Peanut Sauce I
Simple and quick Indonesian-style Peanut Sauce made from scratch with the most basic ingredients. It is nutty, sweet, a little bit tangy, and spicy. Perfect for multipurpose sauce for dipping and salad dressing.
Make homemade Peanut Sauce that uses simple ingredients and takes less than 20 minutes to prepare from scratch. You read it right, we make it from scratch using raw peanuts.
This flavorful Peanut Sauce is dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegan. Once you start using this recipe, then you would be using it for all kinds of things. Pour it over your barbeques, noodles, and vegetables. It also works very well with wraps and as a dipping sauce. This Peanut Sauce will make all your kitchen recipes, even more delicious.
This Recipe Uses Whole Peanuts
This homemade Peanut Sauce recipe starts with frying whole peanuts instead of using peanut butter which makes it different from other available recipes. Starting from whole peanuts, rather than pre-made peanut butter makes a whole difference in taste and texture. Once you try this recipe, you will never go back to peanut butter sauce or any recipes using peanut butter as the main ingredient.
Peanut Sauce Ingredients
- Raw peanuts – This recipe uses whole peanuts instead of peanut butter.
- Red chilis. – To add an extra kick to the sauce. This recipe uses a combination of very spicy bird’s eye chilis and mild-spicy curly red chilis. You can skip or reduce the chilis if you prefer it to be less spicy.
- Garlic – To make the sauce a little bit garlicky.
- Water – To thin out the sauce.
- Granulated sugar – To add a little bit of sweetness to the sauce.
- Salt – For taste.
- White vinegar – To add a little bit of tanginess to the sauce and balance out the spicy and sweet flavors. In the authentic Indonesian version, tamarind is usually used. For the quick version like this recipe, we use white vinegar instead.
- Oil – For frying the peanuts and spices. Make sure you use neutral flavor oil. Do not use olive oil!
How to Make Peanut Sauce
- Fry raw peanuts with a little bit of oil on low-medium heat until golden brown. Remove the peanuts from the oil and cool slightly.
- Add bird’s eye chilis, red curly chilis, and garlic into the oil. Fry until the ingredients are wilted and soft. Remove from oil and cool slightly.
- In a spice grinder or food processor, blend fried peanuts, chilis, and garlic with a little bit of water until smooth.
- In a medium saucepan, add the blended peanut mixture and the remaining water. Heat on medium heat until it starts simmering while stirring occasionally. Add granulated sugar, salt, and white vinegar. Mix and cook until the mixture boils. Turn off the heat. Cool the peanut sauce completely before using it.
How to Store
Homemade Peanut Sauce tastes the best on the day it is cooked. It will gradually start to lose some of its flavor over time. Keep the Peanut Sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. For longer storage, the sauce can be frozen in an airtight, freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months.
Before you reheat the frozen sauce, leave the sauce on the counter or in the fridge to thaw. Place the thawed sauce in a saucepan and cook over a stovetop until it boils.
Recipes Featuring Peanut Sauce
If you are craving for more peanutty goodness, check out these recipes on Taste of Nusa.
Peanut Sauce I
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups (200 gr) raw peanuts
- 3 bird’s eye chilis, optional
- 8 curly red chilis
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 cups (500 ml) water, or more
- 1/4 cup (50 gr) granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- Oil, for frying
Instructions
- Fry peanuts – Add a thin layer of oil to a medium frying pan. Heat on low-medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add peanuts and fry until golden brown. Remove the peanuts from the oil and cool slightly.
- Fry spices – Add bird's eye chilis, curly red chilis, and garlic into the oil. Fry until the ingredients are wilted and soft. Remove from oil and cool slightly.
- Blend – In a spice grinder or food processor, blend fried peanuts, chilis, and garlic with a little bit of water until smooth.
- Cook – In a medium saucepan, add the blended peanut mixture and the remaining water. You may add more water if you prefer a thinner sauce. Heat on medium heat until it starts simmering while stirring occasionally.
- Add seasonings – Add granulated sugar, salt, and white vinegar. Mix and cook until the sauce boils. Turn off the heat.
- Cool the peanut sauce completely before using it.
Easy and delicious!
Thanks for the feedback Janice!