Try this easy peanut sauce recipe once, and you'll want to have it on hand at all times. It's perfect for jazzing up noodles, salads, bowls, and more!
Does anyone else absolutely love peanut sauce? Creamy, spicy, savory, and a little sweet, it’s a sauce that I’m equally happy drizzling over dinner or enjoying straight off a spoon. I can’t get enough!
This peanut sauce recipe the first thing I turn to whenever I want to jazz up a simple stir fry, bowl, or salad at home. It’s super easy to make, and it calls for basic pantry ingredients that you likely already have on hand (no fish sauce here!). Peanut butter gives it creamy texture, rice vinegar or lime juice makes it nice and tangy, tamari or soy sauce adds salty depth of flavor, and sriracha spices it up. Finally, to sweeten my peanut sauce recipe naturally, I add maple syrup instead of brown sugar. That’s it!
How to Use Peanut Sauce
Once you have peanut sauce on hand, you’ll find a thousand ways to use it. Here are just a few of my favorites:
- Drizzle it over roasted veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, or Brussels sprouts. Add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and sesame seeds for garnish!
- Toss it with a salad or slaw.
- Add it to a grain bowl made with quinoa, cauliflower rice, or cilantro lime rice and tofu or tempeh for protein!
- Use it as a dip for your favorite fresh veggies.
- Stir it into easy peanut noodles or pad Thai.
- Serve it as a dipping sauce with lettuce wraps, summer rolls, or spring rolls.
Start by making this easy peanut sauce recipe as written, but then, feel free to play with it! I suggest a few variations in the recipe below, like adding ginger, minced garlic, or sesame oil for a bolder flavor. You could also swap the nut butter! Almond butter, cashew butter, or even tahini would work well here. And sometimes, I use coconut milk instead of water to make it extra creamy and rich.
More Favorite Sauce Recipes
If you love this recipe, try one of these flavorful sauces next:
- Cilantro lime dressing
- Tahini sauce
- Chipotle sauce
- Pesto
- Tzatziki
- Homemade Caesar dressing
- Cashew Cream
- Vegan Cheese Sauce
Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup natural creamy peanut butter
- 3 to 4 tablespoons lime juice or rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- 1/2 teaspoon sriracha, more if desired
- 1/4 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 to 3 tablespoons water
optional flavor additions:
- 1 garlic clove, grated on a microplane zester
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, lime juice, tamari, sriracha, and maple syrup. Whisk in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to reach a drizzleable consistency. Peanut butters vary in thickness, so you may need more or less water each time you make this recipe.
- If desired, stir in garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and/or more sriracha.
“This peanut sauce is absolutely delicious! It’s creamy, nutty, and perfectly balanced with a touch of sweetness and spice. I love that it’s so easy to make and can be used on so many different things.”
A good sauce if you like it super tangy. Keep in mind the ratio of peanut butter to lime juice/rice vinegar is almost 1:1. We found the peanut flavor was overpowered and it didn’t taste like other pindasaus recipes we’ve tried.
I use powdered peanut butter (PB2) to make the sauce. Very low fat! I buy it at Winco which has bins for several hundred products….cheap way to buy it!
Do you have a great recipe for Baba Ganoush
yep! https://dailycove.info/baba-ganoush/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class=reply>
I love this sauce, I double or triple the recipe and adjust the receipt for flavor at the end by adding a little more of any ingredient that is needed. I have had great success freezing the extra sauce for a few months, it still tastes just as good!
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed it so much!
This sauce is great. I make my own peanut butter but never thought to make peanut sauce. If I am out of rice vinegar I use white wine vinegar and leave out the sweetener.
Um I put 3 tablespoons of rice vinegar and now it’s overpowering the sauce, did I get the quantity of vinegar wrong?
Hi Thomas, we like our sauce tangy, if it’s too much for you, you could stir in more peanut butter.
I found this sauce extremely salty. Two tablespoons of tamari was way too much for me. Good flavor otherwise.
Hi Stephanie, you could stir in a little more peanut butter and water to make it less salty – or you might find it’s more balanced once it’s paired with whatever you’re serving it with.
What are the nutrition facts of this peanut sauce.
Love this, in my regular rotation for quick dinners. Making this week for a picnic. Thanks for sharing!
I do not have tamari…would soy sauce suffice and do I need to adjust the quantity? Thank you.
hi Ava, soy sauce would work great – same quantity.
This is sooo good thanks so much!
hii! thank you for the recipe. how long does it last in the fridge?
Hi Idil, about 5 days
thanks for the fast reply!
Excellent, thanks! Even without the sriracha it was delish!
My favorite! My husband’s too! Thank you ❤️
I’m so happy to hear!
A huge success! Absolutely love it
Love it!! Thanks!
Very good recipes
Hi Jenn, you can add more peanut butter to suit your taste.
How long does this last in the frig?