Easy Thai Peanut Satay Sauce

This flavorful quick and easy homemade Thai Peanut Satay Sauce recipe is made with coconut milk, peanut butter, and red curry paste and requires no cooking. It is great with chicken satay, appetizers, salads, or noodles!

If you have never had Thai peanut satay sauce before, it's creamy, flavored with peanuts, and has a balance of sweet, savory, and sourness elements

This easy 5-minute Thai peanut sauce recipe uses peanut butter and coconut milk to make the sauce creamier; red curry paste, soy sauce (or fish sauce) for the spice and savoriness; honey to sweeten it; and rice vinegar (or lime juice) for the tart element.

It can be used as a salad dressing, dipping sauce, drizzled on noodles, a dipping sauce for appetizers such as spring rolls, and it is definitely a must-have for any type of Thai chicken satay or grilled skewered meat, especially when paired with my hoisin dipping sauce.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Peanut Butter - I use unsweetened natural peanut butter for this recipe. You use honey (or sugar) in this recipe to control the amount of sugar to balance the sweet and savory flavors.
• Coconut Cream - I like to use coconut cream for this recipe because it has a lot more flavor. Alternatively, you can also use coconut milk as well but try to find thick coconut milk that has a high-fat content if possible.
• Red Thai Curry Paste - Curry paste is a very important part of flavoring this sauce. There is no substitution and you should not omit it. Red curry paste will make this sauce mildly spicy. You can also use yellow curry paste as well which is less spicy.
• Honey - I use honey as the sweetener for this sauce because I find it mixes into the sauce more easily but you can use sugar or maple syrup as well. If you use maple syrup, you will need to add a bit more than what is called in the recipe.
• Fish Sauce - We will be using fish sauce to give the sauce umami and savoriness, if you have soy sauce you can use that instead.
• Rice Vinegar - I like to use rice vinegar to balance out the flavors of this sauce but you can also use lime juice as well.
• Water - Depending on how thin you like your peanut sauce, we will be using water to thin it out. Add it 1 tablespoon at a time to get it to the consistency you like.
• Optional Ingredients (Crushed Roasted Peanuts, Sesame Oil, Chili Oil) - These ingredients add a bit more flavor and texture but are completely optional to use.

How to Make Satay Sauce

1. Mix the peanut butter and the red Thai curry paste until they are combined.
2. Add in the honey, fish sauce (or soy sauce), and rice vinegar (or lime juice) and mix well.
3. Add the coconut cream (or coconut milk) and mix well until everything is smooth.
4. Add water until it's the consistency you like
5. Do a taste test. If you like it more sour, sweet, or salty, adjust it with rice vinegar, honey, or fish sauce.
6. Enjoy!

If You Want To Make It From Scratch

If you are up for a challenge, I also have a Thai peanut sauce made from scratch as well. That recipe roasts your own peanuts to make fresh 'peanut butter', and uses aromatics like lemongrass, shallots, garlic, galangal, and tamarind to flavor it.

It's definitely a lot more work, but if you want to take your time with it is definitely an option.

Keep in mind, peanut sauce from scratch will be slightly chunkier because of all the aromatics in it, so if you are looking for a smoother peanut sauce, then stick with this one.

How Long Can I Keep It?

If you have extra sauce or if you are making this ahead of time, it should be refrigerated and stored in a well-sealed container. This peanut sauce will last for about 1 week.

How to Use This Sauce

The most popular way we use Thai peanut satay sauce is on grilled chicken. It pairs wonderfully with our Thai Chicken Satay and Grilled Thai Coconut Chicken Skewers.

If you want to use it with lighter meals, I like to thin it out with coconut milk or water and drizzle it on salad as a salad dressing.

This peanut satay sauce also is amazing mixed in with noodles as well, especially if you mix in a bit of chili oil with it.

You can also use this easy Thai peanut satay sauce recipe as a dipping sauce for appetizers like fresh-cut vegetables, Thai meatballs, or spring rolls. I also like dipping it with our Grilled Coconut Curry Chicken Wings as well.

Looking for More Sauce Recipes? Try These

• Thai Peanut Sauce (From Scratch)
• Ginger Scallion Sauce
• Miso Garlic Chili Oil
• Spicy Sriracha Mayo Recipe
• Creamy Coconut Dip
• Creamy Honey Sesame Dip
• Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Cham / Nuoc Mam)
• Hoisin Dipping Sauce

I'd love to see it! Tag me (@pupswithchopsticks) on Instagram!

If you like my recipes and want to be updated on when new ones come out, please consider subscribing to my newsletter (we don't spam) and follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for all of my latest recipes!

Recipe Card

Easy Thai Satay Peanut Sauce

This flavorful quick and easy homemade Thai Peanut Satay Sauce recipe is made with coconut milk, peanut butter, and red curry paste and requires no cooking. It is great with chicken satay, appetizers, salads, or noodles!

Print Pin Email Rate

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: Thai

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes minutes

1 cup

5 from 19 votes

Made with ♡ by Joyce

Joyce's Recipe Notes

• If you are adding crushed peanuts to the sauce, make sure you toast them in a dry frying pan until it is golden brown before you use them to get more flavor from them.
• I highly recommend using coconut cream over coconut milk because it has more of a coconut flavor. If you are going to use coconut milk, make sure to find a high-fat one. I like to shake the can to test how much fat the coconut milk will have - the thicker the milk the fattier and more flavorful it will be.
• For extra flavor, I like to drizzle some chili oil on top of the peanut sauce and gently swirl it in. My favorite chili oil to use is Lao Gan Ma Chilli Crisp, (I'm not sponsored by them, I just really love their chili oil.) 
• My peanut sauce turned out too thick, can I fix this? Yes, you can add water to it 1 tablespoon at a time until you get it to the consistency you like.
• How do you make this a spicy peanut sauce? This simple peanut sauce uses red Thai curry paste which gives the sauce a mild spiciness already. If you want to make it even spicier, you can add sriracha to it as well.
• How long can I keep this peanut sauce? You can keep it in the fridge for up to 1 week. To use it again, let it warm up on the counter at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour.
• Can I use this as a peanut dressing in salads and noodles? Absolutely! To make this into a peanut dressing, thin it out a bit more with water. You may need to add a bit more fish sauce, so do a taste test before adding it to your salads or noodles.
• Can I use creamed coconut blocks? Yup. You will need to melt it in the microwave first, and then mix it with a bit of milk or water to keep it at a liquid consistency before mixing it with the peanut butter.

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

 

0.51x2x4x

• ▢ 2 tablespoons coconut cream (or coconut milk)
• ▢ ¼ cup natural peanut butter (unsweetened)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Thai red curry paste
• ▢ 2 teaspoons honey (or maple syrup)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons fish sauce (or soy sauce)
• ▢ 2-3 tablespoons water or enough to thin it out the the consistency you like

Optional Ingredients

• ▢ 1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon chili oil (optional)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons Sriracha chili sauce (to make it spicier)
• ▢ crushed peanuts (optional, sprinkled on top)

Instructions

 

• Mix the peanut butter and the red Thai curry until they are combined.
• Add in the honey, fish sauce (or soy sauce), and rice vinegar (or lime juice) and mix well.
• Add the coconut cream (or coconut milk) and mix well until everything is smooth.
• Add 2-3 tablespoons of water and mix well. If it's too thick, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time until you get the consistency you like.
• Do a taste test. If you like it more sour, sweet, or salty, adjust it with rice vinegar, honey, or fish sauce.
• Add in any optional garnishes
• Serve it with chicken, salad, noodles, or appetizers!

Nutrition

Calories: 604kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 51g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Monounsaturated Fat: 20g | Sodium: 559mg | Potassium: 553mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 800IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 2mg

*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*

Did you try this recipe?I'd love to hear from you! Let me know how it was and consider giving it a rating! Tag me on Instagram with @pupswithchopsticks to show me!

Disclaimer: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. While I appreciate the support – please try to buy your items locally if possible to support your local shops (chances are they are cheaper locally as well!)

More Thai Recipes You May Like