Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

This creamy cilantro lime dressing recipe will instantly transform your salads, grain bowls, grilled vegetables and more! It's vibrant and bright with garlic, lime juice and jalapeño. Greek yogurt lends creaminess (see below for a dairy free option), and honey provides sweetness. I'll show you how easily it comes together.

Ingredients and swaps

These easy-to-find ingredients create a balanced dressing that's herby and bright with a touch of sweetness and spice.

• Garlic and jalapeño lend depth of flavor and a hint of spice.
• Cilantro and scallions give the dressing an herby flavor. If you don't like cilantro you can use a mix of parsley and mint instead.
• Greek yogurt lends creaminess. For the best flavor, I recommend using a yogurt with 2% fat content.
• Honey lends subtle sweetness. You can use maple syrup or even regular sugar instead.
• Lime juice provides acidity and brightness.
• Vegetable oil rounds out the dressing. You can use any neutral oil you have, such as grapeseed, safflower or canola.

How to make cilantro lime dressing

This cilantro lime dressing recipe is easy to make right in a food processor.

• In a food processor with the blade running, drop the garlic and jalapeño through the feed tube and finely chop. Add the cilantro and scallions.

• Process the herbs until they're finely chopped, then add Greek yogurt and honey.

• Process the dressing until smooth.

Vegan cilantro lime dressing

For a dairy-free cilantro lime dressing, use a vegan mayonnaise (such as Vegenaise) in place of the Greek yogurt.

How to serve creamy cilantro dressing

The dressing is amazing on this Healthy Taco Salad (pictured below). It's also fabulous on any crunchy green salads, as well as on grain bowls, grilled vegetables, wraps and tacos. For a healthy chickpea salad, toss the dressing with drained chickpeas.

Tips for this recipe:

• This cilantro lime dressing recipe gets made in a food processor, or you can use a Vitamix blender.
• For the best flavor, I prefer to use a plain Greek yogurt with a 2% fat content. You can use nonfat yogurt, but you might need to add a bit more oil to round out the flavors.
• Serve the dressing over these Healthy Tacos Salads!

FAQs

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Healthy salads you might like:

• Healthy Taco Salad
• Grilled Panzanella Salad
• Avocado Chicken Salad
• Mexican Street Corn Salad
• Grilled Eggplant Salad
• All my Salad recipes!

Stay connected!

I'd love to answer any of your questions and see what you're cooking!! Don't forget to give this recipe a star rating and leave a comment below. Follow along on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube & Pinterest, and be sure to tag @nickisizemore so that I can share your creations!

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Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

By Nicki Sizemore

This creamy cilantro lime dressing is vibrant and bright with garlic, lime juice and jalapeño. Greek yogurt provides creaminess (or you can use vegan mayonnaise for a dairy-free version), and a touch of honey provides sweetness. Drizzle the dressing over these Healthy Taco Salads, or over crunchy green salads, grain bowls, grilled vegetables and more (see the Tips below!).

Servings: 1 ½ cups

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 10 minutes mins

Equipment

• Food processor

Ingredients

• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• ½ medium jalapeño pepper, halved and seeds removed
• 1 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves and tender stems
• 1 large scallion, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup Greek yogurt (preferably 2% fat content)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons water
• ½ cup neutral vegetable oil (such as grapeseed or safflower)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• In a food processor with the blade running, drop the garlic clove and jalapeño through the feed tube, and process until finely chopped.
• Scrape the sides, and add the cilantro and scallions. Process until chopped.
• Add the yogurt, honey, lime juice, water and oil, and season with salt and pepper. Process until smooth, stopping and scraping the sides occasionally. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed. Transfer to a bowl or jar, and refrigerate at least 15 minutes to let the flavors meld.

Notes

Do Ahead: The dressing can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Tips: 

• This cilantro lime dressing recipe gets made in a food processor, or you can use a Vitamix blender.
• For the best flavor, I prefer to use a plain Greek yogurt with a 2% fat content. You can use nonfat yogurt, but you might need to add a bit more oil to round out the flavors.
• Serve the dressing over these Healthy Tacos Salads!
• The dressing is also fabulous on any crunchy green salads, as well as on grain bowls, grilled vegetables, wraps and tacos. For a healthy chickpea salad, toss the dressing with drained chickpeas.

Loved this recipe? Check out for @nickisizemore for more!

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cilantro lime dressing recipe, creamy cilantro dressing, easy cilantro lime dressing