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This cilantro lime dressing recipe is fresh and zingy! It takes just 5 minutes to make this versatile drizzle for salad, tacos, and more.
Here’s one of the tastiest green sauces we know: creamy cilantro dressing! You’re going to want to bathe in this one. It’s creamy, savory, fresh, and tangy all at once. You can drizzle it on salads like our Mexican side salad, tacos or enchiladas, or burrito bowls! Or use it as a dip for fries. It’s multi-purpose and it takes only 5 minutes to blend up. Alex and I exclaimed “Wow!” the first time we tasted it, and we knew we’d be making it for years.
Ingredients in cilantro lime dressing
You’ll need a handful of ingredients for this cilantro lime dressing. Outside of the ingredients in the title, many of them are likely already in your pantry and fridge! Here’s what you’ll need to whip up this tasty green sauce:
- Lime juice
- Fresh cilantro
- Greek yogurt
- Mayonnaise
- Garlic powder & onion powder
- Maple syrup or honey or sugar
- Olive oil
Tips & storage info
All you’ve got to do for this cilantro lime dressing is one thing: blend it up! Here are a few notes on how to make it:
- Use a standard blender, or an immersion or small blender works even better. Since this dressing only makes ¾ cup, it’s very easy to blend in a small blender. But it does work in a standard-sized blender since there’s a lot of liquid! You’ll still have to stop and scrape a bit to get everything to whiz nicely.
- Stores 1 week refrigerated. Pour your cilantro lime dressing into a mason jar or container and it keeps for 1 week refrigerated. It gets a little thinner as it warms, so if it’s rather thick wait for it to come to room temp.
10 best ways to use cilantro lime dressing
There are so many uses for this cilantro lime dressing! Not only does it work on salads, it works as a dip for roasted veggies, or on Mexican-style recipes like tacos, enchiladas, and quesadillas. Here are our top 10 favorite ways to serve it:
- Mexican chopped salad: This Mexican Chopped Salad is a simple side that goes perfectly with tacos and enchiladas.
- Sweet potato fries: These baked sweet potato fries are fantastic with this green sauce! Or try it with a baked sweet potato.
- Tacos: Try it with cauliflower tacos or shrimp tacos.
- Quesadillas: Opt for cilantro sauce with easy quesadillas or baked quesadillas.
- Rice bowl: Try it on a rice bowl with black beans and veggies.
- Baked potatoes: Mexican-style sweet potatoes are delicious with black bean salsa and green dressing.
- Roasted vegetables: Roasted vegetables are even better with dipping sauce.
- Burrito bowls: It’s the ideal drizzle for a burrito bowl.
- Nachos: These sheet pan nachos love creamy cilantro dressing!
- Shrimp: Try it in a shrimp nowl or as a sauce for sautéed shrimp.
More cilantro recipes
Got cilantro on the brain? Here are a few more cilantro recipes to try:
- Try Cilantro Lime Rice as a tasty side
- Opt for Cilantro Lime Ranch Sauce or Cilantro Lime Crema
- Blend up tangy Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette
- Go for vegan Creamy Cilantro Sauce
- Try Cilantro Lime Shrimp
This cilantro lime dressing is…
Vegetarian and gluten-free.
Cilantro Lime Dressing
This cilantro lime dressing recipe is fresh and zingy! It takes just 5 minutes to make this versatile drizzle for salad, tacos, and more.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: ¾ cup 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Blended
- Cuisine: Mexican Inspired
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 cup cilantro leaves and tender stems, lightly packed
- ½ cup Greek yogurt*
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon water
- ½ teaspoon maple syrup (or honey or sugar)
- ½ teaspoon each garlic powder and onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a standard, small or immersion blender and blend for several minutes until pureed and creamy, stopping and scraping down the bowl as needed. (If using a standard blender, you’ll need to stop and scrape often.) Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature prior to serving.
Notes
*For vegan, use our Creamy Cilantro Sauce or Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette instead.
Made the cilantro lime dressing tonight to put on a tossed green salad. Found it to be very flavorful. My husband and I both loved it. Printed out the recipe for keeping. Thank you going to try this on tacos next time. Endless what you can use it on.
So glad to hear that. thank you!
Best Cilantro Lime Dressing ever!!! I made this for serving approximately 50 people. They kept coming back for more salad and Dressing. They raved about the flavor of it.
Thank you so much for posting this recipe!!!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed. And that’s a big party!
Question: Can I prepare the Baked Quesadillas beforehand? I like to prepare as much as I can before the family arrives?
Thank you.
Robert
You could get them all prepped and on the baking sheet — then just pop in the baking sheet when your family arrives? They’re not as good reheated, so I wouldn’t recommend baking in advance. Good luck!
Hi. Sonja and Alex. My daughter in law Audra has talked about both of you and your cookbooks. I stumbled upon this online looking for a mexican side salad and cilantro lime dressing. Super excited to try this recipe… thank you.
Too funny! Thank you for making it :)
Delish! I used unsweetened cashew yogurt for all 3/4 cup of the yogurt/Mayo portion. Putting it on slaw to be served with tortilla soup and quesadillas.
Let us know if you have any questions!