Easy Peanut Sauce Recipe (5 Minutes)
Updated May 21, 2026
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This easy peanut sauce recipe is made with 8 ingredients in 5 minutes and tastes better than your favorite restaurant! Learn how to make peanut sauce that’s so delicious you’ll want to put it on everything!
This homemade peanut sauce recipe is thick, flavorful, and easy to make in 5 minutes with simple ingredients. Made with simple ingredient you probably already have on hand like peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil and honey, this easy peanut sauce is perfect for spring rolls, stir fry, pad thai, chicken satay, tofu and more.
If you’ve ever wondered if you can make peanut sauce at home that’s as good as your favorite Thai restaurant – you’ll be happy to know that with this recipe, you can! Make it thick for dipping, thin it for salad dressing, or drizzle it over bowls for a super versatile, flavorful sauce.
Why You’ll Love This Peanut Sauce Recipe:
- Easy to make in 5 minutes
- Better than restaurant peanut sauce
- Thick, creamy and so flavorful
- Great as a dip, dressing or marinade
- Easy to customize (make it spicy, sweeter, thinner, etc.)
- Delicious on everything
What is Peanut Sauce?
Peanut sauce is a creamy savory-sweet sauce made with peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and hoisin sauce. It’s most commonly used in Thai and Indonesian-inspired dishes as a dipping sauce (like for spring rolls) or a marinade/sauce for satay (like this chicken satay).
Peanut Sauce Recipe: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Creamy peanut butter. I suggest a natural variety that is liquid at room temperature for easy stirring. You can also use crunchy, if desired.
- Water/Coconut Milk. This sauce tastes great with both water and coconut milk.
- Rice Vinegar. Mirin is a great substitute for rice vinegar.
- Sesame Oil. I don’t suggest any substitutions for sesame oil.
- Honey. Granulated sugar works well in place of honey.
- Powdered ginger. fresh, finely minced ginger is a great substitute for powdered.
How to Make Peanut Sauce
There really isn’t much to this recipe. You just add the ingredients to a bowl and whisk them together. I’ve included a video for you just in case you need extra guidance!
Begin by simply adding the ingredients to a medium mixing bowl or 4-cup glass measuring cup.
Then, whisk them until the mixture is smooth.
If you use a peanut butter that is solid at room temperature, you may want to gently warm the ingredients to make mixing easier.
Serve
Set aside to use in your favorite recipes. We use it most often as a dipping sauce for spring rolls which I serve as an appetizer for this homemade pad thai recipe. But here are some more suggestions:
What to Eat with Peanut Sauce
- Spring rolls are the best dipped in this sauce.
- Baked Tofu Stir Fry is a recipe I created with peanut sauce – so good.
- The perfect dressing for this Asian Quinoa Salad
- Or, you can use it as a sauce on my famous Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- It’s great as a dressing on this Asian Chicken Salad
Store/Freeze
Store this peanut sauce in a glass jar with a lid for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator, or 2 months in the freezer. Reheat gently in the microwave.
Peanut Sauce Recipe FAQs
Yes, they are the same sauce with different names.
Yes, freeze it in a glass jar with an airtight lid for up to 2 months.
If your ingredients aren’t all the same temperature, your sauce and get lumpy. To prevent this you can gently warm the ingredients in a glass mixing bowl then whisk to combine.
This recipe is thickened by the peanut butter and doesn’t need any other thickener.
So many things!
-Spring rolls
–Stir fry
–Roasted Broccoli
Yes! If you don’t have hoisin sauce, substitute soy sauce plus a little honey or brown sugar for sweetness. The flavor will be slightly different, but still delicious.
Whisk in more water or coconut milk until you reach your desired consistency.
Yes, easily! Add sriracha, red pepper flakes, or chili garlic sauce.
Yes. Natural peanut butter works really well because it’s already liquid at room temperature so its’ easy to whisk into the other ingredients.
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Easy Peanut Sauce Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
- ¼ cup water (or coconut milk)
- ½ Tablespoon rice vinegar
- ½ Tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- ⅛ teaspoon powdered ginger
Instructions
- Add ingredients to a medium mixing bowl or 4-cup glass measuring cup.
- Whisk until the mixture is smooth. (If necessary, gently warm the ingredients to make mixing easier).
- Set aside to use in your favorite recipes. We use it as a dipping sauce for spring rolls!
Notes
- Creamy peanut butter. I suggest a natural variety that is liquid at room temperature for easy stirring. You can also use crunchy, if desired.
- Water/Coconut Milk. This sauce tastes great with both water and coconut milk.
- Rice Vinegar. Mirin is a great substitute for rice vinegar.
- Sesame Oil. I don’t suggest any substitutions for sesame oil.
- Honey. Granulated sugar works well in place of honey.
- Powdered ginger. fresh, finely minced ginger is a great substitute for powdered.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Do you mean toasted sesame oil?
You can use toasted!
This is a very good basic, Go-to peanut sauce recipe with things most people have on hand in their pantry. I would add cilantro and lime And lemon grass to bring a more balanced flavor.