Please pause for a second. Take a look at the green color in that sauce. It might be the purest green thing I’ve ever made!
Try to find something greener. I dare you. Maybe a leprechaun on St. Patrick’s day? Maybe…
Maybe more important than the bright color is the bright flavor. When you pop open the food processor, the fresh herbs and spice will smack you in the face!
I was trying to think of something savory you couldn’t put this on. It’s great on pretty much anything grilled. It’s great with roasted or sautéed vegetables. You could even use it as a sturdy salad dressing.
It really and truly is all-purpose and is a great way to use up extra herbs you might have in your fridge. Get your green on!
- Want a spicy version of this sauce? Try my Green Taco Sauce recipe!
All-Purpose Green Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ripe avocado
- ½ cup parsley
- ¼ cup cilantro
- ¼ cup mint
- 1 jalapeno, seeded
- 2 scallions
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 large lime, juice only
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds, roasted
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Pinch of sugar
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Make sure to wash all the herbs well. For the parsley and cilantro, you can use the stems, but don’t use the mint stems.
- Add everything to a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add sunflower seeds last and pulse a few times so the sauce has a little texture.
- Adjust the seasoning of the sauce to your liking with salt and pepper. If the sauce is too thick, add a bit more olive oil or lime to thin it out a bit.
- Slather this stuff on pretty much anything you cook! Store leftover sauce with plastic wrap on the surface to prevent browning. It will keep in the fridge for five days without a problem. If there is some browning, you can spoon it off the top!
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
All-Purpose Green Sauce
The key to making this sauce all-purpose is that it has a little bit of everything. If your dish needs some spice, it has it. If your dish needs some herb flavor, this sauce has it. It also has a creamy note to it thanks to yogurt and avocado.
But, to start it you need a huge mess of green stuff.
There’s no need to overthink this. Basically you are just gonna pulse everything in a food processor. A few notes though:
- If you want a spicier sauce, leave the seeds in the jalapeno. I took mine out because I just wanted a hint of spice.
- For the herbs, feel free to toss in the thinner parts of stems for the parsley and cilantro, but I would leave the mint stems out.
Everything goes in the pool!
Pulse that all together until it’s mostly smooth and then add in some roasted sunflower seeds. This will give the sauce a little texture even if they aren’t green!
The most important part to this sauce is to taste it before you scoop it out of the food processor. Adjust it to your liking! It might need an extra hit of lime or an extra pinch of salt. If the sauce is too thick, maybe add an extra glug of olive oil. Make it your own!
What to Serve it with?
Pretty much anything. Potatoes? Definitely!
In fact, other breakfast foods like scrambled eggs would be great.
Grilled foods like chicken or pork loin would be great!
You can really slather the sauce on too. It’s not like pesto or chimichurri, but has elements of those things. You can use a heavy hand with it which is good because the recipe makes a bunch!
One note on storage… if you don’t use the sauce, it will oxidize and turn brown. You can slow this by storing it with plastic wrap touching the surface, but it will still happen after a few days. It doesn’t mean the sauce is bad though. Just scoop off the thin layer of brown before serving it!
GREEN SAUCE ON EVERYTHING.
Karl Lembke
Looks good!
However, for a “put on anything” sauce, I’m not sure if I’d frost a cake with it. :-)
Nick
Haha… yes… Savory only. But pretty much anything savory! :)
Shant
So do I peel the “1 large lime” like an orange and toss it in? Or do you mean “the juice of 1 large lime”?
Nick
Juice only! :)
Valarie
How long will this sauce last?
Nick
Hey Valarie! I’d say 5 days or so. You could freeze it for longer though!
Tamela
will it turn brown in the freezer? looks delicious!!!
Nick
Hey Tamela, it should be okay if you keep it air-tight (put a piece of plastic wrap right on the surface). I think it should stay green. Honestly, I ate mine too fast to even consider freezing it… Good luck!