Peanut Sauce: The Best All-Purpose Recipe! - The Woks of Life (2024)

This all-purpose peanut sauce can be a life-saver when the last thing you want to do is cook an elaborate meal!

Tasty on Everything

This peanut sauce is great on almost anything. Tossed with noodles, drizzled over veggies, meats, or tofu, or served as a sauce for all your favorite dippables like summer rolls, chicken satay, or pan-fried dumplings.

If you saw my recent peanut noodle recipe, this all-purpose sauce goes hand in hand. It really is one of those things that’s deceptively simple, but it can be challenging to get right.

The key is not skipping out on the extra flavor TLC of fresh garlic and ginger.

This Sauce is Customizable (But Try the Fish Sauce!)

This peanut sauce is highly customizable. For example, I know that fish sauce is an ingredient that people love to hate, but it really adds a delicious umami edge that sets this recipe apart from others. I promise that any fishiness recedes to the background—it’s just like cooking with anchovies!

That said, it could easily be omitted if you’re looking to make this a fully plant-based recipe. Or you can sub in vegan fish sauce!

Other adjustments you can make are your choice of soy sauce, how much sesame oil you include, and whether you add in some choice additional flavor agents like lime juice, chili oil, and/or sriracha.

Experiment, and make it your own!

Peanut Sauce Recipe Instructions

Add all of the ingredients (garlic, ginger, peanut butter, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil) and any optional add-ins into a small bowl.

Add the hot water, and stir to combine until you have a smooth sauce. Alternatively, you can make this in a food processor for a smoother texture.

Enjoy this sauce on noodles, veggie noodles, tofu, grilled meats, vegetables, wontons or dumplings, salads, summer rolls, and more!