9 Easy Substitutes for Cilantro
If you’ve run out, found your bunch to be bad, or refuse to use it from the get-go, we’ve got you covered.
Cilantro has its own tagline: People either love it or hate it. But whether you’re on the side of “can’t get enough” or firmly in camp “tastes like soap”, you’re likely to need a substitute at some point.
A staple in so many cuisines around the world, encountering cilantro it is all too certain. Its taste is truly unto its own, yet simple to swap with other easy to find ingredients. Doing so will alter the flavor a bit, but not the quality. (And for those of you in the soap camp, that’s a good thing.)
If you’ve run out, found your bunch to be bad, or refuse to use it from the get-go, you need a tag-in for cilantro, and we’ve got you covered.
What Is Cilantro and How Is It Used?
Cilantro is the leaves of the Coriandrum sativum plant and coriander is the seeds. However, in other parts of the world besides the US, cilantro is called coriander or coriander leaf (sorry to be confusing, but it’s helpful to know when looking at menus or reading recipes from abroad).
For those lucky people who don’t carry the gene that transforms cilantro’s fresh, vegetal, and citrusy taste into something akin to sucking on a bar of soap, the herb is a lovely, versatile ingredient. Blended up with other herbs into sauces like chimichurri, folded into a dip like guacamole, or sprinkled as a garnish, cilantro can be used either in or on many things. Cilantro is integral to numerous cuisines, but especially Latin American, Asian, and Caribbean. The leaves are more often used raw, sprinkled on tacos and such, but might be cooked into curries, stir-fries, Chinese soups, or Mexican meat dishes.
Best Cilantro Substitutes
Parsley
This bright green leaf likely already has a permanent home in your fridge – maybe even right next to the cilantro. Both herbs come from the same family and flat-leaf parsley even looks like cilantro (so much so it’s purchased by mistake by Instacart shoppers and husbands alike). Parsley is slightly more bitter but will be just as fresh in a recipe and again, chopped up, it’ll look like it, too. To more accurately mimic cilantro’s citrusy undertones, you can even add a bit of lemon juice or lemon zest. Mexican condiments like salsa or guacamole are especially excellent recipes to let parsley step in.
Basil
The flavor of basil definitely differs from cilantro, with a more notable woodsy-ness. Both in cooking and as a garnish, standard basil in place of cilantro would be just fine and look similar. However, if Thai basil – basically a zestier version of basil - is an option and available in your store, it’ll not only be a welcome pop of a different flavor, but a lovely look. Swapping in basil is particularly good in dishes like curries or stir-fry.
Oregano
Oregano, especially when fresh instead of chopped and dried, is herbaceous and peppery with a pungent scent. Switching cilantro out with oregano on its own isn’t the most popular thing to do (the herbs really are quite different), but in a dish using a lot of herbs, or a creamy sauce like this cilantro-avocado one, it would be fine. Combining freshly chopped oregano with parsley is even better and would make the whole substitution better suited to a greater variety of dishes, like this Sweet Chili Lime Chicken with Cilantro Couscous, the lime juice stepping in to provide the citrusy situation absent when cilantro is replaced.
Herbs
Herbs in general stand in well for each other. When in doubt, chopping a mix of them like parsley, dill, tarragon, and oregano, can add a fun, multi-dimensional twist to any dish. It won’t be a perfect match, but this is cooking, not surgery. Especially if you don’t like the flavor of cilantro, the possibilities that a mixture of fresh herbs provides are endless. Try it in a chimichurri or fresh herb pesto.
Dried Cilantro Or Other Dried Herbs
Unlike with fresh herbs, you don’t want to substitute dried cilantro or other dried herbs in an equal amount to the amount of fresh cilantro a recipe calls for. A good rule to follow is half the amount of dry for fresh. For example, if a recipe calls for 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, use 2 tablespoons dried herbs. Save this swap for cooked dished – but not something like cilantro rice, more like cilantro lime chicken or a slow-cooker dish.
Dill
Dill has quite a different flavor profile than cilantro, but it would be a particularly welcome change in something like a potato salad or other chilled dish. In this case, a little goes a long way since it’s more potent.
Lemon Or Lime Juice
Playing off cilantro’s citrusy notes, a little squeeze of lemon or lime juice will provide a little pop. It won’t add the green color, but it’ll be a nice brightness. This wouldn’t be appropriate to swap in something where cilantro takes center stage like a salsa verde but would be nice as a garnish or any finishing flourish.
Cumin
Cumin, a member of the parsley family, is nutty and spicy. Introduce 1 teaspoon cumin for every tablespoon fresh cilantro for Mexican foods like guacamole or seasoned beef for tacos. It would also work well in a chili. If cilantro is merely a garnish for the dish, consider dusting on just a dab of cumin.
Curry Powder
It goes without saying that curry powder is a much more complex than cilantro, so allowing it to simply replace the herb won’t do. But its depth of flavor could make it a lovely stand in in something like a soup or even a marinade. Just use 1/4 the amount.
