Healthy Magic Herb Sauce instantly turns just about anything into a wow dish.
I call it magic sauce because it tastes great on anything and everything!
It’s loaded with antioxidants, phytonutrients, minerals, healthy fats, and even fiber so you can feel good about enjoying it as often as you like.
This recipe is:
Vegan, Gluten-free, Grain-free,
Dairy-free, Nut-Free, Soy-free,
Paleo-friendly and Delicious
Use Healthy Magic Herb Sauce as a dip, spread or drizzle it over roasted meat or fish. Toss roasted veggies or potatoes in it, or mix it with spaghetti squash noodles, rice noodles, or any other noodle you can think of. It’s the one sauce that does it all. It also freezes well, so make a double batch for an easy meal later on.
I make this year-round, and it’s in heavy rotation in the spring and summer when I can grab some of the fresh herbs out of my own garden.
I prefer to gently cook the garlic to infuse it in the oil, which prevents the overpowering taste of raw garlic that can stay with you for days. If you love the punch of raw garlic, skip cooking it and throw it in the food processor raw.
Serving Suggestions:
- Toss it with blanched green beans (one of my favorites!)
- Drizzle over any type of fish or grilled chicken
- Mix with cooked spaghetti squash noodles, rice noodles or chickpea noodles
- Roast regular or sweet potatoes (or half and half) then toss them in this sauce right out of the oven
- Use it as a salad dressing or drizzle over any cooked veggies
Healthy Magic Herb Sauce Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 1 cup (about 8 servings) 1x
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed open, skins removed
- 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil
- 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 tablespoon unsalted sunflower seeds
- 2 inches of the white part of a scallion (green onion), chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon raw honey
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Gently heat the oil in a small pan with the garlic cloves to infuse the oil with flavor and gently cook the garlic (it should not brown). Do not boil or overheat the oil.
- Remove from the heat and let cool while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Place all the remaining ingredients and the cooled cooked garlic in a food processor and pulse 8 to 10 times until well chopped. Scrape down the sides, then turn the food processor on and drizzle in the oil.
- Blend until saucy. You can also do this in a blender, just be careful not to over-puree—it’s nice with a little bit of texture left.
- Use immediately or store in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This sauce also freezes well.
Notes
Serving Suggestions:
– Toss it with blanched green beans (one of my favorites!)
– Drizzle over any type of fish or grilled chicken
– Mix with cooked spaghetti squash noodles, rice noodles or chickpea noodles
– Roast regular or sweet potatoes (or half and half) then toss them in this sauce right out of the oven
– Use it as a salad dressing or drizzle over any cooked veggies
Over to you! If you make it, let us know how you used it and how it turns out in the comments below.
Hi Elizabeth, I love this and partly because it’s pretty much what I like to do myself ! So it’s nice to see you do that too – and that makes me feel goood. I do it in a similar way, I even use sunflower seeds in mine but i don’t do the honey and vinegar part, so I can see how yours can be more versatile as a dressing! I started when I decided I was thinking I didn’t want to pay out too often for a jar of pesto and then I happened to have none in when I was making one of my favourite dishes with pesto – so I made my own. I also like to use less oil than in the bought pesto. Instead of pesto pine nuts I used sunflower seeds. I also sometimes add almonds. I like to see lots of goodness going into it. Mostly I do just basil for this but sometimes I do cilantro and mint, cilantro and parsley, or mint and basil but I haven’t mixed them all up so I will try. I really feel in tune with what you do. Thank-you for doing it ! Interesting you cook the garlic. I know raw is better and raw is in normal pesto, but my hubbie doesn’t like raw garlic so I have to be careful with how much I use. I’m going to try your method soon – we grow all these herbs too. Thank-you so much !
One BIG question, what do you mean when you say RAW honey? I tried to use Agave in your brownie recipe once ( the only other thing I have cooked so far – I will do more I promise_ but it didn’t work out so well so I bought honey recently to retry. There are so many names and definitions out for honey and I want to buy the best so I’d love to understand what you mean by RAW so I make sure i get the best one too.
I drool just reading the recipes…can see where I am going to be doing a lot of testing!
Everything I have experienced on this site is so helpful, as a single man who wants to eat healthy and enjoy great food, I always appreciate what I learn