Say goodbye to bland dressings. This Avocado Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing is creamy, packed with fresh flavor, and loaded with healthy fats. Use it on salads, fresh taco bowls or fish tacos, for a pop of flavor.
Jump to:
- Ingredient Notes & Possible Substitutions
- How to Make the this Dressing
- What Type of Yogurt Should I Use?
- Can I Make this Dressing without Yogurt?
- What I Love about this Creamy Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing
- Storage
- Dietitian Notes
- Recipe Tips
- Related Recipes
- Other Great Recipes
- Did you try this Avocado Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing?
- 📖 Recipe
This salad dressing is the perfect dressing or sauce to use on anything with Mexican or Baja flavors like this Mango Salmon Salad or these Paleo Carne Asada Tacos. It can add so much flavor to bland green salad or a taco bowl that is a little lacking. Additionally, this dressing can be used as a healthy veggie dip!
Ingredient Notes & Possible Substitutions
Cilantro
Rinse your cilantro well and place it in a salad spinner to dry off! This works well and prolongs the life of your cilantro when it is kept in the fridge inside the salad spinner.
Avocado
A perfectly ripe avocado is key! Look for avocados with a dark green color (not quite black) and press your thumb lightly into the skin. It should have a little give but not complete indent when you press into it. If your avocado is too hard, you can place it in a brown paper bag along with some ethylene producing fruit (like mangos, bananas, apples or peaches). Fold the bag over and let it ripen on the counter for a few days.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
I like using the 100% Italian olive oil from Costco. Avocado oil will also work!
Dairy-Free Yogurt
I recommend using plain Harmless Harvest coconut yogurt. It is creamy, is made with great ingredients, and doesn't have a strong flavor. If you do not need this recipe to be vegan, you can use whole milk plain yogurt or full fat Greek yogurt. The yogurt can also be omitted.
Lime Juice
Fresh is best! Bottled lime juice can work for some recipes, but for this one you want to select a few high-quality, flavorful limes so that your dressing has the best flavor. You will only need 1 large lime to get 3 tablespoons of juice. For not quite of a strong lime flavor you can reduce the lime juice to 2 tablespoons.
Agave
Honey can be used as a non-vegan alternative.
How to Make the this Dressing
This Creamy Avocado Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing is phenomenal and full of bright, fresh flavors. It only takes about 5 minutes to make, and yields about 1 cup. Here is how to make it:
- Simply place all ingredients in a food processor (cilantro stems can go in, but peel the garlic and avocado). Process until the cilantro is finely chopped and everything but the cilantro is smooth and creamy.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
What Type of Yogurt Should I Use?
I recommend using Harmless Harvest coconut yogurt. The ingredients are great and the flavor is mild and works really well for this recipe. It is both vegan and paleo-friendly. You can use your favorite dairy-free yogurt, or if you include dairy in your diet, plain whole milk yogurt also works well.
Can I Make this Dressing without Yogurt?
Absolutely! The yogurt adds some additional creaminess, but can be omitted and still results in a delicious dressing. It will yield slightly less than 1 cup without the yogurt.
What I Love about this Creamy Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing
This flavorful dressing is addictively good. Here is why I think you’ll love it too:
- Lots of Flavor - This dressing is jam packed with cilantro, avocado and lime juice. All of this adds an abundance of flavor in a small package.
- Healthy Ingredients - Not all dressings are created equal. I always opt to make dressing at home because it is delicious and easy to utilize whole food ingredients and healthy oils.
Storage
Store dressing in an airtight container in the fridge and consume with 3-4 days for best quality. It will be safe to eat for longer but the avocado will begin to brown.
Dietitian Notes
- This recipe is vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free. No substitutions needed! Make it paleo by omitting the dairy-free yogurt or using a paleo-friendly option.
- This dressing is loaded with healthy monounsaturated fats, vitamins and minerals. No inflammatory oils!
Recipe Tips
- Scrape the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula as needed to ensure the cilantro gets finely chopped.
- If you need more than 1 cup, double the recipe. It saves well for up to 4 days.
Related Recipes
- Creamy Balsamic Dressing
- Honey Lime Dressing and Marinade
- Maple Mustard Dressing
- Thai Peanut Dressing
Other Great Recipes
Looking for other tasty recipes? Here are a few you might like:
📖 Recipe
Avocado Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing
Equipment
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Food processor
- Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cilantro stems and all
- ½ cup Ripe avocado ½ large avocado or 1 small avocado
- 5 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup Plain dairy-free yogurt I used Harmless Harvest (plain full fat yogurt can be used)
- 3 tablespoon Lime juice fresh
- 1 Garlic clove peeled
- 1 tablespoon Agave
- ½ teaspoon Sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper
Instructions
Cilantro Lime Dressing
- Remove the pit and peel the avocado and place it in a food processor along with all the other dressing ingredients. Process until the cilantro is finely chopped and the avocado is smoothly blended into the dressing. Scrape the sides with a rubber spatula as needed until the dressing is mostly smooth and there are no visible pieces of stems/leaves.
- Store dressing in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days. After that, the dressing will be safe to consume but the avocado may begin to brown.
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