Culantro Substitutes for Sofrito, Pho and Salsa

Can’t find culantro? Use cilantro, about twice as much, leaves and tender stems. Culantro smells similar to cilantro but tastes stronger,¹ and the two share their key aroma compound. It’s called recao in Puerto Rico, where it’s a key ingredient in sofrito, and ngò gai in Vietnam, where it goes on the herb plate for pho. If you’re making sofrito and want the real flavor, frozen ground culantro is the real thing, and a prepared recaíto is a shortcut that brings other aromatics with it.

Quick answer

How the ratios on this page are labeled

Every ratio carries one of four labels.

• Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship.
• Attributed: a named source publishes this ratio. We quote it as theirs.
• Disputed: named sources give different answers to the same swap. You get each one, side by side.
• Method: our starting point, based on how the two compare. Taste and adjust.

You’ll often read that culantro is “ten times” stronger than cilantro, and that you need eight to ten times as much cilantro to replace it. No measurement backs up either figure.

Why cilantro works

Culantro and cilantro are in the same plant family but different genera, and they share their key aroma compound.²³ PROSEA also records that the Chinese brought culantro to Southeast Asia as a substitute for coriander,² the same swap in reverse.

Where they differ is texture and staying power. Culantro leaves are tough and best chopped fine.¹ Cilantro is delicate: LSU AgCenter lists it among the herbs to add in the last minute or two, because long heat costs it flavor and aroma.⁴

If culantro is blended into sofrito or cooked into a dish

In Puerto Rico, sofrito, also called recaíto, is made with significant amounts of recao. Here culantro is part of a cooked seasoning base, so its strength matters more than its looks.

1. Cilantro, leaves and stems

Ratio (Method): Culantro is described as stronger,¹ so start with about twice as much chopped cilantro as the recipe’s culantro, tender stems included, and taste the finished base before adding more. Cilantro fades with long cooking,⁴ so stirring a little extra fresh cilantro in at the end can bring back some of what’s lost.

2. The real thing, preserved

The Puerto Rico bulletin says culantro leaves keep for several days in plastic bags in the fridge, and for longer keeping they should be ground and frozen.⁵ So if you do find culantro, buy extra and freeze it ground. A prepared recaíto is another way to get culantro flavor, but it’s a blend: check the label for onion, garlic, peppers and salt, and cut back on those in the recipe.

Ratio (Method): Use frozen ground culantro in place of fresh, measure for measure. There’s no fixed conversion for a prepared recaíto, because recipes differ. Start with a tablespoon or two in place of the culantro and the matching aromatics, then taste.

If culantro is raw on a herb plate

On a Vietnamese pho garnish plate, culantro is one of several herbs. Andrea Nguyen’s plate has 3 or 4 culantro leaves alongside mint, Thai basil and rice paddy herb, and she notes culantro is usually sold at Vietnamese, Latin and Caribbean markets.⁶ Everyone adds herbs to taste, so the others on the plate can stand in for one another.

1. Cilantro

Ratio (Method): Put out about twice as many cilantro sprigs as you would culantro leaves, raw, for people to add themselves.

2. Rau ram (Vietnamese coriander)

Rau ram’s flavor is reminiscent of lemon and coriander leaves, with a slight radish-like, pungent aftertaste, and long cooking destroys it.⁷ Its leaf oil is led by different aldehydes from culantro’s, so it echoes culantro without matching it.

Ratio (Method): Start with the same amount as the culantro, raw, and taste.

3. Thai basil

Thai basil takes the dish somewhere else. In a 2018 study of basils grown in Chiang Mai, Thai basil oil was linked to anise, lime-like and fresh aromas.⁸ Expect anise and lime, not cilantro.

Ratio (Method): Start with the same amount.

If culantro is raw in salsa

1. Pápalo

University of Maryland Extension’s Maryland Grows blog says pápalo is not exactly like cilantro but close enough to work as an alternative. It warns against overdoing it until you’re used to the flavor, and says to use it raw or add it at the very end of cooking.⁹ It suits salsas and garnishes, not long-cooked sofrito.

Ratio (Method): Given that warning, start with about half the culantro amount.

If culantro is mainly color and body

1. Flat-leaf parsley with lime

PROSEA says parsley plays a role in Western cooking similar to the one coriander leaves play in Asia, and calls the flat-leaved type stronger flavored than the curly.¹⁰ It gives you a fresh green look but none of culantro’s aroma. A squeeze of lime helps it along in a salsa or soup.

Ratio (Method): Start with the same amount as the culantro, or up to twice as much if it’s the only herb.

What isn’t known

• The “ten times” strength figure that circulates online has no traceable source.
• No source we found tests how well culantro holds its flavor through long cooking compared with cilantro. Cooks tend to add culantro early and cilantro late.
• Rue sometimes gets suggested as a culantro substitute for long-cooked dishes. We found no source that supports the swap, and we don’t recommend it.

Related

• Culantro and culantro vs. cilantro
• Cilantro, cilantro substitutes and too much cilantro
• Cilantro vs. parsley, parsley and Thai basil
• Coriander vs. cilantro and Caribbean spices