We don’t use peanut sauce enough. After tasting 11 different brands in search of the best peanut sauce you can buy, I have a new appreciation for the stuff. Made right, it’s creamy, savory, tangy, and delicious on pretty much anything. I took home our pick for the number one best store bought peanut sauce and made incredible cucumber salads and noodles. I used it as a dip for raw vegetables. I added it to marinades. I didn’t use it on eggs—but I should have.
What I’m saying is, peanut sauce is an extremely versatile condiment. Sure, we found the best peanut sauce for spring rolls and the best peanut satay sauce, but you shouldn’t feel limited by those superlatives. Go ahead and use these top-notch peanut sauces however you see fit.
Peanut sauce comes in a few different flavor profiles, from tangy and spicy to aromatic and coconutty. Some are chunky, others are super creamy. No matter what you prefer, you’ll find the best bottled peanut sauce for your tastes here. (And if we missed any in our tasting, please let us know what to try in future taste tests!)
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- Thai Kitchen Peanut Satay Sauce
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Sweet, creamy, and heavy on the lemongrass, this thick, delectably oily peanut sauce is quite tasty. Made with coconut milk, peanuts, sesame seeds, tamarind, shallot, garlic, lemongrass, and lime peel, it’s more aromatic than the other peanut sauces on this list. That intense flavor profile and its thick, slick consistency make it the best peanut satay sauce. It will add complexity and depth to grilled chicken or even tofu satay. And it’s not spicy at all, so it’s a safe bet for every level of heat tolerance. Note: It definitely is a bit oily, which makes it great for lean meat, so be sure to give it a stir before using.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Trader Joe’s Thai Peanut Satay Sauce
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Trader Joe’s peanut sauce is heavy on the coconut, tamarind, and galangal. It’s not as herbaceous and complex as Thai Kitchen’s sauce, which makes it a bit more of a utility player. You could for sure use it for satay, but it would also be a good dip for vegetables thanks to its texture (smooth, no stirring needed, with just a few chunks). For an easy Trader Joe’s meal, grab a jar of this peanut sauce, some of their Thai noodles, and a packet of the premixed stir-fry veggies. Dinner, solved.
Credit: Merc / Trader Joe’s
- House of Tsang Bangkok Peanut Sauce
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I love how funky, tangy, and spicy this sauce is. If you’re looking for heat, this is the best peanut sauce we tried, for sure. And that’s also what makes it the best peanut sauce for spring rolls. The spice and funk of this sauce paired with cooling, crunchy spring rolls? Heck yeah.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Watcharee’s Thai Peanut Sauce
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I could (and did) eat this sauce with a spoon. It’s definitely the best Thai peanut sauce we tried. It’s different from the other peanut sauces we tried in that it is made with two different curry pastes—red and massaman. And you can really taste that curry influence. It makes this such a useful sauce. You can toss it with noodles or make satay or dip shrimp into it, but you can also use it as a simmer sauce or pour it onto french fries. If your local grocery store doesn’t stock it, buy it online. It’s the best peanut sauce you can buy.
Credit: Merc / Amazon
Best Satay Sauce
Best for Noodles
Best for Spring Rolls
Best of the Best
Other peanut sauces we tried: 365 Organic Peanut Sauce, Fila Manila Kare-Kare Peanut Sauce and Marinade, Good & Gather Thai Peanut Sauce, Stonewall Kitchen Roasted Garlic Peanut Sauce, San-J Thai Peanut, Kroger Thai Inspirations Peanut Sauce, Sky Valley Organic Thai Peanut Sauce
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!