This cilantro garlic sauce packs the flavor with only 6 simple ingredients. This creamy and delicious garlic cilantro sauce comes together in only 5 minutes!
Are your tastebuds ready for this fresh, flavorful sauce that is perfect for salads, sandwiches and more?!
In this post, we are going to share why you are going to love this cilantro garlic sauce, the ingredients of the sauce, how to make garlic cilantro sauce, what to serve with garlic cilantro sauce and more!
Cilantro Garlic Sauce Recipe
If you are looking for a light, fresh and super flavorful sauce, this cilantro garlic sauce is just what you need! This 5 minute sauce is made with ingredients you probably already have on hand!
This sauce is perfect for so many dishes! You can add it as your salad dressing or add it to a sandwich. Our favorite way to use this cilantro garlic sauce is on our bell pepper sandwiches. You can even use it as a dip for fresh vegetables! It would be perfect to add to a charcuterie board!
Why you will love this Cilantro Garlic Sauce
- This sauce is SUPER easy and takes minimal effort!
- The sauce is light and fresh!
- This creamy sauce is packed with flavor!
- Made with simple and common ingredients!
- Made in under 5 minutes!
- The food processor/blender does all the work!
- It pairs well with all sorts of food!
- Oh, and if you have ever eaten at Pollo Tropical, this will bring back memories!
Ingredients for Garlic Cilantro Sauce
This section explains what ingredients to use for this cilantro garlic sauce. For full measurements and specific instructions see recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Greek yogurt - I love this protein-packed yogurt! I always use the full fat plain version for this sauce recipe.
- Mayonnaise - No need to purchase special mayo for this recipe, just use what you already have in your fridge!
- Garlic - Fresh garlic gives tons of flavor to this sauce. The fresh garlic pairs well with the fresh lime juice!
- Cilantro leaves - Be sure to use fresh cilantro here, but lightly packed. You do not want to over do it on the cilantro. However, you can adjust it to your liking.
- Olive oil - This olive oil takes your dip from basic to extraordinary.
- Lime juice - I love the bright acidic flavor this adds to my sauce.
How to make Cilantro Garlic Sauce
This section tells you a recap of how to make garlic cilantro sauce. For more precise steps please see the recipe card below (at the end of the post)
- Gather your ingredients. Make sure that your ingredients are washed and removed from the containers.
- Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor or high power blender. Seriously, how easy is that!?
- Blitz until completely smooth – about 30 seconds. You may need to scrape down the sides of the food processor. Again SUPER DUPER easy!
- Transfer into your serving bowl/jar of choice and enjoy! Yep, we kept that easy theme going!
These numbered steps match the numbered photos above and are for illustration purposes. For the complete list of ingredients and instructions for the best cilantro garlic sauce, please see the recipe below.
Tips or Tricks for Cilantro Garlic Sauce:
- This will keep for up to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge. Write the date you made it on the lid, so you can keep track of when to toss out any unused sauce.
- I like to store mine in wide mouthed containers with lids. You can get them cheap on amazon!
- Use as a dip, salad dressing or in sandwiches.
- If you’d prefer to have larger chunks of cilantro in the sauce, blitz half the cilantro through until completely smooth, then pulse through the remaining.
- Use cilantro stems, especially if you are using the food processor or the high speed blender. They will be blended up anyway and they are just as flavorful as the leaves!
- Do not freeze this sauce. It has a dairy base and those typically don’t freeze well. Freezing it will drastically change the texture of the sauce.
- If your sauce is too thick, you can thin it with a little bit of water. Add a little bit at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
Variations for this Garlic Cilantro Sauce
- Vegan: For a vegan sauce, switch the yogurt for a dairy free alternative such as unsweetened coconut yogurt.
- Greek Yogurt Sub: You can also switch out the Greek yogurt for sour cream.
- No Fresh Garlic: If you don’t have any fresh garlic, you can add 1 teaspoon of garlic powder instead.
- Don’t like RAW Garlic: If you do not like raw garlic and the punch that comes with it, you can try using roasted garlic in this recipe as a substitute.
- No cilantro: If you find that you do not have any cilantro or you have mistakenly purchased fresh parsley instead, you can substitute the parsley for cilantro. The sauce still tastes delicious.
- Spicy: If you like spicy and want to kick up the heat in this cilantro garlic sauce, you can sprinkle in some cayenne pepper or some red pepper flakes. Or if you are really feeling spicy, you can always throw in a jalapeno pepper to the food processor, but only if you are brave enough to handle the heat!
What to serve with this Cilantro Garlic Sauce
We feel that this cilantro garlic sauce is BEST on our Bell Pepper Sandwich recipe! It adds the perfect amount of creamy flavor to the famous TikTok Sandwich!
As you know, we are HUGE fans of our air fryer! We LOVE this garlic cilantro sauce as a dip! We love to dip Air Fryer Tater Tots and Air Fryer Frozen French Fries into this sauce!
If you are a tofu lover, we have the perfect pairing for you! Make our easy and delicious pan fried tofu and use the cilantro garlic sauce as your dipping sauce! You won’t regret it!
Can I add more cilantro to this garlic cilantro sauce?
We get a lot of questions about the measurements of the cilantro in this sauce. We like the measurement we gave, because we do not want the cilantro to over power the other flavors. However, it is totally up to you. If you want more cilantro flavor, you can increase the measurement of the fresh cilantro.
Can I make this cilantro garlic sauce without a food processor?
Yes, you can. It will not be as smooth but you can finely dice the ingredients and mix together, then enjoy!
Is this the Cilantro Garlic Sauce from Pollo Tropical?
No, this is not the exact recipe used by Pollo Tropical. We actually have not tasted that sauce from Pollo Tropical, but our readers who have made this, tell us that it is quite close to the original recipe. So whether you call this a Pollo Tropical Copycat is up to you. We are unsure, since we have not eaten there.
Why does cilantro taste like soap?
If cilantro tastes like soap to you, it is genetic. There is a variation in a group of genes that allows them to perceive the soapy flavor in cilantro leaves. I do not have that genetic variation but readers who do have it, say that they do not taste that “soap flavor in this cilantro garlic sauce recipe. So those partners who love cilantro but have been avoiding it in cooking because your other half thinks it tastes like soap, this may be your recipe!
Other Sauce Recipes
When it comes to sauces, we are definitely saucy around here! We have a lot to choose from! Let us start with BBQ Sauce, we have a couple of options for you. You can do a quick BBQ sauce, a vegan BBQ sauce and simple easy BBQ sauce. Oh yes and if you LOVE Dr. Pepper, we also have a Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce, you will adore!
Maybe you like the taste of tartar sauce, but want a lighter sauce or even a vegan tartar sauce. Yep we have done that too!
When it comes to vegan, we have a delicious vegan buffalo sauce and a vegan enchilada sauce! Probably the closest match to this cilantro garlic sauce is our Mediterranean sauce. But if you want a hot, spicy sauce, our Dragon Sauce is just that!
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Cilantro Garlic Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup greek yogurt
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ cup cilantro fresh cilantro packed lightly
- 1 T Olive Oil
- 1 T fresh lime juice
Instructions
- Gather your ingredients.
- Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor or high power blender.
- Blitz until completely smooth – about 30 seconds.
- Transfer into your serving bowl/jar of choice and enjoy!
Notes
TIPS OR TRICKS FOR CILANTRO GARLIC SAUCE:
- This will keep for up to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge. Write the date you made it on the lid, so you can keep track of when to toss out any unused sauce.
- I like to store mine in wide mouthed containers with lids. You can get them cheap on amazon!
- Use as a dip, salad dressing or in sandwiches.
- If you’d prefer to have larger chunks of cilantro in the sauce, blitz half the cilantro through until completely smooth, then pulse through the remaining.
- Use cilantro stems, especially if you are using the food processor or the high speed blender. They will be blended up anyway and they are just as flavorful as the leaves!
- Do not freeze this sauce. It has a dairy base and those typically don’t freeze well. Freezing it will drastically change the texture of the sauce.
- If your sauce is too thick, you can thin it with a little bit of water. Add a little bit at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
VARIATIONS FOR THIS GARLIC CILANTRO SAUCE
- Vegan: For a vegan sauce, switch the yogurt for a dairy free alternative such as unsweetened coconut yogurt.
- Greek Yogurt Sub: You can also switch out the Greek yogurt for sour cream.
- No Fresh Garlic: If you don’t have any fresh garlic, you can add 1 teaspoon of garlic powder instead.
- Don’t like RAW Garlic: If you do not like raw garlic and the punch that comes with it, you can try using roasted garlic in this recipe as a substitute.
- No cilantro: If you find that you do not have any cilantro or you have mistakenly purchased fresh parsley instead, you can substitute the parsley for cilantro. The sauce still tastes delicious.
- Spicy: If you like spicy and want to kick up the heat in this cilantro garlic sauce, you can sprinkle in some cayenne pepper or some red pepper flakes. Or if you are really feeling spicy, you can always throw in a jalapeno pepper to the food processor, but only if you are brave enough to handle the heat!
It is me again! I just had to leave a comment on this, I made it previously when you shared in your IG stories, this sauce is awesome!! I hope everybody who sees it tries, it, it is super delicious!
So glad you loved it and so glad you share it on my IG stories, thanks for letting me know!