In this paper, a robust adaptive fuzzy control approach is proposed for a class of nonlinear systems in strict-feedback form with the unknown time-varying saturation input. To deal with the time-varying saturation problem, a novel controller separation approach is proposed in the literature to separate the desired control signal from the practical constrained control input. Furthermore, an optimized adaptation method is applied to the dynamic surface control design to reduce the number of adaptive parameters. By utilizing the Lyapunov synthesis, the fuzzy logic system technique and the Nussbaum function technique, an adaptive fuzzy control algorithm is constructed to guarantee that all the signals in the closed-loop control system remain semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded, and the tracking error is driven to an adjustable neighborhood of the origin. Finally, some numerical examples are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme in the literature.