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.
- 1 cup sunflower seeds
- ⅔ cup water + more for soaking
- lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup chopped cilantro
- Soak the sunflower seeds in water for about 1-2 hours.
- Drain the sunflower seeds, fill them in the blender and add ⅔ 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.
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
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 :)
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 :)
No not strange at all, so good! Many mexican restaurants here put cilantro in their salsa and it’s fantastic!
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!
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.
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!
Hehehe, then this dip is just the right thing for you <3 I hope you’ll like it, Hannah! :)
Just made this for lunch. It was hard not to eat the entire batch;)
I’m glad you liked it, Marla! I felt the same way :D Thank you so much for the feedback <3