The Cilantro Garlic Sauce is a sauce shared by Latin American, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, Indian, Mexican and Spanish Cuisine.
Cilantro is genuinely a herb loved by many throughout the world. And this Cilantro Garlic Sauce is probably treasured for its ability to jazz up any boring main course with just a hint.
If you’re on the search for a sauce that can bring life to any mundane kitchen, you’ve landed at the right place. Allow us to share the Cilantro Garlic Sauce Recipe that will surely please your senses.
Jump to:
What is a Cilantro Garlic Sauce?
Cilantro, a herb grown all year round, has been traced back to have originated from the Mediterranean. Now, as the world’s most popular herbs, it is a staple to many cuisines like the Indian, Asian and Latin American cuisines. However, in America and Europe, it’s most popularly known to be a condiment in salsa dips and guacamoles.
On the other hand, this Cilantro Garlic Sauce is just as much liked throughout the world. This sauce is often served as a marinade, dip, chutney, or even salad dressing.
Why this Recipe?
As we mentioned before, it offers a gift to your senses. For the smell, it offers a fresh earthiness. The soft creaminess owing to the sour cream we’ll use makes the sauce full, heavy and buttery to the touch. At the same time, light green adds colour to your main courses and appeals to the eyes.
Lastly, the spicy, tangy flavour is what makes this sauce worthy of being paired with almost any main course!
What’s in this Cilantro Garlic Sauce?
- Full-fat sour cream: Acts as the base of the sauce
- Mayonnaise: Just the one you have lying around at home
- Garlic cloves: Peeled and finely chopped
- Lime juice: Freshly squeezed works best, but it can be store-bought
- Cilantro leaves: Freshly picked out, bring the most flavour
- Salt: To taste, of course
How to make this Cilantro Garlic Sauce?
Preparation:
The process to make this recipe is relatively simple. For starters, gather all of the ingredients listed above. The only components that might need to be chopped further are the garlic cloves and cilantro leaves. Chop them to the desired size (persona preference)
Combine the Ingredients:
Add all ingredients to a food processor, and beat until the sauce is well combined. It should have a buttery cream texture, look a little light green, and have a dominating flavour of cilantro and garlic in particular.
Lastly, check to see if the salt is as per your liking. Add more if not.
Cheers! Your fresh and flavourful sauce is ready to be served. How are you serving yours? Please keep reading to find out our recipe suggestions further in this blog.
Top Tips
- Picking out fresh and green cilantro is key to this recipe. So here are some tips for the same. Always look for the cilantro, which has radiant green leaves, and none of them should appeal to be dry or wilting. It should be fragrant with a lemon scent. Some even call this scent ‘near soapy’. If the cilantro is wrapped in plastic, remove it immediately because it causes cilantro to perish faster.
- Use a good quality full-fat sour cream and mayonnaise for the best results.
- Whilst prepping the cilantro, of course, you will wash and chop it. Make sure you dry the cilantro before tossing it into the food processor. The extra water won’t add much flavour but will make the sauce watery.
- There is no need to mince and finely chop the cilantro. Just a rough chop will do.
Recipe Variations
There are so many variations and additions you can make to this recipe.
- You can substitute the sour cream for thick Greek style yoghurt. Make sure it is good quality and rich.
- You can also add some ground pepper to the final sauce for added spiciness.
- If you are using freshly squeezed lime juice and are feeling a little adventurous, you can add some lime zest for an even tangier sauce.
- If you’re really a fan of the spice, then you can also throw in some diced jalapenos. Jalapenos will make the sauce more appetizing and spicy.
- If you’d like your sauce to be even spicier, you can also add in some chilli peppers.
- You can also go ahead and replace the mayonnaise with some olive oil if you prefer.
- Don’t be afraid to add more ingredients to the food processor after tasting the sauce. For example, throw in some extra cilantro if you think the flavour is not enough. You can do the same for other ingredients as well.
Serving Suggestions
This lip-smacking and extremely versatile sauce can be enjoyed with many, or better yet, with any main courses! We like ours best drizzled on tacos and burrito bowls, as a salad dressing, or enjoyed with some lentils and rice (a staple food in an Indian household). The sky is the limit with creativity for this Cilantro Garlic Sauce.
Recipe FAQ’s
If your sauce is not as thick as you would want it to be, it could be because it’s too warm. Plop it in the fridge for a little while so it can chill and thicken up. If you take it out of the freezer and it’s still runny, you may have added too much lime juice. In which case, add in some mayonnaise to make the sauce heavier. Re-taste it, add in some extra seasoning if required, and it should be good to go.
Yes, you absolutely can. Just be sure to mince the solid ingredients like cilantro and garlic really well before you start mixing. Now, go ahead and just stir the mixture by hand. It’ll definitely take you longer, but hey, you’ll burn some extra calories while you’re at it.
In the refrigerator, this homemade sauce will last a good five days. If you would like it to last longer than that, you can freeze it. Just store it in a freezer bag or airtight container, pressing out as much air as you possibly can and chuck it in the freezer. It should last 3 months in the freezer, and to defrost, just place it in the fridge. Although, you can save yourself all this trouble and just store the ingredients and whip up a fresh batch when needed. We recommend you for the latter.
As of now, this recipe is not vegan. Nonetheless, you can make it vegan by substituting the sour cream for dairy-free or vegan alternatives. As a matter of fact, if you take out the sour cream in this recipe and don’t substitute it for anything else, it can still taste good. It won’t be creamy, but it’ll be a close alternative to this recipe, often called ‘chutney’ in Indian cuisines.
More Recipes
Recipe
Cilantro Garlic Sauce
Equipment
- Jar
Ingredients
- 1 cup full-fat sour cream
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 lime juice
- ⅓ cup cilantro leaves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food processor, and beat until the sauce is combined.
Notes
- Picking out fresh and green cilantro is key to this recipe. So here are some tips for the same. Always look for the cilantro, which has radiant green leaves, and none of them should appeal to be dry or wilting. It should be fragrant with a lemon scent. Some even call this scent ‘near soapy’. If the cilantro is wrapped in plastic, remove it immediately because it causes cilantro to perish faster.
- Use a good quality full-fat sour cream and mayonnaise for the best results.
- Whilst prepping the cilantro, of course, you will wash and chop it. Make sure you dry the cilantro before tossing it into the food processor. The extra water won’t add much flavour but will make the sauce watery.
- There is no need to mince and finely chop the cilantro. Just a rough chop will do.
Recipe Variations
- You can substitute the sour cream for thick Greek style yoghurt. Make sure it is good quality and rich.
- You can also add some ground pepper to the final Cilantro Garlic Sauce for added spiciness.
- If you are using freshly squeezed lime juice and are feeling a little adventurous, you can add some lime zest for an even tangier Cilantro Garlic Sauce.
- If you’re really a fan of the spice, then you can also throw in some diced jalapenos. Jalapenos will make the sauce more appetizing and spicy.
- If you’d like your sauce to be even spicier, you can also add in some chilli peppers.
- You can also go ahead and replace the mayonnaise with some olive oil if you prefer.
- Don’t be afraid to add more ingredients to the food processor after tasting the sauce. For example, throw in some extra cilantro if you think the flavour is not enough. You can do the same for other ingredients as well.
Nutrition
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