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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.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- 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.
- 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
- 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 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.
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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.
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
- 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.
- Rice vinegar: Or substitute apple cider vinegar.
- Honey: For a vegan version, substitute agave nectar or maple syrup (the flavor will change).
- 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.
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 a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Can you freeze it to keep longer?
Hi Nicole, I haven’t tried to freeze this dressing, but I don’t see why you couldn’t! I would freeze it in something airtight. Take care! – Meggan
Delicious!!! Although, 2 raw cloves of garlic is a bit much, so I used 1 and it was perfect.
I recommend making a double batch!
So glad you loved it, Amy! – Meggan
I was scrolling down to leave a review, thinking to myself, “This is the BOMB!” Turns out, someone else just left the same review, lol. I came to your recipe after TJ’s discontinued their Spicy Thai Vinagrette Dressing (I thought my life was over that day). I tried one other recipe and it was not good. Yours, though, is amazing. I like it even better than TJ’s and that stuff was like crack. Also, I don’t cook much, so I feel really proud of myself for making this from scratch and am hopeful I’ll try cooking more tasty recipes from your site. BTW, I’m vegan and used agave instead of honey – still amazing. Thank you!!!
Hi James! Thank you so much for your comment! You’re so welcome! I’m so glad you love it as much as I do! I’m proud of you too for making something from scratch, it can be challenging so I try to make it as simple as possible. Take care! – Meggan
This dressing is THE BOMB. I’ve been looking for one just like this for years, ever since Trader Joe’s discontinued their Thai-inspired noodle salad with peanut dressing. Can’t believe I’ve finally found it. I used natural-style peanut butter (peanuts and salt only, I think it was Laura Scudders. I left out the honey because I don’t like the sweetness, and I left out the red pepper flakes because….I forgot them. But it turned out absolutely delicious. Thank you so much.
You’re so welcome! It’s so frustrating when products get discontinued. I’m so happy to be able to help! Take care! – Meggan