Spicy Peanut Sauce

This sauce isn't just hot, it layers flavorful red pepper flakes, sriracha, and curry paste for a sauce that's multidimensional and delicious.

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated September 04, 2024
A small bowl of spicy peanut sauce next to grilled chicken, garnished with sliced scallions.

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

Why It Works

  • Warm, spicy flavors are layered with red pepper flakes, sriracha, and curry paste, making a sauce that's not just hot, but interesting.
  • The heat level is balanced with complementary sweet and tart flavors, including palm sugar, vinegar, and lime juice.
  • Hot water loosens the peanut butter and thins the sauce to the correct consistency.

Peanut butter plus meat used to be a non-starter for me—separately, they were fine, but for some reason my mind decided that combined, I couldn't touch it. My turnaround from this aversion can be clearly pinpointed to when I made beef satay and an accompanying peanut sauce at home. That sauce was pretty good, but since then I've found that when I turn up the heat level of peanut sauce, it goes from decent to irresistible.

I'm not talking about heat just for heat's sake; I like combinations of different types of hot spices and sauces to build complexity. In this recipe, this takes the form of Thai red curry paste, sriracha, and red pepper flakes, which are mixed with a peanut butter base along with palm sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, and lime juice.

It's a no-cook, quick sauce to put together that has an amazing amount of flavor. I really love the layers of spice that develop after a brief sweetness on first taste, which retains a good balance with the peanut butter. While eating this peanut sauce with a plate of chicken satay, it was hard for me to even fathom a time when I wouldn't have wanted the two together.

April 2013

Recipe Details

Spicy Peanut Sauce Recipe

Prep 10 mins
Active 5 mins
Total 10 mins
Serves 12 servings

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

  • 1/4 cup hot water

  • 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste

  • 2 tablespoons palm sugar or light brown sugar

  • 2 tablespoons sriracha

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce

  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice from 1 lime

  • 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic

  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced

  • Kosher salt, to taste

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together peanut butter and hot water.

    Whisking together peanut butter and hot water in a metal bowl.

    Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

  2. Stir in curry paste, sugar, sriracha, soy sauce, vinegar, lime juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, and scallions. Season with salt to taste.

Make Ahead and Storage

Use immediately or store in an airtight container in refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
81Calories
5gFat
7gCarbs
3gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12
Amount per serving
Calories81
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g7%
Saturated Fat 1g5%
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 305mg13%
Total Carbohydrate 7g2%
Dietary Fiber 1g3%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 3mg17%
Calcium 12mg1%
Iron 0mg3%
Potassium 105mg2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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