Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing

Name: Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves; ½ avocado; ¼ cup olive oil; ¼ cup water; 2 tablespoons lime juice; 1 tablespoon honey; 1 clove garlic; ½ teaspoon sea salt; ½ jalapeño pepper, seeded (optional for kick)

Creamy and tangy avocado cilantro lime dressing perfect for your favorite salad! Bursting with flavor, this simple dressing is a fan favorite and blends up in under 5 minutes.

A jar with avocado cilantro lime dressing with a spoon.

This is quite possibly the best year-round salad dressing. It’s creamy, tangy, and bursting with flavor, and tastes delicious on salads, cooked vegetables, and more! While avocado cilantro lime dressing pairs perfectly with summer salads like my Santa Fe Salad, Healthy Burger Bowl, or a simple Classic House Salad, it’s also a great dip or sauce! In fast, I love drizzling it on top of Crispy Roasted Sweet Potatoes!

Whether you’re in a salad rut or want a delicious dressing for a gathering, avocado paired with cilantro and lime is the answer. It’s completely gluten, dairy, and egg free, so it fits a variety of needs. And best of all, it goes directly from your blender directly to your salad in under 5 minutes!

Looking to rotate a few simple and healthy dressings? Check out my Honey Lime Dressing and viral Southwest Salad Dressing.

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Ingredient Notes

Ingredients in the recipe, including cilantro, avocado, garlic, lime juice, olive oil, jalapeno, honey, salt, and water.

Cilantro – Cut off the stems and throw the leaves in whole. You do not need to finely chop them since they’ll be cut down in the blender.
Avocado – I recommend using a medium avocado, but whatever you have on hand will work!
Olive oil – The flavor of your dressing will depend on the flavor of the olive oil you use. I love using a full-bodied, unfiltered organic extra virgin olive oil for a rich flavor. If you want something more mild, try to use a medium extra virgin olive oil blend.
Lime juice – I recommend using freshly squeezed lime juice. One lime typically produces two tablespoons of lime juice, so you’ll need one lime for this recipe.
Jalapeño pepper – I recommend cutting this with gloves on. Use this method to remove the seeds with a spoon before adding the halves into the blender.

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations

Honey – Use maple syrup instead.
Want to make it more tangy? Swap the ½ avocado for ¼ cup greek yogurt.
Cilantro – If you’re not a fan of cilantro, you can swap it for 1/2 fresh basil or parsley.

How to Make Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing

1. Blend: Place the fresh cilantro, avocado, olive oil, lime juice, honey, garlic, sea salt, and jalapeno in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides as needed.

The ingredients for the dressing in the blender with the avocado, herbs and garlic on top.

2. Thin: Add the ¼ cup water and blend until creamy and pourable. Add more water if necessary. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.

Everything blended in the blender to make creamy avocado cilantro lime dressing.

Recipe FAQs

What does avocado cilantro lime dressing taste like?

The taste is the perfect combination of fresh, creamy, and tangy, and the cilantro gives it a mild peppery flavor. The honey and lime juice perfectly balance out the spice and give it a sweet citrusy finish.

What’s the best way to blend dressing?

When your dressing has a combination of fresh herbs, garlic, and/or spicy peppers, the best way to blend the dressing is in a blender or food processor. Most people prefer a blender since you can easily pour the ingredients into a glass storage jar.

How do I store homemade dressing?

Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Because homemade dressings don’t have any preservatives, they don’t last as long as store-bought versions.

What’s in avocado cilantro lime dressing?

Avocado is blended with olive oil, water, and lime juice to make it smooth, tangy, and creamy. Honey sweetens it up, and cilantro, garlic, and jalapeño adds a mild spicy kick!

Ways to Use

This simple avocado cilantro lime dressing pairs perfectly with any kind of salad, of course. Because it’s creamy and has a bit of a kick, it can also be used in a variety of ways! Here are my favorite ways to use it:

Dressing: Use it as a rich and creamy dressing to give a nice kick to any type of salad. This pairs great with Southwest Salad, Burger Bowls, or Classic House Salad!

Dip: Skip adding the 1/4 cup water and use it as a dip for raw veggies or chips.

Sauce: Spread it on sandwiches or drizzle on grains or cooked vegetables! I like to drizzle it over Chicken Quinoa Bowls or my Quinoa Cucumber Tomato Salad for a little added kick! You can also use it on top of cooked meat or on top of pasta.

A southwest salad with all the toppings including the dressing and a fork in the salad.

Blending Tips

It’s best to use a blend or food processor in order to properly break down the jalapeño, cilantro, and garlic. I like to use a blender because it’s easy to pour the dressing into a storage container.
Remove the stems from the cilantro before blending. Also, make sure to remove the seeds from the jalapeño as they don’t do well in dressing and can make it really spicy.
Because this dressing has avocado as the base, it can sometimes end up a bit thick. If you want to adjust the consistency, slowly add water one tablespoon at a time until it’s slightly thin and pourable.

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