This cilantro sauce, which can be blitzed together in less than 10 minutes, is our new go-to for dunking roasted cauliflower and other vegetables, dolloping on chicken or steak, schmearing on crostini, and just about any other last-minute, weeknight-emergency, godsend-of-a-sauce sorta situation.–Angie Zoobkoff
Cilantro Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup mild vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup roughly chopped cilantro
- 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon honey, or less to taste
- Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a blender, combine the oil, lime and lemon juices, cilantro, garlic, and honey. Blitz until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This cilantro sauce worked beautifully as a dip for the spicy roasted cauliflower recipe on the site. It’s vibrant, tangy, and incredibly easy to make. I think it would work well with any roasted vegetable but it pairs especially well with spicier ones as the sauce is a little sweet on its own.
I really love this cilantro sauce recipe for its simplicity and versatility. With a quick whirl of 6 ingredients in the trusty blender or food processor, you’ve created a vibrant green sauce that would pair beautifully with a number of dishes: roasted veggies, pan-seared fish, grilled meats, mixed greens, eggs, even toasted pita bread with hummus. This is a wonderful staple sauce to make and keep in the fridge to brighten up a number of dishes throughout the week! I used the sauce at dinner last night drizzled over pan-seared red snapper fillets (yum), and plan to use the rest over some roasted root vegetables later this week.
Hands-on time was minimal, right at about 5 minutes, so I would say total time comes in around 10 minutes. I think the slight sweetness of the sauce from the honey really gives a nice balance of flavors to this fresh herb sauce!
A wonderful sauce to add to your repertoire! I had the ingredients on hand and this came together in a flash. I used an immersion blender instead of a full size blender. I would also caution about the addition of honey. Next time, I would make the sauce, then taste, and then consider adding the honey. I thought the 1 teaspoon of honey made the sauce too sweet, but we ate it!!
We enjoyed this with spicy roasted cauliflower (on this site) which was divine. But I also used it on grilled tri-tip, an omelet, and as a dip for fresh veggies.
This cilantro sauce is incredibly vibrant tasting and completely balanced. The recipe pairs perfectly with the spicy roasted cauliflower.
I served it with the veggies and a roasted chicken and we ended up dipping the chicken in the sauce as well. I’m going to venture a guess that this sauce would make cardboard taste good.
What a great recipe–totally delicious with the roasted cauliflower. I served both at room temperature as an appetizer and people went wild for it. Be sure to squeeze a bit of lime over the cauliflower (or other roasted veggies) before serving–it was the fresh lime that popped it up from a 9 to a 10.
This is an easy recipe with lots of zing that can be made year-round and matches well with a wide range of dishes. You should use it! But consider multiplying the recipe unless your guest list is small.
I fixed a modified version of the spicy roasted cauliflower (I replaced the peppers with cumin and curry powder to accommodate my wife’s dietary restrictions) and it was an excellent pairing! I also added it to pan-fried salmon fillet and to steamed sushi rice—also excellent.
i was wondering has anyone tried freezing this, and if so, is it even tasty and good upon thawing?
elenor, it should be fine. It’s possible to freeze pesto with no ill effects, and this recipe is close. (All that’s missing is cheese and nuts.)