What Is the Difference Between Coriander and Cilantro?

The terms coriander and cilantro produce confusion for novice cooks. Are they the same? Are they different? Is coriander an herb or a spice? Is it a plant or a seed? It is all of these. The confusion, however, comes from how we use both terms from a culinary standpoint versus a botanical one.

Coriander versus Cilantro?

Coriander is, technically, the same thing as the herb we know as cilantro. In fact, the scientific name for the plant itself is Coriander sativum. Cilantro, as well, is sometimes called Chinese Parsley.

The plant is in the Apiaceae or Umbelliferae family, otherwise known as the parsley family (or carrot or celery family). Therefore, it is possible for the terms coriander, cilantro, and Chinese parsley to all refer to the same herb. Cilantro is also easily confused with Italian flat-leaf parsley (Eryngium foetidum).

cilantro leaves closefup — Americans call the coriander plant cilantro when used as an herb

When Americans use the leaves of Coriander as an herb, we call it cilantro. British people call the herb coriander.

Although Coriandrum sativum is native to Southern Europe, we got our term cilantro from Latin America, where the herb was readily adopted. There, a native herb (Eryngieum foetidium), also in the parsley family, and called culantro was already widely used when coriander was introduced, and since coriander had a similar taste to “culantro” it was quickly accepted, leading to the similar name. It should be noted, however, that in some countries the term culantro might refer to cilantro.

As for the name coriander, it is thought to have derived from a Greek word, koris, meaning “bedbug.” Why? They thought the plant smelled like the insect. I don’t know about you, but I never want to be able to smell any bedbugs. ¹

So that explains the two different names for the same herb or plant.

Cilantro Haters

Before I move on, I should mention that while cilantro or coriander is related to parsley, its taste is much stronger. I’ve already written about super tasters or PROP tasters in my article explaining bitterness.

Super tasters, who dislike bitter tastes, will likely dislike cilantro, and many other vegetables. However, cilantro has a hater’s club all its own, owed to what many describe as a “soapy” taste. Sensitivity to this soapy flavor is a genetic trait. It is more widespread in Caucasians and East Asians (17%) than in Latin Americans, Asians, and Arabians.

This perception of a soapy taste is due to the presence of certain aldehydes in the leaves that are structurally similar to some compounds in soaps. It happens that they are also similar to certain compounds produced by bugs as defensive weapons.

coriander seeds — Coriander seeds are used as a spice.

Some cilantro haters have claimed that the taste of the plant reminded them of bed bugs. I’m not even going to ponder this, but we can see the bedbug connection, once again. Those who hate cilantro, like the people who submit their Haikus to the site IHateCilantro.com, are more sensitive to these “soapy” compounds. ² ³

Others, like myself, love cilantro. Interestingly, the seeds don’t cause as much polarization as the plant portion. So, people who hate cilantro may not hate coriander. Confused?

Cilantro the Herb and Coriander the Spice

I know I’ve taken a long route to get to the central confusion but I wanted you to understand why these terms are so interchangeable. In America, we use the term cilantro for the leaves of the plant, considered an herb. We reserve the term coriander for the SEEDS, considered a spice. So, in culinary terms, cilantro is an herb and coriander is a spice. They both come from the same plant.

The flavor of coriander and cilantro are quite different and coriander will tend to be used in higher amounts. In fact, it is widely used in food formulations and has a fruity-citrus, piney flavor. It is also, like cilantro, quite bitter. However, if you hate cilantro (the leaves), don’t assume that you will hate coriander seeds.