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This easy, delicious Thai Peanut Dressing is made from mostly pantry ingredients and is delicious on salads, grilled chicken, or for dipping your favorite appetizers.
Table of Contents
Thai Peanut Sauce Recipe Ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
- Peanut butter: I love Crazy Richard’s brand peanut butter because it is made with only peanuts (no added sugars or palm oil) and they support American peanut farmers, using only 100% US-grown peanuts. If you’re ambitious, you can certainly make homemade peanut butter which might be even better.
- Rice vinegar: Or substitute apple cider vinegar.
- Honey: For a vegan version, substitute agave nectar or maple syrup (the flavor will change).
How to Make Thai Peanut Sauce
- In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, lime juice, ginger, sesame oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper). If the dressing is too thick, thin with water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 1 cup dressing, enough for 8 servings (2 tablespoons each). 1 recipe of dressing will dress 8-10 cups salad.
- Make the dressing your own: Substitute almond butter for the peanut butter, make it creamier with a splash of coconut milk, or dial up the heat with more red chili flakes.
- Rainbow Thai Salad: This Thai Peanut Dressing is divine on this Rainbow Thai Salad made with colorful vegetables, fresh herbs, sweet mango, and crunchy peanuts.
- Vietnamese Spring Rolls: Thai Peanut Dressing makes the most delicious dipping sauce for Vietnamese Spring Rolls. These fresh, summery rolls have lettuce, carrots, cucumber, cellophane noodles, tofu, bean sprouts, mint, and cilantro rolled inside paper-thin rice paper.
- How to make a vegan Thai peanut dressing: For a vegan version, substitute agave nectar or maple syrup for the honey (the flavor will change).
- Can I use a different nut butter instead of peanut butter: Feel free to substitute almond butter, cashew butter, or any other nut butter as you see fit. Just know the flavor will change.
- More homemade sauces: For more Asian-inspired sauces, discover my easy homemade Teriyaki glaze, Vietnamese Nuoc Cham, or Ginger Sauce.
Storage
Store covered in the refrigerator and use within 4 days.
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Peanut Salad Dressing
This easy, delicious Thai Peanut Dressing is made from mostly pantry ingredients and is delicious on salads, grilled chicken, or for dipping your favorite appetizers.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (see note 1)
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar (see note 2)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey (see note 3)
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, lime juice, ginger, sesame oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper). If the dressing is too thick, thin with water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Peanut butter: I love Crazy Richard’s brand peanut butter because it is made with only peanuts (no added sugars or palm oil) and they support American peanut farmers, using only 100% US-grown peanuts. If you’re ambitious, you can certainly make homemade peanut butter which might be even better.
- Rice vinegar: Or substitute apple cider vinegar.
- Honey: For a vegan version, substitute agave nectar or maple syrup (the flavor will change).
- Yield: This recipe makes 1 cup dressing, enough for 8 servings (2 tablespoons each). 1 recipe of dressing will dress 8-10 cups salad.
- Storage: Store covered in the refrigerator and use within 4 days.
Nutrition
Serving: 2 tbspCalories: 74kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 3gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 290mgPotassium: 77mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 20IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 7mgIron: 1mg
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This is the best peanut sauce I have ever made, and it was so incredibly quick and easy. Perfect for chopped salads, chicken, lettuce wraps, and more. It’s. 10/10
Glad you loved it, Kim! Take care! – Meggan
Oh my, this is crazily YUMMY for the minimal effort needed! It’s so tasty despite me not having lime juice. Gonna get lime next time just to make this again! Woot!
Thanks Elisa, so glad you liked it! – Meggan
Oh my, this is crazily YUMMY for the effort put in! It’s so tasty despite me not having lime juice. Gonna get lime next time just to make this again! Woot!
Delicious and forgiving. Can swap maple syrup for honey, lemon juice for lime, whatever nuts or nut butter I have on hand, and it’s always turned out delicious. Love that it calls for only 1/4 peanut butter (many recipes call for twice that), and less oil, so it’s a lower calorie option for a tasty peanut butter dressing. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks for the comment Lainey! I’m so glad you love the recipe. – Meggan
It took me 15 minutes to make! It is delicious!
Thanks Joan! – Meggan
Very tasty. Nice lactose free alternative for my nightly salads. I reduced the vinegar to two tablespoons and it was perfect for me.
Stars!!! I forgot the stars!!!! Sorry
Done now…..😳
Amazing recipe. Thank you!! I use this salad as my main meal many days a week. I add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of chili flakes and use a teaspoon of dried ginger powder instead of fresh ginger because that’s what I had on hand. Again…thank you!
Thank you Annemarie, so glad you love it! – Meggan
I love peanut butter Thai style dressing and this recipe is a keeper. We make our own peanut butter. I used techina sauce instead of sesame oil. It worked well. I added 2 teaspoons of water to thin dressing. I also used 1 tablespoon of honey instead of 2.
The dressing was yummy.
That variation sounds great Aviva! Glad you liked it! -Meggan
Amazing recipe!! It was exactly the balance of flavors I was looking for! Used agave for ease of mixing in, coconut aminos, and Jiffy Natural PB. It was spot on and the perfect addition to my Asian chicken salad with rice noodles. Everyone raved about the dressing and this will definitely be on repeat. Thank you!
Thank you, Farmgal! So glad you all enjoyed! -Meggan