Make this creamy Pollo Tropical Copycat Cilantro Garlic Sauce at home in just 5 minutes. Serve it with tacos, wings, or any appetizer of your choice (vegetarian, gluten-free, keto-friendly).
Here are some more homemade sauce recipes that you might like – Quick Gyoza Dipping Sauce, Strawberry BBQ Sauce, Lemon Drop Hot Sauce, Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce, and Thai Peanut Sauce.
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About This Recipe
Cilantro Garlic Sauce is a delicious creamy sauce prepared with fresh cilantro, garlic, lime juice, mayo, and sour cream.
This sauce is very popular at Pollo Tropical, a South Florida-based restaurant chain and franchise specializing in food inspired by Latin-Caribbean cuisine.
The good new news is that you can make this Pollo Tropical Copycat Cilantro and Garlic Sauce at home in under 5 minutes using simple ingredients.
Serve it with tacos, wings, wraps, salads, sandwiches, fries, wedges, burritos, etc to perk up their taste.
This sauce is vegetarian and gluten-free and the recipe can be easily doubled or tripled.
Ingredients
Sour Cream – Use homemade Full-Fat Sour Cream or buy a tub.
To make the sauce healthier, you can replace sour cream with whole milk Greek yogurt.
Mayonnaise – A little mayo makes the sauce extra creamy. Use low-fat or full-fat mayonnaise, whichever you like.
Cilantro – Use fresh cilantro for the best taste. You can increase the quantity of cilantro for a more robust herb flavor.
Others – You will also need garlic, extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lime juice (or freshly squeezed lemon juice), red pepper flakes, and salt.
If you are a garlic fan, use a few more cloves than mentioned in the recipe. You can also use roasted garlic in place of raw garlic for a deeper flavor.
You can replace extra virgin olive oil with avocado oil or grapeseed oil.
How To Make Cilantro Garlic Sauce
Add 12 oz (350 g) full-fat sour cream, ¼ cup mayonnaise, 2 cloves peeled garlic, ¼ cup (packed) cilantro, 4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, and ½ teaspoon salt to a blender or a food processor.
Blend until smooth. Scrape the sides of the blender a few times while bending.
Serve and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
To make this sauce vegan replace sour cream with almond or cashew yogurt and skip adding the mayonnaise or use vegan mayonnaise.
Serving Suggestions
Cilantro and garlic sauce is a very versatile sauce that instantly perks up the taste of everything you add it to.
Top over tacos, burritos, burrito bowls or fajitas.
Slather in wraps, rolls, or sandwiches.
Thin it down with some water and use a salad dressing.
Use it as a dip with tortilla chips, chicken wings, yuca fries, pita chips, or potato wedges.
Top over grain bowls or buddha bowls.
Serve with broiled salmon, pulled pork, mojo pork, or veggie platters.
Top over stuffed sweet potatoes.
Storage Suggestions
This creamy cilantro garlic sauce can be stored in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Use a clean and dry spoon for every use, to ensure that the sauce lasts longer.
Garlic cilantro sauce doesn’t freeze well, its texture will be weird once you thaw it.
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Recipe Card
Pollo Tropical Copycat Cilantro Garlic Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 ounces full-fat sour cream (350 g)
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 cloves peeled garlic
- ¼ cup packed cilantro (stems removed, rinsed, and chopped)
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice (or 2 tablespoon lemon juice)
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a blender or a food processor.
- Blend until smooth. Scrape the sides of the blender a few times while bending.
- Serve and enjoy!
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!