Cilantro Garlic Sauce could easily be considered a Creamy Chimichurri its flavors are right on point and nearly smack you upside your head!
With just a few simple ingredients you have a sauce that goes with nearly any dish. Perfect for grilled steak, chicken and oily fish such as salmon or tuna. Awesome on tacos, poured over freshly sliced avocado or on blackened shrimp.

You can easily control the amount of heat by using oven roasted garlic or even by adding a little less raw garlic. We dig garlic so we tend to get a little heavy-handed with certain dishes (not all) but a few. But you’re in charge so start with a clove, blitz in the food processor and then add more garlic if you like.

What's the difference between Greek Yogurt and Sour Cream?
A side-by-side comparison shows some similarities in looks and taste. However, you’ll notice that Greek Yogurt has a slightly more concentrated sharp flavor when compared to Sour Cream, plus as a bonus Greek Yogurt also has less fat than regular Sour Cream.
Many people can’t tell the difference in taste and the consistency makes them highly interchangeable in nearly every recipe. You can easily swap them out at a one-to-one substitution ratio even when baking.

Chef’s Tip: Greek yogurt can easily curdle when exposed to high heat so be sure to use full fat (whole milk) Greek Yogurt when making sauces and gently bring it to temperature to avoid curdling.
How do I substitute Greek Yogurt for Sour Cream?
Stay away from non-fat: That’s right we are going for whole milk Greek Yogurt here, it’s the closest in flavor, texture, and consistency to sour cream. Non-fat yogurts typically have added thickeners and stabilizers lacking in flavor and substance, that could prove to be a major let down in a dish.
One-to-one substitution ratio:
- 1 cup (240 grams) Greek Yogurt = 1 cup (240 grams) Sour Cream
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How to Make Cilantro Garlic Sauce
Cilantro Garlic Sauce could easily be considered a Creamy Chimichurri its flavors are right on point and nearly smack you upside your head!
- 2 cups (480 grams) Greek yogurt or sour cream, full fat
- 4 Tablespoons (60 grams) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) white vinegar
- 1/2 cup cilantro, washed
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 lime, zest + juice
- Pink Himalayan sea salt or Kosher sea salt, to taste
- freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
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Add Greek yogurt (or sour cream), EVOO, white vinegar, cilantro, garlic, and lime to a food processor or blender and blitz for 30 seconds to a minute until desired consistency is reached. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.
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Can be served immediately, for deeper flavor pour into an airtight container and allow to chill for a couple of hours or overnight. Will keep in the fridge up to 5 days.
Looking for other great flavor inspiration for your Mexican meal?
- Roasted Salsa Verde
- Best Salsa Ever (in our opinion) lol Really try it, we think you’ll agree!
- Sweet Slow Roasted Tomatoes
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18 comments
We grow garlic and cilantro in our gardens so this is a perfect recipe for us. I look forward to trying this in June when we pull our fresh garlic. Catherine
Great, Catherine! Thanks so much please be sure to share on our FB page when you make some! 🙂
I DO want to be smacked upside my head with this sauce lol! (Wait, it sounds kinda weird written this way…) We really do have a delayed Cinco de Mayo party coming up this weekend (because the original party was rained out). So I’m trying some of your salsa/sauce recipes. Thanks for sharing so many wonderful recipes!
Lol, I can get carried away in my food descriptions, but OH THIS SAUCE! I’m excited to hear how your delayed Cinco de Mayo Party goes, please be sure to share some pics with us of the celebration and food!🤗🤗🤗
This looks soooo good! I love cilantro – could eat it by the handfuls!
Thanks so much, Julia! 🙌
This sounds delicious. I love to add garlic to my dishes as well. This will be a great addition to add to my gluten-free dishes. I will mention this recipe in my gluten-free food blog with a follow backlink to your recipe.
Thank you, Desi, much appreciated! 🙂
Oh! I can’t wait to try this recipe. it looks amazing. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much, Joanne, please be sure to tag us @meangreenchef when you make a batch! 🙂
I can’t wait to try this! I need to figure out a substitute for Dairy free version but I definitely want to try something similar ☺️ Thanks!
Hi, Erika! Please let me know what you come up with as a sub for the Greek yogurt would love to know about other options. 🙂
Oooohhhhhh….I cant wait to try this on an upcoming taco recipe. Thanks for all the great info, too!
Perfect for tacos Carrie, please leave a review here when you make some! So glad that you find our info helpful too 🙂
This sauce looks so good. I would put it on so many things, but especially some steak! Yum!
Oh yea, awesome steak sauce for sure Erika! 🙂 Thanks for visiting!
So hooked with this dressing. I put it on my chicken or turkey sandwiches instead of mayo and its soooo tasty!
So happy to hear that you are enjoying our Cilantro Garlic Sauce! 🙂