A go-to for all summer salads! This is citrusy, sweet, and has a spicy jalapeño kick and lots of cilantro flavor.
I have made this dressing probably upwards of 30 times over the last several summers, but since my usual method is throwing things into a blender and sampling until it is how I want it, figuring out measurements proved difficult.
(this is also my method for making blended drinks, which is sometimes problematic.)
But here are measurements for our favorite salad dressing of the summer, and possibly ever: creamy cilantro honey lime. It’s super refreshing, a little bit spicy, and has a sweet kick.

In a wild turn of events, there is avocado in this. It doesn’t do much for the flavor of the dressing (good news for avocado haters), but makes a world of difference to the creaminess. You can omit it and get more of a vinaigrette effect if that’s more your style. But I will just give you a heads up that the creaminess is other-worldly AND YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY ADD THE AVOCADO.

Also, let’s discuss cilantro. I used to diligently pluck leaves off the stems, which made using fresh cilantro an annoying, time-consuming chore. I have since joined the ain’t-nobody-got-time-for-that team and now lob off the leafy end from the stems. The stems do not have a bad taste! so including them won’t have any sort of disastrous effect flavor-wise. And since you are blending everything together here anyway, no one will even know about the stems.
This is our go-to dressing for steak salad in the summer (grilled strip, grilled corn, greens, feta, tomato, onion, avocado), but is good on all sorts of salad. Also good on tacos. We have even ventured into rice bowl territory with this and it is a very good thing.

I guess what I am really telling you is that you should eat this dressing on everything this summer because it is THAT GOOD.
Creamy Cilantro Honey Lime Dressing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 cup cilantro (this is roughly one handful)
- 1 large jalapeno, seeded and roughly chopped
- 1 ripe avocado, chopped
- 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
- Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Adjust seasoning to taste. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.