Cilantro Jalapeño Sauce
This Cilantro Jalapeño Sauce is one of my “I want to put it on everything” sauces, and it’s based off a wildly popular green sauce recipe from a Peruvian restaurant in NYC.
It’s creamy and flavorful, only takes 5-10 minutes to make, and is perfect with so many dishes!
Last week on my Instagram stories I shared a video of me making this sauce, and I put up a poll asking if people were interested in more simple sauce recipes on the blog.
The answer was a resounding YES!
As in, 97% said yes please. So here’s one of my favorites.
This Jalapeño Cilantro sauce is a riff on a green sauce that’s served at a chain of restaurants in NYC called Pio Pio.
The sauce has a bit of a cult following because it’s outrageously delicious, and many have tried to figure out their secret recipe to no avail.
Including me, ha.
When I was living in NYC I would order takeout of their sauce and try to figure it out. I also scoured the internet for clues and found this post from Serious Eats where they try to figure the sauce out as well.
They claimed that one of the secrets was a hot yellow chile paste from Peru, so I even ordered that from Amazon to try to nail the sauce.
But their copycat recipe wasn’t the same as Pio Pio, and not close. Shucks.
These days, I’ve settled down my sauce replicating ambitions and have accepted this sauce for the deliciousness that it is.
Because ordering a $10 jar of special Peruvian chile paste isn’t necessary here, and more isn’t always better.
This sauce is creamy, bright, and flavorful, and if you try it I really think you’ll LOVE it!
I find myself making it regularly and so far I haven’t tired of it, even after making it for the past couple years.
To make the sauce, place chopped jalapeños, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, mayonnaise, oil, salt, and pepper in a blender:
If you have 10 minutes to spare, I recommend using homemade mayonnaise for the best flavor.
I like the sauce on the milder side, so I seeded and ribbed the jalapeños before chopping, but you can leave the seeds and ribs in if you prefer it spicy.
Blend it all up until the sauce is smooth and creamy:
Give it a taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Sometimes I prefer a little more lime.
I find the sauce tastes slightly better after it chills for a few hours, so it’s great to make ahead!
I actually keep a container of this stuff ready to go in the fridge, and it keeps for a good week.
For more quick and easy blender sauces, try my Roasted Red Pepper Sauce or Basil Vinaigrette. Like this sauce, they are also Whole30-compliant. Delicious sauces were one of my secrets to surviving the Whole30!
This sauce is great drizzled on Crispy Smashed Potatoes, spooned onto Spice Rubbed Chicken, drizzled on veggies, and I even use it as a salad dressing sometimes. Enjoy!
Cilantro Jalapeno Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 jalapeños
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro (2oz)
- 5 medium cloves garlic (1.5 tbsp)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- For a milder sauce, remove the seeds and ribs from the jalapeños, then roughly chop them. For a spicier sauce, leave the seeds and ribs in, and simply chop the jalapeños. You should have about 1 cup of chopped jalapeños.
- Place the jalapeños into a blender along with all the remaining ingredients (I even include the cilantro stems), and blend on high for at least 30 seconds, until the sauce is smooth and creamy.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Enjoy!
This was SO good and unexpectedly so! The ingredients look really simple but the flavor is perfect. Thanks!
saw this on your home page, and have had this or something like it in a Peruvian restaurant years ago in Gardena, CA, in the LA area, have always wanted a good recipe for it and love that yours is also a riff off a famous NYC Peruvian restaurant, so thank you for this recipe, love the jalapenos too!
Hi Sabrina, hope you enjoy it!
This looks amazing and I’m still in the midst of my Whole30 so I love how you shared how great sauces help get you through – agreed! I know of a few recipes and foods I’d add this to. Thanks for sharing!
Hope your Whole30 is going well!
Joanne,
Just made this sauce using your mayo recipe — it’s delicious! I noticed that in mine the cilantro bits are more visible than in the picture featured. Do you think it’s because I made it in a food processor?
For the mayo recipe I used avocado oil because I didn’t have light olive oil on hand (and I don’t mind the taste at all) and it’s so tasty, which is saying something because I don’t usually like mayo. After using only half a cup for the sauce, I still have a cup or so left which I’ll use for tuna salad tomorrow.
Thank you for sharing!
Hi Gloria, yes definitely that would happen with the food processor. This actually happened to me the other day when I made my cilantro lime dressing, because the blender was dirty and making it in the food processor was more appealing than washing the blender right then lol. It looked quite different. Thanks for your comments on the mayo recipe. You know, I’ve only tried one brand of avocado oil and think I should probably taste a few more before making my conclusions. That’s going on my to-do list. The tuna salad sounds wonderful too. Enjoy!
This looks so good! Do you think it would work with Hellmann’s vegan mayo? Also, could I use another neutral oil instead of avocado?
Thanks!
Hi Adriana, my guess is yes and yes. Enjoy!