Most yummy dressing ever!! This tangy cilantro vinaigrette comes together quick with just 5 ingredients!
5 Ingredient Cilantro Vinaigrette
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This sauce is UH-Mazing. So easy to make and the combo on the chipotle chicken for the related salad recipe is just.so.good. I have yet to be let down by a PoY recipe!
claire
Alright, you guys. It’s time to back it up just a little bit.
There is a really good summery salad coming your way, but for today, we need to strip it down to the basics. Today it’s all about that dressing.
My requirements for a new dressing in my life is that it doesn’t take more than a hot minute to make it and tastes so good that I actually WANT to eat salad every minute of every day. This does both! with just a handful of very regular ingredients:
- cilantro
- garlic
- vinegar
- olive oil
- salt
Also, a pinch of red pepper flakes and a splash of water.
But for the most part, this is a five-ingredient, straight-out-the-blender, beautiful green miracle.
See what I mean?
Okay, here’s what I’ve put this on so far.
- summer cobb salad (coming soon!)
- grilled chipotle chicken, as in DIPPED IT STRAIGHT IN LIKE A MONSTER
- a mashed avocado – instaguac, anyone?
- breakfast tacos
- chorizo tacos
- chicken tacos
- roasted potatoes
- grilled sweet corn
- rice to make “green rice” for meal prep rice bowls
- a cheese quesadilla
- another cheese quesadilla
- one more cheese quesadilla, because I’m eating a lot of quesadillas lately, okay? just let me.
It is such a stupidly easy recipe, but I didn’t want it to get lost. I felt it needed its own post.
It’s not fancy. It will take you two seconds.
But it will elevate your summer eating game to places you definitely want to be.
This recipe is straightly inspired by the cilantro vinaigrette in the What’s Gaby Cookin’ cookbook. I have a weird aversion to raw onions and their relatives right now, which is why I just made it without the shallot that her original recipe calls for. But all credit to Queen G for this one! She has a basil vinaigrette, too. Worth looking up? YES.
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5 Ingredient Cilantro Vinaigrette
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
Description
This cilantro vinaigrette is EVERYTHING. The flavor is amazing and it only takes 5 ingredients! This recipe is completely inspired by the cilantro vinaigrette in the beautiful What’s Gaby Cookin cookbook!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 huge bunch of fresh cilantro (2 cups packed)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup water, if needed
Instructions
- Blend everything up for about a minute until smooth. Add the water if you need more volume in the blender to make it run smoothly. Season to taste!
- PUT ON EVERYTHING! I actually do mean everything. So delicious.
Notes
You can see Gaby’s original recipe here on her blog, or of course, in her book! I made a few small changes: omitted the shallot (to reduce sensitivity to raw onion / onion relatives), changed red wine vinegar to white vinegar (because I love the sharp tang), and added a little water (sometimes my blender needs a little added volume to help it all run smoothly).
Keep this in a jar in the fridge for 3-4 days! TREAT CITY!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Dressing
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: cilantro dressing, cilantro vinaigrette, vinaigrette recipe
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our Sauces That Make Everything Better roundup. Check it out!
Filed Under: 5 Ingredients All Recipes Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Healthy Quick and Easy Salads Sauces Spring Sugar-Free Vegan Vegetarian
May 11, 2018
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
Did you make a recipe? Tag @pinchofyum on Instagram so we can find you!
First, a million congrats. I’m truly so happy to hear about your incredible news. Second, thanks for a dressing that I can actually do. Like mom is always trying to tell me….simple is best. Stop trying to hard! Yup yup.
What blender are you using these days?! I am looking to buy a new one!
I can’t stop being so happy for you!!!!! My heart is praying hard for you too. Thanks for all your amazing recipes!
I feel EXACTLY the same way about dressing! 1) easy; 2) delicious; 3) repeat. Hahaha. I love cilantro as well, and it’s supposed to have all these great cleansing properties to help get metals out of your system (???). Who knew? Lol. Have you tried making it in a bullet or a Ninja Bullet? I looooooove those things because they’re the perfect size, and so easy to clean! (I’m not a good dish-doer… Unfortunate since it’s just me. Lol.)
Super cool! I make most sauces in my Ninja Bullet, so I’m sure it would work just fine. 🙂
I was going to say, this looks like it would be good on almost everything! A good sauce totally makes breakfast burritos!
Ooh, this sauce would be amazing in breakfast burritos! I think I just figured out what I’m having for breakfast tomorrow.
Yum! That sounds amazing!
Oh my my it looks delicious and I love that green colour????????
simplest is best, thank you for these, I even love adding to plain old chicken to add flavor, also thank you for all of these other sauces too!
Definitely having a moment with tacos right now…can’t wait to try this on top!
Cilantro is a divider in our household. Half of us HATE cilantro and the other half have good taste. 😉 this looks good and inspiring me, as I am gonna be eating a lot of salads this week. My belly is catching up with my eyes.
I loved this sauce!! I used ACV cause that’s all I had and it was delicious. All I could think about what everything I could put this on. I massaged it in kale and used that as the base for a chicken taco salad. Simple recipes like this are the best as they can really amp up a lot of meals!!
Yes, so true! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it!
Being a big lover of pesto sauce and green dressings on anything from avocado to grilled vegetables.. I am so eager to try this recipe. Many thanks!
I loved this sauce! So far, I have drizzled it on baked salmon and watermelon arugula salad. Instant meal upgrade!
So glad to hear that!
I love this idea! Cilantro is my favourite, and I frequently make a chimichurri using cilantro in place of parsley, so it’s very similar to this.
Just wanted to leave a note to say that for some reason mine came out super bitter. I used lemon & lime juice instead of vinegar, so perhaps that’s why… but I don’t know. To fix it, I added a bit more olive oil and some honey. Now it’s PERFECT! I just ate it on a turkey and avocado sandwich. Can’t wait to baste my grilled shrimp with it tonight!
Thanks for the feedback, Renee! 🙂
Mine came out incredibly bitter too and I did not add lemon or lime (yet). I think I may have used too much cilantro so I’ll try adding more olive oil like you suggested. Thanks!
this looks more of smoothe
This is surprisingly delicious for something so simple. We’ve already tried it on a simple mixed salad and with rice and it’s soooo good – such a bright, fresh flavour (but not overpoweringly cilantro-y). I can definitely see adding this to my Sunday prep routine so there’s always a bottle of this magic sauce in the fridge. Thanks!
Glad to hear that, Dawn! 🙂
Just simply lovely.
Our family can’t stand cilantro is there another dressing you suggest?
Your method to prepare vinaigrette is perfect. I will try it and i am sure that it will be like that i am expecting in taste.
Gaby’s Basil Vinaigrette is delicious! https://whatsgabycooking.com/basil-vinaigrette/
This vinaigrette is DELICIOUS. We loved the cilantro, so I started trying this with other fresh herbs. Basil, parsley, and mint all work well for us.
I don’t normally comment on anything, but I keep coming back to your site for recipes. Your recipies are easy, enticing, tasty and fast to make with regular ingredients.
I love it!
I lost the passion to cook after my first child but you have brought it back!
Please don’t stop posting…
Good luck with tiny bloom!
i think it would be very delicious but you know punjabi food is also best
Fantastic recipe
this blog is a great stuff i like it thanks
i love cilantro and i love vinaigrette, you have combined two of my favorite things!
As a lover of cilantro, I had high hopes for this but it is awful. Bitter, harsh and doesn’t do anything good for any dish. Total waste of ingredients and time. Take a big pass on this.
Adjust the seasoning. I added a little more salt, white wine vinegar and both one lemon and 2 limes. Avacado oil, red onion, basil leaves and 2 tsp of sugar. Will adjust tomorrow after I taste. A recipe is just a guideline and this is a great start!
Love this! I used half avocado oil and olive oil, Apple cider vinegar and a bit of honey!!