This sesame almond butter sauce is thick enough to cling to vegetable noodles, with garlic, a little honey, and a warm chili bite. Tahini gives it a savory sesame flavor. Almond butter softens that edge, and a small amount of sardine adds depth without turning the sauce into a bowl of fish. It is a spoonable paste, so you can fold it through a meal rather than pouring a thin dressing over the top.
Working second shift and homeschooling means I appreciate knowing which part of dinner can be ready before the rest starts. This sauce is one small job you can finish separately. Measure the ingredients, stir until the paste is even, and keep it ready for serving. There is no saucepan to watch while you are already cooking the main dish.
Where This Sauce Fits On GAPS
This is a Full GAPS sauce for when properly prepared almonds and sesame are already part of your meals. Dr. Natasha’s 2020 Gut and Physiology Syndrome calls for preparing nuts and seeds properly and waiting until digestive symptoms have settled before introducing them. A smooth paste still contains those ingredients; blending does not make it an early Intro food.
The sauce uses coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, and honey rather than sugar. It contains fish, almonds, and sesame. It is not a nut-free or No-Plant GAPS recipe, and it includes honey, so it is not written as a GAPS ketogenic sauce. During Intro, use a simpler sauce that fits the stage you are following. You can return to this one when the nuts, sesame, and seasonings are part of your meals.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cooked sardines, drained; use freshly cooked fish or fish preserved in water in a glass jar
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted if solid and cooled until just fluid
- 1 tablespoon Nutiva Original Coconut Aminos
- ¼ cup plain, properly prepared sesame tahini
- ¼ cup plain, unsweetened almond butter
- 1 tablespoon crushed fresh garlic, about 4 cloves
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon pure chili flakes, or less to taste
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure ground chili pepper
Stir each nut or seed butter in its own jar before measuring. Any separated oil belongs back in the butter, rather than being poured off. Level the quarter-cup measures. A scoop taken from a dry layer at the bottom of a jar behaves differently from a scoop of properly mixed butter.
The linked homemade tahini uses prepared sesame and raw olive oil. The linked almond butter is fermented and unsweetened. Its preparation uses cultured whey, so that particular version should not be called dairy-free. Choose a plain almond butter prepared without dairy when that is necessary for your household. Do not substitute a honey-sweetened spread and expect the sauce’s sweetness to stay the same.
For coconut aminos, Nutiva Original currently lists organic coconut tree sap and sea salt. The Original label matters here. A teriyaki sauce or another flavored bottle may contain different ingredients. Measure the sauce itself rather than replacing it with a spoonful of salt.
Use pure chili flakes and pure ground chili pepper. Some products sold as chili powder are seasoning blends. Checking that label keeps the flavor predictable and avoids adding starch or other ingredients you did not intend to put in the bowl. The flakes can be reduced if you prefer a milder sauce.
Recommended Equipment
A small ceramic or glass bowl, a fork, a spoon, and measuring cups and spoons are enough for this small batch. Crush the garlic finely with a garlic press, or mince it and press it with the flat of a knife. The aim is fine garlic distributed through the sauce, not a few large pieces in an otherwise smooth spoonful.
A fork lets you work the small amount of cooked sardine against the bowl before the thick ingredients go in. Take the time to mash it thoroughly. Once the nut butters are added, a spoon is easier for scraping the bottom and sides and folding everything together.
How To Make Sesame Almond Butter Sauce
1. Mash The Sardine Mixture
Put the drained sardine in the bowl with the coconut oil and coconut aminos. If the oil was solid, gently melt it first and let it cool until it is just fluid. Mash with a fork until the fish breaks into very fine soft fibers and the liquid is evenly mixed through it. Press any larger pieces against the side of the bowl.
This small savory mixture will look loose and brownish before the nut butters go in. It is not supposed to look like the finished sauce yet. The better you break up the fish now, the less likely you are to find a distinct piece in the finished paste.
2. Fold In The Remaining Ingredients
Add the tahini, almond butter, crushed garlic, honey, chili flakes, salt, and ground chili. Fold and stir with a spoon, scraping the bottom of the bowl. Pale tahini streaks and darker almond-butter streaks should gradually become one tan paste. Keep mixing until there are no pockets of dry spice or unmixed butter.
The finished sauce should hold a soft mound on the spoon. Tiny nut particles and chili flecks are normal. It should smell of garlic and sesame, with a little sweetness from the honey. There is no need to add water just because it does not pour like bottled salad dressing.
3. Add It When The Meal Is Ready
Use the sauce as a finishing sauce on ready-served food. Heat and cook the rest of the meal first, take it off the heat, then add the sauce when serving. Do not simmer or fry the sauce after adding it. This keeps the raw olive oil in the homemade tahini out of a separate cooking step, following the GAPS preparation for these oils.
For vegetable noodles, let excess cooking liquid drain away before adding the sauce. A puddle of zucchini water will loosen the paste and wash the flavor through the bottom of the bowl. Start with drained vegetables and fold gently so the strands stay intact.
Sesame Almond Butter Sauce for Full GAPS
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Mash the drained cooked sardine with the coconut oil and coconut aminos in a small bowl. If needed, melt the coconut oil and cool until just fluid first. Press with a fork until the fish breaks into very fine soft fibers.
- Add the tahini, almond butter, crushed garlic, honey, chili flakes, salt and ground chili. Stir and fold, scraping the bowl, until the pale and dark streaks become an evenly mixed tan paste.
- Add the sauce to ready-served food after the cooking is complete. Do not simmer or fry the sauce afterward. Drain any cooked vegetable noodles before folding in the sauce so excess water does not dilute it.
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Serving And Storage
Use the full batch in Chicken Pad Thai With Sesame Almond Sauce, or spoon a little over cooked chicken and drained vegetable noodles. You can also serve it beside the meal so each person can add their own. This is a strongly seasoned sauce with garlic, salt, and chili already in it. Taste the complete bite before adding more seasoning to the plate.
Refrigerate any sauce you are not serving promptly in a covered container. Because it contains cooked fish, make a small batch close to the meal rather than treating it like a shelf-stable jar of nut butter. Use clean utensils and follow the shortest storage limit of the ingredients you used. A sauce made with leftover fish does not give that fish a new storage clock.
The coconut oil and nut butters can make the refrigerated sauce firmer. Stir the portion you need and allow it to soften briefly while you finish the meal. Keep the rest refrigerated. Do not leave the whole batch out for hours or microwave it simply to make it pourable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will It Taste Strongly Of Sardines?
The base amount is one tablespoon for the whole batch. It adds a savory note beneath the sesame, garlic, and chili. For a stronger fish flavor, use two tablespoons instead. If you choose that version, double only the sardine amount; the remaining ingredients stay the same.
Can I Leave Out The Chili Flakes?
You can reduce the flakes to your taste. Keep in mind that the ground chili also contributes heat, so reducing the flakes alone does not guarantee a completely mild sauce. Choose a mild pure ground chili if heat is a concern, and taste before serving a full spoonful.
Can I Use Peanut Butter Instead?
This recipe is written for almond butter and tahini in equal amounts. Peanut butter has a different flavor, and using it would make a different sauce. If you want a noodle dish built around peanuts instead, the pork Pad Thai with zucchini noodles has its own measured recipe and method.
Can I Mix It Before Dinner?
Yes. Start with the nut and seed butters prepared and the fish cooked. Mix the sauce, cover it, and refrigerate it while you finish the rest of dinner. Give it a stir before serving; the coconut oil may have made it firmer while it chilled.
More Homemade Sauces
If keeping a few useful sauces in your meal plan would help, the planned Sauces, Dressings & Condiments Cookbook is the relevant WFLI resource to watch for in the shop. For a cool, tangy option alongside vegetables, homemade yogurt ranch dip uses yogurt and mayonnaise rather than nuts and sesame.
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