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Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing

This homemade Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing is unbelievably delicious! Inspired by a salad dressing at Chick-fil-A that I enjoy, but made better using fresh ingredients. I serve this avocado-lime ranch dressing as a salad dressing, as a dip or drizzled over tacos. Incredibly versatile and insanely delicious.

Homemade Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing

Homemade Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing Recipe

Busy lives tend to steer us toward convenience items. By the looks of the salad dressing choices at the grocery store, they obviously rank very high on most people’s shopping list. I use them as well, my life is just as busy as yours with a family to take care of so, no shame here. I must admit, making a dressing yourself really shows the love and effort you put into something as simple as a salad and elevates it. When time allows it’s certainly well worth the effort.

  • Vegetables – Place the onion, serrano pepper, garlic cloves, lime juice and cilantro into a blender. Pulse until chopped.
  • Liquid and Seasonings – Add buttermilk, mayonnaise, cup sour cream, ripe avocado, salt, ground cumin, Mexican oregano, sugar, dark chili powder and black pepper.
  • Cover and pulse until smooth. Add more buttermilk, if desired to thin.
  • Refrigerate – Store chilled in an airtight container for at least 4 hours before serving.
  • This can be made up to 3 days in advance, shake well before serving.
  • Serve as a dressing, condiment or dip.
The Best Homemade Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing

How to Make the BEST Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing

This homemade Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing isn’t limited only to salads. You can use it as a dipping sauce for tortilla chips, drizzled on tacos, burgers, grilled chicken, pork and beyond. Try using it for a dip with vegetables or as a sauce for seafood.

  • Ingredients you’ll need to make easy Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing: One avocado, mayonnaise, buttermilk, sour cream, diced onion, fresh cilantro, serrano pepper, lime juice, cumin, garlic, salt, Mexican oregano, sugar, black pepper and dark chili powder.
  • Kitchen gadgets you’ll need: A sharp knife and cutting board, a stand blender, measuring cups and spoons and a mason jar or airtight container for storing the dressing.
  • You really don’t need high-end equipment to make this salad dressing. A stand blender or food processor is ideal and can whip-up the ingredients with very little effort in a matter of minutes.
  • For the most robust flavor, store it tightly sealed in the refrigerator for several hours prior to serving to allow the flavors to fully combine and come to life. It’s like a fiesta in a jar.
  • This dressing can be made up to 3 days in advance of serving. It will keep for up to 5 days, possibly even longer, but due to the oxidation of the fresh avocado it will not keep it’s bright green color. Use it within 3-5 days for the best results.
Homemade Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing

More Dressings and Sauces to Make

There’s nothing like whipping up a homemade salad dressing or sauce using ingredients you already have on hand. More easy recipes you may like to try:

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Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing

Prep Time10 minutes
Chill Time4 hours
Total Time4 hours 10 minutes
Course: Dip, Salad Dressing
Cuisine: American, Southern
Keyword: avocado-lime-ranch, copycat-avocado-lime-ranch, homemade-avocado-lime-ranch
Servings: 40 (2 Tbsp) servings
Calories: 109kcal
Author: Melissa Sperka

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup sweet onion diced
  • 1 serrano pepper seeded and rough chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves peeled
  • 3 Tbsp lime juice
  • 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro rough chopped
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 medium ripe avocado peeled and pitted
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp Mexican oregano
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp dark chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

  • Place the onion, serrano pepper, garlic cloves, lime juice and cilantro into a blender. Pulse until chopped.
  • Add buttermilk, mayonnaise, cup sour cream, ripe avocado, salt, ground cumin, Mexican oregano, sugar, dark chili powder and black pepper. Cover and pulse until smooth. Add more buttermilk, if desired to thin.
  • Store chilled in an airtight container for at least 4 hours before serving.
  • Can be made up to 3 days in advance, shake well before serving. Serve as a dressing, condiment or dip.

Notes

This dressing can be prepared with light dairy products and mayonnaise, if desired.

Nutrition

Serving: 2Tbsp | Calories: 109kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 326mg | Potassium: 118mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 113IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @melissassk or tag #melissassk!

98 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Thank you for posting this! I recently had this dressing on a salad at Chick fil a and just loved it. When I found your recipe I just had to try it. I made it today and I must say I think your recipe is BETTER than Chick fil a’s!!!!!! Thanks for sharing!

  2. 5 stars
    Wow, wow WOW!! I looked up this recipe because – just like other comments here – I tried the Chick-fil-a Avocado Lime Ranch dressing… and this recipe is spot on! Even better! I’m really impressed! Thank you so much for sharing this!

  3. I just discovered this dressing at Chick-fil-a the other night! I’ll definitely be making this. Bonus, I made homemade mayo for the first time the other day and needed something to help use it up quicker.

  4. How do you think this would be with coconut milk or almond milk? I love chik film a salad dressing but I’m on this diet that can only have those two milks. I need this in my life!

    1. Wow, great question. I have never tested it using either. Maybe make a batch and separate it using one of each in each half to see which you like best.

    1. It will keep for up to one week in the fridge but, will change color slightly due to the avocado. I don’t recommend freezing.

  5. I love this recipe, made it for the first time last year for guests and they were drinking it from the bottle. I didn’t save it and had a hard time finding it this time but I searched until it came up. Great flavors, bright and fresh tasting and in my opinion way better than Chic-fil-a because it doesn’t have the preservatives in it. Thanks for sharing.

  6. Hi Melissa, I just found this recipe and love it! I am gluten & lactose sensitive. I was easily able to adapt the recipe using my homemade yogurt (sub for sour cream) and kefir (great sub for buttermilk).
    I will definitely be checking out your other recipes.
    Thanks!

    1. Hi Julie, so happy you loved this one and you were able to adapt it to your diet. Thanks so much for letting me know.

  7. YUMMY!!! This is my first homemade salad dressing recipe! Obviously, my inspiration was Chic-Fil-A’s dressing that we use on their Market Salad. I had to subtitute half a jalopeno and I left out the buttermilk only because my husband likes thicker dressings. Thank you for helping to make our dinner with friends a great success!!!

  8. Wow. How many times have I tried copycat recipes only to be let down? I never comment on these things but had to for this one. I wanted to recreate the chick fil a avocado lime ranch because I love it but don’t wanna eat at chick fil a all the time to get it plus it’s healthier to make yourself and you can control what goes in it. This tastes EXACTLY the same. No, it tastes even better because of the freshness of the ingredients. How did you do this? It’s spot on! This is gonna be something I make all the time, for sure. Thanks so much for this!!!

    1. From one Melissa to another, thank you! I love that dressing too, and set out to recreate it at home. My experience with recipe development came through on this one I suppose (maybe a little luck, too) and I’m delighted you liked it. Thanks for taking the time to let me know!

      1. If I don’t have buttermilk (or any milk), could I use a ranch packet and sour cream?

        If you have a better alternative (because I don’t have milk in my house, but I have mayo and sour cream!) I’ll gladly take it!

        Thank you!

  9. I never comment on recipes, but I had to on this one. Oh my… You nailed it! My favorite recipe I’ve found online to actually live up to its hype. Tastes amazing. So glad I tried it and wasn’t disappointed. I licked the blender lid. Thank you for sharing!

  10. I’m a little late to the fiesta, but I just found this recipe. Made it this morning and it’s in my frig getting nice a cozy. I tasted it right when mixed and it’s very good…I can only imagine how good it will be in several hours. Thank you!

  11. Aaugh! Not Cilantro! Cilantro is a horrible poison weed :-). I just looked up the ingredients for Chick Fil-a’s dressing and it doesn’t mention Cilantro – probably why I think it tastes good.

    1. lol It’s true cilantro is one of those herbs people seem to love or hate. I’m definitely in the love category and can’t imagine this dressing without it. BUT, I’m certain it would be mighty tasty either way.

  12. I can’t wait to try this dressing!! We can’t get enough of the Chic-Fil-A version! Where can I find Mexican oregano? I’ve looked at several chain groceries with no luck.

    1. I actually find it quite easily in the Hispanic foods section of Walmart, Food Lion, Harris Teeter and beyond. If you’re only looking on the spice aisle you can find it at Fresh Market, Whole Foods or World Market.

  13. I just made this. Oh my goodness. Heaven! I love the chik fil a one. But this is MUCH better. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!!

    1. Hmm, that is a challenge. If you’ve had success adapting other recipes that use milk and sour cream, it’s certainly worth a try. I’ve never had to make it dairy free, so, I can’t attest to the results first hand. If you try it, come back and comment it may help someone else with the same issue.

  14. OMG!!! This is amazing. Thank you so much for posting this and including the name of the restaurant chain it resembles. I was looking for that recipe or something like it, and you NAILED it! I was scraping every last drop out of the blender, so I didn’t lose a drop. Thank you so much!

  15. I made this last night and it DOES taste just like the dressing you can get at Chick-Fil-A! It is really, really good!

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