Spicy Peanut Coconut Sauce | Our Favorite Quick Condiment

Do you ever use the food on your plate as an excuse to eat just the sauces and condiments on the side?

No??? Just us… Got it.

But that’s about to change!

In our household, summer rolls with spicy peanut coconut sauce is probably the meal we have made the most frequently. Honestly, we have it about once a week. While there are a lot of things to love about summer rolls, the real star is the accompanying spicy peanut coconut sauce.

We might be biased, but peanut sauce in itself is just a perfect condiment. This may be surprising because growing up, peanut butter was not allowed in Erica’s pantry due to family allergies.

For us, our love for peanut sauces starts with Thai restaurants. We love, love, love the peanut dipping sauce served alongside satay. While nothing can ever compare to those sauces from our favorite Thai restaurants, our homemade sauce starts with the same idea, but has been adjusted for our home cooking and potential nut allergies.

why you’ll love it

Balance my friend. When made properly, spicy peanut coconut sauce has everything you could possible want in a condiment. There’s natural nuttiness from its namesake ingredient, but its seasonings turn it into the total package. It’s sweet (shoutout palm sugar), salty (thanks to soy sauce), spicy (spice averse friends can blame the chili garlic paste), umami (fish sauce is life), and with the introduction of a lime squeeze, acidic too.

There is truly something transformative about awesome, homemade sauces. You can use it to make use of refrigerator staples (such as carrots, cucumbers, celery, etc.) and turns it into an awesome snack. It pairs well with anything that has a crunch and refreshing bite.

Additionally, we have developed the recipe to work with any nut butter. If you or someone in your household is effected by peanut allergies, feel free to substitute in almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower butter, or any other alternative in the same quantity. It will still be tasty, we promise.

Spicy Peanut Coconut Sauce

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
Servings: 6 servings | About 1 cup

Ingredients:

1 small shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon Nam Prik Pao (Maesri brand preferred)
2 teaspoon chili garlic paste (or sambal oelek)
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce (optional)
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
4 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2/3 cup coconut milk

Instructions:

Place a small sauce pan over medium heat and add 2 teaspoons of canola oil (or other neutral vegetable oil). Once coating the bottom of the pot, saute minced shallot with the pot until softened, 2 minutes.

After shallot has softened, add minced garlic into the pot and stir until well combined. Cook over medium heat for another 2 minutes so the garlic softens and shallot begins to turn translucent.

After shallot and garlic are finished cooking, turn off stove and leave on heat. Add chili garlic sauce and nam prik pao, stir until nam prik pao is softened. Stir in peanut butter, fish sauce, soy sauce, and hoisin until smooth.

Slowly add coconut milk and continue stirring sauce until smooth. The peanut sauce should begin taking on a lighter color and fluffier texture.

Taste sauce and adjust to your preferences by adding more of the seasonings. Once it has reached your desired consistency, place into containers or serving bowls.

Chef Notes:
This is a pretty simple recipe, but cooking technique makes a huge difference for flavor development. Removing the pan from the heat and allowing it to cool slightly prevents the seasonings from burning upon contact with a hot pan.

One of our favorite aspects of this recipe is how it can be shaped to personal taste preferences. If you are not used to making modifications to your recipes, follow our outline:

Spicier sauce = add more of the chili garlic paste, 1/4 teaspoon at a time
Sweeter sauce = add more hoisin, 1 teaspoon at a time
Creamier sauce = add more coconut milk, 1 tablespoon at a time
Saltier sauce = add more fish sauce or soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon at a time
And finally, a sauce with more body = add more nut butter, 1/2 tablespoon at a time