Sometimes all you need is a great sauce to take a dish from good to great. Some people like a little, others a lot, so a sauce on the side pleases all palates.
The idea for this cilantro-lime sauce was inspired by Café Rio’s Creamy Tomatillo dressing. Like many others, I am a big fan of Café Rio. For those not familiar, Café Rio is a fantastic casual restaurant chain based in Salt Lake City. My daughter lives there, and a Café Rio visit is mandatory every time I visit. Hey Café Rio people: your brand would be HUGELY popular in Madison, Wisconsin. Hint, Hint.
There are many copycat recipes for Café Rio’s dressing; the one that I used as my starting point was from “the girl who ate everything”. Her recipe starts with buttermilk and a ranch-dressing packet. This sounded brilliant, because most other recipes like this have a much longer ingredient list!
I like to simplify even more, so decided to use Hidden Valley’s Buttermilk Ranch dressing, conveniently available in “light.” From there, I played with sour cream, lime juice and cilantro to get the right proportions.
I skipped the tomatillo part, because I was not trying for a copycat. I just wanted a cilantro-lime sauce.
It turned out great! A light, creamy sauce, which works on any Tex-Mex dish. I particularly like it on a taco salad – yum! Add some salsa and you have a party.
Stay tuned for next week’s appetizer. I LOVE dipping it in this sauce!
Cilantro-Lime sauce
Ingredients
- ½ cup Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch dressing light
- 1/3 cup light sour cream
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ cilantro chopped
- Juice from one lime
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a blender or mini food processor.
- Process until smooth.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Nutrition
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Ant wait to try this, it sounds yummy
It’s yummy and versatile!
Have you tried this without the lime, too, Sula? It sounds good sans lime. But what do I know…
I haven’t tried it without lime, but I do think it would be very good. I have been on a lime kick lately so I actually love that as part of the taste. 🙂