DIY Peanut (Satay) Sauce Calls For Just 3 Ingredients

Peanut sauce, sometimes known as satay sauce, is a delicious addition to many Asian-inspired meals. Though the classic-style recipe might call for a handful of groceries, this easy version requires only three ingredients: peanut butter, hoisin sauce, and water. The peanut butter creates the base for the sauce, while the hoisin gives a zestiness, and the water keeps the sauce, well, saucy.

While you can certainly make a delicious multi-step pork satay recipe with peanut dipping sauce, this simple recipe begins by selecting either homemade or from the many jarred peanut butter brands. From there, it's important to determine what texture of sauce you want to make by picking from either creamy or crunchy peanut butter. Creamy will make a smooth sauce, while crunchy will give you a slightly rough, texturized outcome. Once you select your type of peanut butter, you can grab your hoisin sauce. Since hoisin sauce is a mix of spices like fennel, cinnamon, peppercorns, and a few others, it creates a nice blend of sweet, salty, and tangy. If you want to take it up a notch, you can add some heat with a hoisin habañero sauce. For the last part of this three-ingredient mixture, you can use the tried-and-true tap water to keep it liquified.

Once your ingredients are in order, you will combine equal parts peanut butter and hoisin sauce in a small bowl and quickly mix them together. Slowly add the water a little bit at a time, to make a slightly thick, yet runny sauce, or until you are happy with the consistency and overall flavor.

One of the great parts about this simple yet effective peanut sauce is that it can be used for many meals, dips, spreads, salads, and, yes, even desserts. It's mainly used as a dipping sauce for dishes like spring rolls or dumplings, but it has many other tricks up its sleeve. It's great as a steak, chicken, or tofu marinade, as a light salad dressing, or to drizzle on lettuce wraps. You can throw it over top of a teriyaki beef and vegetable noodle bowl or as an acidic base for soups and stews — alas, only you can control your peanut sauce destiny.

If you don't have hoisin, other flavorful sauces can be used, like sweet chili sauce, curry paste, harissa, or its popular Thai condiment substitute. All of these will add a mix of warm, spiced, and sometimes slightly sweet flavors. Try playing around with different sauces that you might have in your pantry. To make the sauce a little creamier, you can try adding a light splash of cream, almond milk, or coconut milk to make it thicker. Or, to add saltiness and a tad of thickness, chicken or beef stock can be used.