EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (2024)

by Tayler 8 Comments

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Incredibly quick and easy peanut butter sauce for ice cream, pancakes, waffles and more. This recipe only has 4 ingredients and requires no cooking.

EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (1)

I used to think there were very few things in life better than a cold ice cream on a hot summer day. Well, that was until I had ice cream with silky smooth molten peanut butter sauce on top. It’s absolutely divine and now I make it every time I’m craving ice cream!

If you’re a peanut butter fan like me, this recipe is definitely for you! Made with only a few ingredients, this peanut butter sauce is ideal for drizzling on ice cream, pancakes, waffles or fruit.

Pair this decadent sauce with my Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream or easy to make No Churn Oreo Ice Cream.

EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (2)
EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (3)

What's In This Post

Why You’ll Love This Peanut Butter Sauce

Of course you can always buy a jar of peanut butter sauce at the store, but this is why our homemade version is better.

  • Only 4 ingredients: Although it tastes decadent and rich, this peanut butter sauce for ice cream only has 4 ingredients. Most of them can be found in your pantry or in supermarkets.
  • Easy to make: There’s no special equipment needed to make this recipe. All you need is one bowl, a spatula and a microwave. Yep, it’s that easy!
  • Perfect for many desserts: The beauty of this easy peanut butter sauce is that it can be used in so many different ways. Drizzle it over your favorite ice cream, pancakes or waffles. Add it as a topping on brownies or cookies or use it as a fruit dip.
  • Tastes amazing: This recipe is not only easy to make, but tastes very rich and decadent. It’s sticky, gooey, silky smooth and absolutely addictive.
EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (4)
EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (5)

Peanut Butter Sauce Ingredients

The beauty of this recipe is that it’s crazy easy to make. All you need are 4 ingredients, which can be found in most pantries or the supermarket. You can simplify this recipe further if needed to only 2 ingredients. Here’s what you will need:

  • Peanut butter – smooth peanut butter is recommended. It needs to be store-bought, not natural. The best brands to use are Skippy of Jif.
  • Corn syrup – I recommend using light corn syrup, my favorite brand being Karo. If you don’t have any, you can replace corn syrup with runny honey.
  • Sweetened condensed milk – This is what makes the peanut butter sauce very shiny and smooth. I don’t recommend swapping it for evaporated milk.
  • Milk – is needed to make the sauce a little thinner, so it can be drizzled. Any type of milk or plant based alternative can be used.
  • Optional: salt – Although optional, I strongly recommend it. Salt makes the flavors more intense and delicious.

For the 2 ingredient option, you will need only peanut butter and corn syrup in 1:1 ratio. If it’s too thick, you can make the sauce runnier with some extra water or milk.

EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (6)

How to Make Peanut Butter Sauce

It’s not essential to use a microwave, but it’s the quickest way. Alternatively, you can also use the stove and cook the ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat. The rest of the process is exactly the same as with the microwave.

  1. Combine ingredients. Combine all the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl.
  2. Microwave until melted. Add in milk, then stir to combine.
EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (7)
EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (8)
EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (9)

Ways to Use

When I first made this peanut butter sauce for ice cream, I didn’t realize just how many different uses it has. The options are endless, but here are some of my favorites:

  • Pancakes – If you’re tired of the same old maple syrup topping, then peanut butter sauce is what you need. You can use it for any type of pancake like Sticky Banana Pancakes, Pumpkin Spice Pancakes or Oatmeal Pancakes.
  • Waffles – Trust me when I say that waffles and peanut butter sauce are the perfect match. Simply drizzle it over your favorite waffles and enjoy!
  • Brownies – Although brownies are already decadent and delicious, peanut butter sauce takes them to a whole different level. Drizzle some on top of Homemade Brownies or chocolatey Nutella Brownies.
  • Fruit dip – It goes without saying that peanut butter sauce and bananas is a heavenly combination, but you can also use it with other fruits. Try it with strawberries, apples or melon.
  • Hot drinks – A spoonful of peanut butter sauce in your favorite hot chocolate or coffee will make the drink go from good to amazing.
  • Desserts – Add this peanut butter sauce to all of your favorite desserts including cheesecake, ice cream sundaes or even pound cake.
EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (10)
EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (11)

Tips & Tricks

I’ve gathered a few tips and tricks a long the way to ensure you get the best batch of peanut butter dessert sauce.

  • Use store bought peanut butter – Natural peanut butter does not melt as well as the store bought variety. For this peanut butter recipe for ice cream it’s important to use commercial brands such as Skippy or Jif.
  • Don’t overheat – Whether using the stove or microwave, you shouldn’t overheat the mixture too much as the peanut butter can burn. When using a microwave, cook in increments of 10-20 seconds and mix multiple times to avoid burning. With the stove, cook over low heat whilst mixing continuously to avoid burning the bottom.
  • Mix well to combine – Once heated up well, all the ingredients need to be mixed well until fully combined.
  • Dilute with milk – For an extra runny sauce, you need to dilute the mixture a little to make it runnier. Add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time and mix well before adding any more.
  • Use whilst hot – This peanut butter sauce for ice cream is best whilst hot. This is when it’s runny and the perfect drizzling consistency.
EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (12)
EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (13)

Storage and Freezing

Once cooled, the peanut butter sauce for ice cream thickens up, so it needs to be used quickly. However, it can stored and then easily made runny again.

How to Store Peanut Butter Sauce

Place in an airtight container or jar and keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

To reheat, microwave in small increments of 20-30 seconds and mix until runny. Add 1-2 teaspoons of milk if needed to thin out the sauce.

Can I Freeze Peanut Butter Sauce?

Because corn syrup does not freeze well, I don’t recommend freezing this recipe.

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EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (15)

More Sweet Sauces

Not all sauces have to be savory! These are some of our favorite sweet sauces that we know you’ll love.

  • Pear Sauce
  • Blackberry Simple Syrup
  • White Chocolate Sauce
  • Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe
  • Butterscotch Sauce
  • Blueberry Sauce

Bourbon Sauce

Creamy and sweet with just a touch of spice, there's nothing like a decadent bourbon sauce to pour over cakes and ice cream, or dip fruit in.

Check out this recipe

EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (16)

Blond Syrup

EASY Vanilla Blond Syrup (Dutch Honey) is an easy homemade syrup for pancakes, waffles, French toast, biscuits or even vanilla ice cream!

Check out this recipe

EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (17)

Nutella Sauce

This EASY Nutella Sauce recipe transforms the chocolate hazelnut spread into a rich, decadent sauce that can be drizzled or dipped into!

Check out this recipe

EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (18)

EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (19)

EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (20)

Peanut Butter Sauce

Incredibly quick and easy, this 4 ingredient Peanut Butter Sauce is perfect for ice cream, pancakes, waffles and more! In under 5 minutes!

5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: American

Keyword: peanut butter sauce

Prep Time: 2 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 minute minute

Total Time: 3 minutes minutes

Servings: 1 Cup

Calories: 1284kcal

Ingredients

  • ½ cup smooth peanut butter*
  • ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk*
  • ¼ cup corn syrup or honey
  • 3-4 tablespoons milk for thinning the sauce
  • Optional: ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • In a small microwave-safe bowl combine the peanut butter, condensed milk, corn syrup (or honey) and salt.

  • Microwave for 20-30 seconds, then mix well to combine all ingredients. Microwave again in increments of 20 seconds until the peanut butter is fully softened.

  • Add in the milk and stir to incorporate. If the sauce is too thick, add more milk until it reaches the desired consistency.

  • Drizzle hot over ice cream or other desserts.

  • If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or ratings!

Notes

Peanut butter needs to be store-bought, not natural. Recommended brands are Skippy or Jif.
Condensed milk can be substituted with more corn syrup. If no condensed milk is used, leave out the extra milk.
The sauce hardens when cooled. To make runny again, microwave for 20-30 seconds, then mix well. Add 1-2 teaspoons of milk if needed.

Nutrition

Calories: 1284kcal | Carbohydrates: 138g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 74g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16g | Monounsaturated Fat: 35g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 721mg | Potassium: 1080mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 123g | Vitamin A: 277IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 347mg | Iron: 2mg

EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (21)

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (22)Andrea

    EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (23)
    This is my kind of heavenly sauce. I’m going to put this on pancakes, waffles, ice cream etc…

    Reply

  2. EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (24)Sarah James

    EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (25)
    Yes please, we love peanut butter in our house. Looking forward to making some this weekend with our pancakes. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

    Reply

  3. EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (26)Mahy

    EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (27)
    What an incredible consistency, just like my friend makes. Definitely need to surprise her now with making my own pb sauce!

    Reply

  4. EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (28)MSL

    EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (29)
    I cannot believe how easy this is and also how YUMMY it is. Condensed milk is a game changer in this. Love it so much. Thank you!!

    Reply

  5. EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (30)Beth

    EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (31)
    Holy. Moly. This looks absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to make this and put it on EVERTYHING.

    Reply

    • EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (32)Lana

      EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (33)
      So yummy on top of brownies and yellow cake. Going to try it on top of Churro waffles tomorrow morning. Thank you for this great recipe. I’ll be making it again and again.

      Reply

  6. EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (34)Deb

    can I can this recipe to give as gifts?

    Reply

    • EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (35)jessica

      Hi Deb- you could, but it should be refrigerated since it doesn’t contain preservatives and isn’t canned. So as a hostess gift where a fridge is near, sure! As a wrapped gift with unknown amounts of time out, probably not.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

EASY Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients and 5 minutes!) (2024)

FAQs

What is peanut butter sauce made of? ›

Steps to Make It

Combine 1/2 cup smooth no-stir peanut butter, 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, 2 tablespoons corn syrup, and 1/4 cup light brown sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring, until smooth and the ingredients are well incorporated—about 4 minutes.

How do you melt peanut butter to drizzle? ›

When using peanut butter only, the key is heat. Peanut butter is naturally high in fat, but that fat is nearly solid at room temperature. In order to soften it up, you need some heat. In my case, I heated two tablespoons in a heat-proof bowl and then stirred like crazy.

How do you thin peanut butter into sauce? ›

Start with a little less than equal parts warm water to nut butter and add more water as needed, until the sauce is your desired consistency. You'll want it thinner for drizzling, and thicker for dipping.

How to make thin peanut butter? ›

Applying heat is the easiest way to thin peanut butter, but if your PB still looks grainy or is so thick that it's prone to burning, a little liquid can help. Try whisking in a few drops of water as you heat the peanut butter, slowly adding more until the butter reaches the right consistency.

What is creamy peanut butter made of? ›

Peanuts, Sugar, Palm Oil, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Salt, Molasses.

How long does homemade peanut sauce last? ›

I suggest doubling or tripling the recipe to have throughout the week with salad rolls, roasted veggies, and salads. How long with the sauce last? The Peanut Sauce will last up to 1 week in a tightly sealed container in the fridge.

How to make PB liquidy? ›

Two easy ways to thin peanut butter

The National Peanut Board suggests adding a little water for some extra moisture. Add the water slowly and be sure not to overdo it — too much water can make the peanut butter runny. Another option is to heat peanut butter up in order to liquify the fat content.

How can I liquify peanut butter? ›

Scoop peanut butter into the blender or food processor.

Add two tablespoons of water per tablespoon of peanut butter. For a creamier consistency, you can use milk in place of water. If you're making a savory sauce, you can use the other ingredients, like soy sauce, for example, in place of water.

How do you make creamy peanut butter thicker? ›

If you want to THICKEN peanut butter, you need to get rid of water, not add it. Some obvious ways: 1. add a little starch — use a cooked or pure starch (Wondra, potato starch, etc.)

What can I add to peanut butter to make it runny? ›

Any other fat, including vegetable oils, can be used to thin peanut butter. Each, of course, may add something to the mix -- like different flavors -- so you'd probably want something neutral, like peanut oil. I generally dilute my peanut butter with olive oil. You can also add honey to it.

Why is my peanut sauce breaking? ›

A broken sauce is generally caused by the separation of sauces into two components: a watery liquid and an oily film on top. This happens when there's too much fat or liquid in the mixture. This can happen when there are not enough emulsifiers (which help keep your ingredients together).

Why is my peanut sauce thin? ›

If your sauce has become too thin, add more nut butter. If it's too thick, thin with more water. For a fun flavor twist, add some fresh grated ginger to taste.

What is Drippy PB? ›

It is excessively runny with no oil separation. It has the consistency of the oil layer but, again, there is no visible oil layer.

How is Drizzle peanut butter made? ›

The simplest way to drizzle peanut butter is to first melt it by heating. The heat will thin it out without compromising flavor. Then, spoon it over by holding the spoon straight down and letting the peanut butter fall from the tip. This takes a bit of practice but works well.

What is peanut butter spread made of? ›

Peanut butter is a food paste or spread made from ground, dry-roasted peanuts.

What is Jif peanut butter sauce? ›

Directions. WHISK together peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, sriracha, water, honey, chives and ginger in small bowl. SERVE with chicken, grilled meats and vegetables, noodles, slaw, rice or use as a dressing.

What is peanut butter syrup made of? ›

Ingredients. Pure Cane Sugar, Water, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (to preserve freshness), Potassium Sorbate (to preserve freshness), Caramel Color. Contains Peanut Allergens.

Is peanut butter and peanut sauce the same thing? ›

The texture and consistency (thin or thick) of a peanut sauce corresponds to the amount of water being mixed in it. In Western countries, the readily and widely available peanut butter is often used as a substitute ingredient to make peanut sauce.

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