This yummy Cilantro-Lime Dressing {Trader Joe’s Copycat} goes great on so many things – salad, rice, tacos, tortilla chips, nachos… (hungry yet?!?)

Last year, my friend Val introduced me to a delicious Cilantro-Lime Dressing from Trader Joe’s. It’s bright, light, and vibrantly tangy, as well as low-fat, low calories, and full of good things. I loved it so much that I made 30-minute trip to our local Trader Joe’s to buy a bottle, which turned out to be $3.50 for 12 ounces! I took it home, enjoyed every drop, and decided then and there to figure out how to make something like it that didn’t require fighting traffic or paying so much for so little. After a little experimenting, I came up with this refreshing alternative, which I actually like much better than the bottled version.
Bonus: A pint of this Cilantro-Lime Dressing costs less than $2 to make. This stuff is great on way more than salads too – last week alone I served it on fish and tacos, and used it as a dip for eggplant fingers and raw veggies.

Cilantro-Lime Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cilantro give or take
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ½ cup plain yogurt option: use vegan yogurt to make this vegan-friendly
- 4 oz. roasted mild green chilies I buy the whole ones in a big can, and distribute them into freezer bags. MUCH cheaper than buying those little cans. Or you can roast a couple of mild chilies yourself.
- 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- Zest of one lime
Instructions
- Layer all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.