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This Cilantro Sauce is a staple in our house. It takes just 5 minutes to make with fresh cilantro and red wine vinegar, and it reminds me of blended chimichurri, but with even easier ingredients. Store it in the fridge all week to easily add flavor to your meals.
Serve it with black bean tacos, over salads like a vinaigrette, or over your favorite chipotle burrito bowls.
“I LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe!!! And my husband does, too!!! And YES, it has become a total staple in my home… I love cilantro, and this is the best way to have it on hand. Now, whenever I buy a fresh bunch, I make a batch of the sauce… last time I made TWO batches, one to use right away and another to freeze. LOVE IT!!!!”
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Cilantro Sauce Recipe
- It’s fast. Just toss a handful of ingredients in a blender and blitz for 60 seconds.
- It’s allergy-friendly. This recipe is naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and vegan! It’s the perfect way to add flavor to a dish, without complicated ingredients.
- It’s easy to customize. If you have green onion to use instead of shallot, or you don’t want it quite so spicy, start with less and add more to taste. It’s easy to adjust as you go. If you prefer a creamy version, you can also try my creamy cilantro sauce or my blended chimichurri, which is made with parsley.
- It’s perfect for meal prep. Store it in the fridge to add flavor to a simple meal. We love it over baked chicken breasts and roasted cauliflower!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Fresh Cilantro. Plan on using a tightly packed cup, including the stems! You don’t have to separate out the leaves for this one.
- Shallot. This helps thicken the sauce and boost the flavor, without being quite as strong as other onions.
- Red Wine Vinegar. I use this type of vinegar because it reminds me of chimichurri, but fresh lime juice is also great.
- Garlic. Using a fresh clove adds extra punch.
- Red Pepper Flakes. I think these are essential, but if you’re not into super-spicy
How to Serve It
This sauce is light enough that you can serve it as a salad dressing, or you can use it as a topping on your favorite tacos, nachos, or burrito bowls.
Here are some ideas to help you get started:
- Drizzle it over a vegan lunch bowl, along with a scoop of hummus
- Serve it on Jackfruit tacos
- Or Vegan Tacos
- Serve it as a party dip for chips, along with my favorite bean dip
- Drizzle on Sweet Potato Nachos
- Or Cauliflower Nachos
- Try it on my Chipotle Burrito Bowls
However you try it, I hope it will be a hit in your home! I’d love to hear how you serve it in the comments below.
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh cilantro (tightly packed; 21 grams)
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (25 grams)
- 1 shallot (24 grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (1 gram)
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (53 grams)
- 1/4 cup water (60 grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine Himalayan salt (I use Real Salt brand)
- 1 garlic clove (3 grams)
- Freshly ground black pepper , to taste
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
- This sauce will be runny when you first blend it, but it will thicken up in the fridge slightly if you let it chill for several hours. You can keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this Cilantro Sauce, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it. And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too! We can all benefit from hearing about your experience.
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite sauce these days?
This is so delicious. Yum! The only thing I did differently was use chives instead of the shallot because raw onions & shallots aggravate my hernia, plus I have tons of chives in the yard this time of year. Thank you for another delicious recipe.
This stuff is the bomb!!! we topped out jackfruit taco’s with it and it was sooooo yummy and along with the bean dip.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe!!! And my husband does, too!!! And YES, it has become a total staple in my home… I love cilantro, and this is the best way to have it on-hand… now whenever I buy a fresh bunch, I make a batch of the sauce… last time I made TWO batches, one to use right away, and another to freeze. LOVE IT!!!!
Delicious! I’ve made this probably 3 times in the past two weeks. Good with throwing in half basil too.
Hello! I made this tonight and mine doesn’t look at all like the picture you posted. It’s good, and will probably be a good summer dressing. I followed the recipe to a “T”, do you think it might be missing an ingredient? Anyhow, thanks for all your recipes, I love them!
Just found this recipe and even though I haven’t made it I have to tell you how much I appreciate that now you are including the measurements in weight. Doing this recipe soon.
LOVE LOVE LOVE that you put the measurements in weight! Thank you so much for taking the time to do that! I really appreciate it!
Hi, Megan. I’m going to give this sauce a try. It looks so refreshing! My husband and I eat cilantro with almost everything. I’m also going to try it with mint. In northern Thailand I once had a mint sauce at an Indian restaurant that blew my mind, and I’ve never been able to find anything similar since!
This sauce sounds so good! I don’t often use much cilantro so this sounds like a good place to start!