This is the best Cilantro Pasta made in just 10 minutes. Using cilantro (coriander), lemon, garlic, parmesan, chilli, and olive oil, the green sauce is combined with your pasta of choice, and then topped with a tomato paprika dressing for sweetness and colour. It's a go-to of mine when I need a quick and simple pasta recipe!
This lemon garlic cilantro pasta sauce is a take on pesto (but without the nuts). It's an easy herby sauce that pairs really well with pasta, noodles, rice, or potatoes. You can also add in a splash of lime, to diversify the citric flavour. I love eating this cilantro pasta with grated parmesan, however, if you want to add some more bulk to the dish, you could add in some fried chicken, courgettes, or sweet corn.
If you're a fan of this cilantro pesto pasta recipe, then you might want to check out some of my other vibrant and tasty pasta recipes like my Pink Barbie Pasta made with beetroot and feta, Roasted Tomato Feta Bucatini, or my Baked Ziti with Ground Turkey.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Quick: The longest part of this recipe is waiting for the pasta to cook, so as soon as your pasta is ready (after 8-10 minutes), simply combine it with your no-nut cilantro pesto and top with the paprika tomato dressing, and you're good to go! Another two of my favourite quick pasta recipes are my Lemon Boursin Pasta and my Creamy Chorizo and Prawn Linguine.
Budget-friendly: Homemade pesto can be quite expensive with the pine nuts, basil, and parmesan. This pesto-inspired cilantro pasta sauce on the other hand, is wallet-friendly as it uses coriander, which is less expensive than basil (where I am anyway), and doesn't use nuts, so requires fewer ingredients.
Vibrant: The colour of the green chilli and cilantro to make the sauce is such a vibrant green, but then to add to that, the paprika tomato drizzle is a contrast red. So much pizzazz! If you love bold recipes, you'll love my Pink Barbie Pasta using beetroot and feta to make the sauce and my Pea and Asparagus pasta that has a gorgeous green colour!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Cilantro: Also known as coriander, this is our key ingredient for this recipe. This is pretty obvious, but you'll need fresh cilantro for this recipe.
Lemon: Fresh lemon juice is best. You can sub it out with lime juice too for a bit of a different flavour.
Garlic: Fresh garlic is my suggestion for this cilantro pesto sauce, but if you only have granules, begin by adding ½ teaspoon and then up the quantity based on your preference.
Olive oil: Good quality olive oil is key for this recipe.
Parmesan: A block of parmesan, that you then freshly grate is optimal. I don't recommend buying pre-grated parmesan because that stuff uses an anti-caking agent which stops the cheese from sticking together. Which, when you then add to any sauces, just coagulates and becomes a bit floury. If you're looking to make this vegan, I'd recommend either a plant-based parmesan alternative, or some nutritional yeast.
Green Chilli: I love a bit of a kick to my pasta dishes, so I've used a fresh mild green chilli. You could substitute this out with 1 teaspoon chilli flakes.
Tomato: For the tomato drizzle, I used baby tomatoes, finely chopped.
Paprika: Sweet paprika or smoked paprika are both great options.
Pasta: I used rigatoni for this recipe, but you can use whatever pasta shape you like.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
Recipe Variations
Cilantro Pesto Pasta: If you're looking to turn this into more of a pesto sauce, feel free to add 2 tablespoon pine nuts into the sauce. Another delicious homemade pesto recipe is my avocado pesto pasta, it's creamy, super tasty, and comes together quickly.
Vegan Cilantro Pasta: For a vegan version of this recipe, remove the parmesan and use a plant-based alternative, or you can add in some nutritional yeast to your taste.
Cilantro Pasta Salad: This is a super fresh sauce, so it's a great dish to combine with a good leafy salad. Leave the pasta to cool and then combine with the cilantro sauce, and any salad veggies like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, and sunflower seeds for a bit of crunch.
Step by Step Instructions with Photos
Step 1: First up, place your pasta in a saucepan of salted boiling water and cook to packet instructions. Meanwhile, you want to make your cilantro sauce. Combine cilantro, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, parmesan, green chilli, sugar, salt and pepper in a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste and season according to your preference. Then remove and pour into a large non-stick frying pan.
Step 2: Once your pasta is cooked, drain it and add it into your cilantro sauce pan. Combine until the pasta is coated in the sauce. Keep this on low heat while you make your tomato paprika dressing.
Step 3: In a bowl, combine your chopped tomatoes, paprika, oil, pepper, and salt. Give it a mix and then place in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Step 4: Divide your pasta into two bowls and then top with the tomato paprika drizzle, more grated parmesan, and enjoy!
Top Tips!
- Double up the quantity for your pasta sauce and store some for another day!
- You can serve the sauce with pasta, but combining it with chicken and serving it with rice, noodles, or potatoes is super delicious.
- To make it into more of a cilantro pesto, add in pine nuts to the blended mixture.
What To Do with Leftovers
Storage: If you're wanting to store the sauce and the pasta separately, place them both in airtight containers (or you can pour the sauce into an airtight jar), and store them in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freezing: I wouldn't recommend freezing the sauce or the pasta.
Reheating: Combine the sauce and the pasta in a saucepan and reheat on low heat. Add in a splash of olive oil, milk, or water to add a bit of moisture to the pasta. Serve up once it's piping hot.
FAQs
Absolutely, just add some pine nuts into the sauce, then blend.
Fried chicken or sausages would go really well with this. You could also add tofu or fried aubergine as plant-protein alternatives.
Yes, absolutely. I've used rigatoni, but you could use linguine, spaghetti, fettuccine...anything you like!
Other recipes you might like!
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The Best Cilantro Pasta (10 Minutes)
Ingredients
For the cilantro sauce
- 30g cilantro fresh
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 garlic clove
- 50ml olive oil
- 15g parmesan
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 green chilli I used jalapeño
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the tomato paprika topping
- 5 baby tomatoes finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- Salt and pepper
Pasta
- 150 g rigatoni
Instructions
- First up, place your pasta in a saucepan of salted boiling water and cook to packet instructions.
- Meanwhile, you want to make your cilantro sauce. Combine cilantro, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, parmesan, green chilli, sugar, salt and pepper in a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste and season according to your preference. Then remove and pour into a large non-stick frying pan.
- Once your pasta is cooked, drain it and add it into your cilantro sauce pan. Combine until the pasta is coated in the sauce. Keep this on low heat while you make your tomato paprika dressing.
- In a small bowl, combine your chopped tomatoes, paprika, oil, pepper, and salt. Give it a mix and then place in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- Divide your pasta into two bowls and then top with the tomato paprika drizzle, more grated parmesan, and enjoy!
Notes
- Double up the quantity for your pasta sauce and store some for another day!
- You can serve the sauce with pasta, but combining it with chicken and serving it with rice, noodles, or potatoes is super delicious.
- To make it into more of a cilantro pesto, add pine nuts to the blended mixture.
Sophia
It was really, surprisingly quick to make and incredibly tasty! I would never think to use coriander as the base for a sauce and it works so well, I didn't take any photos because it was all gone so quickly. Thank you, thank you!
Emily Roz
I'm so glad you loved this recipe Sophia! Thank you for your lovely comment 🙂
Brian
quick and easy, ia had it with gnocchi, really tasty 😋
Emily Roz
So glad you loved it Brian! 🙂