Avocado Cilantro Dressing

Simple Avocado Cilantro Dressing with creamy avocado, fresh cilantro, zesty lime and savory garlic will be your new favorite salad dressing. Drizzle on a salad, flavor load your favorite tacos or just scoop with a tortilla chip (or veggies!). Seriously easy, deliciously addictive and best of all a super healthy!

Avocado dressing is just one way we love to use the superfood avocado! Mashed into guacamole, diced in avocado corn salad and sliced in chicken grains bowls are just a few other ways we love to use it.

Creamy Avocado Cilantro Dressing

I think it’s crucial to have several salad dressings in your recipe arsenal so you’ll never get bored. Alongside a fruity raspberry vinaigrette and light poppy seed dressing, this creamy avocado cilantro dressing is perfect for guacamole lovers everywhere! As much as I love a simple vinaigrette, I know they’re not for everyone. Sometimes you just want something creamy and flavor-packed; this avocado dressing hits the nail on the head there!

If you’re an avocado lover, then you’re sure to appreciate this simple avocado salad dressing. Combining just 5 simple ingredients with a slight garlicky punch, this dressing has become one of my go-to sauces! Unlike supermarket options, this sauce contains no unnecessary sugars, massive amounts of sodium, or excess amounts of oil/additives either!

I’ll admit, I pretty much always have a stash of avocados in my kitchen (even in my freezer, just in case). Whether I’m whipping it up in a creamy dip, using it to garnish taco skillets or cauliflower rice, and even making simple avocado salad– I could fill a cookbook with the ways I enjoy this fruit… So why not as a creamy avocado dressing, too?

I mean, avocados are creamy, rich, and packed with heart-healthy fats and antioxidants?! What’s not to love?! Even better, this dressing is highly adaptable, swap out the herbs, add a touch of heat, or even adjust the consistency based on where you want a dipping sauce, sauce, or dressing. 

Best of all, you don’t even have to try to eat it all in one sitting. Instead, once prepared, store the avocado cilantro dressing in the fridge for several days of delicious salads and meals!

Why This Recipe for Avocado Dressing Works?

• This avocado cilantro lime dressing is super fresh, bright, and creamy!
• It contains just 5 simple ‘clean’ ingredients – no unnecessary sugar, preservatives, or other additives!
• This avocado dressing also combines the heart-healthy, high-potassium, antioxidant-rich benefits of avocado with heavy-metal binding, liver-boosting cilantro!
• Ready in just 5-minutes (or less), this avocado salad dressing is perfect for a last-minute salad lunch/dinner!
• All you need is just a blender or food processor and a knife to prepare this avocado dressing. 
• It is naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and vegan!
• As always, this recipe is super adaptable, too; mix out the herbs, add some heat, adjust the consistency, etc.!
• There’s ½ tablespoon of heart-healthy olive oil per serving!

Ingredients in Avocado Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing

• Avocado: Use a pitted and scooped ripe avocado. 
• Olive oil: Use high-quality extra virgin olive oil for the best results. For a subtler flavor, use light olive oil.
• Cilantro: I recommend using just the leaves as stems tend to make the dressing more bitter. 
• Lime: Fresh lime juice is best. Lemon would also work. You can even try orange juice for slightly sweeter results. 
• Garlic: Feel free to adjust the amount based on how garlicky you like this (I like it strong!). If you don’t have fresh garlic, use garlic powder instead. 
• Water: Needed to thin the avocado cilantro lime dressing to the desired consistency based on whether you want – a dip or avocado salad dressing. 
• Salt & Pepper: Adjust to personal taste.

How to Make Fresh Avocado Salad Dressing

• Blend the ingredients: In a food processor or blender, combine all of the ingredients and process until smooth.
• Add water if needed: Depending on how thick you want the avocado dressing/sauce to be, you may need to drizzle in a little extra water and blend in-between until it reaches your desired consistency.

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Tips for Best Results

• Omit the oil: If you’re on an oil-free diet, feel free to omit the oil, though the dressing won’t be quite as creamy/ emulsified. Use extra water instead.
• To make this FODMAP friendly: You can omit the fresh garlic and use garlic-unfused oil in place of regular olive oil. 
• Using the best avocado: For the tips listed here for picking (and ripening in needed) your avocado!
• If you don’t have a blender/food processor: You can also make this avocado cilantro dressing using an immersion blender or hand mixer. Alternatively, mix it by hand using a mortar and pestle. First, finely chop the ingredients and mix the avocado and garlic, then add the lime and olive oil (a bit at a time). Finally, add the herbs and seasonings and try not to crush them too much. Then transfer the avocado cilantro sauce to a bowl and add water, whisking in-between, until it reaches your desired consistency.

Add-ins and Variations

• For avocado ranch dressing: Substitute the olive oil for yogurt instead.
• Creamier avocado dressing: Instead of omitting the oil entirely, you can make a slightly creamier, richer avocado cilantro lime dressing with the addition of just a few spoonfuls of yogurt or sour cream. 
• Add spice: Add a pinch of red pepper flakes (or more) for spice. Alternatively, you could add a little fresh chili like a green jalapeno (remove seeds for less heat).
• Cumin: A little cumin helps to add depth of flavor to the avocado cilantro dressing.
• Sweetness: I’ve never found the need to add any additional sugar to this recipe. However, if you want to balance the sharp flavors slightly, I recommend adding a drizzle of honey or maple syrup to the dressing. 
• Apple cider vinegar: This avocado cilantro dressing is already tangy, thanks to the lime juice. However, combining the lime with apple cider vinegar can help to add depths of flavor to the dressing.

FAQs

Serving Recommendations

The ways you can enjoy this avocado cilantro lime dressing depends on whether you’re serving it as a dipping sauce or dressing. 

As a dipping sauce: 

Avocado and cilantro make for perfect accompaniments to many types of Asian cuisine and Mexican cuisine. 

• Serve the sauce alongside rice paper rolls, eggrolls, quesadillas, etc. 
• You could also use it in place of guacamole within burritos and tacos.
• It will also work with grilled shrimp, crudites, wedges and fries, crackers, etc. 

As a dressing:

• Salads: The classic choice is to use this as an avocado salad dressing with Mexican bean salad, mango black bean salad, Mexican kale salad, southwest quinoa salad, quinoa black bean salad, healthy taco salad, and with these chicken quinoa salad bowls. 
• Over eggs: Fried, scrambled, or even an egg bake like this sweet potato casserole or veggie frittata. 
• Seafood: Avocado pairs amazingly with fish and prawns. Drizzle it over cedar plank or Thai salmon, canned salmon cakes, grilled salmon, a smoked salmon salad, shrimp skewers, fish or shrimp tacos, etc. 
• Mexican inspired: Like these Mexican stuffed peppers, chili lime chicken, tacos (carne asada, etc.), chicken enchiladas, over chicken tostadas, sheet-pan steak fajitas, nachos, etc.
• Legumes: Mix into cooked beans and chickpeas (even crispy chickpeas).
• Grains: Drizzle over grain bowls like quinoa or rice bowls. You can even mix it into pasta – similarly to this pesto pasta. 
• With potato: Avocado and potato, particularly sweet potato, is a great match. Serve with fries and other roasted or skillet potato dishes. 

You can also serve this avocado cilantro dressing as part of a party spread alongside other appetizers/sides (including falafel and chicken kabobs), dips ( like healthy 7-layer dip, spinach dip, and sweet potato hummus), crudites, and crackers.

How to Store the Avocado Cilantro Dressing?

Store the prepared avocado cilantro lime dressing in an airtight glass container for up to five days, this way it shouldn’t brown. Make sure to stir it before use. 

More Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes

• Creamy peanut sauce
• Healthy ranch dressing
• Carrot ginger salad dressing
• Asian salad dressing
• Healthy honey mustard dressing

You might also enjoy browsing through my collection of healthy salads!