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4.7 from 336 votes

5-Minute Thai Peanut Sauce

Balanced, flavorful, and enjoyable—this recipe has it all.

Prep Time
3 mins
Cook Time
3 mins
Total Time
5 mins
Course: Condiments
Cuisine: Thai

Ingredients

  • 1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk, light or regular
  • 3-4 tablespoons red curry paste (see note)
  • 1 cup natural unsweetened creamy peanut butter (see note)
  • 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
  • ¼ cup sugar or honey
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar or rice vinegar
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ teaspoon sesame oil

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Whisk together all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring often so it doesn't scorch, for 2-3 minutes.
  2. Let the sauce cool slightly. Transfer it to a container or jar, cover, and keep in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Notes

  • Curry Paste: add the curry paste according to how flavorful/spicy you want the sauce. Brands differ in heat - I often use the Thai Kitchen brand because I can easily find it in my grocery store and I use the full 4 tablespoons but I don't mind a touch of spiciness.
  • Peanut Butter: it's really important to use natural unsweetened peanut butter here. I've tried it using your every day creamy peanut butter (like Skippy or Jif) and the texture and flavor is overly sweet and just weird. You really want that natural peanut flavor to come through.
  • Skip the Simmer: the recipe says to simmer the ingredients and that definitely deepens the flavor and thickens the sauce but as I mentioned in the post above, several times, I've skipped the stove step and just blended everything up and it's tasty, tasty.