This 5-minute authentic Thai satay sauce is a must for your Thai satay recipes. It’s the perfect creamy, sweet, salty, and tangy sauce dipping sauce that you can whip up in no time!
For the complete Thai satay experience, these 3 recipes are a must. Easy chicken satay recipe, Thai cucumber salad for satay. Go all out and make dry roasted peanuts recipe!
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What is Satay Sauce?
Authentic Thai peanut satay sauce is a popular sauce for dipping Thai satay. The sauce is creamy and rich in flavors from peanut butter and coconut milk with a distinct taste of Thai red curry paste and seasoned to perfection with sugar, salt, and sour flavor.
Thai Peanut Sauce Ingredients
- Peanut butter. You can use creamy or chunky peanut butter. You can also use crushed peanuts rather than pre-made peanut butter. The recipe is flexible, and you use what you have.
- Thai Red curry paste. Use store-bought or homemade red curry paste. If you don’t have red curry paste, try the prik khing curry paste, homemade or store-bought.
- Coconut milk. Use full-fat coconut milk. You can use coconut cream, too. You just need to dilute it with water if it gets too thick.
- Fish sauce. Each brand of fish sauce has a different level of saltiness. Adjust as necessary with more or less for your final taste. Use salt if you don’t have fish sauce. Read more about Thai sauces here.
- Vinegar. You can substitute tamarind concentrate, lime/lemon juice, or apple cider vinegar.
- Sugar. Use honey, agave, syrup, palm, or monk fruit sugar. All work great.
How to make Satay Sauce
This satay sauce is so simple. It's almost unbelievable. The most challenging part is gathering all the ingredients to make the sauce. Here are the simple steps below.
Step One. Add all the ingredients to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat. 
Step Two. Break up the chunks of peanut butter and stir well. Keep a close eye on the sauce so it's not burnt or gets too thick and brown.
Scrape down the sauce on the side of the pan to mix it all well.
Step Three. Let the sauce bubble, and it will soon thicken. Turn the heat off, remove it from the pan, and let cool slightly before serving.
The sauce keeps well in the fridge for up to 7 days. 
Thai Satay Sauce Recipe Tips
- You can use peanut butter to make the sauce for a quick satay sauce. You must modify the taste with sugar, fish sauce, or lime juice.
- When making the sauce, watch the saucepan carefully and stir often, or the peanut sauce will get burnt, especially around the edges of the pot.
- Red curry paste. Add more or less as desired. More for spiciness and bold taste or milder with less. Adjust the final flavors at the end to get a balanced flavor you are happy with. Try this authentic homemade Thai red curry paste for a fresh and bold flavor.
- Water. Add more water if your sauce gets too thick and you’d like less of a thick, creamy sauce.
- The sauce keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 7 days and in the freezer for 2 months.
- You can use the sauce for dipping vegetables, as a salad dressing, or slater over other grilled food. So good!
How to use Peanut Satay Sauce
Peanut satay sauce is versatile and delicious! Use it as a dip for satay, spring rolls, or veggies. Drizzle it over noodles, salads, or rice bowls. It’s also great as a marinade, glaze, or dressing. Perfect for adding a nutty, flavorful touch to any dish!
Thai Satay FAQs
Thai peanut sauce is made with peanuts, red curry paste, and coconut milk and seasoned with sugar, fish sauce, tamarind, vinegar, or lime juice.
Thai satay sauce is typically made with peanuts, coconut milk, and red curry paste.
Then it's seasoned for sweet, salty, and tangy flavors for dipping satay meat.
Satay sauce is sometimes called Thai peanut sauce. It is essentially the same thing.
Each chef uses different ingredients to make their unique sauce, but one common ingredient is the peanuts used to make the sauce.
To thicken the satay sauce, add creamy peanut butter or coconut milk. Also, turn up the heat a bit to help reduce the sauce to a thicker consistency.
Just be sure not to cook too long, or it will quickly burn and turn your satay sauce bitter.
Besides the sugar, Satay sauce is good for using all-natural, unsweetened peanut butter.
Related Recipes
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Satay Sauce (Authentic Thai Peanut Sauce Recipe)
- Total Time: 10
- Yield: 1.5 cups 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This 5-minute authentic Thai peanut satay sauce is a must for your Thai satay recipes. It’s the perfect creamy, sweet, salty, and tangy sauce dipping sauce that you can whip up in no time!
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup peanut butter, creamy or chunky
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 1-2 tablespoons red curry paste. Adjust as needed.
- 1 ½ tablespoon sugar
- 1-2 teaspoon fish sauce. Adjust as needed.
- 1 ½ tsp vinegar, lime juice, or tamarind concentrate. Adjust as needed.
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients together in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat.
- Breakup the chunks of peanut butter and stir well. Keep a close eye on the sauce, so it's not burnt or gets too thick and brown. Scrape down the sauce on the side of the pan to mix it all well.
- Let the sauce bubble, and it will soon thicken. Turn the heat off, remove it from the pan and let cool slightly before serving. The sauce keeps well in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Notes
- You can use any peanut butter to make the sauce for a quick satay sauce. Modify the taste with sugar, fish sauce, or lime juice.
- When making the sauce, oversee the saucepan and stir often, or the peanut sauce will get burnt, especially around the edges of the pot.
- Red curry paste. Add more or less as desires. More for spiciness and bold taste or milder with less. Adjust the final flavors at the end to get a balanced flavor you are happy with. Try this authentic homemade Thai red curry paste for a fresh and bold flavor.
- Water. Add more water if your sauce gets too thick, and you’d like less of a thick creamy sauce.
- The sauce keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 7 days and in the freezer for 2 months.
- You can use the sauce for dipping vegetables, as a salad dressing, or slater over other grilled food. So good!
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 5
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Thai
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Suwanee says
I'm so happy to hear this, Adam. We don't always have the time with our busy lives so this recipe was created for busy people like you and me! Well done!
Adam says
Absolutely love the idea of a quick recipe. I used to toil for hours at the stove, stirring my grandma's satay sauce, and as a result, have always associated making satay sauce as a day's long project. This is a lifesaver! Love dipping the sauce in bread.
Victoria says
This Satay Sauce is so good! thanks for the recipe!
Emily Graham says
My family loves this Thai satay Recipe. Don't skip the dipping sauce.
Jim Johnson says
Excellent Recipe!
Sarah B says
This is the BEST satay sauce I've ever had! We've been making it repeatedly. Love the Dipping Sauce!
Suwanee says
It's so tasty and easy, you'll love it!
Warapond says
Wow look delicious 👍😊
Suwanee says
I'm so happy to hear, Jason! It's hard to sample a few bites before serving! (: I love this easy satay sauce too.
Jason says
Hi, I have to thank you for posting up this recipe.
There was a local Thai restaurant that we used to get Satay chicken frequently from, it was our little treat for time away from the kids. But they recently closed down.
I went on the hunt for some Thai Satay recipes and tried one that didn't work out, then found yours.
This tastes almost exactly like the Thai restaurant Satay we used to have.
So a big thank you from me, so easy to make and so delicious. I could eat it straight from the pot, and did a little.
Suwanee says
Thank you so much, Cherie! So glad you loved it. I love that you customized it to your liking too. (:
Cherie says
This was awesome. Very authentic and so easy. Instead of sugar I used honey. Definitely used lime.. love lime.
Suwanee says
So wonderful to hear this worked out so well for you!
Suwanee says
I'm so glad!!
Cassie T. says
This sauce is so delicious--my kids were asking if they could eat it with a spoon! I made it along with the chicken satay and cucumber salad recipes, and my kids were literally licking their plates. This is a new favorite that has earned a place in our regular meal plan rotation! Thank you Suwanee!!
Kim Buckley says
This sauce is delicious and SO easy to make. I used 1 Tbsp of store bought red curry paste to save time and it was just spicy enough for my family. I love that I can customize the level of spice and flavor to our liking. This will be a staple in my fridge. I made it to go with Suwanee's Easy Chicken Satay recipe. Just takes 5 minutes!