Prik Nam Pla (Thai Dipping Sauce)
Tangy, spicy and packed with umami deliciousness, this Thai dipping sauce aka Prik Nam Pla, is an absolute must try if you love bold flavors and Thai food.
This no-cook condiment comes together in under 10 minutes, and is a riot of flavors and textures. Also try my Thai seasoning mix if you love cooking Thai food at home.
I absolutely love the bold flavors of Thai cuisine! The last time I whipped up some fried rice and my favorite Tom Yum Gai, I just knew I needed something a bit extra.
A condiment to spoon over them both and up their deliciousness- something spicy, tangy, and flavorful. And while I always have my jar of garlic habanero sauce handy, I wanted to try something a bit more authentic, that would work specifically with Thai food. And that’s when I thought of making this!
Quick Look: Prik Nam Pla
- 🔪 Prep time: 5 minutes.
- ⏲️ Cook time: No cooking needed.
- 👪 Servings: 4.
- 📋 Main ingredients: Fish sauce, lime juice, fresh chillies, garlic, cilantro, brown sugar.
- ♨️ Cooking method: Chop chillies and garlic 🡢 combine with fish sauce and sugar 🡢 rest 10 minutes 🡢 add lime juice and cilantro 🡢 taste and adjust 🡢 serve.
- ⭐ Difficulty: Extremely easy.
- 🥣 Serving ideas: Spoon over jasmine rice, drizzle over air fryer crispy noodles, or use as a dipping sauce for spring rolls and dumplings.
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What's So Great About the Recipe?
- The flavor combination is genuinely unlike anything else. Fish sauce and lime juice together create a base that's simultaneously salty, sour, and deeply savory. And just like my chili crunch oil- a little goes a very long way.
- It takes 5 minutes and zero cooking. Chop, combine, rest, done. There's no blending, no heating, no technique required. If you can use a knife, you can make this.
- It keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge. Make a jar on the weekend and use it all week- spoon it over cilantro lime rice, drizzle it over noodles, use it as a dipping sauce.
Recipe Ingredients
- Fish sauce: This one forms the base for the sauce, and lends it that perfect savoury flavor.
- Garlic: Chopped fresh garlic is another great flavor booster you don’t want to miss out on.
- Chilies: I used a mix of red and green chilies here- just like I did for my Yam Khai Dao recipe. If you can get your hands on Thai bird’s eye chilies, even better!
- Brown sugar: To tone down the heat and to bring a bit of sweetness to the sauce, I added some brown sugar. Substitute this for palm sugar or date sugar if you want to.
- Cilantro: Lots of chopped cilantro brightens up the sauce and lends it an incredible flavor and freshness.
- Lime juice: And of course, a nice dash of freshly squeezed lime juice to tie all those flavors together!
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- Swap the fresh cilantro in the recipe for some shallots.
- Don’t like the chunkiness of chopped garlic? Simply mince the garlic (and the other ingredients).
- You can also use hot pepper vinegar or classic white vinegar instead of lime juice if you don't have fresh lime at hand.
How to Make Prik Nam Pla
Step 1: Finely chop the chillies and garlic.
Step 2: Transfer them to a small bowl with the fish sauce and brown sugar. Let this rest for 10 minutes.
Step 3: Squeeze in the juice of a lime. Add chopped cilantro, salt and pepper (if needed).
Step 4: Taste and adjust. Enjoy!
💭Top Tip
Make sure you wear gloves while handling the chili peppers, especially if you’re using Thai chili.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- If the sauce has turned out too hot, simply add more fish sauce and a bit of brown sugar to tackle the spiciness.
- Worried about the spiciness? Remove all seeds from the chillies before chopping. The heat lives in the seeds and white membranes.
- Is the sauce too runny for your liking? Lend it a little more body by adding in a tablespoon of oyster sauce.
- For a more intense flavor, make the sauce ahead of time and refrigerate it overnight. Doing this helps the flavors of the garlic and chillies infuse into the sauce and make it taste so much better. I always do this when I make my homemade buffalo sauce and BBQ sauce.
How to Use the Thai Dipping Sauce
The spicy, salty and umami deliciousness of this delicious Thai sauce makes it perfect to pair with pretty much any of your Thai cooking experiments.
I personally love pairing it with my fried rice and noodle dishes, but you can also team it up with some spring rolls or your stir fries- along with a side of Thai crunchy cucumber salad. It’s the ultimate table condiment! And it doesn’t just work great with Thai dishes - you can also use it to jazz up your fried egg or just some plain jasmine rice.
Troubleshooting & FAQs
Got some leftovers? Transfer them to a glass jar and pop it in the refrigerator. The sauce should stay good for about 2 weeks, if not longer.
Fish sauce is actually an essential ingredient to make Prik Nam Pla, and adds that savory depth. You can use soy sauce or tamari (if you want to keep it gluten-free) if you don't have or don't want to use fish sauce.
More Sauce Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
If you tried this Prik nam Pla or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Prik Nam Pla (Thai Dipping Sauce)
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 lime juiced
- 5-6 garlic
- 8-10 chillies
- 1 tablespoon cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Finely chop the chillies and garlic.
- Transfer them to a small bowl with the fish sauce and brown sugar. Let this rest for 10 minutes.
- Squeeze in the juice of a lime. Add chopped cilantro, salt and pepper (if needed).
- Taste and adjust. Enjoy!
Notes
- If the sauce has turned out too hot, simply add more fish sauce and a bit of brown sugar to tackle the spiciness.
- Worried about the spiciness of the sauce? Remove the seeds from the chilis before you chop them up.
- Is the sauce too runny for your liking? Lend it a little more body by adding in a tablespoon of oyster sauce.
- For a more intense flavor, make the sauce ahead of time and refrigerate it overnight. Doing this helps the flavors of the garlic and chillies infuse into the sauce and make it taste so much better.
Awesome 😋
Superlicious 😋🩷