What’s A Good Culantro Substitute?

Culantro is essential for achieving an authentic flavor in many West Indian, Central American, and Latin American dishes. Its long, serrated leaves and powerful cilantro-like aroma are foundational in preparations such as Puerto Rican sofrito, Panamanian guiso, and various Caribbean stews and sauces.

The challenge with culantro is availability. Outside of Caribbean and Latin markets, it can be difficult to find, and many cooks encounter recipes calling for it without ever seeing it in stores. If culantro is unavailable, the key is finding a substitute that captures its bold herbal intensity, not just its general flavor direction.

STOCK UP: Dried Culantro Leaves

Keeping culantro on hand allows you to achieve authentic Caribbean and Latin American flavors that cilantro alone cannot replicate. Its ability to withstand long cooking times while delivering bold, savory depth makes it especially valuable for sofritos, stews, and slow-simmered sauces where other herbs would fade.

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Your Best Bet: Cilantro

Cilantro is the closest and most practical substitute for culantro. The two herbs are closely related and share a citrusy, green, slightly peppery flavor profile. Cilantro is widely available and inexpensive, making it the default replacement in most kitchens.

The main difference is potency. Culantro is significantly stronger than cilantro, with many cooks estimating it to be up to ten times more intense. To approximate culantro’s impact, you will need to use a much larger quantity of cilantro.

A good starting point is eight to ten times more cilantro than the amount of culantro called for. Finely chopping the leaves helps release more aroma and improves the flavor match.

Another important distinction is heat tolerance. Culantro can be added at the beginning of cooking and retains its flavor over long simmering times. Cilantro, by contrast, loses much of its character when cooked too long, so it is best added near the end of cooking or as a finishing herb.

A Decent Second Choice: Papalo

Papalo, short for papaloquelite, is a traditional Mexican herb that has been used since the Aztec era. It shares aromatic similarities with both cilantro and culantro and grows throughout parts of the Caribbean and Central America.

Papalo’s flavor is often described as a cross between cilantro and arugula, with a peppery, herbal bite. Its aroma is notably strong, and regional nicknames referencing its musky scent reflect how divisive it can be. This intense fragrance is one of the reasons papalo works so well as a culantro substitute.

In terms of strength, papalo sits between cilantro and culantro. It is stronger than cilantro but not quite as aggressive as culantro, making it easier to control in recipes. Like culantro, it works well in salsas, sauces, and cooked dishes and holds up reasonably well to heat.

Papalo is most commonly found in Latin American or Caribbean markets and is one of the best alternatives when authenticity matters.

In a Pinch: Rue

Rue is relatively uncommon in American cooking but remains important in parts of Europe, North Africa, and East Africa. Its flavor is bitter, resinous, and intensely aromatic, which makes it a less obvious substitute but still a workable one in certain contexts.

Rue is used in Ethiopian cuisine for salads, meat dishes, and even coffee flavoring, and it is traditionally paired with cheeses and spirits in Mediterranean cultures.

While rue is not ideal for raw preparations like sofrito or salsa, it can work well in soups, stews, and long-cooked dishes where culantro’s durability is more important than its exact flavor. Use it sparingly, as its bitterness can become dominant if overused.

Other Alternatives

Thai basil offers a different but complementary approach. While it lacks culantro’s citrusy sharpness, its licorice and pepper notes add aromatic complexity in dishes that allow for interpretation. Thai basil is more pungent than sweet basil but still milder than culantro, making it best suited to cooked recipes rather than raw sauces.

Flat-leaf parsley, when combined with a touch of citrus zest or lime juice, can provide herbal freshness and body. While it does not replicate culantro’s flavor on its own, it works in recipes where culantro plays a background role.

Cilantro stems are another overlooked option. The stems contain more concentrated flavor than the leaves and withstand heat better. Using chopped stems along with leaves can help push cilantro closer to culantro’s intensity in cooked dishes.

Quick Facts & Pairing Summary