A simple and versatile 4-ingredient peanut sauce recipe, inspired by Thai chicken satay. It’s easy to make by stirring the ingredients together in a bowl; no blender or heat required to combine. Low carb, keto, and gluten free sauce.
Uses For Peanut Sauce
This delicious peanut sauce can be used for a variety of dishes, such as a sauce for beef stir fry or spaghetti squash noodles, a dressing for chicken salads, a dip for spring rolls, or a topping for lettuce wraps.
The sauce is on the thicker side, which is ideal when you’re looking for a sticky sauce for stir fry dishes. For scenarios where a thinner sauce would be ideal, like for salads, you can stir in an extra tablespoon of water or lime juice to thin it out to your desired consistency.
Selecting a Low Carb Peanut Butter
There’s a wide variety of peanut butters available on U.S. grocery shelves. I recommend plain peanut butter, without any special flavors or add-ins, and unsweetened. This is often referred to as “natural” peanut butter on package labels. Separation is expected, so thoroughly stir the peanut butter before using.
Before buying, check the peanut butter’s ingredients label. The only two ingredients should be peanuts and salt. The nutrition facts are also useful; I look for ones with 4g net carbs or less per 2 tablespoon serving.
Either creamy or crunchy will work; it’s up to your personal preference and what you’re using the peanut sauce for.
Selecting a Hot Sauce & Soy Sauce
Any kind of chili garlic sauce will work, so you can use your favorite one. I use sriracha, and another popular one is sambal oelek. If you use a hot sauce that has a different level of spiciness than sriracha, you may want to stir it in last so that you can add to taste.
The recipe lists 1 teaspoon of sriracha, which results in a mild heat. If desired, you can use 2 to 3 teaspoons for a spicier sauce. The downside is that if you add too much, it’ll mask the peanut butter flavor.
I use low-sodium soy sauce, but any kind will work — regular, reduced sodium, light, or dark.
DESCRIPTION
INGREDIENTS
- 3 tablespoons peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon sriracha or other chili garlic sauce
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a small bowl, add all peanut sauce ingredients and vigorously stir until very smooth. As you stir, the sauce will initially appear clumpy, but will quickly combine to form a smooth texture.
- This sauce can be used right away in recipes like beef stir fry. Yields enough sauce for 2 stir fry servings, with a serving size of 3 tablespoons.
NUTRITION
| Makes 2 Servings |
| Amount Per Serving: |
| Calories 170 | |
| Total Fat 11g | 17% |
| Saturated Fat 2g | 8% |
| Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
| Sodium 300mg | 13% |
| Net Carb 6.5g | |
| Total Carb 9g | 3% |
| Dietary Fiber 2.5g | 9% |
| Sugars 2.5g | |
| Protein 6g |
Julia, the peanut sauce sounds easy & delish (of course) but I’m curious why you didn’t keep it gluten free by using tamari. I use low sodium tamari whenever I want that salty depth in my recipes. Am I mistaken about soy sauce containing gluten?
It depends on the brand. Gluten-free soy sauce brands include Little Soya, San-J, Eden, and some varieties of Kikkoman.