Cilantro Lime Dressing - Cafe Rio Copycat Recipe - Num's the Word (2024)

This Cafe Rio Copycat Recipe for Cilantro Lime Dressing is creamy, flavorful and only takes 5 minutes to prepare. This simple 5 minute sauce is the highlight of any Mexican dish! Perfect as a dressing, sauce or chip dip, you’ll be asking for seconds!

I’m fairly certain I can say the words, Cafe Rio Style Cilantro Lime Dressing, a copycat recipe, and you’ll skip right past all my mumbo jumbo and go to the recipe.However, for those who like a story behind a recipe, let’s get personal.

There are two kinds of people in the world.Those who love Cafe Rio and those who have heard of Cafe Rio and dream of the day they can eat at a Cafe Rio.

No matter what group you fall into, know that you can make this Cafe Rio Style Dressing at home. However I should warn you, it’s highly addicting!

This month at church, we hosted a women’s conference.We served a Cafe Rio style lunch with lettuce, pulled pork, cilantro lime rice, black beans, cheese, chips and of course this Cilantro Lime Dressing.The entire day was a success. Everyone was fed spiritually and physically. And the lunch was insanely good.

I was in charge of the dressing.Due to an error on my calculations, I made WAAAY too much. None of us complained though because that meant we all got to bring some home. Not an ounce was wasted.

It’s now been 2 weeks, and every time I talk to someone who attended the event they ask where can they find the recipe, how can they get it and tell me just how delicious it was. Now the “dressing” was made to go on top of the salad. Holy cow is it good. But here’s a tip… I prefer to eat it as a dip too.

Every night for my night time snack, I’d pour myself a little bowl of dressing, grab a bag of tortilla chips and go to town. Holy cow … so so good.

So here’s the deal. Although this dressing works on any salad, it also works great on meat too!. It takes 5 minutes to make and is guaranteed to be a hit.

Plus those who know the ‘real deal’ all agreed that this was by far the best copy cat recipe they’ve ever had.

If you like limes and cilantro, then whip this up today. It really is the best Cilantro Lime Dressing I’ve ever had.

HOW DO YOU MAKE CILANTRO LIME DRESSING?

Seeing as how this tasty sauce only takes 5 minutes to prepare from start to finish, I’m going to start off by telling you – IT’S SO EASY! Literally just dump all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend. You’ll know it’s ready when it tastes delicious and has a hint of green coloring (thanks to the cilantro and salsa verde!)

WHAT INGREDIENTS ARE IN CILANTRO LIME DRESSING?

• Mayonnaise – or Greek yogurt – or sour cream – or Miracle Whip – your choice!
• Milk
• Dry Ranch Seasoning
• Cilantro
• Salsa Verde
• Jalapeno
• Garlic, minced or paste
• Fresh lime juice

HOW LONG DOES CILANTRO LIME DRESSING LAST?

This Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Sauce will last 5 – 7 days in the fridge. However I do know a few people who have kept it {and eaten it} much longer than that. However, as luck would have it, they have yet to get sick from it. I will say though, that once you make this creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing recipe, keeping any on hand for longer than a week will be an impressive feat. We generally make a triple batch and have it gone within a week. Yes, it’s that addicting!

CAN I USE TOMATILLOS INSTEAD OF SALSA VERDE?

Yes you can! However, if you’d rather have a fresher flavor than Salsa Verde offers, you can grab yourself two tomatillos!

Tomatillos look like little green tomatoes with a papery layer covering the flesh. Remove the papery layer and quarter the tomatillos before tossing them into the blender. You’ll get a beautifully fresh dressing that will have you double dipping! This is an excellent recipe to use tomatillos for the first time!

WHAT CAN I SUBSTITUTE INSTEAD OF MAYO?

I get asked this question quite a bit. If you don’t love mayo but still want to enjoy this creamy dressing, then I suggest using a Greek yogurt, or sour cream. Neither will affect the flavor enough for your guests to really notice. However, the cilantro, lime and dry ranch seasoning mix are the highlight of this tasty dressing, not the mayo!

DOES THIS CILANTRO LIME RANCH DRESSING NEED TO BE REFRIGERATED?

Yes! In fact, the longer it chills the better the flavor! I usually like to have mine meld a few hours before serving. You can make this Cilantro lime yogurt dressing (if you use yogurt instead of mayo) a day or two ahead of time. The difficult part in doing that is that you may eat it all before your gathering! I mean, you’re of course going to need to taste test it once or twice before serving it to your guests. We certainly do not want anyone to get ill! So it’s best if you take one for the team!

IS THIS EASY CILANTRO LIME DRESSING RECIPE ONLY FOR SALADS?

Of course not! This can be be called cilantro lime dressing for tacos or even a cilantro lime salad dressing recipe. It’s referred to by many names depending on your needs. What do you want to do with it once you’ve made it? For me, I love to smother everything in it. And what ever happens to be left, turns into a fabulous chip dip! If you have somehow asked yourself ‘what can I use it on” then you are in luck! Keep reading to find all of my favorite ways!

WHAT CAN I USE THIS CILANTRO LIME DRESSING ON?

• Pork
  • Pulled Pork Flautas
  • Sweet Pork
  • Pulled Pork Nachos
  • Pulled Pork Quesadilla
  • Sweet Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
  • Barbecue Sweet Pork Pizza
  • Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese
• Beef
  • Mexican Sloppy Joes
  • Mexican Quesadillas
  • One Pot Mexican Taco Filling
  • Taco Egg Rolls
  • Easy Beef Empanadas
• Chicken
  • Mexican Chicken Kabobs
  • Grilled Chicken Tacos
• Miscellaneous
  • Chip Dip
  • Easy Fiesta Salad

Originally Posted: March 28, 2016

Photos & Text Updated: May 10, 2019