Our Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing is bursting with fresh flavors from the cilantro, lime, and ranch seasonings! The creamy avocado adds healthy fats and a gorgeous color and flavor to this dressing. Perfect for dipping or drizzling!
There are few things in the world better than homemade salad dressing.
Pretty sure there is some store bought dressing mix with the slogan, “you make it best when you make it fresh.” Or, you know, something along those lines.
I have to agree – fresh is best, but it’s even better when it’s really for real fresh and not coming from a packet. 😉
Like our homemade tartar sauce or fry sauce. Homemade is best!
Our Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing is rich and creamy thanks to the ripe avocado, it’s bursting with bright flavors thanks to the cilantro and lime, and it has all the same seasonings of a ranch dressing, like dill, garlic, and parsley!
Whether you’re dipping your oven fried chicken tenders in this or drizzling it over a green salad, I know you’re going to love this one.
Ingredient Notes:
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Avocado – You’ll need one ripe avocado. The rich, creamy avocado works perfectly for salad dressing! The more ripe, the more flavorful and creamy!
Buttermilk – Pretty much a required ingredient for any ranch dressing, it’ll give it that characteristic flavor and creaminess!
Herbs & Spices – You’ll need fresh dill, cilantro, and parsley along with some minced garlic, onion powder, salt, and chili powder.
Lime Juice – I’d recommend using freshly squeezed lime juice if you can, or the bottled kind works too!
Helpful Tools:
Blender/Food Processor – It’ll make short work of combining the creamy avocado with all of the other ingredients. This avocado ranch dressing recipe takes no time at all when using a processor!
Citrus Squeezer – We always prefer to use freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice whenever possible, and this handy squeezer keeps it quick and mess free!
What We Love About This Recipe:
- We love creamy avocado, and it’s healthy too!
- It’s ready in just a few minutes when you use a blender or food processor. No need to buy dressing anymore, homemade is better!
- It’s easy to make this nice and thick to use as a dip or thin it out to drizzle over salad.
How To Make Avocado Ranch Dressing:
Avocado: To get started you’ll prepare the avocado by slicing it in half and removing the pit. Next you can start scooping out the avocado flesh from the skin and adding it to your blender along with the other ingredients.
Blend: Turn your blender or food processor on and let it run until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Taste Test: Give this a little taste and add extra salt or lime juice as needed to reach the flavor you like. You can also stir in extra buttermilk for a thinner consistency, if you’re planning to drizzle this over a salad.
Chill & Serve: I recommend refrigerating the avocado ranch dressing for at least an hour before serving! That’ll give it time for all the flavors to set, and it’ll taste better cold! Try it with my Mad Dog salad recipe!
FAQs:
This southwestern avocado salad dressing can be stored in your refrigerator for up to 3 days. It’s best kept in a sealed jar.
Substitutions:
You can swap the dill and dried spices for a packet of ranch seasoning mix, if you want to make this even simpler!
On a keto diet? Swap the buttermilk for heavy whipping cream and a splash of water!
MORE Dressings & Sauces!
- Greek Dressing
- Honey Mustard Dressing Recipe
- Keto Blue Cheese Dressing
- Tzatziki Sauce
- Keto Ranch Dressing
- Copycat Chick-Fil-A Sauce
- Alabama White Sauce
Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 large ripe avocado
- 1 cup buttermilk more to reach the desired consistency
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 1/4 cup parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill
- 1 lime juice of
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Slice the avocado in half, remove the pit, and scoop the flesh from the skin.
- Add to a blender along with all of the other ingredients.
- Blend together until smooth and creamy. Taste and season with additional salt or lime juice, as needed.
- Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.
- Keeps in the fridge for 3 days.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This recipe was originally published in February 2014. It was updated with new photos in November 2022.
WANDA says
I LOVE THIS. WHERE DID THE OTHERS GET THE IDEA THAT RANCH WAS IN THIS?
I COULD NOT FIND ANY RANCH. JUST WONDERING?.
Karly says
Hi Wanda! We used to call for a small amount of ranch seasoning, but swapped it out for our own spices eventually so we wouldn’t have to use partial packets of the mix. 🙂
Denise says
Great recipe for my chicken salad with tomatoes. red onion and cucumbers. Instead of just adding the avocado I wanted a dressing instead. This was a great choice but took to up a notch with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.
Karly says
Sounds like a delicious salad, Denise! 🙂
Charlene says
This recipe looks so delicious! Do you know how long this will stay good in the refrigerator? Does it turn dark because of the avocado if not used right away?
patti lewis says
this was so delish, although i made my alterations 😀 i used yogurt and more lime, fresh garlic & a dash of cumin.
Heidi @ Enlightened Decadence says
This looks so good! Yes! Must try this recipe!
Thanks Karly 🙂
Kira says
Thank you for such a great recipe!
I had to improvise a bit because I didn’t have buttermilk or ranch mix, but I usually make my own ranch dressing so it was no biggie (milk + cream + vinegar for the buttermilk; parsley and dill for the ranch, although chives would have been a nice addition). 1/2 tsp. of chipotle powder was a little overpowering, but it may just be that the brand I use (Penzey’s) is stronger than most.
Donna Lundborg says
My mouth is watering just reading the recipe. Can’t wait try it. THANKS!
Jess says
Is there something else I can use instead of buttermilk? Looking to cut calories 🙂
Thanks!
Karly says
Buttermilk is actually fairly low in calories – coming in just above skim milk. It’s much more flavorful and thick, though. I wouldn’t swap it. 🙂
Kira says
Do you have access to a truly cultured buttermilk (usually found at natural food stores)? I’ve found that the flavor is more potent and it’s even more creamy than the standard buttermilk produced from CAFOs — maybe enough that you could slightly dilute it with something low calorie like rice milk to further reduce the calories without ruining the flavor or texture.
Stephanie says
Just made this dressing and it is amazing! I didn’t have chipolte powder so I used chili lime seasoning
DeltaLassie says
This recipe looks great, but I’m not a fan of Ranch.
Could you please suggest a teaspoon of some other seasoning OTHER than Ranch that might work as well? Thanks
Karly says
@DeltaLassie,
I would probably just swap in some garlic and/or onion powder to your taste. 🙂
Julie @ Table for Two says
Oh wow, this looks ridiculously good. I’m drooling just looking at that first photo!