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This easy lime crema is a 4-ingredient sauce with bright, tangy flavor. Dollop it over tacos, bowls, and nachos: no blender required!
Here’s a quick and simple sauce that adds a zing to everything it touches: lime crema! This Mexican-inspired sauce requires just 4 ingredients and a few minutes to whip up: no blender needed.
That’s right: just throw it together with a bowl and a spoon! This is a new favorite way to garnish tacos, tamales, quesadillas, and burrito bowls because it’s so simple and full of flavor. In fact, I may have used the word “obsessed” to describe my relationship with this one. Here’s how it’s done!
What Is Lime Crema?
Mexican crema is a thickened cream often used in traditional Mexican cuisine to dollop over soups, tacos, burritos and enchiladas. Creamy and slightly tangy, it’s somewhere between American sour cream and French crème fraîche. It’s richer than sour cream because it has a higher fat content.
You can find Mexican crema at the grocery store: look near the sour cream and creme fraiche. But it’s sometimes hard to find, so you can also make your own Mexican crema: see my guide to How to Make Mexican Crema.
Traditionally, a lime crema would be made with actual Mexican crema. But this type of sauce can also be made with sour cream, yogurt, or mayonnaise. My recipe takes inspiration from the cultural food tradition of this Mexican sauce and I’ll show you how to make it with all three.
Ingredients You’ll Need
I love this lime crema recipe even more than cilantro lime crema because you don’t need a blender for the cilantro! It’s slicker and cleaner. You’ll simply mix the following ingredients together in a bowl:
- Sour cream or Mexican crema (or ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt plus ¼ cup mayonnaise): This is your creamy base. Sour cream makes the richest, most classic texture. Greek yogurt lightens things up, and the mayonnaise adds back richness and flavor.
- Fresh lime juice and zest: Using both zest and juice brings big citrus flavor.
- Garlic: Mince or grate it fine so it melts into the sauce.
- Salt: Just enough to wake everything up.
Want more types of crema? Try Avocado Crema, Cilantro Lime Crema, or Chipotle Crema.
Sour Cream vs. Greek Yogurt: Choosing Your Base
The easiest way to make this lime crema is with sour cream, which makes a rich, creamy sauce. Another option is a bit lighter: you can use a combination of Greek yogurt and mayonnaise. The Greek yogurt lightens up the calories while the mayonnaise adds richness in flavor. (This is the key behind my Green Goddess Dressing and Ranch Dip.) For this recipe you can use:
- 1 cup sour cream, or
- ¾ cup Greek yogurt and ¼ cup mayonnaise
Ways to Serve Lime Crema
This lime crema is a great back-pocket recipe because it’s so simple and requires only a handful of ingredients. When we make tacos, the sauce sometimes comes as an afterthought: and we need something quick and easy so we can sit down and eat our meal! That’s where this lime crema comes in. It’s great on:
- Tacos like salmon tacos, shrimp tacos, fish tacos, avocado tacos, or black bean tacos.
- Quesadillas like quesadillas, quesadillas in the oven or a breakfast quesadilla.
- Burritos like a breakfast burrito or vegan burrito.
- Bowl meals like a burrito bowl or rice bowl.
- Nachos like this nachos recipe.
- Chili like black bean chili or chili cheese fries.
- Roasted vegetables like stuffed sweet potatoes or baked sweet potato fries.
How to Store It
This lime crema recipe is easy to whip up in advance. Store leftovers for up to 2 weeks refrigerated in an airtight container, then use for meals throughout the week.
Dietary Notes
This lime crema recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lime crema is a creamy, zesty sauce popular in Mexican and Southwestern cuisine. Think of it as the delicious upgrade to regular sour cream, infused with bright lime flavor and often a hint of garlic.
Traditional Mexican crema is made from a base of heavy cream and buttermilk. While lime crema can include those ingredients, the most common recipes use a combination of sour cream and sometimes mayonnaise for a similar tangy, rich texture.
Tacos: All types, especially fish or shrimp tacos
Nachos: Adds creamy freshness
Enchiladas: Drizzle over the top for an extra layer of flavor
Soups: Swirl into black bean soup or chili
Grilled Veggies: A bright dipping sauce
Salads: Use as a tangy dressing alternative
Definitely! Here are a few tasty variations:
Spicy: Add a pinch of cayenne pepper or a dash of hot sauce.
Herby: Stir in chopped cilantro.
Creamier: Add a dollop of mayonnaise for extra richness.
Lime crema keeps well in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Easy Lime Crema
This easy lime crema is a 4-ingredient sauce with bright, tangy flavor. Dollop it over tacos, bowls, and nachos: no blender required!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: Mexican Inspired
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 cup sour cream or Mexican crema (or ¾ cup Greek yogurt plus ¼ cup mayonnaise)
- 2 tablespoons lime juice, plus the zest of ½ lime
- 1 small garlic clove, minced or grated
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Stir all ingredients together in a small bowl. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
More Lime Recipes to Try
Got a few limes around? Use them to make these tasty lime recipes:
- Try zingy fan-favorite cilantro lime dressing.
- Make a pot of cilantro lime rice.
- Mix up zingy lime curd to top cakes and waffles, or use extra limes for lime salt.
- Whip up a pitcher of limeade or lime water.
Let us know if you have any questions!