The Very Best Peanut Sauce

I scream, you scream, we all scream for… easy delicious sauces for summer!

Let’s get real for a second. When it’s summer and you’re grilling more and going to the farmer’s market sometimes and getting gifted things from neighbors gardens or CSA boxes, sometimes “regular meal prep” doesn’t cut it. Sometimes what you really need is just a good sauce or two to get you through the week – be it for dipping, drizzling, salading, spreading, or dunking with all your freshly grilled, roasted, or chopped up summery stuff.

Enter: the very best peanut sauce!

Peanut sauce on tofu with rice and veggies.

This peanut sauce. Wow oh wow oh wow.

It * is * the * very * best. Did I already say that?

This peanut sauce has been around the block a few times here on Pinch of Yum – it started with these zoodles, re-purposed its way into these firecracker lettuce wraps, and resurfaced briefly for a dressing application in that quinoa crunch salad. Over the last few years it has become THE ESSENTIAL PEANUT SAUCE of this blog and/or my life.

What’s different about it from normal peanut sauce:

It’s smooth and drizzle-able.
No, but seriously. This is important. It’s NOT thick and gloppy. No peanut sauce glops allowed!
It uses fresh garlic and ginger, yes, but most notably, it features a hefty pour of sesame oil! which makes the flavor, well, the very best.

Everybody goes in:

Peanut sauce ingredients in a food processor.

And the very best peanut sauce comes out:

Peanut sauce blended in a food processor.

Ways I love to use this sauce:

Noodles
Rice Bowls
Grilled Chicken
Sauteed Tofu
Salad Dressing
Dipping Sauce

Just try throwing some in a skillet with some chicken or tofu for a little trick. The way it gets browned and crispy and beautiful (like what’s in the pictures here)?

YES. You are right to think that it’s life-changing.

Check Out Our Video For How To Make Peanut Sauce:

The Very Best Peanut Sauce

4.3 from 48 reviews

Author: Lindsay
Total Time: 5 mins
Yield: 1 1/2 cups (6 servings – 1/4 cup each) 1x

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Description

The Very Best Peanut Sauce! Smooth, drizzle-able, garlicky, and gingery with a good spicy sesame kick. Perfect for noodles, salads, protein, or as a dipping sauce!

Ingredients

Scale

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil (toasted or dark)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sambal oelek or chili paste (this is where the “spicy” comes in, so add to taste)
2–3 tablespoons sugar, honey, or agave
a small knob of fresh ginger, peeled
a clove of fresh garlic, peeled
1/4 cup of water

Instructions

Blend all the sauce ingredients together in a small blender or food processor until smooth and creamy.
Find everything in your house that can be dunked in this ridiculously good sauce and then get to work.