Cilantro Verde Sauce

5 from 7 votes
11 Comments

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Cilantro Verde Sauce is our go to sauce for everything Mexican! Drizzle it over burritos or tacos, dip chips in it, or use it as a salad dressing. Tangy and delicious fresh flavor!

Cilantro Verde Sauce in a small mason jar.
Featured with this Recipe
  1. Our favorite “Green” Sauce
  2. Ingredients in this Recipe
  3. Suggestions for Cilantro Verde Sauce
  4. Frequently Asked Questions
  5. More Delicious Mexican Recipes
  6. How to Make Cilantro Verde Sauce
  7. Cilantro Verde Sauce Recipe

Our favorite “Green” Sauce

Cilantro Verde Sauce, or more popularly called Green Sauce, is the most used sauce in our house! We always have a jar in the refrigerator, and I have to replenish it at least once a week because it goes super fast. It’s easy to make, easy to store, and so versatile you can drizzle it over just about anything from salads to burritos to tacos to nachos. We are constantly dipping tortilla chips into it!

Ingredients in this Recipe

  • salsa verde – we use Herdez green salsa verde
  • Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix (1 packet)
  • bunch fresh cilantro – washed, stems removed, and chopped 
  • sour cream – you can use regular, light, or a dairy free
  • mayonnaise – we prefer Best Foods or Hellmans Mayo
  • minced garlic
  • fresh lime – juiced
  • cumin

Suggestions for Cilantro Verde Sauce

  • This sauce can be served warm or cold! Warm it up and smother it over burritos, or cold as a sauce over tacos or as a chip dip.
  • Pile a plate high with greens and veggies and drizzle over them for a spicy sweet salad. Add grilled chicken for extra protein.
  • Cilantro Verde Sauce is delicious over fish, shrimp, steak or chicken.
  • For a lightened up our version from the original, use Greek yogurt and light sour cream in place of the mayonnaise and sour cream.
  • Cilantro gives this dressing a beautiful deep green color and vivid flavor but doesn’t add any spice, so don’t worry about this sauce being too spicy.
  • For some heat, add a dash or two of Tabasco sauce or sriracha.
  • Not a fan of cilantro? You can substitute flat leaf Italian parsley or fresh basil for the cilantro. The sauce will have the same gorgeous green color but will taste completely different.
  • To store, keep in a tightly-sealed container in the refrigerator. It’ll stay nice and fresh for over a week.
  • If you don’t have a great blender, a food processor works as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is this different than Chimichurri Sauce?

They are actually very different. Both are green but chimichurri is made up of parsley, oregano, shallots, oil, and vinegar.

What is the green Peruvian sauce made of?

Aji Verde is a Peruvian green hot sauce. It has ingredients like fresh cilantro, aji amarillo, huacatay and cheese. It is a creamy and spicy sauce typically served with pollo a la brasa. It is also great with roasted vegetables, chicken or bread.

Is this like the dressing at Cafe Rio?

It has some similar flavors but the recipe is different. We have amazing copycat recipes for both the Cafe Rio Tomatillo Ranch and the Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette.

READ NEXT: Our Best Mexican Recipes

More Delicious Mexican Recipes

This sauce elevates just about anything you serve it with! From burritos to tacos to salads to nachos, we could put this sauce on anything. Try some of these favorite recipes with this sauce as a side:

How to Make Cilantro Verde Sauce

Cilantro Verde Sauce in a small mason jar.

Cilantro Verde Sauce

5 from 7 votes
Cilantro Verde Sauce is our go to sauce for everything Mexican! Drizzle it over burritos or tacos, dip chips in it, or use it as a salad dressing. Tangy and delicious fresh flavor!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Course Sauce
Cuisine Mexican/Spanish
Servings 24

Equipment

  • Blendtec Blender

Ingredients

  • 14 ounces salsa verde we use Herdez (2 small cans)
  • 1 ounce Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix (1 packet)
  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro washed and stems removed
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup mayonnaise (we prefer Best Foods or Hellmans)
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 small lime juiced
  • 1/4 tsp cumin

Instructions

  • Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
  • Keep refrigerated.

Notes

Recipe Notes:

To make the lighter version of this recipe:
  • Sub the Mayonnaise for Greek Yogurt
  • Sub the Sour Cream for Light Sour Cream

Nutrition Information

Calories: 90kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 1gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.02gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 271mgPotassium: 46mgFiber: 0.2gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 142IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 15mgIron: 0.1mg

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About the author

Emily Walker

Emily lives in Meridian, Idaho, with her husband, Beau, a physician assistant, and her three incredible children: a son and two daughters. Travel is one of her favorite ways to experience new cultures and cuisines, and she has a love for all things Disney.

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Made this to serve over taco salads for the week and it was just delicious! Super flavorful with a creamy texture. Will definitely make again!

  2. 5 stars
    Thank you so much for sharing this amazing cilantro verde sauce recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!

  3. 5 stars
    Absolutely wonderful! My daughters will love it as my husband and I do. Made it just like according to your recipe. Reminds me of the sauce at Chuy’s!

  4. 5 stars
    First off, I sort of made this recipe and it was fantastic. Here’s why I say sort of.. I didn’t measure anything and made subs based on what I had.

    Herdez Salsa Verde comes in 7 ounce cans. Close enough.
    Buttermilk Ranch was in 1 ounce packet. Eyeballed it.
    Cilantro? I just threw a bunch in.
    Greek Yogurt? Nope. I replaced it with more sour cream since it’s what I had at home.
    Minced garlic? Nope also. Powdered will have to do. It’s all I have.
    Fresh lime juice? Nope also. From a bottle. Didn’t measure.
    Dash of tabasco? Nope. Didn’t have any. I did have some jalapeno powder for heat.

    Whatever, it was awesome. I will throw it on everything. I’m not going to measure this recipe from now on either.

  5. 5 stars
    Love , love this sauce!! Use it on everything….as a dip for chips, finishing sauce for Mexican food, salad dressing. So easy to make!

    1. Thank you for the comment! So glad that you like it– I’m right there with you… we put it on everything! 😀

      1. 5 stars
        This sounds fantastic! Looking forward to grocery shopping tomorrow as I have a few pf your recepies written down! Yay! ????