter taste, while peanut butter is sweet and nutty. Why is tahini so healthy? Tahini is considered healthy because it's a good source of healthy fats, protein, and essential minerals.