Plenty of debate swirls around this herb. People either love cilantro and use it in everything from salmon to salad dressing, or they can’t stand the taste of it. For some, cilantro tastes like soap, dirt, crushed bugs or metal shavings.

Before you join the I Hate Cilantro club and publicly announce an aversion to cilantro, you may want to learn why you don’t like it.

The Oxford Companion to Food notes that the word coriander is said to derive from the Greek word for bedbug. (If a cilantro plant is green and leafy, it’s considered cilantro. Once it flowers, it becomes coriander.) It adds that the cilantro aroma “has been compared with the smell of bug-infested bedclothes” and that “Europeans often have difficulty in overcoming their initial aversion to this smell.”

Why does cilantro taste like soap?

Research seems to confirm that your DNA plays a large part in this. 23andMe asked 50,000 customers if they liked the taste of cilantro and whether they thought it had a soapy taste. Then, researchers compared answers to the DNA of participants. A common genetic variation was found among the cilantro haters!

Another study by the group confirmed that one’s background and culture might play a role. The study found that 14 to 21% of people of East Asian, African and Caucasian ancestry disliked cilantro, while only 3 to 7% of South Asians, Hispanics and Middle Easterners disliked it. Perhaps that’s no surprise because cilantro is a popular ingredient in these regions.

If you enjoy cilantro, good for you! Its dark-green leaves contain antioxidants, essential oils, vitamins (folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, vitamins A and C, beta-carotene) and dietary fiber. Cilantro puts pep in your step while adding explosive flavor to soups, sauces, marinades, salads and homemade guacamole.

If you simply can’t warm up to cilantro, other options exist. One common substitute is parsley, which is similar to cilantro but more mild in flavor.

Recipes to Make If You Love Cilantro
1 / 43