Aji Verde (Spicy Peruvian Green Sauce)
Learn how to make the best aji verde sauce! Aji verde is spicy Peruvian green sauce, made with cilantro, jalapeños and mayonnaise. It's irresistible!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on May 16, 2024
Meet my new favorite hot sauce! Aji verde is a bold and bright Peruvian green sauce. It’s spicy and tangy, and packed with fresh flavor.
We’ve been dousing just about everything in aji verde since I found it—tacos, eggs, rice and beans, potatoes and more. A drizzle of aji verde makes the most basic of foods taste irresistible.
I discovered aji verde not at a Peruvian restaurant, but at the Avanti food hall in Denver a few weekends ago. Have you been to a modern-day food hall yet? I’m like a kid in a candy store, since I can taste so many concepts from so many restaurants.
I walked up to The Rotary and ordered a couple of vegetable sides, plus all three of their sauces to sample. You know I can’t resist a good sauce.
We each took a bite of their grilled broccolini, which was doused in aji verde. Our eyes lit up and I vowed not to leave without the recipe. Today, I’m sharing the recipe with you!
Aji Verde Ingredients
The girl behind the counter said the sauce was made with cilantro, jalapeño, Parmesan and lime juice. I deduced that she must have forgotten to mention mayonnaise, since the sauce had an unmistakable mayo-like consistency. I also added garlic, to match the restaurant sauce’s pungent flavor.
Aji verde is often made with Cotija cheese, not Parmesan. They’re both hard, aged, salty cheeses that lend complexity to this bright sauce, and you can use either one.
A note on authenticity: The aji verde recipe you see here is more like the aji verde you might find at North American Peruvian restaurants than restaurants in Peru.
True Peruvian aji verde recipes are made with Peruvian ingredients including aji amarillo (hot yellow pepper) instead of jalapeño and huacatay (black mint or black mint paste) instead of cilantro. I haven’t tried these ingredients myself, but I’m ordering them now since this recipe has piqued my interest in Peruvian cuisine.
From what I’ve read, aji verdes vary between restaurants, so please consider this my version. I absolutely love it and hope you will, too.
Watch How to Make Aji Verde
Uses for Aji Verde
This zippy green sauce will liven up a wide variety of dishes. Like chimichurri, aji verde will be great on anything from your grill this summer. Here are some vegetarian ideas:
- Tacos
- Tostones
- Rice and beans
- Grilled or roasted vegetables
- Prepared raw vegetables, like carrot sticks and strips of bell pepper (serve it as a party dip)
- Salads
- Scrambled or fried eggs
- Sweet potato fries
On a homemade hot sauce kick? Here are a few more of my favorite spicy condiments:
- Shatta (Middle Eastern Hot Sauce)
- Zhoug (Spicy Middle Eastern Cilantro Sauce)
- Fresh Jalapeño Relish
- Creamy Avocado Dip
Please let me know how you like this sauce in the comments! I can’t wait to hear how you serve it.
Aji Verde (Spicy Peruvian Green Sauce)
Learn how to make the best aji verde sauce! Aji verde is spicy Peruvian green sauce, made with cilantro, jalapeños, and a little mayonnaise and Parmesan. It is utterly irresistible drizzled onto tacos and more! Recipe yields about 1 ¼ cups.
Ingredients
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 cups lightly packed fresh cilantro, mostly leaves but small stems are ok (from 1 big bunch of cilantro or 1 ½ medium)
- 2 medium jalapeños, seeds and membranes removed but reserved, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup (1 ounce) grated Cotija or Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- In a food processor or blender, combine all of the ingredients. Blend until the cilantro has broken into very tiny pieces and the sauce is green and mostly smooth (no matter how long you blend it, it will still have some texture to it).
- Taste, and adjust if necessary. This sauce is intentionally bold and spicy and I usually think it’s just right as written. However, if the flavor is too overwhelming, blend in 1 tablespoon of olive oil while running the food processor. If it’s not spicy enough, add some of the reserved jalapeño seeds and blend again. If it doesn’t have enough zip, add another tablespoon of lime juice and/or a pinch of salt.
- Aji verde keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for about 1 week.
Notes
Make it dairy free: Simply omit the Parmesan. To temper the flavor a bit, drizzle in 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil while running the food processor.
Make it vegan: I think you could replace the mayonnaise with equal parts vegan sour cream, and omit the cheese. Or for a similarly creamy cilantro sauce, try my avocado dip. You can add extra jalapeño if you want it to be more spicy.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This sounds so good! There’s a Peruvian restaurant near me that’s SO GOOD, you literally have to wait for an hour to get in all the time. They make a sauce similar to this and it’s amazing! Can’t wait to try this version :).
I am from Peru, and I can tell you that your recipe it is not at all our Green Sauce. You HAVE to use Aji Amarillo, not Jalapeño, since we don’t have that one in my country. We don’t put cilantro, we use Huacatay, a herb indigenous that don’t taste like mint. If you don’t find it raw you can use Huacatay Paste. We use “queso blanco fresco”, (this is not the Dominican one you find at the groceries), that you can replace with Fetta cheese. We don’t use mayonnaise, we use oil at the end, that is how you get the texture. I love most of your recipes, but I feel very disappointed that you have changed totally a traditional typical recipe from my country. Perhaps it is not your fault.
Hi Zaida, I’m so disappointed to hear that you are disappointed by my recipe. When sharing recipes that originated in other cultures, I always strive to explain how the recipe is traditionally made and how my recipe may differ. I may have missed the mark on this one. I was trying to imitate a recipe that was called aji verde, so that is what I called it. If you search for other aji verdes, you’ll see that my recipe is similar to others available online and so I thought mine was close to the mark. I appreciate your details and have worked them into the post to try to offer a more accurate representation. This green sauce has piqued my interest in Peruvian food, so I’ve found a local Peruvian restaurant to try and look forward to sampling the aji amarillo and huacatay that I just ordered from Amazon! I hope it leads visitors to seek out Peruvian food as well. All my best.
Hi Kate,
I know you always try to be accurated, but I wanted to clarify the mistakes this recipe has, with the only intention that your devoted followers, I include myself, get the best of one of the most traditional sauces we are proud of. You will see the difference when you use the Ají Amarillo and the Huacatay, also we don’t make it on the food processor, we use the blender to mix all the dry ingredients, adding little by little the oil. However, there are places that still make this one using the “Batan” (this is stone table) and the “chaquena” (this is an oblong river stone). I guess the people that gave you the recipe use Jalapeño because could be cheaper than the Ají Amarillo, as well the cilantro instead of the Huacatay. I wish you the best, my dear, and thank you for taking the time to answer!
Let’s not bicker about authenticity versus copy, that issue to be considered is the introduction of the greatness of the flavors of Peruvian cuisine …. I doubt that in the U.S., we will ever really experience the true flavors of Peru …. but my first exposure was Peruvian ceviche mixto with the aji as a side topping …. I so overwhelmed by it’s flavor, that I’ve been looking for a Peruvian girl ever since …. This way I can have Peruvian day and night ….So in essence, just delight yourself in everything you can, and learn about authenticity along the way …. there is a rich history about the Peruvian culture, try one of their brews while you’re reading ….
Well I am certainly no Peruvian, but I have visited there three times, a testamit to my love for the country, people, and food. The last trip was more than twenty years ago.
I think your sauce is very close to what I remember, and using ingredients that I can actually source. I have been on a theme lately, of travelling in a culinary sense, perhaps encouraged by the travel restrictions of the pandemic, and I (we) have visited a number counties lately including Italy, Greece, Mexico, Hungary, and of course Peru. Peru night consisted of cerviche, anticuchos, Ali verde, pollo brasso, papas fretas, and churros for desert. I’m afraid I had to use recipes off the net and ingredients from the local grocery in the small town I live near in central British Colombia, but by all accounts it was a success. I plan on doing this again soon, and if you or Zaida have a recipe I should try I would love to see it! Thanks, Rick Cox.
Hey there!! Do we have to add lime to your version of Peruvian green sauce? Thank you
Zaida, Kate did try to identify the differences if you read her commentary prior to the recipe. Also for the sake of accuracy feta as in cheese has one t not two.
…you realize she added in the commentary after Zaida’s comment? (See Kate’s reply.) I was happy to see that instead of become defensive, Kate edited her post to note how her recipe is an adaptation of the “authentic” recipe. Just FYI since, you know, we’re going for accuracy here. ;)
Hi Zaida. I am also Peruvian and I will tell you what I say to many of my countrymen. This recipe is perfect, it is true that the ingredients vary as not all are available worldwide. Please understand that part of the fame of Peruvian food is that everyone can prepare and enjoy it from their homes. The green pepper in this recipe has been created by Peruvian chefs in the United States by not having the ingredients used in Peru. Isn’t that what the Chinese and the Japanese did when mixing their food with ours?
Regardless if this is authentic Peruvian green sauce or not it is absolutely delicious! Yes not all of the ingredients are available worldwide so we try to improvise and imitate as close as possible. I have a few Peruvian restaurants close by and I will try my best and my luck to see if one of them can give me any tips on the actual authentic sauce itself. I’m a huge foodie and love to experiment and try new things from all cultures ❤ lots of love to everyone!
Zaida, would you be willing to share your recipe? I have huacatay paste and aji Amarillo and have been looking for an authentic recipe!
This recipe is DELICIOUS! I am Peruvian and I enjoyed it very much. My mom is obsessed with it too (asked me to make her a batch!) I love that you were inspired by the traditional aji verde and made it with easily accessible ingredients. Looking forward to more recipes!
Very rude. She obviously did the best she could. No need to attack her. You could’ve educated her in a nice way.
She did say if you read correctly that this isn’t authentic but more so a northern American version and further explains that Peruvians don’t use jalapeños but Aji Amarillo… maybe ready the whole thing before commenting so rudely.
Not a big fan of mayo, and I have a handful of vegan friends. Can you suggest a replacement or two?
Hey Andy! See my recipe notes. I think that my vegan sour cream is your best bet.
I know it’s waaay past the hour but you should give Aquafaba a go.. You can blend that up and actually you can use it to make whip cream!!! Amazing stuff… XOX
I also hate mayo haha – I end up making my own vegan mayo from aquafaba – it’s super easy :)
Hellman’s has Vegan Mayo .
Any day I receive message from Cookie and Kate is a good…no, great…day! You are such a positive force for good in this world! Thanks, Susan from Austin
Can you substitute the mayo for half mayo half Greek yogurt?
You can just replace it with a bit of oil actually.
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my question. I appreciate it very much.
This sauce reads like a delicious pesto sauce . I hope to use it as drizzle in tortilla soup and leyered in a taco salad or tamale pie …Yum, thank you for sharing your recipe and inspiring me to create my own .
I am not vegan but I need to take vegan dishes to the potlucks I attend, so today as an experiment I made 1/2 a batch using Cookie & Kate’s vegan sour cream recipe (I happened to have some on hand already) and 1/2 a batch with Sir Kingston’s Fabanaise (aquafaba). They both worked adequately as substitutions. If I have time to make vegan sour cream, or if like today I have some already on hand, that one was a little more my preference. However, in a pinch, the Sir Kingston’s Fabanaise works also, although the sauce was a little more dull than with the homemade vegan sour cream. Even with the vegan adaptations it is a fantastic condiment, and I look forward to making the recipe as written it for myself. But now I know that I have another excellent sauce to take as part of a dish for vegan-friendly potlucks.
Kate, this was recipe is wonderful!
Your post dropped in my mailbox right when I was deciding what sauce to put on my homemade spinach and mushroom ravioli. I said, “Hey, let’s try it. Kate says she puts it on everything”!
And you accomplished what you set out to do, peak my interest in Peruvian food.
I made this using cotija, cilantro and jalapeno peppers picked fresh from the garden and greenhouse. I can only imagine that it will be even better after the flavors have time to join in the dance of time.
Thank you Kate (and Cookie) for sharing this and making our eyes light up at dinner tonight!
Do you have the recipe for the taco in the picture?
See my latest post, Amy :) :)
Cannot wait to try this on the weekend – thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes – I uses them ALL – your raspberry muffins are made every other week in my house (the kids say “can we have something different for lunch this week Mum”) and your vegetarian chilli con carne has been made twice in April.
Thank you so much!
Hi Kate, do you think mayonnaise could be replaced by full-fat Greek yogurt?
I didn’t try it. Likely will be thicker and flavor more tart. If you try it, I would be interested!
Hi! I made it tonight with full fat yogurt. It IS a bit thicker but tastes WONDERFUL!
Thanks again!
Lisa
You’re welcome, Lisa! I appreciate your review.
this sauce is my love language. Nice work, friend! xo
Thanks, Dana! Love seeing your new recipes. Keep it up!
Zaida and Kate
I want to thank both Zaida and Kate for their civil dialog. Both expressed their views and stated their concerns without falling into the ranting and raving that we all see so much of online.
I learned somethings about the wonderful country of Peru. My wife and I spent several weeks in Peru not long ago and loved the food.
I also found and made a great recipe!
Thanks to both of you.
Thanks for sharing, Bob!
Another perfect sauce, Kate! I’ll be surprised if there is much left for the tacos . . .
Thank you, Rebecca!
Had this with chimichangas last night and my boyfriend will not stop raving about it. It was like a spicy coriander pesto.
Mine turned out thicker than yours, I think – not pouring consistency – maybe I packed in more cilantro? Used 1/4 cup parmesan because I was scared of it being too cheesy. We don’t have fresh jalapenos here; I suspect my sauce was less spicy for using the pickled ones.
Very yum, will definitely make again, thank you!
You do want it lightly packed, so that could be the case. You can always add just a little water to help thin it out if you need to. Thanks for your review, Catherine.
I’m scared to type this, but my husband and I HATE cilantro. But I still desperately want to try this sauce. Any chance I could substitute parsley or is it not even worth trying that?
It is a thing! I haven’t tried it, but parsley can serve as a nice substitute sometimes. I think it would be worth trying, especially if you don’t like cilantro. Not authentic, but still sounds like it could be a delicious sauce!
I use Serrano peppers and parsley since everyone in my home haaaates cilantro.2 of the best uses are rotisserie chicken and empanadas
THANK YOU Caroline, I can’t stand cilantro either (I read it’s a genetic thing) and was so disappointed that I couldn’t make this sauce… Kate, do you have any other herb suggestions that might go well with this one? Like Basil?
I haven’t tried it, and it wouldn’t be the same sauce, but parsley could be an OK substitute.
Love it!!! So good!!!! This has opened a new gateway of food for me. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Scoot!
Is there any viable substitute for cilantro in this recipe for those of us who have the genetic inability to taste cilantro as anything other than soap? I have no idea of where to get actual huacatay leaves in Michigan, and suspect that actual mint leaves (which I do raise) might be too minty.
I have got this question a few times, although I haven’t tried it, parsley can work as a substitute for some recipes. Let me know what you think!
This sauce is so delish! I’m thinking of using it as the mixture for deviled eggs, yum!!!
That sounds interesting! Thanks for your review, Deborah!
Oh man, new favorite sauce right here. This was great on the halloumi tacos, and I’m sure will taste good on just about anything else, too!
Thank you, Sarah!
The flavor was good, but I thought it could have been more concentrated, I would cut back on the mayo next time to have a thicker, more flavorful sauce.
I’m sorry you didn’t love this one! I appreciate the feedback, Mary.
Made this sauce last night as a topping for rice bowls – really tasty! I was concerned about the amount of mayo, but it doesn’t end up tasting like mayo at all. Looking forward to using the rest of the sauce on the halloumi tacos next week! Thanks Kate!
You’re welcome, Breanne!
This sauce is delicious! I even made a mistake and left out the parmesan and it STILL tasted amazing. We loved it on the halloumi tacos, but it seems very versatile, would try on many things. Perfect amount of heat.
Not sure how they do this in Peru, but I can’t find Aji Amarillo or Huacatay here, I mean, get real people, it’s an adaptation.
Thanks for the recipe, will definitely make again!
I’m glad it still worked for you, Kathy! Thanks for sharing.
Can you make aji verde without mayo, I am not a fan of mayo and was hoping to use yogurt or even sour cream or some other ingredient. Thanks
I didn’t try it with this one, but those could be ok substitutions. Let me know what you think! Personally, I can’t really taste the mayo much once it’s all mixed.
@Kaz Thea- I think they mayo and sour cream must sub okay. The reason I say that is I don’t like sour cream and often use mayo instead, and I love the result… I thnk the opposite would work for you!
Hi! I made it tonight with full fat yogurt. It IS a bit thicker but tastes WONDERFUL!
Thanks again!
Lisa
Amazing sauce. Made the halloumi tacos with this sauce and the pineapple salsa and oh my. Had a lot leftover so the next day I made steak fajita bowls and took this sauce and thinned it out with extra lime juice and olive oil and used it as a marinade for the steak strips and the veggies. Then tonight I used it on fresh bbq steaks. So damn good.
My question. Do you think it would freeze okay? Like in ice cube trays? I want to keep this sauce on hand all the time but it only keeps for one week you said.
You could try it! I’m not sure based on the ingredients, but I would be curious how it turns out in the ice cube trays.
Jessica, how did the freezing go?
I am originally from Lima and I have had many variations of the “traditional” aji.I must say that his recipe is excellent! I used it to top off my red snapper ceviche. This coming 4th of July weekend I will make tri tip anticuchos and I’ll definitely use your aji recipe. Muchas gracias.
Enjoy! Thank you, Robert, for your review.
Made this recipe a few times and love it. Went perfectly with fish tacos.
Thank you for trying it, Gemma! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Amazing, love making this. Takes me back to Peru! Do you plan on doing any other Peruvian recipes in the future? Their food culture is so rich..
I’m a big fan of Peruvian salsa verde in restaurants so I thought I’d try this.
I made it exactly with the use of Parmesan cheese and thinned it with a tablespoon of water. It was super delicious and my teenage daughters who usually avoids anything remotely spicy really loved it. I served it with beef and veggie skewers marinated with 1 part red wine vinegar, 1 part soy sauce, 2 parts olive oil.
This recipe goes in my permanent file. Thank you!
I made this sauce to go with mini empanadas, one beef based and one corn based for our Thanksgiving gathering. It was OUTRAGEOUSLY good and loved by all. I couldn’t bear to part with it so I used what was left as a sauce on enchiladas. I even dipped tortilla chips in it. It is just bright, complex and delicious. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Jeannie! Thank you for your review.
SO delicious!
I used some of the leftover sauce to make a pizza with roasted corn and peppers and it was SO good!! Thank you for the recipe, it’s going to be a staple!
So I made a couple of adjustments, because I can’t help but tinker. I used manzana peppers instead of jalapenos, which address a spicy, citrusy element. Additionally,I subbed crema salvadora for the Mayo and lastly, instead of 2 cups cilantro, I used 1 cup cilantro and 1 cup of fresh parsley. This sauce is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your version.
@Kaz Thea- I think they mayo and sour cream must sub okay. The reason I say that is I don’t like sour cream and often use mayo instead, and I love the result… I thnk the opposite would work for you!
I stumbled upon this recipe tonight. I don’t know why Google’s algorithm brought me here it isn’t what I was originally searching for but holy heck! I’m so glad it did! What a delicious sauce and one which will be going in my rotation for sure. With broccoli tonight was YUM
This recipe sounds delicious. Is there a way I can use dried cilantro instead? I have some and it would save me a trip to the grocery.
Hi Adrian! Fresh really works best here. Sometimes cilantro and parsley can be subs. Do you have any parsley on hand? That may work, although your flavor will be different.
Looking forward to trying this and appreciate the substitution tips to make it vegan. Thank you.
I don’t know if this authentic, but it is DELICIOUS. A little spicy kick and sooo good.
Great recipe! I searched for a while to find a sauce that came close to one served at a local Peruvian restaurant. Thanks for posting!
I made this sauce and I have to say it came out wonderful. I made it with fresh parsley as opposed to cilantro as my husband and I do not care for cilantro(it tastes like soap to us) and with the jalepenos and garlic and lime it doesn’t need the flavor of cilantro to be an awesome condiment. We used it for beef fajita lettuce wraps and it was awesome!
Thank you for sharing, Patty!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I love it. super good with empanada.
I am Peruvian, risiding in my beautiful city of Toronto. I agree that it is very difficult to find the exact ingredients to this recipe and many other Peruvian recipes. Even going to Peruvian restaurants around my area is a mission and some are not quite as good as a homemade meal. I definitely will be making this recipe and I appreciate the healthier alternatives. I am happy to hear this hot sauce has peaked your interest in Peruvian food. I assure you, you will fall in love with our cuisine :) (if you haven’t fallen in love already!). I look forward reading your other recipes! Stay safe and take care!
I made it I added sour cream and olive oil as my kid is gonna eat it. It’s so so yummy. Thank you for the recipe
Wether this is authentic or not, it’s important to keep in mind that sometimes ingredients aren’t available to us.
Like I’m in Australia so will have to use what I can get.
It looks delicious and I will certainly be making.
Thank you Kate
Eating this on sweet potato fries now. So. Good.
Just made this and it is excellent! The only change I made was to sub 2 green chilies (seeds included) for the jalapeno, because I like it spicy. This is a unique and delicious sauce!
Delicious with the Aji Verde sauce. Easy, with the extra few minutes and will become a much repeated recipe.
Lol. Zaida, changing recipes with local ingredients has been done throughout the ages with amazing results. Cajun cuisine comes to mind. Any traditional north American dish/cuisine is probably a variant of an older cultural cuisine, in fact. South American too. It’s what gives us variety. You know, the “spice of life”? While we’re on the subject, I’m going to try this recipe, and probably add my own twist.
This recipe was easy and definitely delish!!! Made it twice now!!!
That’s great! Thank you for your review, Marlene.