This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing is creamy, tangy, and packed with herbs. The combination of classic ranch with zesty lime and fresh cilantro gives a Tex Mex flair to this dressing. Use it on your favorite salads, for dipping fresh veggies, or for serving alongside some Mexican grilled chicken.
Bright & Flavorful Cilantro Lime Ranch
This easy to make homemade ranch dressing has an extra pop of flavor thanks to the addition of cilantro and lime.
Reasons to love this dressing:
- Ease– add ingredients to a food processor and blend up. Quick and easy!
- Time– total prep time is under 10 minutes.
- Flavor– while regular ranch is great, adding these flavors makes it a perfect complement to all of our favorite Tex Mex dishes.
Ingredients needed
- Sour Cream & Mayonnaise: this creates the creamy base of the dressing. You can use any ratio of these two you prefer. You can also sub the sour cream out for greek yogurt. If needed make dairy free substitutions.
- Fresh Herbs: This is one of my favorite ways to make ranch. You can use dried dill and parsley in this recipe. But, I recommend continuing to use fresh cilantro, dried cilantro has no real flavor to it and it will not be a cilantro ranch at that point.
- Milk: Use regular whole milk, or buttermilk if you prefer. Although we have a lot of tangy flavors already in our ranch dressing I don’t find it necessary.
How To Make Homemade Cilantro Ranch Dressing
Find the complete recipe card below with measurements and full instructions.
- Add all of the ingredients needed for the dressing into a food processor or blender. If you don’t have either of those appliances you can whisk ingredients together and finely chop the herbs.
- Blend until smooth and no large bits of herbs remain. Check the consistency and add more milk as needed to get a pourable dressing.
Tips for Success
As this dressing sits in the refrigerator and chills it will get thicker. You may want to whisk in a bit more milk if the dressing has been sitting for a couple of days. On average this dressing will last for 5 days when stored in a sealed container or jar in the refrigerator.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this dressing on salads, like our chicken taco salad, classic ground beef salad, Mexican salad, even our Classic Wedge Salad to switch things up a little bit.
Use this cilantro ranch dressing as a dip for fresh veggies, roasted potatoes, or tortilla chips.
We also love to drizzle this onto our burrito bowls, or have on the side for dipping quesadillas into.
FAQs
The amounts in this recipe will make approximately 1 1/2 cups of dressing. A standard serving of ranch dressing is 2 tablespoons. Although we like dressing on our salads around here and so we definitely use more than that on our salads. Plan accordingly!
No, I haven’t had any issues with any curdling. This is a dressing we make often in our home. Just mix the lime juice in as directed.
More Salad Dressings
Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼-½ cup milk (use as needed to thin the dressing)
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried)
- ¼ cup fresh dill (or 1 tsp dried)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (1 medium lime)
Instructions
- Combine the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Start with 1/4 cup of milk.
- Pulse or blend the dressing until well combined and no large pieces of herbs remain.
- Check consistency, add more milk as needed to get a pourable dressing. Taste and adjust salt/herbs as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Does this sauce work well for fried/grilled fish tacos?
Any modifications?
Hi Dave! Yes, I think it would pair nicely with fish and chicken tacos. If you are concerned about the ranch flavoring (the dill) then you can try out my regular Cilantro Lime Sauce, which leaves out the ranch flavoring and focuses more on the cilantro, lime, garlic flavors https://houseofyumm.com/cilantro-lime-sauce/.