Peanut Sauce
This is the versatile Peanut Sauce. Ironically, only the variation is made with actual peanut butter. The version I typically make is peanut-free! But this is THE sauce for healthy Pad Thai, Weeknight Stir Fry, rice attire, salad dressing, noodle accoutrement, etc. If you’re missing an ingredient, don’t panic. There is a substitution for almost everything. So customize away!
what you need
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons almond butter (or any nut butter)
Juice from half a lime
1/2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 whole garlic clove, peeled
1 small knob of fresh ginger (no need to chop or peel)
3 tablespoons Tamari (or soy sauce)
1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
1/4 cup cashew milk (or other nut milk, or regular milk)
Salt, black pepper, & cayenne pepper to taste
See below for sweet peanut variation.
how to make it
Place all ingredients in chopper or small blender (I use the smallest container in this 3-in-1). Blend until smooth adding milk or water to reach desired consistency, noting that if adding to stir fry over heat, the mixture will thicken slightly.
Notes on texture: The amount of liquid controls how thick or thin this sauce becomes. Add more or less milk depending on desired thickness.
Notes on ingredients: This recipe is SUPER flexible. The substance comes from the nut butters. My favorite blend is tahini + almond, but peanut is a good option as well. If lacking tahini, you could make the entire thing with 4 tablespoons of almond butter.
Lime and vinegar give you the tanginess. I would be hard pressed to make this without lime juice but, technically, you only need one of the two, and could probably get away with lemon in a pinch. Similarly, you could skip the ginger OR the garlic OR the fish sauce and not be hurting for it.
To make this recipe sweeter: add 1 tablespoon fresh honey, 1 tablespoon of Hoisin sauce, or 1 tablespoon of molasses.
Sweet Peanut Variation
what you need
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup lime juice or 1/8 cup rice wine vinegar
2-3 tablespoons Tamari (or soy sauce)
1/2 teaspoon fermented chili paste (or sriracha)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2-6 tablespoons of water
1 teaspoon sesame oil
(optional) 1 garlic clove, finely grated
(optional) 1 fresh ginger knob, finely grated
how to make it
Whisk together all ingredients excluding the water. Add the water one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Since natural peanut butters vary in consistency from very thick (Whole Foods or Publix brands) to very thin (some in jars), you will need to adjust the amount of water to achieve the consistency that suits your dish.
[…] Most of us know Pad Thai as a delicious, peanut-y warm dish that is comforting and about 1K calories per bite. Not this pad thai. Make way for delicious, healthy, easy, weeknight pad thai. You’ll never order take out again after you acclimate to this super flexible, vegan, vegetarian, chicken, pork, or tofu pad thai, made with peanut sauce. […]
[…] Thai (the healthy, weeknight way). I was so thrilled with the simplicity and versatility of both the sauce and the base recipe that I quickly started customizing. Two years later we have weeknight stir fry, […]