You’ll love this cool and creamy cilantro garlic sauce. It's Pollo Tropical inspired and takes just a few ingredients like sour cream, garlic cloves, chopped cilantro, and lime. This easy sauce comes together together in no time and is delicious with tacos, fajitas, chips, and wraps. Ready in just 10 minutes.
Try my Tex Mex inspired grilled chicken recipe - it goes great with this sauce!
Why it's awesome
It's so easy! Making your own dips, spreads, and sauces is so easy and so worth it! This cilantro and garlic sauce recipe is whirred up in the blender or food processor and ready to serve in 10 minutes.
It's made with easy to find fresh and pantry ingredients. You may have these grocery item like fresh garlic cloves, fresh cilantro, sour cream, and lime on hand. That's all you need for this amazing and versatile cilantro based sauce.
It's a delicious sour cream garlic sauce inspired by Pollo Tropical's signature sauce recipe! I was so disappointed when our Pollo Tropical closed, so naturally I had to learn to make something similar to their savory dip.
It's versatile enough to be used as a dip for vegetables, spread for burgers, wraps and sandwiches, or a dressing for your favorite salad. I just love it on tacos, quesadillas, and grilled shrimp, and chicken.
Check out these other Mexican inspired appetizers - Blender Salsa, Skillet Nachos, and Ground Beef Queso!
Key Ingredients
Cilantro - Fresh cilantro leaves that have been rinsed and dried with a paper towel. Be sure to cut away the large stems.
Garlic- Fresh garlic is a must! Please don't substitute bottled for this recipe.
Sour cream - I use full fat sour cream for the creamiest texture. I can't vouch for using a lower fat version. Possible subs for sour cream are Greek yogurt and mayo. I don't recommend making the entire recipe with mayonnaise. Try a one to one ratio like half mayo and half sour cream or yogurt.
Lime - Again, fresh lime juice will give you the best taste, but you can sub with bottled if that's what you have on hand.
Oil - I recommend olive oil or avocado oil for the best flavor. However any mild oil like canola can be used as well.
Salt - Just a pinch of salt will do the trick.
Directions
Give the cilantro a good rinse then pat dry with some paper towels. Roughly chop the leaves (it's okay to have a few of the thinner stems in there, but leave the thicker ones out).
You also want to cut the garlic into large pieces, especially if the cloves are large. Then add the garlic along with the chopped cilantro, sour cream, lime, oil, and a pinch of salt to the blender container. Blend on high until completely blended and smooth. You can use a food processor as well.
Pour cilantro sauce into your desired container and serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Recipe tips
Fresh ingredients will give you the best flavor.
This recipe was made with 3 large cloves of garlic. It is very garlicky! Since clove size varies, you may want to adjust to your preference. More garlic means more garlic flavor, less garlic will make it more mild.
A food processor will work as well if you don't have a blender.
FAQ
Tacos, salads, fajitas, quesadillas, grilled meats like chicken, steak and seafood. I love to use it as a dip for raw veggies and chips. It's great on just about anything!
It should last about 5 days tightly covered in the refrigerator. If it starts to turn a grayish color, it's time to throw it out!
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Cilantro Garlic Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups sour cream full fat
- 2-3 garlic cloves coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves coarsely chopped
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil extra virgin
- 2 tablespoon lime juice from 1 or 2 fresh limes
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor. Mix until well blended and smooth.
- Serve with your favorite Tex Mex dishes.
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