Cilantro-Lime Dressing

OH MY GOODNESS!!! This dressing really is that yummy! I always get rave reviews when I make it, and everyone asks for the recipe. My husbands eyes light up when I tell him that we are having out Southwest Chicken salad for dinner with this dressing. It is way better than anything you can buy in the store. We do add a little less honey like others have stated. You can add a little more lime if you want it to be a little more tangy, or a little more vinegar for more of a vinegarette flavor. One time I put about 4x the vinegar (on accident) and it still tasted great. We just put the whole thing in our Vita-mix blender in the order it is written and blend it up - it turns out great that way, and you don't have to chop everything. For our Southwest salad we do 1-2 heads of lettuce, 2 cobs of raw white corn kernels, 1 large can of black beans rinsed, 1 bag of Montery Jack cheese, 1 red onion, grilled chicken breast, and 1 bunch of cilantro. We have also added tomatoes and avocado if you like them. Thank you to the poster of this recipe, you did a great job!

This is delicious. I almost didn't review this because I had to leave out the ginger. Ginger has a strong distinct flavor so I feel a little strange about reviewing with such a big change. My husband hates ginger. I decided to go ahead and review though because it is so good even with out the ginger. I am not big on sweet dressings so I cut down on the honey a bit just do to personal preference. I have not been able to stop thinking about it. Wonderful flavor! (update 6-2011) I just finally made this with the ginger and it is even better! Unless you have a ginger hater, put it in!

Followed the recipe exactly - was a huge success! I marinated chicken with cilantro, pineapple juice, lemon juice, and garlic prior to grilling. Served chicken over a bead of salad greens. Drizzled the dressing over everything - was a huge success! Will definitely make again.

Four stars only because there are some necessary changes. As suggested by several reviewers, I switched the quantities of lime juice and honey so that there was a total of a scant 1/4 c. honey and just over 1/3 c. (three fresh limes' worth) of lime juice. I also added TWO bunches of cilantro. I have never had the original restaurant version that this recipe is attempting to duplicate, but I would argue that it is still just a tad on the sweet side. I think I'll try only 2T of honey next time I make it, but I WILL be making it again as it's really good. It is also really great mixed with a little ranch dressing for a cooler, more soothing dressing if some don't like the peppiness of this one.

AWESOME!! made this dressing and mixed it into a huge bowl of romaine, black beans, monterey jack cheese, avacado, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and sliced chicken breast for a party and it was a big hit! Everyone loved it. I will definitely make again.

I had trouble deciding whether to rate this 4 or 5 stars because I had to change it slightly, but in the end it came out great! Most crucial change: it NEEDS a generous pinch of salt to bring all of the flavors together. Also, I ended up doubling the recipe, but I just doubled the lime juice and other ingredients without needing to double the olive oil or cilantro (I ran out)--just added an extra little bit of each. Good to keep in mind for those of you looking to lower the fat content or if you don't have enough cilantro. It's still great! Other changes: I used sugar instead of honey because I didn't feel like using up my honey supply. This worked very well. I didn't measure the sugar but just added more until it tasted right. And I don't have a food processor, so I chopped everything as finely as I could and shook it up in a jar. Delicious! If the cilantro chopping didn't take a year, I'd make it all the time!

I followed the recipe exactly, and it was very good as written, but it was a little too sweet for my taste. Made it again and changed the honey to a 1/4 cup, the lime to a 1/3 cup, left the rest as written, and it was perfect, to me. This has a very unique taste, and is so much better than anything you can buy in the store. Five stars and highly recommended!

I really liked this. Definitely do NOT leave out the ginger. I was skeptical so I added it last. I couldn't detect it, but it made all the difference. I prepared the recipe exactly to start with. This was also too sweet for me; I will start with a couple Tb. next time. I haven't had Friday's dressing, but with about a 1/2 tsp. of sesame oil, it tasted like my local J. Alexander's dressing...yum! I also preferred this with double the cilantro...can't get enough cilantro! Thanks for sharing this!

Delicous!! I am an avid Cooks Illustrated fan, they wrote recently about the flavor packed in the stems of cilantro - I used the whole stem and leaves(big time saver) Just perfect. Unlike parsely, cilantro stems are not bitter.

I always end up having cilantro go bad in the fridge after using half of it for another recipe. I have now found a use for the leftovers. This dressing was perfect. I love anything with lime so I doubled the lime juice and reduced the honey. The cilantro was not overwhelming at all. I served it on a salad of romaine, stir-fried chicken marinated in lime juice and soy sauce, sauteed mushrooms, avocado, green onion, almonds and cheese. My husband raved over it.

I was actually looking for a good cilantro lime marinade for chicken when I found this. With very little tweaking, this makes an excellent, perhaps the best cilantro lime marinade recipes I've ever tried. I think the ginger makes the difference. For two chicken breasts, I tripled the garlic and halved the vinegar and olive oil. Followed everything else exactly. Marinated them for about 1-1/2 hours, then grilled stove top. Served with avocado mango salsa & lime jasmine rice from the spicy coconut shrimp recipe from allrecipes.com. Easy, delicious & fresh! Tip for grilling chicken: start at medium-high heat, sear chicken for three minutes each side, then turn down heat to medium low. Don't exceed 7 mins. total per side for thick breasts, 5 minutes for thin ones, & always allow to rest covered with foil for ten minutes before slicing. Chicken continues to cook while resting without drying out! No need to make multiple cuts into the breast to check done-ness, which besides ruining the appearance, releases all the juices and results in dried out chicken.

we LOVED this dressing. I served it as a side with carne asada tacos. I made it as written, but probably added a bit more cilantro. We served over romaine lettuce with queso fresco crumbles and homemade fried tortilla strips. It may look like dark green pea soup, but it was excellent! Update, this is also great as a marinade for chicken!

very good, but does not keep. The next day it was very sour tasting.

FABULOUS! This is just like the J. Alexanders dressing they serve on their Thai Kai Grilled Chicken Salad! YUM! I substituted 3 Tbsp. Blue Agave instead of 1/3 cup honey and kept the 1/4 cup (on the full side of 1/4 cup) lime juice and 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar. I also cut the olive oil to 1/3 cup just to cut some calories. Did everything else just as written and it was awesome! Serve on a salad of romaine, head lettuce, green and red cabbage --- all chopped fine, red pepper finely chopped and grated carrots---green onion if you like. Throw on a few store-bought tortilla strips and some grilled chicken and you will have the best and healthiest salad ever!

easy to prepare. taste great.

I was looking for something 'vegetable' to go with our Mexican meal and this was AMAZING. What a perfect dressing...I can't get enough. Mixed with salad greens, avocado, black olives, crunched tortilla chips, frozen corn soaked in water to thaw and a bit of Monterrey jack cheese. Would be good with chicken on top, but I don't eat meat. This is my new favorite salad, and cilantro is SO good for you.

Delicious! Great blend of flavors. I used double the amt. of cilantro because I had so much and we love it. I may make it with less honey next time just to try a less sweeter version. I even planted some cilantro plants so I can make this all the time. My new standby recipe!

if you love lime and cilantro - this is IT. Yum, yum, yum! My mods were no jalapeno, only because I didn't have it. 1 heaping tsp. minced garlic, 2 tsp. minced ginger, 1/2 cup lime juice, keep honey ration the same. 1/3 cup packed cilantro. Result = perfect amount of sweet to citrus balance while not over powering the cilantro.

I have searched and searched for a good salad dressing recipe and have finally found it! I absolutely love that it's shelf stable and not made with mayo or yogurt. I will make time and time again. Love it! LOVE it! LOVE IT!!

The hubby doesn't like cilantro - at all - and I didn't tell him it was one of the ingredients listed. He loved it! I've made this using the Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken and the Chili Lime Chicken Kabobs both from AR and equally as good served in a salad with this dressing. Definitely a keeper. Thanks for the submission Lin!

Great dressing! I have been looking for a dressing like this for a while, and finally found a good one. Based on other reviews, I only added 2 t. of honey. I didn't have a fresh jalapeno, nor fresh ginger root, so I substituted jarred pickled jalapenos and about 1/4 t. of ginger (dried spice) and it worked just fine.

Was desperate for a new salad dressing...found it!

Absolutely delicious!!! I have not added a jalapeno to a homemade dressing before but I loved it! Sweet and spicy things are a big hit for us so we loved it!!!!

absolutely wonderful. just what i was craving. however, one teeny tiny change, don't seed the jalapeno! a little kick is good.

This really is amazing dressing. The cilantro is not overwhelming; in fact, it doesn't even seem that prominent a flavor (but I love cilantro, so the more the better for me). I think I accidentally added slightly more sweetener than called for, so I added more lime juice to cut it down. I did use agave syrup because my honey was crystalized. This is fantastic dressing; a nice change from my usually vinagrette. I will make again for sure! Thanks for sharing.

This dressing was amazing! I followed the recipe, except for decreasing the honey to 1/4 cup (per other reviews) and it was perfect! Topped a salad with romaine, bl. beans, corn, tomatoes, red peppers, and red onion. It was delish!! Thank you, I will be making this regularly!

This recipe was perfect. Very flavorful with a sweet and spicy hint. I didnt need to change anything with the dressing. I poured it over a fajita style salad. Def. was a big hit!

Good as is but too sweet for our tastes; a bit more bite and it would be wonderful. Next time we will add less honey and more lime juice/vinegar.

I made this dressing following the suggestion of others to decrease the honey slightly and increase the lime juice slightly (basically rswapping the measurements for the two). I also used ground ginger instead of fresh because that's what I had on hand, and culantro instead of cilantro because that's what's growing in my herb garden. I put it on a Mexicali salad sprinkled with crushed blue corn tortilla chips. Delicious! After my husband finished his salad he continued dipping the tortilla chips in the dressing. He wants to use this on Mahi Mahi next. Definitely will keep this recipe in my frequent use pile. Thanks for posting!

This was way too much honey for me. Next time I'll only use a spoonful. The flavors were great though--salty, sweet, sour, and spicy!

Oh. My. God. This is soo good. I did everything according to the directions except I used half of the jalapeno, and reduced the EVOO to 1/3 cup. I made this as a marinade for chicken, but it tasted soo good just after I dipped my finger in to try it out! I definitely will make this again! (Oh! And I used 1 whole bunch of cilantro -- which I think is about 1/4 cup packed anyways!) Yum-o!

This recipes was amazing! Like the others, I reduced the honey to 2 TBS and instead of EVOO, I used vegetable oil so that it would impart less flavor. I also left out the jalapeno because my daughter doesn't eat anything spicey. Awesome as a dressing or a marinade.

Excellent recipe. To the person who indicates that it doesn't keep and that it was sour, I would disagree. It keeps just fine. The jalapenos I used were not 'zingy' enough, so I added approximately half of a small habanero. I also added approximately just a little more than 1/4 cup of kumquats (quartered and seeded.) I used blood orange infused olive oil and only half the amount it called for. I would add less honey next time I make it. I did a taste test with colleagues and all agreed that it was something they would eat/use, especiall over fish, pork, steak even. I highly recommend this one and don't be afraid to add your own touch! =)

This is a great recipe

Tasting it in my mouth was like a firework with the strong flavours! Amazing

This is excellent! A restaurant couldn't do any better.

This is delicious! I only used 1/4 cup of honey, and upped the lime juice (not sure how much I actually used, I started with 1/3 cup, and continued to add until it tasted right to me). I served this over a green salad with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and carrots, sauteed chicken breast and a mix of black beans and corn. Delicious!

I hate to do this, but I have to review it. I made this yesterday for my husband and I. I cook a lot of Mexican food and am always looking for a great recipe. With that said, I prepared this recipe EXACTLY as stated. I feel if you are going to review the recipe, you need to follow it to the letter. Period. This had potential, but it was SO sweet! I really think having more of a 90% oil/vinegar mixture to a 10% honey mixture would have been better. 1/3 of a cup of honey is a lot. I also found the ginger to be overpowering. Will not put in next time. I would next time make this like a vinaigrette. Maybe add a little dijon mustard. Also jalapenos (seeded) would be nice. To make it really over the top you could add sour cream and mayo, for a creamy salad dressing. Yummy. Will try that next and update with my results.

Great taste...I think it's just a bit too sweet to be five stars, but I'll cut back on the honey next time. Served this over roasted chicken breasts and greens.

Delicious! I'm racking my brain trying to figure out what else I can put this on. I'lll definitely be making this again!

We loved it. Carl said it was the first time that he had Fish Tacos that he liked and he LIKED these (w/this dressing)!

SO YUMMY!!! Thanks for sharing!! :)

awesome but double the recipe

Love it! I used it to make a slaw with cabbage, mild peppers, and tomatios. It worked out beautifully.

Deeeeeelicious! Everything I ever wanted in a salad dressing.

a little sweet for my liking but very, very yummy!!

Loved it!!! Perfect sweetness with the cilantro that follows it. Thanks!

Absolutely delicious on grilled chicken, salad and coleslaw! Tastes just like TGI Fridays!

delicious! i serve it over a chopped salad of broccoli, cauliflower, red, green, and yellow bell peppers, tomatoes, black beans, and avocado. very healthy and so yummy and filling!

I have had salad 4 days in a row just so I can use this dressing! Highly recommended - only revision I made is cutting back on the honey (only because I don't have much of a sweet tooth).

This was very good, even though I did alter it a lot for lack of the correct ingredients. Instead of lime juice, I added a bit more lemon juice than what it called for. I also didn't have ginger root or garlic cloves on hand, so I put in a little bit of ginger and garlic powder instead to taste. I also left out the jalapenos and instead placed peperoncinis on top of the salad, which was very good with tomatoes and peppers. Overall, my family said it was different but that they loved it. The next night when we had salads, my father requested the same salad dressing again over all the storebought kinds we have! Thanks for a great recipe. :)

I didn't have ginger root (in fact, I have no idea what it is!), but this has become my new favorite dressing! I served it over a salad of: salad greens, green onions, tomatoes, a can of rinsed black beans, and corn. The salad was also topped with marinated/grilled chicken strips and seasoned/grilled tortillas (I brushed soft tortillas with olive oil, sprinkled a fiesta seasoning on them, and grilled them for 3-4 min each side, then cut them into strips). This is an amazing, light, and summery meal! Thanks for the great dressing recipe :)

Add a couple more jalapenos for some kick and it is perfect!!

The dressing was a bit too sweet for my taste. Next time I'll cut the honey down to 1/4 cup. I didn't have fresh ginger root, so I used 1/2 tsp powdered ginger. Juice from 2 large limes did the job too. Overall, a nice, light dressing. Would make a good marinade too. Thank you Lin!

So delicious! Used two cloves of garlic, 1/4 C honey, and about 1/4 C olive oil. Was plenty sweet (almost a bit too sweet) and perfect amount of oil. I thought the full jalapeno would make it too spicy, but not at all - it was perfect. This dressing is SO flavorful and would work awesome as a marinade or even as a substitute for pesto. Took about 5 minutes to throw together. Made a salad with spinach leaves, corn, black beans, grated cheese, avocado slices, and grilled chicken. Drizzled the dressing over the top and fiance said "best salad I've ever had!"

My husband bought a bunch of cilantro and since it doesn't keep well I went on line looking for recipes and found this. The only ingredient I didn't have was the jalapenos so I went ahead and made it. It sure looks vile but what a flavour! I now go shopping for cilantro with this recipe in mind and try to find ways to use the left overs when I've made the salad dressing.

I LOVE this recipe; I use it for salad dressing, marinade, glaze on fish anything really. Recently I added 1/2 a nice ripe avocado and pureed - yummy! Made it a little creamier, and helped keep the dressing emulsified. Try it!

This is a WONDERFUL dressing. Like others, I decreased the sugar (I used 2-3 tsp of white sugar instead of honey) and used 1/3 cup olive oil instead of 1/2 cup. I served it with taco salad and intend to use it as my go-to dressing for this!

This dressing is wonderful, my husband and I really loved it, so I gave it 5 stars for flavor and ease. However, I made mine a day in advanced so naturally put it in the refrigerator to keep. It solidified to a pudding consistency. I tried blending it and it just separated...nuked it in the microwave for a minute on low power, re-blended, and it came back to its original state :-) Just a heads up if you plan to refrigerate.

Love it! I was looking for a marinade to use for steak but now that I've made it I can't "waste it" as a marinade - it's THAT good! I didn't have honey so I used light corn syrup inplace and it's awesome, can't wait to try it again with honey!

AMAZING dressing! I brought this dressing to top a SW style salad and when the attendees there found out I made it, they hounded me for the recipe. They ALL raved about how delicious and fresh it was. Tastes even better the next day! I found that 1/3C honey is too much and only added 2 tsp or so but that is just my personal preference. The ginger gives it a nice kick. I didn't have Balsamic so I used Red Wine Vinegar instead. Fabulous recipe!

very good and unusual. it has a nice bite to it.

This dressing is fantastic! My husband absolutely loves it and so do I - I didn't have any jalapenos so I substituted three serranos and it worked just fine - will definitely go with jalapeno next time but we were still very satisfied with the result.

Very good.

Oh My Stars! I love this dressing! I left out the pepper because I thought it might be too spicy for me, and it was still fantabulous! This is my new favorite dressing! I make it weekly!

Very tasty. A little too sweet, and didn't care for the olive oil flavor. I made again with a bit less honey and substituted grape seed oil for the olive oil, and it was great!

delish! packed with flavor, healthy. my boyfriend and i tried it with the south western salad that one of the reviewers mentioned and loved it!

I really dislike the taste of cilantro, so I went light with it in this recipe. I also decreased the amount of honey, like so many else have. What a great flavor!! I will definitely make it again.

Pretty tasty stuff! I did increase the lime juice to 1/3 Cup, decreased the honey to 1/4 Cup (I actually used Agave Nectar instead) and I only put in a couple pinches of salt. Nice, light dressing :)

This recipe was really good and simple to make. I didn't useb ginger because my family doesn't care for it but other than that this was a nice dressing recipe.

Excellent! Will also be using this as a sauce for the pan fish we catch on vacation. I didn't minced the ginger and that was a big mistake that I'll never do again since ginger is fiberous. Look forward to using this for entertaining.

It had very interesting taste (in a good way of course). I didn't remove the seeds from the pepper because I love spicy food. I used ground ginger and didn't measure out the ingredients (just dumped them all in my blender), so mine turned out a little bit thick (less honey and oil, more lime juice, vinegar, and cilantro). I had this dressing with salad (black bean, corn, lettuce, tomato, avocado, red onion), but I think it will make a really good sauce for grilled chicken main dish. (I will try with my leftover dressing!) ***Edit: So with leftover dressing I made cilantro-lime chicken sandwich. Basically mix what you would use in salad (tomatos, avocado, red onion, black bean, etc) with the dressing and bit of mayo and add shredded/chopped chicken breast. Mix well until well coated. Toast 2 pcs of bread and put shredded cheese (I used cheddar) on both right away so it melts a little and put the sandwich filling in between the pcs of bread. Very yummy and my brother asked for a second! Freeze the leftover dressing so you can make this quick sandwich!

I was looking for a low-fat alternative to ranch or a mayonnaise-based cilantro dressing for my Southwest chicken salad, and stumbled across this recipe. I decided to give it a try, and boy am I ever glad I did! It was the perfect blend of sweet and spicy! I'm a sissy when it comes to heat, so I was a little hesitant to use the jalapeno, but am glad I did. I took all the seeds out, and it gave the dressing the right amount of heat for me. In fact, I think I might even be brave and leave a few seeds in next time! This is definitely a keeper for me, and I will be making it over and over again!

I found this recipe while searching for another. Am I glad I did! We LOVE this dressing. Perfect!

This is the most delicious salad dressing I have ever made. I followed it precisely and it was exceptional. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!

Loved this!

We just loved this. What a great combination. Need not say more except for try this dressing! As soon as I run out I will be making more! Thank you for sharing Lin.

I wanted to love this - really I did, but for my palate the taste of balsamic vinegar and olive oil were far too prominent. I followed the exact recipe but it didn't meet my expectations.

this turned out SO GOOD ! marinated the chicken strips in this, grilled with peppers and onions and served on a mix of lettuces topped with more of the dressing in a wrap! HEAVEN !

Love this. My family loves it. My dad isn't a salad kinda guy and he raved about it. Even better the next day. I decreased olive oil to a dollop.

loved this recipe. Did decrease honey like some others did. Also decreased oil to 1/4 cup. Added extra garlic and full tsp of ginger. Also increased fresh lime juice to 1/2 cup. Best dressing I have ever tried.

Made this dressing for our shrimp salad starter at Christmas and everyone loved it!

I made this recipe as written. All I could taste was the over powering taste of olive oil. I will try this recipe again, but did throw it out the first time I made it. I refrigerated it for a couple of hours. I will try it again because I love cilantro and lime. Thanks for the recipe.

I made this dressing tonight and it was great. For anyone who doesn't have all the ingredients on hand like me, this is what I used and it turned out fine: I didn't have jalapeno so I used dried chipotle chili pepper, I didn't have fresh ginger so I used candied ginger, and I didn't have olive oil so I used rice bran oil. I hope this is helpful to people who don't have all the ingredients and doesn't want to make a trip to the market

Loved this recipe. I followed the recipe exactly except for the salt. I didn't add any initially. On the first tasting I realized that it definitely needed salt - I added sea salt from a grinder. But then it still needed more- not really a salt fan I then used Mrs. Dash salt free Carribean citrus. This did the trick! OMG I ate a whole bag of salad and threw it on my chicken also.

Love it!

The dressing is amazing... you can make chicken with it , salmon.. I love it ..I love the sweetness and the tanginess I did not put jalapenio and it was deliciosa

Holy cow this is fantastic!!! I doubled everything except the honey. It was absolutely delicious! Wow!! Update: I have made this several times this week. Everyone is raving about it. Follow the recipe exactly except try 2Tbs of honey first then add more to your taste. I wish I had found this recipe years ago. Unbelievably good!

Just made this dressing minus the jalapeno and substituting candied ginger since I didn't have a useable root in the house...DELICIOUS! This will be on my favorites page, for sure!

This is the best dressing I have ever had! I didn't have fresh ginger so I used powdered and it was still wonderful. I got rave reviews from everyone who tried it. My mom does not like cilantro at all but she loved this dressing and asked for the recipe! This has become my new go-to dressing.

Love this! The only thing I changed was substituting regular vinegar instead of balsamic.

This stuff is AMAZING!! Since everyone seemed to think it was too sweet, the ONLY thing I changed was to reduce the honey to 1/4 cup (instead of the original 1/3 cup). I used a portion of the dressing to marinate salmon fillets, which I then cooked on a skillet. When they were done, I drizzled a little more of the dressing on top. Let me tell you, I felt like I died and went to heaven when I tasted it. Thank you!!

Very good! My boyfriend love it and I plan on making it again. It's good to make when you have leftover cilantro and don't know what to do with it.

Easy and quick and will go with may things! A keeper for sure.

This was delicous dressing and so easy to make! I needed a dressing to go on top of our Tri-Tip Southwestern salad and this was perfect! It is a bit sweet but I have a sweet tooth so it didn't bother me. I highly recommend trying this one!

6-21-20 ~This was one of the best, most memorable, dressings I’ve made in a very long time. Thank goodness for a couple of things – first, that Hubs was out of town as anything with cilantro must be avoided as far as he’s concerned. Second, that it was the rare occasion I had some ginger on hand. This dressing would never have come to pass without these factors. I have to say that the ginger and the balsamic vinegar kind of threw me here and I questioned how they’d work in a cilantro-lime dressing. It turns out that while neither is boldly evident, they are indispensable ingredients that create a well-balanced, nuanced whole. I made one simple adjustment, reducing the honey by half, to suit my tastes and, for me, that was perfect. I drizzled this over butter lettuce topped with grilled chicken, seasoned simply with salt, pepper and a little garlic powder so as not to compete with this totally fresh and lovely dressing.

I can be added to the long list of folks that love this salad dressing. So very delicious! I made some for a friend with young children and omitted the jalapeno and it was still a hit. For myself and my family I added like 1/4 t. of crushed red pepper flakes because I didn't have a jalapeno. Was just over the top wonderful!

Wow! I mixed 1 cup of quinoa (cooked according to package directions), 1can black beans, finely diced tomato, diced avacodo, red onion, corn, and added the dressing (about 3/4 of it), for an amazing black bean quinoa salad. This dressing is spot on and will be a staple. Maybe a tad less honey next time. Love this though!

It was a little sweet and next time I will use more lime than honey. I marinaded the chicken in some of the dressing before grilling, tossed the salad in the rest and drizzled a little on the cooked chicken. Fabulous. Thanks Lin for sharing. Will make this again and again! My family raved about it