Thai Peanut Sauce

5 (1)

Sometimes the best sauces are the ones that are the simplest to make. This couldn’t be truer for this beautiful Thai Peanut Sauce. A recipe that simply consists of throwing a whole bunch of yummy ingredients into a pot, heating it while stirring then it’s done! For such minimal effort it is simply outstanding how much flavor this sauce packs. We guarantee this sauce tastes better than the Sauce you’ll get from your local takeout place, and rivals some of the tastiest sauces they make in Southeast Asia!

Thai Peanut Sauce is one of the most popular dishes in Thailand and is featured so prominantly in so many amazing Thai recipes. The taste and smell of this dish is so pronounced and unique. Every street food vendor in Thailand has their version of this Sauce. It is so commonly used as a topping for amazing Chicken and Beef recipes. It can also be used as an ingredient in cooking stews, stir fries and curries

Simply put; it tastes awesome, is easy to make, and pairs well with almost everything. What’s not to love about it?

The key to a great Thai Peanut Sauce is in these key Ingredients

The ingredients that consist in a classic Thai Peanut Sauce or Satay Sauce are very much universal wherever you eat it. The familiar flavors that punch through in this sauce are Peanut Butter (of course!), Coconut Milk, Brown Sugar, Fish Sauce, and finally – fresh Limes. The trick in both the flavor and the consistency in the sauce is the quantity of these ingredients that you use

You may be surprised to know that the most prominent ingredient in a Thai Peanut Sauce is not actually the Peanut Butter. It is Coconut Milk. There is approximately a 2:1 ratio of Coconut Milk to Peanut Butter in this sauce. This will also yield quite a thick consistency. If you are after a thinner sauce, you can always increase the ratio even further by adding even more Coconut Milk. The flavor of Peanut Butter is so strong that there is no need to worry, as the prominent flavor in the sauce will still be Peanuts!

The prominent flavors of Thailand really bring out the punch in this recipe

The flavor combination so prominent in Southeast Asia of Fish Sauce, Sugar, and Lime ring true in this delicious sauce and we love it! Don’t shy away from the Fish Sauce, it brings such a funky salty flavor to the dish. The Sugar of course adds sweetness – either using Brown Sugar or if you’re feeling adventurous, get some Palm Sugar which is the staple sugar used in the region. Finally, the Lime adds that much needed acidity to break through all the richness and brightens up the dish overall

As always when making a recipe we highly encourage you to taste the dish and adjust ingredients where needed before serving. This is a simple sauce to make so adjusting the flavor is as simple as adding more of a specific ingredient at the end until the flavor is exactly how you like it. Personally, if we were to adjust anything we would probably add more Limes. We do find that the Limes are a great vessel to cut through the richness. They add a lighter overall consistency to the sauce in the end. So, just taste and adjust as you go until you’ve got a Thai Peanut Sauce dish perfect for your palette!

Thai Peanut Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp. Peanut Butter
• 200ml Coconut Milk
• 2 tbsp. Brown Sugar
• 2 tbsp. Fish Sauce
• Juice of 2 Limes
• ½ cup Peanuts, roughly chopped
• ½ cup Coriander, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp. Salt
  
  

Instructions

1. Combine the Peanut Butter, Coconut Milk, Brown Sugar, Fish Sauce, and Salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium / low heat stirring frequently – this will take approximately 10 minutes or so
2. Add the Lime Juice just before you are ready to serve and mix through well. Check the consistency and, if needed you can add a little more Coconut Milk or Lime Juice. As always, taste before serving and adjust if necessary
3. Serve with the Chopped Peanuts and Coriander on top
   
   

This is one of the easiest sauces to make. Yet, no matter how simple it is, it’s unbelievable how tasty it is! The Satay Sauce will keep for about 1 week in the refrigerator after use so feel free to try it in all kinds of different applications. For a classic pairing this sauce naturally goes well with Grilled Chicken. Check out our Peanut Sauce Chicken recipe here which this sauce is used in! We’d also recommend our Spot Prawn Ceviche with Garlic and Chili as a starter. It’s a fresh, Thai inspired ceviche which features some of those familiar Thai flavors for a perfect Southeast Asian meal

It’s a fun, unique sauce to try on Burgers! Why not try our Spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich with this Thai Peanut Sauce and let us know in the comments below how it went!

Happy Cooking!