Cilantro lime sauce
A major advantage of cilantro lime sauce for chicken is that it is very easy to make, and tastes great with chicken as well as other foods. Such as the samosas on the right.
But what’s in cilantro sauce varies a lot
- Do you use lemon or lime?
- Make it Basic or Creamy?
- Add other herbs or spices?
The different options are explained further down the page
3 key items to making cilantro lime sauce for chicken
The recipe lower down the page will show you exactly how to make it.
But there are 3 key elements to making the best possible cilantro sauce:
Item 1. Lemon or Lime?
Whether you use lemon or lime depends on how you want your cilantro sauce to taste:
- Lemons – tend to be sweeter
- Limes – have a more bitter flavour
OK – it’s very much down to individual tastes and habits.
But as a very rough ‘rule of thumb’ most cilantro sauces for use with Mexican or spicy meals tend to use limes.
Whereas cilantro sauces for Indian or average hot meals tend to use lemons
Item 2 – Greek yogurt, sour cream or mayonnaise ?
Adding yogurt, cream, etc will make the cilantro sauce a lot richer. There are a variety of extra items you can add,
If you make the recipes below than all you do is add 1 to 2 cups of Greek yogurt, sour cream, etc.
This will turn the cilantro sauce into either a tasty salad dressing, or great on meals roasted chicken breasts, meats.
The alternative is to combine cilantro sauce with a butter sauce to make something similar like a Chinese parsley sauce.
Item 3 – Peppers, Herbs & Spices
In addition you can also add other items to change the flavour and intensity.
For example:
- Jalapeno peppers,
- Red pepper flakes,
- Or dried spice combination
- Or a hot pepper paste (as shown right)
Similar you can make it sweeter by adding honey, brown soft sugar, etc.
The key to realise is that the more items you add the less you will taste the original cilantro flavour
How to make cilantro lime sauce for chicken
Cilantro (or coriander in England) has a very unique flavour (you either love it or hate it).
However it’s important to realise that in addition the ingredients you use in making cilantro sauce will have a real impact on the flavour.
To make a core cilantro sauce you will need the following:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Fresh Coriander (30 gr)
- 1 Garlic clove – chopped
- 1 Lime or lemon – more details below
- 1/2 tsp Sea salt
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper
- 1/2 cup Virgin olive oil (60 ml)
Equipment:
- Chef’s Knife
- Cup or measuring jug
- Food mill or Food Processor
Instructions:
- Wash the Coriander
- Chop the Coriander stems and leaves into smaller bits
- Peel and crush the garlic
- Squeeze the lime or lemon juice (alternatively use ready squeezed juice)
- Add all the ingredients into the food processor
- Process into small items
- Add olive oil
- Process for 1 minute
- Pour into bowl and enjoy
Please note – I use a Kenwood compact food processor (available from Amazon) but if you don’t need it as smooth then a hand blender might also work.
How to use cilantro lime sauce for chicken
There are lots of ways to use cilantro lime sauce:
1. For chicken
You can either simply cut the chicken breasts into slices or cubes and then fry them in a frying pan and use the sauce as a covering.
Or a better option is to make the sauce, cut the chicken breasts and add both into a sealed bag (or on a plate with foil) and marinade in the fridge for 2 hours or more. And then fry them.
2. Samosas, meats, croissants, etc.
The lovely flavour of cilantro lime sauce means that it goes well with lots of other meals. For example you can replace the mint jelly in the picture with the sauce it and will tastes just as well!!!
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Cilantro lime sauce
Equipment
- 1 Chef Knife
- 1 measuring jug
- 1 Food processor
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Cilantro or Coriander (30g)
- 1 Clove Garlic
- 1 Lime or Lemon
- 1/2 tsp Sea salt
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 1/2 cup Extra virgin olive oil (60ml)
Instructions
- Wash the cilantro and then chop the cilantro stems and leaves into smaller bits1 Cup Cilantro or Coriander
- Peel and crush the garlic, Squeeze the lime or lemon juice (alternatively use ready squeezed juice)1 Clove Garlic, 1 Lime or Lemon
- Add all the ingredients into the food processor, Process into small items1/2 tsp Sea salt, 1/2 tsp Pepper
- Add olive oil, Process for 1 minute1/2 cup Extra virgin olive oil
- Pour into bowl and enjoy
Video
Nutrition
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Easy way to grow coriander at home
When you are cooking fresh herbs tend to make a real difference to the results. Herbs are really easy to grow at home and many of them grow really fast.
To grow your own coriander
Used in many different recipes, ranging from Chinese stir-fry to Mexican Salsa, etc.
Days from seed to harvest – about 30 to 40 (1 to 2 months)
About 30 to 60 cm high
Example recipes
They are really easy to grow at home, and from planting seed to harvest will only take 1 to 2 months – even indoors (in your kitchen, spare bedroom, garage, etc. All you will need are seeds, growing system and some growing lights. There is detailed description of the – how to grow herbs indoors