This is the Best Thai Peanut Sauce ever. It is oil-free, healthy, naturally-sweetened and is so delicious and creamy! Made with just 7 ingredients. It goes great over pasta, rice noodles or dipping in veggies!
BEST THAI PEANUT SAUCE
Sometimes the best recipes come from joining 2 recipes together. I’m going to introduce you all to something that may sound a bit strange at first, but it is incredible. Thai inspired crunchy granola on top of the most delicious Thai Peanut Sauce drenched in zucchini noodles and layered with crispy apple slices.
This Best Thai Peanut Sauce was inspired by a recipe from when I first started my old blog, The Healthy Flavor, called Sweet & Spicy Asian Salad. You can see the original recipe here. It was a dish that my Mom used to make for me religiously before, and especially, during my pregnancy. She originally found the recipe in a newspaper I think, so I don’t know the original source.
I would eat it by the spoonful and I’m 100% serious. Only issue, it was loaded with 1/2 cup of peanut oil and almost 1/2 cup peanut butter. Kind of a ridiculous amount of oil! I cannot, in any way, consume that much oil anymore. I decided to take those similar flavors of peanut, ‘sweet and spicy’ and create my own and I changed it up a bit. I created a whole new recipe using equal parts of tahini and peanut butter and added more soy sauce.
This sauce, oh my goodness. Sweet. Salty. Spicy. Perfection. Instead of all peanut butter, I did part tahini and it was simply amazing! Bonus that it is a healthy oil-free sauce. I love creating oil-free sauces, you can find many of them at How to Cook and Bake Without Oil!
INGREDIENTS TO MAKE THAI PEANUT SAUCE
You will need just 7 ingredients:
- peanut butter
- tahini
- agave
- liquid aminos or low-sodium soy sauce
- coconut vinegar
- garlic powder
- chipotle chile pepper spice
HOW TO MAKE THAI PEANUT SAUCE
Simply add all of the ingredients to a bowl and whisk until smooth.
Enjoy right away in a veggie stir-fry, over rice and veggies or follow the steps to make the pasta and granola for a truly unique and delicious meal!
To complete the dish and make it unique, it is topped with a Thai granola that has been baked in the sauce. Strange? Maybe. Delicious and something you likely haven’t tried before? Definitely. This is not your traditional sweet breakfast granola you are used to, it is more savory, slightly sweet and a little spicy. It goes amazing on top of this dish, making it unique compared to other noodle dishes.
I hope you all love this Best Thai Peanut Sauce with Noodles and granola!
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Best Thai Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
THAI PEANUT SAUCE
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (80g) tahini
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (80g) creamy peanut butter (with no added sugars or oils, mine only has salt)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chile pepper spice
- 2-3 tablespoons Bragg's liquid aminos or low-sodium soy sauce
- 2-3 teaspoons coconut vinegar or rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons (60g) agave
- 3 tablespoons water
THAI GRANOLA (optional recipe idea as pictured)
- 6 tablespoons of above prepared sauce
- 1 cup (100g) old fashioned oats
- 1 apple, sliced
- 1 tablespoon optional: toasted sesame seeds
- pasta of choice
Note
- Do NOT use regular soy sauce in place of the liquid aminos, as it will be way too salty. If you can't find the liquid aminos, you can try subbing tamari. Also, I know the chipotle chile pepper is unusual, but trust me, it is worth it! It gives a smoky heat, that is so different than cayenne or red pepper, so try to use it. It is located in the spice isle at any grocery.
Instructions
- I chose to serve this sauce over gluten-free brown rice noodles and also over zucchini noodles, but you could serve it any way you like, even over a bunch of greens and veggies or a simple stir-fry. I personally loved the noodles because the meal is very filling that way.
- Add all of the Thai Peanut sauce ingredients to a bowl and whisk really well until completely smooth. If your tahini or peanut butter are stored in the fridge, you will need to slightly heat them to soften and become smooth before measuring. Set aside. Taste & adjust if desired.
- For the meal recipe pictured: Preheat an oven to 300°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Add the oats and only 6 tablespoons (1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) of the prepared sauce to a small bowl. Stir really well until it is all combined, sticky and comes together in a ball. Spread out onto the prepared pan evenly and flat, about 1/2 inch high.
- Bake for 10 minutes and remove from the oven, add the sesame seeds (if using) and stir around the granola, so it can cook evenly. Bake for 10 more minutes, watching it closely the last couple of minutes so it doesn't burn. It should be very golden brown. Set aside to cool and crisp up for 10 minutes. Tip: While the granola is baking the last 10 minutes, start to boil your pasta (if using) or spiralize your zucchini noodles or prep your veggies.
- It is important to flavor the noodles while they are boiling. I used fettucini noodles because I like thick ones and they hold up better. Feel free to use whatever kind you like and check them to reach aldente.
- Drain the noodles, reserving a bit of liquid if desired to thin out the Thai sauce. Add to serving bowls and pour lots of sauce over the noodles and garnish with sliced apples and crunchy granola. Feel free to add in any other veggies if you like. Broccoli or mushrooms would be good.
Ingenious!!!!
Thank you so much Cindy! You are too kind! xoxo
Oh, yay!! I can’t wait to hear what you think of it, thank you! I have seen the spice at any grocery store in the spice isle, so hopefully you won’t have any issues. The sauce really is taken to another level with this type of smoky heat. Oh, and the liquid aminos is a soy sauce alternative that is much less salty and you can find it in the condiments section of the specialty health sections. If you can’t find it, you can use tamari or a low sodium soy sauce, although I’m not a huge fan of how salty even the low sodium soy sauce is. But tamari should work too 🙂 I’ll check out your pancake recipe now 🙂
Great! I have to find the chilipote chili pepper then :)! I’ll have a good look at the supermarket :)! I’ll make my home made granola with quinoa flakes and I’ll add your beautiful sauce! Can’t wait to taste it :)!!!
And for the pancakes, let me try to make them without banana 🙂 almond butter can substitute oil, but you need the batter more fluffy…I like this challenge :)! I’ll let you know asap darling!!!
Sounds wonderful Ema, thank you! Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Wow Brandi talk about creative this is incredible. Love the sauce and crunchy granola with the zucchini. A delicious combination.
Thank you so much Suzanne, it is one of my favorite creations so far, for sure!
Thanks Melanie, the apples really taste so good with the sauce and granola!
Oh, it’s NOT a thing in Japan, lol! It was just MY thing that I started eating and got hooked on 🙂 I was there a looong time ago when I was 18 for a modeling contract. Lived there a few months. Was an awesome experience, but modeling was definitely not for me.
Thanks Richa! It all works well together, even if it seems strange at first!
HOLY COW!! I can not tell you enough GOOD THINGS about this recipe!! Everything was a MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN! Anyone “thinking” about making this… STOP THINKING… just get everything you need and make it! I made it with spiraled Zucchini and my husband HATES zucchini. I told him not to come into the kitchen while I cooked… He kept telling me how amazing everything was smelling… Well, he ate it.. ALL OF IT. This recipe got my husband to eat zucchini! The sauce is divine, the granola is divine. I even plan on making a little play off of this recipe tomorrow with leftovers on a salad!
I sautéed my zucchini with minced garlic. Garlic first until fragrant and then the zucchini for about 2 minutes. I seriously wish I could go back a few hours and eat it all again!
This is now my new GO TO site for recipes… Cant wait to try more!! <3
THANK YOU!!
Aly
You are the best Aly! Thank you so much for such awesome feedback and woohoo for the hubby even eating it ALL!!! I truly appreciate you leaving feedback and for sharing your photo and tagging me on Instagram!! Thank you!! I love your tip on the zucchini too, I am TOTALLY doing that next time! 🙂
Thank you so much Melanie, yes strange sounding, but SO GOOD, haha!
Thanks Brittany! I got used to the chopstick thing and they are actually so fun to eat with 🙂
Thanks Emma! Yeah-different granola for sure, but honestly I was eating it by itself too…I LOVED the spicy kick!
Haha, thank you!
Speechless.
One thing though. You should double the amounts for the sauce and granola here cause there’s no way I’d NOT eat up that first batch of granola before the noodles were ready.
Granny Smiths?
This recipe might be my favorite ever! The second day we used the leftovers and warmed the sauce and added peas. It was almost like a fettuccine sauce! So yummy
Hi Brandi
I live in U.K. and can’t work out what old fashioned oats are.Are they steel cut oats do you know ?
Hi Rachel, they are just regular rolled oats, not instant but not steel cut.
Do you think this would work with soy nut butter? Peanut allergies at my house.
Hi Jennifer, I do not know what soy nut butter is so I have no idea! You can always try it. Or, you can try roasted almond butter.
Do you have a suggestion to replace the agave ?
Looking forward to trying this one!
You can use maple syrup! It will change the flavor a bit but shoots still be delicious. Let me know after you try it!
Yummy!!
Just tried it using regular peanut (with sugar, because…life) left out the sweetener (because maple and agave are unaffordable here anyway) and it’s totally delicious! Thanks for the great recipe. 😍
So glad you enjoyed it Anice! Good that the peanut butter had sweetener in it or else it would be too bitter without any sweetener. It must have been really thick with none of the sweetener/liquid added though?
What a creative combo of not only the peanut sauce, but savory granola and apples?! We loved it! I’ve made a savory granola once before and used a a salad topping and really enjoyed it. I never thought of it for over pasta- brilliant!
This Asian peanut sauce was different with the Tahini addition that I really enjoyed 🙂
Hi Brandi,
This looks amazing, do you have a substitute for the chipotle chile pepper spice as we do not have that here in New Zealand, I do have chillie and chipotle.
Many thanks
I’d try chipotle!!
This is now in standard rotation. Love it on bowls with any kind of veggie/grain/legume combo, and on salads. Depending on the consistency of the peanut butter it’s sometimes too thick for my old blender and I have to add a bit more water or vinegar, depending on whether it’s tangy enough. I also use a teaspoon of lime juice to replace part of the water. If I’m out of rice vinegar I use a combo of apple cider and white wine vinegars.
I used this for a Buddha bowl with steamed vegetables and quinoa. It is indeed the best peanut sauce I’ve ever made!
That is amazing to hear Sherry! Thank you!