Let’s talk salad dressings. Specifically, let’s talk creamy, zesty, herb-packed dressings like this creamy cilantro-avocado salad dressing. It does more than just dress your salad—it transforms your whole plate. It's the perfect finish for southwest-inspired salads and any kind of taco, and even works as a dipping sauce for roasted vegetables.
There's just something about a creamy salad dressing that can elevate a lowly plate of vegetables into something satisfying and crave-worthy. When it comes to salads of the Southwest-inspired or Tex-Mex variety, this cilantro-avocado dressing has been a long-time favorite. It's creamy and rich, tangy, and garlicky, and also a versatile sauce that can be used in a variety of ways.
One thing I really appreciate about this creamy homemade dressing is how easy it is to make. It takes just a couple of minutes to pop all of the ingredients into a smoothie blender cup and a couple of seconds of blending before it's ready to go.
It's also easily customizable. You can leave it thicker to use as a dipping sauce or thin it to pour over a salad. You can spike it with more lime juice, add some red pepper flakes for heat, or substitute lemon for different flavor profile. The sky is the limit!
Ways to use cilantro-avocado salad dressing
- First and foremost, this is a delightful salad dressing. It was originally developed to use on this shrimp and avocado salad, but it can gussy up a huge variety of salads.
- This cilantro-avocado dressing is also a delicious creamy topping for tacos. It works as either a drizzle over the top or you can toss it with shredded cabbage for a creamy+crunchy finish.
- It makes a great dipping sauce for baked southwest sweet potato fries and many other roasted vegetable dishes.
- Keep your dressing a little thicker and serve it as a dip for multigrain chips or crudité.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Plain Greek yogurt - I use 2%, but any level of fat content will work. My favorite brand is Fage.
- Avocado - Only half an avocado is needed for a single batch; I always throw the second half in my salad.
- Lime juice - This recipe definitely calls for fresh lime juice if it's at all possible.
- Extra virgin olive oil - I use Graza's "Sizzle" EVOO for this recipe.
- Cilantro - Wash it well and take off the thicker bottom part of the stems. There's no need to pull off all the leaves.
- Fresh garlic - You can also substitute ½ teaspoon of granulated garlic.
- Water - This dressing can take quite a bit of water before you need to add more salt, but be sure to taste and adjust your seasoning if you've added more than a couple of tablespoons.
- Fine sea salt - I use fine sea salt in all of my dressing recipes.
My number one tool for quick and easy homemade salad dressings
My Ninja Kitchen System blender is essential when it comes to making creamy salad dressings. I like that it also has the blender attachment for larger batches and blended soups. The food processor attachment makes great guacamole.
This blender comes with two smoothie cups, but I purchased extras because we were using it so much. Between our smoothies, dressings, soups, and salsas, the various attachments and blades are constantly in our dishwasher!
More healthy creamy salad dressings from Parsley & Parm
- Dairy-Free Green Goddess Dressing - one of the most popular recipes on my blog!
- Tahini Caesar Dressing with Parmesan
- Everything But the Bagel Dressing - part of the recipe for Cobb Salad with Salmon.
- A quick and easy traditional-ish Caesar salad dressing - part of my BLT Kale Caesar Salad recipe.
FAQ
Yes you can. The oil makes the texture a bit creamier, but it is not necessary to the success of this recipe. Simply substitute water for the amount of oil that is called for.
It is not necessary to have a perfectly ripe avocado, but the riper your avocado, the creamier and more flavorful your dressing will be. Just make sure it's not rock-hard, which will result in a lumpy dressing and very little avocado flavor.
Yes, you can leave out the yogurt if you wish. If you do, I would increase the olive oil a bit and you may need to add more water at the end to adjust the consistency of your dressing. I have not tried this recipe with dairy-free yogurt, but that may also be a possibility. If you try it, let me know how it turns out!
Safely storing your cilantro-avocado salad dressing
This dressing contains raw garlic and olive oil, which together have the unfortunate tendency to harbor botulism if they are stored too long. It's important to refrigerate any unused portion of this dressing as soon as possible, and use it within three days. If you know you would like to keep it for longer (4-5 days maximum), use granulated garlic instead of a raw garlic clove.
Did you make this recipe?
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Creamy Cilantro-Avocado Salad Dressing
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Blender - stand blender, stick blender, or smoothie blender
Ingredients
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt - I use 2% milkfat; use whatever fat level you prefer
- ½ medium avocado
- ½ lime, juiced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup cilantro - packed
- 1 clove garlic - or ½ teaspoon granulated garlic
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt - plus more to taste
- ⅓ cup water - plus more as needed to adjust consistency
Instructions
- Add the yogurt, avocado, juice from ½ lime, cilantro, garlic, olive oil, water, and salt to a blender (smoothie blenders work great for this). Blend until smooth.½ cup plain Greek yogurt, ½ medium avocado, ½ lime, juiced, ½ cup cilantro, 1 clove garlic, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- If the dressing seems too thick, add more cold water by the tablespoon until it reaches a pourable consistency. Taste the dressing and add another pinch of salt if needed.
Notes
Need more servings?
To adjust a recipe for more or fewer servings, hover your cursor over the number servings on the recipe card. This will bring up a slider that you can move to the number of servings you want to make.
Nutrition*
*All nutritional values are estimates only. They are calculated by an online resource.
Lisa says
Creamy and delicious and perfect on any taco salad! Love the lime-y kick too.