This tangy cilantro lime dressing is destined for your next taco salad. Enjoy it as a vinaigrette, or add avocado or Greek yogurt to make it creamy!
This cilantro lime dressing is the perfect summer salad dressing – it’s tangy, it’s herbaceous, and it’s so yummy drizzled over summer salads, grilled veggies, and more. The best part about it this dressing? It can be made 3 ways! Once you make the cilantro lime dressing, serve it as-is, add Greek yogurt to make a creamy ranch-like dressing (pictured in the middle above), or add avocado to make a thick, creamy sauce (pictured left above).
Let’s get started!
Cilantro Lime Dressing Ingredients
I make this dressing in the food processor so that the cilantro gets finely chopped and the dressing becomes emulsified. It takes minutes to blend together, and these 7 ingredients make it zesty & bright:
- Cilantro is the star of the show. It makes the dressing super fresh and green.
- Garlic adds a little bite.
- Lime juice makes it tangy.
- Maple syrup or honey calms and balances the sharp, tangy flavors.
- Ground coriander is one of my go-to ingredients when I’m using cilantro & lime, and it gives this dressing extra depth of flavor.
- Sea salt makes the flavors pop.
- And extra-virgin olive oil adds richness and ties it all together.
That’s it! Just pulse it together (I try not to blend it too long so that it still has pretty flecks of green), and your dressing will be ready for salads, burrito bowls, tacos, and more.
Variations of cilantro lime dressing:
I while I love the vinaigrette version of this dressing, I like to change it up from time to time, depending on what I’m craving and what I’m making. I like to make creamy cilantro lime dressing two different ways: with yogurt and with avocado.
A creamy Greek yogurt variation has a similar consistency to ranch or a buttermilk dressing – it’s lightly creamy and not too thick. To make it, simply add 1/2 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt to the food processor along with the other ingredients.
A creamy avocado cilantro lime dressing is thicker than the Greek yogurt version. I love to serve it alongside burritos as a dipping sauce or put big, thick dollops on a taco salad. To make it, add 1 avocado to the food processor with the base dressing recipe, and blend!
Make it spicy by adding a bit of jalapeño or a few pickled jalapeños.
What to Serve with Cilantro Lime Dressing
This dressing is a great one to keep on hand in the fridge. It adds a bright, zesty pop to simple green salads as well as DIY burrito bowls made with cilantro lime rice, black beans, veggies, pico de gallo, guac, and mango salsa.
It would also be delicious drizzled or scooped onto:
- Portobello Burrito Bowls
- Breakfast Burritos
- Cauliflower Rice Burrito Bowl
- Vegetarian Tacos (use in place of the tomatillo sauce)
- Breakfast Tacos (use in place of the salsa)
- Grilled Vegetable Kabobs
- Avocado Toast
- Oven Roasted Potatoes
- Veggie Fajitas
- Quesadillas
If you love this cilantro lime dressing recipe…
Try more of my favorite sauces like these tahini sauces, this citrus salad dressing, this chipotle sauce, tomatillo salsa, pesto, tzatziki, healthier Caesar dressing, or the carrot ginger dressing in this recipe.
Cilantro Lime Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh cilantro
- 1 garlic clove
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Make it creamy (optional):
- 1 avocado or ½ cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
Instructions
- In a food processor, place the cilantro, garlic, lime juice, maple syrup, coriander, and salt and pulse to combine. With the blade running, pour in the olive oil and process until smooth.
- Make it creamy (optional) - blend with 1 avocado or ½ cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
Just made this dressing and it’s SOOOO delicious! I added 1/2 avocado which made the consistency and flavor perfect for me. Currently enjoying it in my buddha bowl made with quinoa, marinated and baked tempeh, avocado, sweet potato and mixed greens 😋😋
Hi Karen, ooh yum! I’m so glad you loved the dressing!
Delicious! Husband loved it!
Yay, I’m so happy to hear!
Do you know if it will freeze well? Our cilantro is in and we have way more than we can eat in the 3-5 days you recommend for refrigeration. The dressing is delicious BTW!
Hi Jane, yep, I freeze pesto all the time so I think this will freeze well too. Just let it thaw completely at room temp. The olive oil will be pretty well solidified, but will thaw well slowly. Give it a stir before using. I’m so glad you loved it! (Note: I wouldn’t necessarily freeze the avocado or the yogurt option).
This salad dressing is absolutely amazing. It’s delicious as a vinaigrette. Then I made it with half an avocado and 1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt which was perfect over jerk chicken salad. Definitely a keeper.
I’m so glad you’ve been loving it!
obsessed with this sauce. i made it for the first time this week, and it’s great on ANYTHING. i had it with my tempeh & kimchi rice bowl, with focaccia, and will be making this a staple!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that it’s a staple!
Yummmy!! Left out garlic and added some fresh pineapple which made it creamy in my vita mix. A total keeper.
ooh, that sounds delish, I’m so glad you loved it!
Do you have to remove the leaves on the cilantro, if I am putting it in the food processor?
Thanks!
Nope! The stems can go in to.
too, rather 🙂
This is my go-to sauce for tacos and burritos. It’s SO good. I especially love the creamy version. Literally every time I make it, I have a little taste of it and say “Oh God, that’s good”. I probably make this once a week.
If it’s too tart, you can add more honey or maple to balance it, to taste. And/or a bit more olive oil. Hope that helps!
As far as I know cilantro and coriander are the same thing.
Coriander is the dried seed or fruit of the Coriandrum sativum plant, which belongs to the parsley family. Cilantro is the leaf of this same plant and surprisingly, its flavor is vastly different from that of coriander. Cilantro has a complex but delicate flavor with a hint of pepper, mint and lemon. Coriander has a sweet, aromatic taste with a touch of citrus.
So delicious I’ve made it twice this week. Never though to add the stems along with the leaves. Now I know what I’ll do with every leftover half bunch of coriander.
We had it in a steak salad with pasta, asparagus, broccoli peas and rocket. So springy.
Hi Naomi, I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying it! Yeah those stems are great! No need to toss them 🙂
How long does this keep for?
about 5 days in the fridge!
Whoa Nellie Belle!
Outstanding, I used it on a greens & shrimp super salad, my wife love it..
You should see her boil water!
I’m so glad you loved the dressing!
I made it!!!
My son lives it I love it
so happy to hear!
This is the best dressing I have ever made!!!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Hello!!! this is great!!! with what can I subsitute the coriander seeds? I can’t get them where I live! 🙁
Hi Juliana, you can just leave them out!
You can add a pinch of ground cumin. I hope you can find that!
I absolutely love this! Also, I was wondering how many days this dressing can stay in the fridge? I would love to use this for meal prep ideas.
Hi Morgan, the original dressing and the yogurt version will keep for 3 to 5 days (the green color will get less vibrant, but that’s ok). The avocado version will last 2 to 3 days. I hope you enjoy it!
This is delicious! I made it with yogurt and tossed with a bunch of veggies from my CSA. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
wow, wow, WOW!! This is delicious. I made it the ‘regular’ way and the ‘creamy’ way (with avocado)… this stuff is SO GOOD – on anything I’ve paired it with so far. (I used it as a dip/dressing with grilled chicken — and even wonderful on a baked potato.) This is definitely going to be made EVERY week in our house. INSANELY DELICIOUS!!
Hi Teresa – yay! I’m glad it’s a new staple for you 🙂
Can you tag this recipe and the citrus salad dressing as a salad so it shows up when I filter for salad recipes? If it doesn’t show up when I’m looking for salads I will never make it. Thank you!
Hi Caroline, I think I’ll make a filter for dressings and sauces – I hope that helps!