Cilantro Lime Sauce brings bold flavor in under 10 minutes with garlic, lime, and creamy goodness—ideal for tacos, bowls, salads, and dipping.
The BEST Lime Cilantro Sauce Recipe
This recipe came about as I was working to develop my vision of the ideal cilantro lime sauce for shrimp tacos. I envisioned a tangy, zesty, lime, and cilantro-packed sauce to perfectly complement the spiced shrimp and crunchy slaw. After it was perfect, I was thrilled to read so many of you also loved the sauce.
In fact, the Cilantro-Lime Sauce for the shrimp tacos is probably the most raved-about part in the comment section. Here’s what some of you had to say about this sauce:
- “The cilantro lime cream sauce is one of my favorites. Thanks for a great recipe!”
- “The sauce, to me, is addictive…So good! Wouldn’t change a thing.”
- “This was sooo good. The sauce was amazing.”
- “The sauce is so addictive, I could (and do) eat it with a spoon…”
- “…I always double the sauce recipe so we have extra for other dishes over the next few days. Well done”
Convinced you need this creamy Cilantro-Lime Sauce?! I almost always have a batch of it in my fridge which makes throwing together a quick dinner a cinch! 🙂
Ingredients In Cilantro Lime Sauce
- Fresh limes: Juice and zest 2-3 limes for the sauce. I use a zester for zesting and a citrus juicer for juicing.
- Minced garlic: Use jarred, frozen, or fresh garlic.
- Fresh cilantro: Use a generous bunch, loosely measured. It blends down nicely in the sauce.
- Jalapeño: Remove seeds and ribs for less heat or leave them in for extra spice.
- Mayonnaise: Use your favorite mayo for best flavor. Hellmann’s is a good choice.
- Sour cream: Full-fat, low-fat, or lite sour cream works well. Use lite if you’re watching calories.
- Salt and pepper: Season to taste. A pinch can elevate the sauce from good to amazing.
How To Make Cilantro Lime Sauce
This sauce is as simple as adding everything to a blender or food processor and giving it a whirl! Taste, adjust, and enjoy! Below are a few tips:
- Which to use — a high-powered blender or a food processor? Either works just fine. For an ultra-smooth sauce use a blender. In the food processor, you’ll have a lighter sauce with more specks of cilantro throughout.
- When zesting the limes, avoid the white part of the limes–it can be very bitter.
- Chill the sauce: This is a great sauce to make ahead of time as it gets more flavorful as it sits. It also tastes better cold!
- When using this sauce for tacos, add it right before eating to avoid soggy taco shells!
- If you’d like a slightly sweeter sauce, add a touch of honey or a few pinches of sugar. Depending on the cilantro used, you may want to add a touch — there can be some flavor variation in cilantro.
How To Use Homemade Cilantro Lime Sauce
- Top your tacos: I drizzle this sauce on all kinds of tacos — steak tacos, fish tacos, shrimp tacos, and chicken tacos! I also drizzle this sauce over quesadillas or burritos!
- Cilantro-Lime Sauce for fish: Try drizzling this sauce over this blackened tilapia for the most delicious dinner.
- Add in some ranch seasoning: This Cafe Rio dressing is quite similar, but I add in a dry ranch seasoning mix.
- Use on shrimp: Here is my favorite cilantro lime shrimp bowls where I use this sauce!
- Cilantro-Lime Sauce for chicken: Drizzle on some grilled chicken, my favorite grilled fajita chicken, or over these honey lime chicken bowls.
- Grab a rotisserie chicken to serve over this tasty Mexican rice and drizzle everything with this sauce.
- Vegetarian uses: I love drizzling this sauce over these Mexican chickpeas, over these vegetarian fajitas, or on these vegetarian tacos.
Storage
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-6 days and give it a good stir before using again. Make sure the dressing is tightly covered or it will absorb odors in the fridge.
I don’t recommend freezing this dressing because it is dairy-based. It can become lumpy and can curdle when thawed. Instead, cut the recipe in half if you won’t use it within 4-6 days.
More Recipes Using This Sauce:
Dinner
Chicken Burrito Bowls
Dinner
Fish Tacos Recipe
Cilantro Lime Sauce
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 limes
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped jalapeño see note 1
- 1/2 cup mayo full-fat, see note 2
- 1/2 cup sour cream see note 3
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Zest and juice limes to get 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) juice and 1 teaspoon zest.
- Add the juice and zest to a blender or mini food processor with minced garlic, cilantro, chopped jalapeño, and mayo. Season with salt and pepper (I use 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper, but adjust to taste). Blend until smooth.
- Add sour cream and blend again. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. The sauce is thick but can be thinned with water if desired.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I actually saved this recipe awhile back and knew I would definitely be making this sauce. Because I LOVE anything with cilantro, limes or lemons. Today, I felt like eating shrimp tostadas. I have all the ingredients and figured perfect. Although I will be making this recipe for the first time, I’m already giving my review because I know it will be delicious and it has all the ingredients that I love. After I use it for shrimp tostadas, I plan to make it again for fish tacos. This sauce, can be put on everything basically; on salads, chicken, egg salad, over a baked potato, the list is endless. Can’t wait! Thank you for the recipe.
Thank you so much! I love your enthusiasm, and shrimp tostadas sound like the perfect way to use this sauce! I hope you love it as much as you think you will. And you’re so right, it’s delicious on so many things. I can’t wait to hear what you think once you’ve tried it!
This was so easy to make and so good! We paired it with the baked chicken thighs but had some left over and used it on tacos the next day. It’s so versatile, this would be great on shrimp,
nachos, burgers, really anything! We omitted the jalapeños due to my family’s preference but this sauce is amazing!
Thank you so much! I’m so happy you loved it, and using the leftovers on tacos sounds amazing. I love all those ideas too, especially shrimp and nachos! And totally fine to leave out the jalapeños. So glad it was a hit with your family!