The Spicy Coconut Milk Dressing I Love on Everything Lately

This spicy coconut milk dressing is wildly delicious on so many things - tacos, noodles, grilled vegetables, and salads. Make a jar and keep it on hand for quick meals.

The Spicy Coconut Milk Dressing I Love on Everything Lately

We spent the past week on the west shore of Lake Tahoe not far from where my family would stay each summer when I was young. The cabins along the lake are larger now, the water low. Teens fling themselves from piers into the clear, icy, waist-deep water. When the sky is cloudless, it’s the bluest place imaginable. The first thing I made once we were settled into our camp was a spicy coconut dressing (sauce?) that would go on *everything* throughout the week. It’s a variation on other spicy coconut milk dressings I’ve made in the past, but this version has a lot going on with grilled peppers and minced onions. You can see how I used it here, tossed with rice flake noodles, grilled tofu and whatever needed to be used up in the cooler - roasted tomatoes, cilantro, and lemon.
Spicy Coconut Milk Dressing Over Rice Noodles on a Plate
Here's a view of the lake. Amazing blue overload. It never gets old.
Picnic Views of Lake Tahoe
The key to this dressing is blistering chiles before chopping and adding them to the rest of the ingredients. It takes the flavor from bright and green to something deeper and less sharp - still spicy though. You can see serrano chiles and Padron peppers below in a wide skillet. I really like to try to get color on all sides if possible.
Spicy Coconut Milk Dressing Over Rice Noodles with Roasted Tomatoes and Herbs
The super-creamy coconut base of this dressing is seasoned with lemon juice and spiked with spicy, blistered chiles. Next, more depth and dimension are added, coming from chopping lots of scallions and onions into juicy oblivion and stirring them in.
Ingredients Arrange in a White Bowl

Spicy Coconut Milk Dressing: What It's Good On

So, let's free-style about all the ways to use it. This recipe makes a good amount of dressing. You can use it as a finishing touch on tacos. It’s perfect tossed with just about any noodle or pasta. It’s a game-changer the next time you make potato salad dressing - use the potatoes plus this dressing and build from there. Bonus points if the potatoes are grilled or cooked in a fire. I love the spicy coconut drizzled over corn and grilled vegetables. And it’s great on a structured salad. Last night I put a few dollops in a classic red pasta sauce for a bit of je ne sais quoi and didn’t regret it one bit.

A Jar of Spicy Coconut Milk Dressing

Ingredient: Vegan Fish Sauce

For the salty component in this dressing I call for vegan fish sauce. I’ve been making a homemade version of it lately, using a recipe from Andrea Nguyen’s forthcoming Ever-Green Vietnamese cookbook. I’ve made other versions in the past, but her recipe is the best vegan fish sauce I’ve made. Now 100% my go-to. When the book is out you should absolutely give the recipe a try. In the meantime, there are some good vegan and vegetarian fish sauces available for purchase, including this Ocean's Halo vegan fish sauce. Or, if you want to make the dressing pronto, swap in soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos for the fish sauce, if that is what you have on hand. Just add it as the last ingredient in the dressing, and add it to taste.
Close up of Platter of Rice Noodles and Tofu
Let me know if you give this dressing a try. Even better, let me know what you use it on! 
If you're looking for more salad inspiration, here's where you can browse all the salad recipes. I'm going to use this dressing on this this favorite heirloom apple salad this Fall. Or on this Grilled Wedge Salad as we wind down grilling season.

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The Spicy Coconut Milk Dressing I Love on Everything Lately

5 from 5 votes

I call for serrano chiles and Padrón peppers here because there were some beautiful ones at the farmers’ market in Tahoe City, but you can absolutely experiment with other chiles and peppers. 

Ingredients
  • 2 medium serrano chiles
  • 8 medium Padrón peppers
  • 8 scallions, mostly whites, minced (about 2/3 cup)
  • 3/4 onion, minced (about 2/3 cup)
  • 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup full-fat coconut milk
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons vegan fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, or to taste
  • 6 medium basil leaves, slivered
Instructions
  1. On a hot grill or skillet roast the serrano and Padróns until blistered on all sides. Remove from heat, and cut off the stems.
  2. Mince the scallions and onion and garlic. Stir together in a medium bowl. Mince the serrano and Padrón peppers and add them to the scallion-onion mixture.

  3. Add the coconut milk, vegan fish sauce, and lemon juice. Stir until well combined. Taste and adjust with more lemon juice and/or vegan fish sauce - until it is to your liking. Stir in the basil. Keeps refrigerated for up to a week. Also freezes well if you make a double batch.

Notes

Makes about 1 3/4 cups.

Serves
14
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
20 mins
 
If you make this recipe, I'd love to see it - tag it #101cookbooks on Instagram!

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Comments

Made this. Loved it. The crunchy texture of the scallions, onions and peppers is lovely as is, but I decided to experiment with blending everything together at the end. This yielded a beautiful light green chutney-like situation which transformed the recipe into something new. Thanks Heidi for another BANGER of a recipe!

Michelle O

    Oh! I love this Michelle - not sure why, but it never occurred to me to blend it. Brilliant. All over this idea for the next round. Thanks for the inspo. :)

    Heidi Swanson

Thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart for the vegan fish sauce recipes- I'm allergic to fish, though i used to be able to tolerate small amounts- most Caesar dressings, small amounts of fish sauce in dishes, etc. Recently I've become much more sensitive- my last encounter with it required the ER for dehydration-so this is especially good news as I've just resigned myself to very little Thai/Vietnamese food.

Nina A

    Happy to help Nina - keep an eye out for Andrea's book!

    Heidi Swanson

I made a slight edit to this amazing recipe. I sautéed the onions, scallions and garlic gently, before adding the rest of the ingredients. We grilled tofu and slathered it with this incredible sauce. Thank you so much for sharing such a delicious recipe!

Sair Goldenberg

    Thanks Sair! Happy you enjoyed it.

    Heidi Swanson

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