This spicy peanut dipping sauce is so easy and quick to make that you can have it on the table in under 5 minutes. It requires absolutely no cooking and goes brilliantly with rice paper rolls, skewers or anything that needs a strong punchy sauce.
Today’s recipe came about when Steph and I wanted something different to dip our rice paper rolls into other than our usual hoi sin sauce or nuoc mam cham. I wanna say that I found an awesome recipe in some remote part of the Internet and recreated it, or that this is some ancient family recipe passed down through the generations. But I can’t. I simply went down to the Asian groceries and bought a jar of the pre-made stuff.
Of course we didn’t have any expectations, but to our surprise, we really enjoyed it! Afterwards, we decided that we had to create our own version. So, I spent the next week developing a recipe and come Sunday we finally had something that we were happy with. But it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine. The fridge was filled with failed attempts and there is only so much peanut sauce you can eat before you go completely nuts… no pun intended.

Pairings
The peanut sauce goes well with the following:
- Traditional Vietnamese fresh rice paper rolls
- Vegan fresh rice paper rolls
- Sauce for skewer recipes
- As a condiment at a BBQ
My Tips for Success
- Both crunchy and smooth peanut butter will work for this recipe. The most important thing is to buy one that has no added salt or sugar.
- Measuring out peanut butter and hoisin sauce using measuring spoons can be a nightmare. I have put the weight in the recipe so you can put your mixing bowl on a scale and just scoop out the ingredients until you get to the required weight. Trust me it much easier then leveling out tablespoons of sticky peanut butter!
- The only way to combine the sauce properly is by using a whisk. I tried using a spoon once… didn’t work.
- Always taste the sauce and tweak it to your preference. If you find the sauce is:
- Too thick – add more water.
- Not spicy enough – add more Sriracha sauce.
- Too sweet – add more vinegar.
- This recipe is typically vegan but there are some things you should know. Not all sriracha sauces are vegan since some use sugar that has been processed (filtered) with animal products (bone char). If this is an issue for you, then I suggest researching it online before purchasing any sriracha sauce.
Recipe Costings
This table shows how much this recipe will cost if you had to go out and buy everything on the ingredients list (“Shop Price”), as well as the value of ingredients actually used in the recipe (“Recipe Cost”).
We haven’t bothered with small quantities of salt, pepper or sugar as the cost would be negligible. All prices are in Australian dollars and are based off what was published on Coles Online or Woolworths Online as at time of writing.
Ingredient | Quantity Bought | Shop Price | Recipe Needs | Recipe Cost |
Natural Peanut Butter | 500 gm tub | $3.50 | 6 tbsp (120 gm) | $0.84 |
Hoisin Sauce | 400 gm bottle | $3.50 | 4 tbsp (120 gm) | $1.05 |
Sriracha Chilli Sauce | 482 gm bottle | $5.50 | 2 tbsp (40 gm) | $0.46 |
White vinegar | 2 L bottle | $1.20 | 2 tsp | $0.01 |
Total | $13.70 | $2.36 |
Optional Extras
If you have the budget and don’t mind adding a few more ingredients to elevate the recipe, then the following are good additions:
- Crushed peanuts – Add these into the sauce for extra crunch!
- Fresh chilies – If you like it hotter than hot!
Other Recipes You May Like
- Traditional Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls – Goi Cuon
- Vietnamese Vegan Rice Paper Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce
- Budget Pork Rice Paper Rolls with Hoisin Sauce
- The Best Vietnamese Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Mam Cham)
- Vietnamese Pickled Carrots and Daikon – Do Chua
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– Scruff

The Easiest Spicy Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp natural peanut butter (120 gm), with no added salt or sugar
- 4 tbsp hoisin sauce (120 gm)
- 2 tbsp sriracha (40 gm)
- 3 tsp white vinegar
- 6 tbsp water
Optional Extras
- crushed peanuts, to your taste
- fresh chillies, finely chopped
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, add all the ingredients.
- Whisk the ingredients together until combined.
- Check the sauce for flavour, consistency and heat. Please refer to my tips for details.
- Serve.
Yum! On my list to try!
Hi Stella!!! Yep, give it a whirl.
I will def try this !!!
Hope it all goes well Staceats!
Just checking measurements, is the peanut butter and the hoisin sauce both 120g? 6 tbsp peanut butter is surely a bigger weight than 4 tbsp hoisin?
Hi Rebel! I know it sounds crazy but they are very similar in weight. I checked once more since your comment and I can confirm its is basically the same!
Thanks so much, I’ll be making this for sure 🙂
I make a similar sauce when I want something quick. It’s amazing how fast and simple it is to make and it’s so tasty!
Yep! I know exactly what you mean. Thanks for dropping by!