This super easy and flavorful Cilantro Mint Chutney is a keeper recipe and made with handful of ingredients. Filled with fresh, herby and zesty flavors, it is a breeze to make this Mint Coriander Chutney. Use it as a dipping sauce with your favorite Indian snack or slather it on bread to make spicy sandwiches.
About Cilantro Mint Chutney
This spicy green colored chutney includes fresh mint, cilantro (coriander leaves), ginger and green chillies. A bit of earthy ground cumin and black salt rounds up the flavors. Don’t worry if you do not have black salt – simply use whatever edible salt you have on hand. Kosher salt, sea salt, pink salt – all work!
Optionally, you can add lemon juice as it preserves the green color of the chutney. This recipe comes from my mom and she would make it often as a dipping sauce with our after-school or evening snacks.
I always make some mint coriander chutney and keep it in my refrigerator. It keeps good for up to 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator.
Usually the chutney is used as a dipping sauce with Indian snacks like pakora, Samosa, Sandwich, Vada, Aloo Tikki. I also add this chutney in my favorite Mumbai chaat snacks like Sev Puri, Pani Puri and Ragda Pattice. It is also used as a spread for sandwiches.
Whenever I plan to make any of these chaat recipes then I usually make this cilantro mint chutney one day earlier and my work is easier the next day.
It is a versatile chutney and can be used in many chaat recipes. You can also check this similar Coriander Chutney.
How to make Cilantro Mint Chutney
1. Measure and keep all the ingredients ready for making the chutney.
Ensure that the main herbs – coriander and mint leaves are fresh. Don’t use the stem of mint as they can make the chutney bitter. Only use the leaves.
2. Rinse 1 cup chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) and 1 cup chopped mint leaves in the water in a colander or strainer 2 to 3 times. After rinsing, drain the water well.
I have used equal proportions of mint and cilantro, but even with 1.5 cups of cilantro and ½ cup of mint, the recipe works well. Ensure that the herbs are fresh and tender.
3. In a mixie or blender, add the rinsed coriander leaves and mint leaves.
4. Next add 1 to 2 chopped green chilies (about 1 teaspoon chopped chilies) and ½ inch chopped ginger.
Instead of the Indian green chillies, you can use Thai green chillies or serrano pepper. Thai green chillies can make the chutney very spicy, so I suggest to add ¼ to ½ teaspoon chopped of it.
5. Also add 1 teaspoon ground cumin powder (optional), 1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional) and black salt or any edible salt according to taste.
Lemon juice helps to retain the green color, but is optional. Feel free to omit it out if you do not like a tangy taste in the chutney.
6. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of water or add as required to make a thick or medium-thick chutney.
If you plan to make this chutney as a sandwich spread, then make it thick. if serving with snacks as a dipping sauce, then make it medium-thick to medium consistency.
7. Grind or blend all the chutney ingredients into a smooth paste. For a thicker chutney, add less water.
8. Keep the mint coriander chutney in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The chutney stays good for 3 to 4 days in the fridge.
9. You can serve this cilantro mint chutney with Onion Pakoda, samosa, Potato Chips or French Fries or Potato Wedges or other snacks.
What to serve with Mint Coriander Chutney
In the Indian cuisine, chutneys are often used as dipping sauces with snacks or served as a side in an Indian meal.
Mint cilantro chutney is versatile enough to be eaten with a snack or served with an Indian meal.
I always make this chutney to go as a zesty fresh dipping sauce with Indian snacks of pakoda, aloo tikki, sabudana vada, samosa, kachori, dhokla etc.
This chutney can also be used as a spread for sandwiches. Sometimes I add it to make various chaat snacks that are popular in India. You can use this chutney to make chaat snacks like bhel puri, sev puri, ragda pattice, dahi puri etc.
More Chutney Variations
Chutney Recipes
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Chutney Recipes
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Cilantro Mint Chutney
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped cilantro (coriander leaves)
- 1 cup chopped mint leaves
- 1 teaspoon chopped green chillies or serrano pepper or 1 to 2 green chillies.
- ½ inch ginger – peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder – optional
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice – optional
- salt or black salt or edible rock salt, as required
- 3 to 4 tablespoons water or as required for blending
Instructions
Preparation
- Pluck the leaves and tender stems from the coriander bunch.
- Also pluck mint leaves from their stems. Make sure to use only mint leaves and not stems as the chutney can get bitter if stems are used.
- Rinse both the coriander leaves and mint leaves very well in a colander or strainer with water. Drain all the water.
- Roughly chop them. Keep the other ingredients required for the chutney also aside.
Making Cilantro Mint Chutney
- In a mixer-grinder or blender, take all of the chutney ingredients. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons water and blend or grind to a smooth and fine consistency. Make sure there are no chunks of any ingredient in the chutney.
- Transfer the chutney to a small bowl or jar. Use as needed. If storing keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
Serving Suggestions
- You can serve this chutney as a dipping sauce with various varieties of pakora, samosa, kachori, vada varieties etc.
- You can also use to make spicy sandwiches. Simply make a thick chutney by adding less water and use as a spread on the sandwiches.
- Use the chutney to make various Indian chaat snacks like bhel puri, sev puri, ragda pattice, chana chaat etc.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Cilantro Mint Chutney post from the archives (June 2010) has been republished and updated on 13 September 2021.
Just tasted the mint and coriander chutney…now THAT is lovely. Thank you.
Welcome Vanessa
Looks delicious! About how many cups of chutney will this make? I’m planning on cooking for 35 people, with your ragda pattice recipe, and trying to figure out how to scale up. Thank you!
this recipe gives about 1/2 to 3/4th cup of chutney. so you can increase the recipe ingredients by 3 to 4 times.
your dishes are seriously AWESOME ????
Thanks Maryam
Mint coriander chutney super.
thanks aarthi.
This was delicious! I had it with roasted chicken and potatoes, and it was exactly what I had hoped. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! It is one of my favorite chutneys, but I had never made it before.
Welcome Jill. Glad to know that you liked the chutney.
Greetings thanks for all the yummy recipes.Recently I have tasted this mint and dhania chutney but it had a sweet and sour tangy taste. I just loved it. Perhaps you know how that was made. If you know that recipe please share
welcome jess. not sure how the recipe is made. if you can share some more ingredients that are used, that i can develop the recipe.
Lovely recipes Dassana! I love your recipe for ragda pattice – you have inspired me to cook!
I wanted to check if I can freeze this chutney? I do freeze the tamarind date chutney and it stays well for 6 months in the freezer. What about this one?
Thanks Meghna for your kind words. you can freeze it for a week. the flavors mellow down after freezing.
Your recipes are too good mam. I have started to like cooking because of your recipes. Thank you so much mam, you are a great help for me… …
pleased to know this mumtaz 🙂 thank you for your positive feedback.
Love your food thanks
and just to ask if its Mint or Spearmint???? in the pictures it looks like Spearmint, i know that in different countries the names change for some items thanks
here i have used mint leaves. we do not get spearmint leaves easily in india.
Very nice recipes!!!!! Thanks a lot !!! Is it necessary to add mint leaves?
hema since it’s a mint chutney it’s imperative to add mint but if you are not fond of mint then you may skip them. But mint always add a lot of flavor and aroma.
Very nice recipe! Thanx a lot ! Is it necessary to add mint leaves ?
you can even make this chutney minus the mint leaves.
hello dassana amit, gr8 blog 🙂
i am searching for following answers to—–
– i want to grow corainder & mint at home how to do can u guide?
thanks. for coriander, lightly crush in your palms the coriander seeds. they should not be roasted ones. place them in soil and cover with a loose layer of soil. water and let them sprout. for mint, buy some mint leaves having tiny roots on the stem. pluck the leaves and add it to your recipe. dig the root part into the soil. you can use 5 to 6 stems for one small pot. lightly water. the leaf shoots will sprout in a few days.
Delicious and very tasty.
thanks v.rajalakshmi
Thanx soo much for the delicious recipes – made the mint coriander chutney today – my hubby bought 4 bunches each and I’ve been dying to make a chutney with them .. Couldn’t stop licking my fingers as I was cleaning the blender !! 😉
Mmmm … Deelicious
welcome naj. glad to know that you liked the chutney recipe.
Could u pls tell me y the chutney gives a bitter taste inspite of not using stems not Evn smallest n adding lime juice..
This happens every time!!
Two things. Either the lime has gone bitter. This happens with limes ehich are not fresh. Or the quality of mint leaves. So it can be either of the two reasons.
Today rainy outside i makes samosa with mint coriander chutney for my mother n brother it was my punishment for not gone to school…………………………….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
rani, its a sweet punishment. good you are learning cooking at such a early age.
Hi dassana
ur recipes r really very superb
from chutneys to chaats to everything
im trying ur recipes dis ramadan
thank u so much for posting such yummy recipes with so neat n clean pics
🙂
welcome fateema. nice to know.
Very nice! Complimented the cutlets I made really well! Thanks!
Hi Dassana!
I tried your mint chutney recipe. It is bitter in taste, I think, because of the mint. The bitterness is making it unpalatable. Please let me know, how I can reduce the bitterness, without losing the taste.
the bitterness is due to the mint. did you use the stems also? the stems would make it bitter. try adding more lemon juice. it will reduce the bitterness a bit.
Hi Dassana!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your recipes!!! Keep it up. WIll you be posting a recipe for samosas any time soon?
thanks. there is a samosa recipe in the drafts. i only have the pics. thinking of making a video. so will take some time.
Oh, your recipes are treasures… thank you so much for sharing them. I’ve hoped for authentic recipes like these without western ingredient substitutions and now I’ve found yours! Thanks so much, again and again.
thanks melissa for writing such nice words. do try the recipes and share your feedback.
hi dassana! received ur very first mail related to mint.went thru it and liked it .have 2 queries related 2 mint,hope u will try 2 solve them.{1}i want 2 have recipe of sweet chutney made from mint recipe of mint chai.i tried to make mint chai by using 10-12 leaves of mint but it turned out to be bitter in taste what can be the possible reason/s for its bitterness.thanks.
thanks rewa. i shall find out more about sweet mint chutney. have never made it before.
also regarding the mint chai – if the mint leaves are older and not tender they tend to have a slight bitter taste. so if adding these mint leaves to your chai, then add less about 2-3. if adding the small tender mint leaves than you can add 7-8 mint leaves for 2 cups of chai.
i have many mint plants growing in the balcony. some of them are smaller shrubs yielding small to medium size leaves. they are not bitter. some of them are large shrubs yielding very big leaves. you must have not seen such large mint leaves in the indian market. i have not captured any shot of these mint shrubs in the above post.
what i have observed is that these big mint leaves, especially the older ones are bitter to taste. i added them once to some dish, and the dish had a strong touch of bitterness to it. so i think it is also the variety of the mint shrub that might affect the bitterness.
I added some lemon, which gave it a nice zing
Lovely chutney..Will try this soon..
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Hi Maya
Thanks for replying. I was not able to see the archive and labels the day I browsed. May be some technical glitch. Today I can see them. I use the latest version of google chrome.