Jalapeño Ají Verde

Name: Jalapeño Ají Verde
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: ½ cup mayonnaise; 2 clove garlic; 1 tbsp lime (juice); 2 unit scallion (green tops only, sliced); ¼ cup cotija (crumbled); 2 cup cilantro (leaves and tender stems, loosely packed); ¼ tsp salt; 2 unit jalapeños (seeded)

Sauces & Drinks · Latin American & Caribbean

A variant of Ají Verde — An explicitly labeled North American substitution branch, not the Peruvian paste-based reference.

8 ingredients · 10 minutes · 2 servings

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Contains dairy, egg · sometimes contains soy — check the label

Restrictions

Containsdairy · eggIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.

Sometimes contains — check the labelsoy (Mayonnaise)Some brands have it, some do not. The recipe cannot tell, so this is the one you check yourself.

Diets

VegetarianPescatarianNo porkNo alcohol

Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.

Ingredients

Servings:

½ cup	mayonnaise
2 clove	garlic
1 tbsp	lime (juice)
2 unit	scallion (green tops only, sliced)
¼ cup	cotija (crumbled)
2 cup	cilantro (leaves and tender stems, loosely packed)
¼ tsp	salt
2 unit	jalapeños (seeded)

Optional

Not counted above. The dish works without them.

1 tbsp	olive oil
1 tsp	white wine vinegar
¼ cup	queso fresco (crumbled) — in place of cotija
¼ cup	feta (crumbled) — in place of cotija

Steps

emulsify1 min
blender, liquids at the bottom
Blend the mayonnaise, lime juice, garlic, scallion greens and seeded jalapeños until smooth. Load the wet ingredients first; this substitution version omits the ají amarillo and huacatay pastes.
mix1.5 min
pulse, scraping down once
+ cotija + cilantro + salt, pulsing only until the leaves disappear and the sauce is mostly smooth — cilantro bruises and turns bitter and khaki under long continuous blending, so stop while it still looks bright
season2 min
tasting cold, off a spoon
taste and correct in three directions, because this is the whole skill: more salt if the cheese was mild, more lime if it tastes flat and heavy, olive oil by the teaspoon to mellow heat and loosen texture. Seeds and membranes are the heat dial — if you want it hotter, add a fresh seeded chilli rather than more paste, which brings sweetness and color along with the burn
store30 min
refrigerated, covered or in a squeeze bottle
rest cold before serving — the garlic and chilli need time to distribute, and the sauce thickens slightly as the emulsion sets. Keeps about a week; serve cold beside grilled or roasted chicken, potatoes or yuca. If it ever looks broken or weeping oil, it was over-blended warm; whisk in a spoonful of fresh mayonnaise to reassemble it