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!
Table of Contents
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, peanut 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
- Mix the peanut butter and the red Thai curry paste 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 water until it's 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.
- 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.
FAQs
Yes, you can add water to it 1 tablespoon at a time until you get it to the consistency you like.
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.
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.
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.
Yup. You will need to melt it before you can use it. Once it is melted, mix it with a bit of hot milk or hot water before adding it to the peanut butter. This will keep it at a liquid consistency once it has cooled.
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
- Chinese Stir Fry Sauce
- Chinese White Sauce
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Recipe Card
Easy Thai Satay Peanut Sauce
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.
Ingredients
- 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
*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*
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Paul says
Love the taste . Had only normal Kraft peanut butter. Added a bit more curry for xtra flavour. Will def make again. Making the peanuts from scratch sounds like a thing to do but sounds like work.
Jen says
this is sooooo good. I doubled the amount, thinned it a little and it was plenty for 2 of us as the sauce on a main over rice and veg. if you were using it as a dipping sauce or for skewers, 1 serving would be enough
Joyce Lee says
Hi Jen!
I'm so happy you like it! I love using it on noodles as well! 😊
Hal says
Can you leave out the coconut cream/milk or is there a substitute? I don't want to buy a can of either only to use 2 tablespoons. The rest would probably go to waste.
Joyce Lee says
Hi Hal!
Sorry for the late reply.
Yup you can sub it with milk or water.
You may lose a bit of the coconut flavor, but nothing drastic in terms of losing flavor.
Hope this helps!
Jackie Avery says
Do you actually cook this recipe in a saucepan over a flame?
Joyce Lee says
Hi Jackie!
This peanut satay sauce does not require cooking at all, which makes it incredibly quick and easy to make!
Dr Dave says
I have Tom Yum Soup paste packets (Asian Gourmet). Could these be used to make a peanut satay sauce?
Joyce Lee says
Hi Dr. Dave!
I haven't tried using Tom Yum Soup paste in this peanut sauce, you definitely can try it out and see how it turns out! Start by adding a little bit since Tom Yum is quite sour and you don't want the peanut sauce to turn out too sour and adjust it to how you like! If you find it too sour, you can add more sugar to sweeten it back up.
Hope this helps!
Wendy says
Do you cook the peanut sauce or have it cold
Joyce Lee says
Hi Wendy,
You don't need to cook this peanut sauce, I just mix everything in a bowl. I like to serve it at room temperature.
When it is cold, it might be too thick but if it is cold, you can just let it sit out for 30 minutes and it should be fine 🙂
Hope this helps
Ina says
I just made this, but doubled up on the sriracha (actually I doubled up on everything!) as my husband loves spicier dishes and we both love Thai food/dishes. I had everything in the pantry, which made this even simpler. Plan on using this with beef skewers tonight.
Awesome recipe - thank you for taking the time to share!
Joyce Lee says
Hi Ina,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this. I'm so happy you like it! I am always very happy to share 🙂