This zesty cilantro lime sauce is the perfect dipping sauce, dressing, or marinade and comes together in just 5-minutes! It’s packed with flavor from fresh cilantro, lime juice, garlic, and has a creamy smooth texture thanks to greek yogurt.

a jar of cilantro lime sauce

Why We Love This Recipe

What’s not to love about a vibrant & fresh sauce that comes together in a matter of minutes?

It’s packed with acidity, saltiness, fat from the greek yogurt, and an optional bit of spice from a jalapeño; a combination of flavors that is famously addicting.

Cilantro and lime are popular ingredients in many Puerto Rican recipes. Because of this, this recipe is a wonderful pairing for using as a dipping sauce/topping, dressing, or marinade.

We especially love serving it with tostones, pinchos de pollo, and empanadillas.

bowls of oil, salt, pepper, yogurt, and more

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you will need to make this sauce:

  • Cilantro, rinsed and towel dried
  •  Limes, juiced
  • Clove garlic, peeled 
  • Avocado or olive oil
  • Greek yogurt or sour cream
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Optional: jalapeño or serano, with seeds removed

See recipe card for quantities.

a jar of cilantro lime sauce

Step by Step Instructions

Enjoy as a dipping sauce, dressing, or marinade!

What to Eat it With

This sauce goes well with so many different cuisines and dishes.

A few of my favorites being tacos, savory rice dishes (like this arroz con gandules), beans, grilled meat (try these pinchos de pollo) and seafood. It also makes a wonderful dressing on salads, especially coleslaw!

You can also try it out with these reader favorite recipes:

a spoon ladling cilantro lime sauce

Substitutions & Additions

This sauce is very easy to modify. Here are some fun ideas on how to make it your own:

  • Add more herbs – Throw ½ a cup of the dark green part of some green onions in the blender and enjoy an additional fresh, herbaceous bite in the sauce.
  • Swap greek yogurt for sour cream – Feel free to use sour cream instead of greek yogurt if that’s what you have on hand or prefer!
  • Vegan alternative – To keep this recipe plant based, you can use a plain vegan yogurt or sour cream.

You can also experiment with adding some additional spices to this recipe (like sazon or adobo seasoning) to amp up the flavors.

Equipment

You will need either a traditional standing blender or an immersion blender to make this cilantro lime sauce.

I really enjoy using my immersion blender, as it creates less dirty dishes and comes together quickly.

a jar of cilantro lime sauce

Storage

This sauce should keep in the fridge for up to 5 days, when stored in an air tight container or jar.

Marinade Tip

This cilantro lime sauce works beautifully as a marinade on chicken, red meat, and shrimp.

If using as a marinade, be sure to let it sit on the protein for at least 1 hour before cooking.

a jar of cilantro lime sauce

More Sauces We Love

Enjoy,

the name Salima
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a jar of cilantro lime sauce

5-Minute Cilantro Lime Sauce

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review
  • Author: Salima Benkhalti
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
  • Category: Sauce, Dip, Marinade
  • Method: Raw
  • Cuisine: American, Latin
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Description

This zesty cilantro lime sauce is the perfect dipping sauce, dressing, or marinade and comes together in just 5-minutes! It’s packed with flavor from fresh cilantro, lime juice, garlic, and has a creamy smooth texture thanks to greek yogurt.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 cup cilantro, rinsed and towel dried
  • 12 limes, about 1/3 cup juiced
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled
  • 2 tbsp avocado or olive oil
  • 1/2 cup greek yogurt or sour cream
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • Optional: 1 jalapeño, with seeds removed

Instructions

  1. Combine ingredients. In a large bowl or blender, combine all ingredients.
  2. Blend. Blend using a standing or immersion blender until a consistent sauce is formed. Enjoy as a dipping sauce, dressing, or marinade!