Confusing Groceries: Cilantro

Part 10 in a series about the most confusing items to shop for in the grocery store covers cilantro vs parsley vs coriander. Learn the differences so you're never left with the wrong ingredient.

[gabrielvelasquez]

My trick is cilantro has round tips on its leafs. So I remember that C is a round letter. For parsley, it starts with a P and has Pointy leafs!

[weepingbelle]

from a grocery clerk perspective cilantro vs parsley is even worse because not only do they *look* similar, not only are they *shelved* next to each other, but the PLU for cilantro is #4889 and the PLU for parsley is 4899. it is absolutely MADDENING

[joeyguy]

An important thing to note is that ground coriander(the spice) and cilantro (the herb) are not interchangeable as they have very different flavors!

[Varooooooom]

You are freaking killing it with these shorts dude

[KingdomCome]

Sunflower seeds grow sunflowers, pumpkin seeds grow pumpkins, fennel seeds grow fennel, coriander seeds grow cilantro. It's a simple system based on whatever / pot luck.

[rain__man]

A tip that works for the varieties at least grown in Eurasia that I have seen: Parsley leaves have sharp edges in their patterns, and cilantro/coriander edges are rounded out and soft in comparison. Try to notice it next time u buy or have both, I think you'll pick up on the slight visual difference I described more easily

[ScaffWraith]

Cilantro is Bouba and Parsley is Kiki. Super easy

[c-kr]

Thank you for that short
Over here in Germany the spice and the herb is called coriander, and i always had forgotten to looked up in google whats cilantro was.
Now i know it

[otsoaunola]

Finally cilantro makes sense, im from a country that just calls it coriander

[LydJaGillers]

These shorts are amazing. I know most of the information you’ve been providing but some of it has been new and enlightening and I wish I had this resource back in 2005 when I started actually cooking for myself. Thanks!

[mangob]

This is such a straight up helpful short

[helloworld]

Coriander seeds in the US are specialized to grow lots of seeds (very little leafy greens). It goes beyond the normal naming convention. If you go to the store and decide to buy and grow coriander seeds expecting to harvest cilantro greens, you will be deeply disappointed. Buy actual cilantro seeds if you want to grow cilantro.

[AsuraSantosha]

I can definitely tell.the difference between cilantro and parsley bunches at the store. The leaves have different shapes. But there are times when some batches look more similar. But if you're ever in doubt, the smell of cilantro is DEFINITELY very distinct.

[saviorbob]

Gotta love when they're so close to each other they spill over

[music_ljs]

The most helpful video thus far. I’ve been scouring grocery stores trying to find fresh coriander leaves 😂

[Jack]

I love the fact that you have a thing called "coriander seeds" and yet you think it's totally reasonable that the plant it grows into isn't called coriander.

[asphere]

There's also culantro (aka chadon beni or mexican coriander) which is a different herb entirely but can be substituted for fresh cilantro/coriander (love that both common names can be confused for each other!)

[pokipokepoke]

My wife says me and her boyfriend are like Cilantro and Parsley. She's always mixing us up!

[liamhackett]

That British accent at the end was unexpected, amazing.

[quartino_]

This new series is the fucking best, Shaq. Please more of these!