This easy, creamy cilantro lime dressing recipe is one of our favorite sauces to keep in the fridge. Use it for salads, drizzle over tacos, add to burritos, and more!

This dressing came to be when I was craving a taco salad and wanted a bright, creamy cilantro dressing to go with it. I started with our homemade ranch as a base, but swapped the herbs for a bunch of cilantro and the lemon for fresh lime juice.

The results were one of the yummiest salad dressings we’ve made. This creamy dressing is perfect for salads, but you can use it for so much more. Think tacos, burritos, rice bowls, a dip for veggie quesadillas, and even as a dip for vegetables.

Key Ingredients

• Sour Cream and Mayonnaise: I use sour cream and mayonnaise to make our ranch recipe extra creamy, so I do the same here. If you want to lighten things up a little, you can substitute the sour cream with Greek yogurt or even blended cottage cheese (weird, but it works!).
• Buttermilk or Milk: Buttermilk adds a tangy, creamy flavor that’s hard to beat. If you don’t have buttermilk, regular milk with a bit more lime juice also works. If you buy buttermilk for this recipe and have some left over, try these buttermilk pancakes (I love them!).
• Lime Juice: A splash of fresh lime juice brightens the dressing in a way that store-bought bottles can’t compete with. Plus, the lime works so well with the fresh cilantro.
• Cilantro and Green Onion: I love fresh herbs and am committed to using a lot of them whenever I buy them. That’s why you’ll be using an entire cup of cilantro leaves for this cilantro dressing. The green onion adds even more fresh flavor. I love it!
• Jalapeño: This was a last-minute addition the first time I made this, and I’ve been adding it ever since. I mince about 1 tablespoon of fresh jalapeño, and then blend it with the other ingredients. It doesn’t make it spicy. That said, you can always increase it.
• Spices: Onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper round everything out and make this dressing extra delicious.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

Tips for Making My Cilantro Lime Dressing

Tip 1: Use a blender. The quickest way to make this recipe is to add all the ingredients to a blender, hit go, and wait 30 seconds. A food processor works, too!

Tip 2: Make it ahead of time. Making your own salad dressing every night of the week is probably not ideal. That’s why I am happy to say that this one lasts when stored in an airtight container for about 4 days. The green of the cilantro may dull slightly, but not much, and the dressing will still taste great.

Ways to Use Your Dressing

I’m already using it for everything. It’s excellent for this taco salad, as a sauce for these simple chicken breasts, drizzled over roasted veggies, and I’ve added it to burrito bowls made with my favorite cilantro lime rice!

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I love this Chicken and Avocado Salad with Lime and Cilantro, and it’s a great year-round salad with the perfect combination of flavors. And if you’re not a cilantro fan, see my suggestion for making this without cilantro!

PIN the Chicken and Avocado Salad to try it later!

Chicken and Avocado Salad with Lime and Cilantro was inspired by a recipe my sister Pam discovered on Pinterest! And my version of this tasty salad is a recipe I’ve made over and over since Pam first told me about it. She sent me an e-mail that had just a list of ingredients. So I worked on the salad and made up my own amounts and directions!

My version of this favorite salad has chunks of chicken and avocado, and I mix the lime and mayonnaise to make a dressing. And my family has some cilantro avoiders, so I often make an equally-delicious version without cilantro. Through the years I’ve made this chicken and avocado salad for so many parties. And if you like these ingredients, I bet this salad is going to be a keeper for you too!

The salad became so popular on the site that a few years ago I decided I should improve the photos. I also realized now I usually make a slightly larger amount than the original recipe. So this recipe is the new-and-improved version of this chicken and avocado salad, with slightly more chicken, avocado, and cilantro than the original version. Feel free to adjust ingredients and amounts any way that suits your fancy! And I think this combination will be good no matter how you switch it up!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• cooked chicken
• avocados
• fresh squeezed lime juice; I used my fresh-frozen lime juice
• salt, to taste
• green onion
• chopped fresh cilantro (optional, see notes)
• mayo

How to make this chicken and avocado salad without Cilantro:

If you’re one of those people with the anti-cilantro tastebuds, simply triple the amount of green onion and skip the cilantro. This salad will still be amazing without cilantro, I promise!

Can you make this salad with rotisserie chicken?

Yes, I highly recommend using rotisserie chicken for this salad if you don’t want to take time to poach some chicken breasts. I’ve made this with rotisserie chicken I cut up myself and also with the pre-cut rotisserie chicken that comes in a big pack at Costco!

How long will Chicken and Avocado Salad keep in the fridge?

I’ve enjoyed this salad for lunch when it had been in the fridge overnight. But the avocado is a fragile ingredient and I don’t think it would last in the fridge for more than a day or two, and this salad is always best freshly made.

How low in carbs is the Chicken and Avocado Salad?

This amazing salad is not only extra flavorful but the salad only has 2 net carbs per serving and 18 grams of protein!

How to make Chicken and Avocado Salad with Lime and Cilantro:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. I used three cups of diced chicken rotisserie chicken from Costco, and we cut it into chunks of chicken that weren’t too small.
2. Dice up 2 medium avocados, and toss them with fresh-squeezed lime juice. 
3. Slice the green onion. (Use about 3/4 cup sliced green onion if you’re skipping the cilantro.
4. Chop up fresh cilantro. (We chopped the cilantro very fine so the cilantro flavor would be all through the salad.)
5. I mixed mayo and fresh squeezed lime juice to make the dressing; use more or less dressing to taste. (Remember there is already some lime juice on the avocado, so if you’re not that crazy about lime you could use a bit less.)
6. Put chicken in a bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients, add sliced green onions and dressing and mix well, so all the chicken is coated with dressing.
7. Add avocado with the lime juice that’s in the bottom of the bowl and mix gently to combine.
8. Then add finely chopped cilantro and gently mix again, just until it’s barely combined. Season with salt to taste.
9. Serve the salad right away or chill for a few hours before serving.
10. This salad will keep in the fridge for a day, although the avocado is best when it’s freshly made.

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

Chicken and Avocado Salad with Lime and Cilantro could be a nice side dish for a pot-luck. But if you wanted to use it as a main dish salad I’d serve with something like Olive Bread, Savory Almond Flour Bread, or Low-Carb High-Fiber Savory Muffins on the side.

More Salads with Chicken or Avocado:

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Chicken and Avocado Salad with Lime and Cilantro would be perfect for low-carb eating plans, including Keto. The salad would be approved for any phase of the original South Beach Diet, but remember that avocados and mayonnaise are both a limited food for South Beach.  

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This mega-popular recipe for chicken and avocado salad was first posted in 2012, and I have made it so many times since then. It was updated with new photos and more information in 2021 and was last updated with more information in 2026.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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This delicious cilantro lime shrimp recipe is ready in less than 20 minutes and has easily become one of my family’s favorite shrimp recipes!

This cilantro lime shrimp is one of my favorite shrimp recipes. I love classic shrimp scampi with lemon, garlic, and butter, but lately, I’ve fallen for this shrimp with a butter sauce made with fresh cilantro and lime.

This recipe is quick and simple, so you can absolutely make it tonight. It takes less than 20 minutes and requires only a handful of ingredients.

Key Ingredients

• Shrimp: Use fresh, high-quality jumbo or large shrimp. You can keep the tails on or remove them, whichever you prefer.
• Butter: I use butter in two ways in this cilantro lime shrimp recipe. First, I cook the shrimp in it, and then, as it finishes cooking, I swirl in more for a creamy sauce. I do the same when making these seared scallops.
• Garlic: I use 6 garlic cloves for this recipe and love it!Lime: I use the juice and zest of 1 lime for this recipe.
• Cilantro: I use a lot of cilantro! I know not everyone loves it, and if that’s you, don’t worry. You can swap the cilantro for any tender fresh herb like parsley or basil.
• Coriander: It’s optional, but it adds a delicious citrusy flavor to the shrimp. Coriander seeds are the seeds of cilantro.
• Green Onion: It’s also optional, but I love the extra green and flavor it adds.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make the Best Cilantro Lime Shrimp

Tip 1: Use lots of garlic. When we crave garlicky shrimp, we go all in. That means we don’t hold back on the amount of garlic in this recipe. We use 6 garlic cloves (sometimes more) for one pound of shrimp.

Tip 2: Use lots of lime. We use the juice and zest of a whole lime. To remove the zest, we use our Microplane (a fine hand grater). It’s quick and easy, plus the tool isn’t expensive.

Tip 3: Make a butter sauce. For the best flavor, cook the shrimp in a little butter, and then as the shrimp finishes cooking, slide the skillet off the heat and swirl in more butter. Since the pan isn’t too hot, the butter melts into a creamy sauce.

Serving Suggestions

These cilantro lime shrimp are perfect served family-style. The shrimp are a bit messy, but that’s a good thing in this case. Serve these by themselves, with pasta (hello garlic cilantro shrimp pasta), over cilantro lime rice, coconut rice, Mexican rice, on top of homemade grits, or wrapped in homemade tortillas. I also love them next to this avocado and cucumber salad.

Recipe Variations

Our recipe is flexible. Although we use garlic, cilantro, and lime in our photos to make the sauce, you don’t need to. You can always take our method and swap the flavors around a bit. Swap lime for lemon and cilantro for parsley. This lemon parsley version is similar to more traditional shrimp scampi. Or try fresh basil, dill, and tarragon. I also highly recommend our cajun butter shrimp!

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This juicy salad tastes like summer! With chipotle chicken, sweet corn, avocado, cilantro vinaigrette, bacon crumbles, and fresh strawberries for a pop of sweetness.

Summah summah summahhhhhhtime!

I kinda can’t believe it since here in Minnesota we were all “April Blizzard” a minute ago, but you guys, it’s totally here. And I totally had it for dinner last night.

Here’s what it tasted like:

• juicy strawberries
• crisp salty bacon
• sweet green lettuce
• bursts of sweet corn
• creamy avocado chunks
• and smoky chipotle grilled chicken! REPEAT: GRILLED!

How To Make Our Chipotle Cobb Salad:

Heya! FYI, Book links are Amazon affiliate links.

This dream team of ingredients better known as a Summer Chipotle Chicken Cobb Salad is coming to our hearts today from the What’s Gaby Cooking Cookbook.

Remember when I published those BEST EVER chicken tinga tacos and told you about my friend Melissa’s amazing book and then talked about how I hardly ever promote books? But then I turned around and told you how great THIS one was, too? LOL to me. It’s just dumb luck that both of these came out when they did.

We’re not paid for any cookbook promotions – I just like to show you the ones that we like and give you a sneak at their best recipes.

And this one is one that I like. And this might be one of its best recipes. Tied with the cilantro vinaigrette, which I couldn’t not use again for this salad. I know Gaby says to use the champagne vinaigrette with this salad, but GABY COME ON YOU CAN’T TEASE US LIKE THAT. One good lick of that cilantro dressing and you’re done. Goodbye. This is your life now.

Okay, salad ingredients. As mentioned, there is a lot of fresh summery goodness going on here, and it looks like so:

The more “involved” part of the recipe (if you can even call it that) is just plopping your chicken in some spices and a few chipotle peppers and letting it marinate for a while before grilled.

WORTH IT, you guys! So worth it.

Also probably more normal to take a picture of the grilled chicken rather than the raw marinated stuff, but who said anything about normal.

Bjork and I ate this salad on the deck on a random Tuesday night and we both mega-loved every lip-lickin juicy bite.

It’s a little spicy, a lot crunchy, and those bites of sweetness in between are so super rewarding.

Thank you, Summer Chipotle Chicken Cobb Salad, for making all our dreams come true.

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Description

This juicy salad tastes like summer! With chipotle chicken, sweet corn, avocado, cilantro vinaigrette, bacon crumbles, and fresh strawberries for a pop of sweetness. Recipe republished from the What’s Gaby Cookin’ cookbook!

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For the Chipotle Chicken:

For the Summer Cobb Salad:

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1. Prep the chicken: Combine the oil, chipotles, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, black pepper, and salt in a bowl. Place the chicken in the bowl and toss to coat the chicken in the marinade. Place in the fridge and let it marinate while you prep your other ingredients.
2. Prep salad: Prep all your salad ingredients (cook the bacon, slice the strawberries, cut the corn off the cob, etc.).
3. Grill the chicken: Heat an outdoor grill (or grill pan) to about 400 degrees. Place chicken on the grill and grill for 5-6 minutes per side, until cooked through. Remove the chicken from the grill and let rest for ten minutes. Slice against the grain.
4. Salad: Arrange the greens on a large platter and top with the bacon, strawberries, corn, avocado, and grilled chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Toss with the cilantro vinaigrette and serve!

Notes

Greens: We used spring greens in the pictures on this post, but we love this with just spinach too depending on what you have on hand!

• Prep Time: 1 hour
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Category: Dinner
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: chipote chicken, chipotle chicken cobb salad, cobb salad

Nutrition label does not include the Cilantro Vinaigrette – head to the recipe to find its nutritional information!

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One More Thing!

This recipe is part of our best sugar free recipe page. Check it out!

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