If you’re one of the people, who like cilantro, I’ve got the perfect dip for you! It’s a vegan, gluten-free and nut-free Cilantro Lemon Sunflower Seed Dip.
Attention cilantro lovers (cilantro haters, move one, there’s nothing to see here for you :P), I’ve got the perfect dip for you! It’s a vegan, gluten-free and nut-free Cilantro Lemon Sunflower Seed Dip. Sunflower seeds are great for the base of this dip, because they are reasonably priced and they get soft, when soaked in water, quickly. Sunflower seeds are my ultimate go-to dipping base.
I always found cilantro to be tasting weird and soapy until I had it a couple of times (mostly in summer rolls) and suddenly .. BAM .. I was a cilantro lover! And now I want to put it on anything.
I’d recommend using a high-speed blender for making this recipe – I used my Omniblend and absolutely love how creamy and airy it turned out.
This dip is so full of flavor! Below you’ll find a little sneak peek of upcoming recipes using this super yummy Cilantro Lemon Sunflower Seed Dip. It’s the perfect addition for homemade plantain chips, baked samosas or savory strudels.

Vegan Cilantro Lemon Sunflower Seed Dip
Ingredients
- 1 cup sunflower seeds
- 2/3 cup water + more for soaking
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Soak the sunflower seeds in water for about 1-2 hours.
- Drain the sunflower seeds, fill them in the blender and add 2/3 cup fresh water, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and cilantro. Blend in a high-speed blender until completely smooth for about one to two minutes. If it's too thick, you can add more water and blend it again.
- Pour the dip in a container and place it in the fridge for about half an hour, because it may have gotten warm due to the blending. After that you can enjoy it with your favorite snacks.
Notes
Nutrition
If you give this vegan Lemon Cilantro Sunflower Seed Dip a try I’d love to hear how it turned out for you! Leave a comment or post a picture on instagram, use the hashtag #elephantasticvegan and tag me via @elephantasticvegan to make sure I’ll see it ^.^ I love to see all your lovely creations! Thanks! <3
Natalie | Feasting on Fruit
Surprisingly I am not a cilantro hater! Despite my not so spicy tastes I actually quite like the flavor and smell of cilantro, and I love all things dip <3 How it can taste like soap to some people I’ve never understood, to me it tastes like salsa! I don’t think I’ve ever had it in a non-mexican food application like this little number though. With all your beautiful dips and crackers around here you can play party/snack food mix and match :)
Bianca
I’m so glad you’re on the good side, Natalie :D I think it has a lot to do with how people grow up. We don’t have cilantro here.. well you can buy it in Asia markets and nowadays at least sometimes in regular supermarkets, but my mother never cooked with cilantro.. so I was an early adult when I first tasted it. Of course it was kind of weird first.. but what ingredient doesn’t taste weird trying it the first time :) But your connection to salsa, totally makes me want to make a tomato cilantro salsa… <3 Does that sound strange? I have no idea if that could work. There will be coming a lot more snacks in the next few weeks to the mix and match party :)
Natalie | Feasting on Fruit
No not strange at all, so good! Many mexican restaurants here put cilantro in their salsa and it’s fantastic!
Jenn
Oh my gosh, I used to be the same way. I couldn’t stand the taste of cilantro. I felt it tasted like soap too. But, then one day all of a sudden – I LOVED it! Now I can’t get enough of the stuff – so so good!! This dip looks perfect!
Bianca
Welcome to the club, Jenn! :) I can’t wait for summer finally to arrive, I’ll be eating so much avocados & cilantro, cilantro on nachos, cilantro on everything! The dip pairs especially well with “exotic” snacks like plantain chips.
Hannah Teson
Oh man, I loooooove cilantro. I seriously put it on almost everything, but I don’t think I’ve ever made a dip with it. That’s for sure gonna change!
Bianca
Hehehe, then this dip is just the right thing for you <3 I hope you’ll like it, Hannah! :)
Marla
Just made this for lunch. It was hard not to eat the entire batch;)
Bianca
I’m glad you liked it, Marla! I felt the same way :D Thank you so much for the feedback <3
Sofia
Do the sunflower seeds need to be raw?
Bianca
I never tried it with roasted sunflower seeds.. it will taste different, probably more of a smoky flavor. But it should work. Let me know if you give it a try :)
Melody
It is hard to find something that my husband and I can both eat and enjoy together, as he has several diet restrictions, but this looks like just the thing. I can’t wait to try it. I just came across your page. I am looking forward to trying some of these recipes out. Thank you for sharing.