Creamy & Healthy Thai Peanut Salad Dressing

Healthy Thai Peanut Salad Dressing recipe: An irresistible Thai Peanut Dressing made with creamy peanut butter, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, and garlic.  Serve it with this Thai Peanut Noodle Salad, Asian Cauliflower, or Oven Baked Crispy Asian Tofu.

Love homemade salad dressings? Try my 15 Healthy Homemade Salad Dressing.

Thai Peanut Salad Dressing

Making Thai Peanut Salad Dressing is easier than you might think.  I love any restaurant that offers Thai Peanut Dressing or Asian-style Thai dressing with any sort of salad or dish.  A local Vietnamese restaurant in town has the perfect version they serve with those tasty spring rolls on rice paper.  I had to recreate that dressing at home and this is it- with all its peanut dressing glory!

If you are like me and love dressing at your favorite local Vietnamese restaurant, and didn't know if you can make it at home, you can!  This peanut dressing is so tasty and surprisingly easy to whip up.

This sauce is the perfect combination of creamy peanut butter brought to life with Thai flavors like ginger, garlic, sesame oil, and soy sauce.  Whether you serve it with spring rolls, with a salad, over noodles, or even as a peanut dipping sauce, this versatile dressing needs a spot in your dinner rotation.

What's in this Healthy Thai Peanut Salad Dressing recipe?

Thai Peanut Salad Dressing is a surprising blend of peanut butter, lime, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.  You probably have a lot of these ingredients in your pantry already.  This exciting and surprising blend of flavors creates that peanut sauce you love!

Why You'll love this Healthy Thai Peanut Dressing recipe...

• This Healthy Thai Peanut Dressing is homemade and super yummy and you can control the ingredients!
• It uses a lot of staples you probably already have at home like garlic, peanut butter, soy sauce, and sesame oil.
• The one thing you'll need special is ginger!  You could totally mince up fresh ginger but I love a good shortcut and tried the already minced tube of ginger in the produce section.  It's kind of like pre-minced garlic.  It worked like a charm and was SO much easier to manage.  And now I have an entire tube in my fridge for when I want to make this again.
• The flavor in this is smooth, creamy, and perfectly salty.  I added the juice from the lime to give it a burst of freshness and flavor.  It's unexpected and so delicious.
• This Peanut Dressing is versatile and can go with salads, noodle dishes or even served as a dip.
• This sauce is vegetarian, has a vegan option below, and is keto, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
• It's totally addictive!

Fun Fact: What is Thai Peanut Sauce Called?

This commonly used sauce is actually called Satay Sauce in Asian cuisine including Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Chinese cuisine.

Ingredients:

Here's an overview of what you'll need to make Thai Peanut Salad Dressing, but keep reading for the full recipe amounts.

• Minced Garlic: You can mince your own or use the kind that is pre-minced.
• Minced Ginger: Fresh ginger is great but if you are short on time feel free to swap out the type in the tube sold in the produce department.
• Creamy Peanut Butter: Use your favorite brand.  The peanut butter is the base for the sauce and gives it substance.  Peanut butter varies in thickness and consistency, so a thicker peanut butter might need more water to thin it out the dressing, while a thinner natural peanut butter might not need much.  You can substitute almond butter, but I love real peanut butter for this recipe.
• Soy Sauce: I like to use low sodium for this.  You can also use tamari sauce.
• Rice Vinegar: Keep rice vinegar in your pantry to create lots of flavor for Asian dishes.  I like this one.
• Sesame Oil: Sesame Oil gives this peanut dressing the rich feeling you are craving.  It's a familiar taste in many Asian dishes and works great here.  I like this one.
• Honey: The Thai Peanut Dressing needs just a touch of sweetness from the honey.
• Lime: A bit of lime brightens up the dish and compliments the Asian flavors.  Use fresh lime juice for the best flavor.

What is Thai Peanut Sauce Made Of?

This dressing is just like the Thai Peanut Sauce you love from takeout.  It's made from peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil.  Honey gives it a touch of sweetness.

Instructions:

Here's an overview of what you'll need to make the Thai Peanut Salad Dressing, but a full printable recipe is below.

1. Put all ingredients - peanut butter, lime, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, water, and honey into your food processor or blender.  You can also whisk it together in a bowl, but it will take some work to blend it all together.
2. Blend until smooth.  It should take a few minutes to get it right.
3. Add more water until you get the desired consistency.  For a dip keep the sauce thicker, but for a dressing keep it a bit thinner.

Variations

• Make it Vegan: If you want to make this recipe vegan try using agave nectar instead of honey.  I think it needs just a touch of sweetness to get the right flavor, so I would not just leave it out.
• Make it Spicy: If you want a spicy Thai Peanut Sauce, add chili garlic sauce, red pepper flakes, or sriracha.
• Make it Gluten Free: Substitute gluten-free soy sauce.
• Make it Thinner: If you want a thinner sauce you can add a touch of water.
• Make it More Lime: A squeeze of lime juice adds a nice zest to this recipe.
• Make it Herby: Add some chopped cilantro to the mix.

FAQ

Storage and Leftovers

Thai Peanut Salad Dressing stores well and is great for making ahead.  Keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.  I like this use this cute salad dressing container. 

Freezing

You can freeze the sauce in an airtight container for up to three months.  You can double or triple the recipe to make more to freeze.

What is this Healthy Thai Peanut Salad Dressing recipe good with?

This healthy salad dressing is perfect for any type of salad, including just salad greens.  It's also tasty on noodle dishes like Pad Thai and as a dipping sauce for veggies.  If you are feeling extra fancy you could even make those pretty shrimp spring rolls like the Vietnamese restaurants.

This Thai Peanut Dressing is Amazing!

I love this Thai Peanut Dressing salad dressing and hope you will give it a try.  If you love ordering this sauce with takeout, you'll be surprised to learn it's pretty easy to recreate at home.  This irresistible dressing tastes too good and can be served in so many ways.

As always, let me know what you think in the comments below.

Serve it with:

• Thai Noodle Salad
• Dipping Sauce for Crispy Asian Tofu
• Dressing for Asian Roasted Cauliflower
• Dressing for Thai Salad recipe with carrots, tomatoes, red bell pepper, and onions.
• A dressing for Cole Slaw.
• Unique dip for Veggie Tray
• Serve as a sauce for chicken, shrimp, or fish.

More Healthy Salad Dressing to Try:

• Homemade Lemon Tahini Dressing
• 5 Ingredient Basil Vinaigrette Dressing
• Healthy Homemade Green Goddess Dressing
• Healthy Greek Yogurt Caesar Dressing
• The Easiest Homemade Salad Dressing {Video}
• Creamy & Healthy Thai Peanut Salad Dressing
• Greek Yogurt Chipotle Lime Ranch Dressing
• Healthy & Creamy Avocado Lime Dressing
• Healthy Greek Salad Dressing
• Healthy Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing
• Homemade Everything Bagel Greek Yogurt Ranch

If you make this Thai Peanut Salad Dressing recipe, I’d love to hear what you think! Leave a comment and a star rating ★ below. Make sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook too!

Healthy Thai Peanut Salad Dressing recipe

This Healthy Thai Peanut Salad Dressing recipe is creamy, easy to make and perfect on salads!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Total Time 10 mins

Course Salad

Cuisine American, Asian

Servings 8

Calories 119 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ½ cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tablespoon honey *
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

 

• Put all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the water until you get the right consistency. You might need a bit more.

Notes

*To make this recipe vegan use agave nectar instead of honey.

The serving size for this recipe is 2 tablespoons.

 

Storage and Leftovers

Thai Peanut Salad Dressing stores well and is great for making ahead.  Keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.  

 

Freezing

You can freeze the sauce in an airtight container for up to three months.  You can double or triple the recipe to make more to freeze.

Nutrition

Calories: 119kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 4gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 200mgPotassium: 118mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 10mgIron: 1mg

Keyword Healthy Thai Peanut Salad Dressing recipe

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