Cilantro (Coriander leaves)
Cilantro brings a bright, citrusy spark to everything from salsas to curries — fresh is always best.
In a nutshell
Cilantro is the leafy herb form of the coriander plant, widely used in Mexican, Indian, Southeast Asian, and Middle Eastern cooking. It delivers a lively, slightly citrusy flavor that lifts sauces, soups, and salads. A small but mighty handful can transform a finished dish from flat to vibrant.
Nutrition
≈ 3 Calories and 0.1g fat per tablespoon.
Cilantro is surprisingly rich in vitamin K, which supports bone health and blood clotting, and provides meaningful amounts of vitamin A and vitamin C as antioxidants. Its fiber content is modest, as you’d expect from such a delicate herb, and it’s genuinely low in sodium for something used as a seasoning. Research has also explored its natural antimicrobial compounds and the presence of antioxidant flavonoids like quercetin, though you’ll mostly be eating it in small quantities rather than supplement-level doses. Nutrition per 100g via Spoonacular.
Culinary uses & pairings
Cilantro is most famously used raw as a finishing herb — chopped and scattered over tacos, pho, dal, guacamole, ceviche, or grain bowls right before serving. Heat quickly dulls its volatile oils, so adding it at the last second preserves that signature brightness. The tender stems are just as flavorful as the leaves and can be minced right along with them.
In cooked applications, cilantro roots and lower stems hold up better to heat and are a cornerstone of Thai curry pastes and some Latin American sofrito-style bases. Blended into sauces like zhoug or Indian green chutney, cilantro provides the grassy, herbal backbone that holds the whole condiment together. Note that traditional chimichurri is parsley-based, not cilantro-based, though cilantro variations do exist.
Pairs well with
Substitutions
Buying & storage
Look for cilantro bunches with deep green, perky leaves and firm stems — any yellowing, sliminess, or strong fermented smell means it’s past its prime. Farmers’ markets and Latin or Asian grocery stores often stock the freshest bunches at the best prices, sometimes with the roots still attached (a bonus for Thai cooking). Avoid pre-packaged, pre-chopped cilantro, which wilts and loses its volatile oils quickly.
Types
- Common cilantro (Coriandrum sativum): The standard variety found in virtually every US grocery store; rounded, lobed leaves with the classic bright, citrusy flavor.
- Long-leaf cilantro (Culantro / Eryngium foetidum): A related but distinct plant with serrated, elongated leaves; used heavily in Caribbean and Southeast Asian cooking and has a far more intense flavor.
- Vietnamese cilantro (Persicaria odorata): Also called rau răm; a different species entirely with a spicier, more peppery edge, used in Vietnamese salads and noodle dishes.
Recipes using cilantro
996 recipes across our recipe sites use cilantro. A few favorites:
Cooking with cilantro tonight?
Find cilantro recipes that match your diet — keto, high-protein, vegan, under 30 minutes — and build a shopping list in one tap.
History & origin
Cilantro is one of the oldest recorded herbs in human history, with seeds found in ancient Egyptian tombs and references in Sanskrit texts dating back over 3,000 years. The Romans carried it across Europe as they expanded their empire, using both leaves and seeds medicinally and culinarily. Spanish colonizers brought it to the Americas beginning in the 16th century, where it was quickly embraced and became inseparable from the cuisines of Mexico and Central America. Today it’s one of the most widely consumed fresh herbs on the planet.
How it’s made
Cilantro is a cool-season annual herb grown from coriander seeds sown directly into the ground — it doesn’t transplant well because it bolts quickly when its roots are disturbed. It prefers loose, well-drained soil and temperatures between 50°F and 85°F (10°C and 29°C); heat causes it to bolt rapidly, sending up a flower stalk and shifting energy away from leaf production. Commercial growers in the US, primarily in California, do successive plantings every few weeks to maintain a continuous harvest of tender young leaves. Once a plant bolts, its leaves become feathery and lose much of their signature aroma, but the seeds that follow are harvested and dried as the spice coriander.
Good to know
- Cilantro and coriander come from the exact same plant — ‘cilantro’ refers to the leaves and stems, while ‘coriander’ typically refers to the dried seeds in American usage.
- The strong ‘soapy’ taste some people experience from cilantro is a genetic trait linked to specific olfactory receptor genes, particularly OR6A2 — it’s a real biological difference, not just a preference.
- Cilantro has been studied as a potential chelating agent, with research suggesting compounds in it may help bind to heavy metals, though dietary amounts are far below any established therapeutic level and evidence in humans remains preliminary.
- The word ‘coriander’ traces back to the ancient Greek koriandron, which some scholars believe was derived from koris, the Greek word for bedbug — a reference to the herb’s pungent smell.
- Once a cilantro plant flowers and sets seed, you can harvest, dry, and crack those seeds to use as the warm, citrusy spice coriander, making it a two-for-one herb in the home garden.
