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This easy, delicious Thai Peanut Dressing is made from mostly pantry ingredients and is delicious on salads, grilled chicken, or for dipping your favorite appetizers.

A bowl of Thai peanut dressing.
Table of Contents
  1. Recipe ingredients
  2. Ingredient notes
  3. Step-by-step instructions
  4. Recipe tips and variations
  5. Thai Peanut Dressing Recipe

Recipe ingredients

Labeled Thai peanut dressing ingredients.

Ingredient notes

  • Peanut butter: To make homemade peanut butter:
    1. Add 4 cups roasted peanuts to a high-powered blender or food processor. Pulse the peanuts until they are finely chopped.
    2. Process or blend on a low speed for 1 minute continuously, then stop the machine and scrape down the sides. The peanut butter will be dry and gritty.
    3. Process or blend on a low speed a second time for 1 minute continuously, then stop the machine and scrape down sides. The peanut butter will start to form a clumpy paste. 
    4. Process or blend on a low speed a third time for 1 minute continuously, then stop the machine and scrape down sides. The peanut butter will be thick and grainy at this point.
    5. Process or blend on a medium speed fourth time for 1 to 2 minutes longer. The peanut butter should be creamy, smooth, and warm.
  • Rice vinegar: Or substitute apple cider vinegar.
  • Honey: For a vegan version, substitute agave nectar or maple syrup (the flavor will change).

Step-by-step instructions

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, lime juice, ginger, sesame oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
A bowl with ingredients for Thai peanut dressing.
  1. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper). If the dressing is too thick, thin with water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
A bowl of Thai peanut dressing.

Recipe tips and variations

  • Yield: This recipe makes 1 cup dressing, enough for 8 servings (2 tablespoons each). 1 recipe of dressing will dress 8-10 cups salad.
  • Storage: Store covered in the refrigerator and use within 4 days.
  • Make the dressing your own: Substitute almond butter for the peanut butter, make it creamier with a splash of coconut milk, or dial up the heat with more red chili flakes.

Favorite ways to enjoy peanut dressing

A bowl of Thai peanut dressing.

Thai Peanut Dressing

This easy, delicious Thai Peanut Dressing is made from mostly pantry ingredients and is delicious on salads, grilled chicken, or for dipping your favorite appetizers.
4.99 from 100 votes
ReviewPrint
Prep Time 5 mins
Total Time 5 mins
Servings 8 servings (2 tbsp each)
Course Pantry, Salad
Cuisine Asian, Thai
Calories 74

Ingredients 

  • 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (see note 1)
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar (see note 2)
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons honey (see note 3)
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice (from 1 lime)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions 

  • In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, lime juice, ginger, sesame oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper). If the dressing is too thick, thin with water, 1 teaspoon at a time.

Recipe Video

Notes

  1. Peanut butter: To make homemade peanut butter, add 4 cups roasted peanuts to a high-powered blender or food processor. Pulse the peanuts until they are finely chopped. Process or blend on a low speed for 1 minute continuously, then stop the machine and scrape down the sides. The peanut butter will be dry and gritty. Process or blend on a low speed a second time for 1 minute continuously, then stop the machine and scrape down sides. The peanut butter will start to form a clumpy paste. Process or blend on a low speed a third time for 1 minute continuously, then stop the machine and scrape down sides. The peanut butter will be thick and grainy at this point. Process or blend on a medium speed fourth time for 1 to 2 minutes longer. The peanut butter should be creamy, smooth, and warm.
  2. Rice vinegar: Or substitute apple cider vinegar.
  3. Honey: For a vegan version, substitute agave nectar or maple syrup (the flavor will change).
  4. Yield: This recipe makes 1 cup dressing, enough for 8 servings (2 tablespoons each). 1 recipe of dressing will dress 8-10 cups salad.
  5. Storage: Store covered in the refrigerator and use within 4 days.
  6. Make the dressing your own: Substitute almond butter for the peanut butter, make it creamier with a splash of coconut milk, or dial up the heat with more red chili flakes.

Nutrition

Serving: 2tbspCalories: 74kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 3gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 290mgPotassium: 77mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 20IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 7mgIron: 1mg
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Meggan Hill is the Executive Chef and CEO of Culinary Hill, a popular digital publication in the food space. She loves to combine her Midwestern food memories with her culinary school education to create her own delicious take on modern family fare. Millions of readers visit Culinary Hill each month for meticulously-tested recipes as well as skills and tricks for ingredient prep, cooking ahead, menu planning, and entertaining. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the iCUE Culinary Arts program at College of the Canyons.

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Comments

  1. Oh my, this is crazily YUMMY for the minimal effort needed! It’s so tasty despite me not having lime juice. Gonna get lime next time just to make this again! Woot!5 stars

    Reply

  2. Oh my, this is crazily YUMMY for the effort put in! It’s so tasty despite me not having lime juice. Gonna get lime next time just to make this again! Woot!5 stars

    Reply

  3. Delicious and forgiving. Can swap maple syrup for honey, lemon juice for lime, whatever nuts or nut butter I have on hand, and it’s always turned out delicious. Love that it calls for only 1/4 peanut butter (many recipes call for twice that), and less oil, so it’s a lower calorie option for a tasty peanut butter dressing. Thanks for a great recipe!5 stars

    Reply

  5. Very tasty. Nice lactose free alternative for my nightly salads. I reduced the vinegar to two tablespoons and it was perfect for me.4 stars

    Reply

  7. Amazing recipe. Thank you!! I use this salad as my main meal many days a week. I add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of chili flakes and use a teaspoon of dried ginger powder instead of fresh ginger because that’s what I had on hand. Again…thank you!

    Reply

  8. I love peanut butter Thai style dressing and this recipe is a keeper. We make our own peanut butter. I used techina sauce instead of sesame oil. It worked well. I added 2 teaspoons of water to thin dressing. I also used 1 tablespoon of honey instead of 2.
    The dressing was yummy.5 stars

    Reply

  9. Amazing recipe!! It was exactly the balance of flavors I was looking for! Used agave for ease of mixing in, coconut aminos, and Jiffy Natural PB. It was spot on and the perfect addition to my Asian chicken salad with rice noodles. Everyone raved about the dressing and this will definitely be on repeat. Thank you!5 stars

    Reply

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