Deliciously moreish, the nutty flavours of our spicy peanut dressing will be a hit with the crowds. A great Asian style salad dressing recipe to have in your food locker.
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Why is Peanut Salad Dressing So Popular?
Peanut salad dressing is one of the popular Asian style salad dressings that we’ve seen pop up in many different variations. The creamy and moreish nutty flavours definitely hit the spot, and we can see why everyone loves to recreate it.
Many popular peanut salad dressing recipes are known synonymously with Southeast Asian cooking.
The ever so popular Indonesian gado gado salad is the first one that comes to mind. A combination of fresh vegetables like cucumber, beansprouts, green beans and cabbage bulked up with fried tofu or tempeh and boiled egg, gado gado is finished with a spicy peanut dressing that ties everything together.
This spicy peanut dressing will also make a great alternative to creamy based coleslaw. Switch out the mayo and try a nutty version with shredded cabbage and carrot—a great side salad for upcoming barbeques.
Besides salads, peanut dressing is also the perfect condiment with grilled meats such as satay chicken or lemongrass pork. There is a reason why we keep scooping the peanut sauce over the meat. It is deliciously addictive!
Which Peanut Butter To Use In Peanut Salad Dressing?
I use smooth peanut butter as I prefer the smoother texture compared to crunchy peanut butter. However, you can use crunchy peanut butter if you like or if that’s all you had in the pantry!
If you use unsalted peanut butter, best to taste and adjust with soy sauce if it needs more flavour.
Ingredients
Peanut butter: I prefer smooth peanut butter for this peanut salad dressing. It is not to say you can’t use crunchy peanut butter, but the texture will be lumpier.
Rice vinegar: Quintessential vinegar for many Asian salad dressings. If you don’t have rice vinegar, white or apple cider vinegar will work too.
Lime: Not only does it help to balance the richness of peanut butter, but lime also adds a delicious citrus aroma to the peanut salad dressing.
Garlic: I love garlic in salad dressings to give a punchy flavour.
Chilli: For heat and colour, adjust the heat as you please with the type of chilli you choose to use in the dressing. For less heat, use a larger red chilli than a smaller bird’s eye chilli, which can be dangerously hot!
Soy sauce: Adding a little more savoury flavour to the peanut butter.
Instructions
Finely mince garlic to yield 1 teaspoon.
Slice long chilli in half and finely chop to yield 1 teaspoon.
In a food processor, add peanut butter, rice vinegar, lime juice, garlic, chilli and soy sauce and blitz until a smooth paste.
Best Salad For This Dressing
Grilled Pineapple Cucumber Salad
Grilled sweet pineapple slices with fresh crunchy cucumber layered with a spicy peanut dressing takes this Asian salad to the next level of deliciousness.
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Recipe
Spicy Peanut Dressing
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 tsp garlic, minced
- 1 tsp chilli, finely chopped
- 1 tsp soy sauce
Click on the toggle below for conversion to US Cooking Units.
Instructions
- Finely mince garlic to yield 1 teaspoon.
- Slice long chilli in half and finely chop to yield 1 teaspoon.
- In a food processor, add peanut butter, rice vinegar, lime juice, garlic, chilli and soy sauce and blitz until a smooth paste.
Nutrition
*Disclaimer: Nutritional information provided is an estimate only and generated by an online calculator.
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