vegan / oil free / refined sugar free / gluten free / low fat / low calorie
About this dressing
To be honest with you, I came up with this creamy cilantro dressing when I was meal prepping a salad on Sunday evening. I love making my own dressing because I can easily make it oil free. Having complete control over the other ingredients means I can make the dressing super nutrient-dense, which is exactly what I did here! This dressing is vegan, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free and loaded with vegetables like spinach, avocadoes, cilantro, lemon, and onion! So incredibly healthy and delicious!
Different ways to use the dressing
This dressing is great for more than just salads. Here are some other ways I use it all the time:
- As a dip or spread for bread. You can add a little less water to make it a thicker dip if you prefer.
- Inside tacos and burritos.
- Drizzled on top of a stir fry.
- As a pasta sauce
Kitchen essentials
- A blender or food processor. I have been using my Ninja blender for years and I still love it!
Substitutions
- Fresh spinach: I have not tried any other leafy greens in place of spinach, but I think any would work just fine. I do not recommend using canned spinach, but frozen spinach will work, too.
- Garlic cloves: each clove of fresh garlic can be replaced with 1/2 tsp garlic powder or 1 tsp minced garlic.
- Sweet onion: can be substituted for shallots, white onion or yellow onion. Red onion can be used but will give a stronger, sharper flavor.
- Fresh cilantro: I do not recommend using dried cilantro.
- Fresh lemon: can be substituted with equal parts lime. I do not recommend using bottled lemon juice, as it has a much weaker flavor.
If you like this creamy cilantro dressing, I think you will love some of my other favorite plant-based dips and dressings:
Creamy Cilantro Dressing (Vegan + Oil Free)
Course: Dips/DressingCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy8
servings5
minutes0
minutes5
minutesIngredients
2 ripe avocados
1 cup fresh spinach, packed
3 garlic cloves
1 cup sweet onion, roughly chopped
1 cup fresh cilantro (leaves + stems)
1 1/2 – 2 cups water
2 lemons, juiced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Directions
- Blend. Add all ingredients to your blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Store in the fridge for up to a week. Adjust the amount of water based on how thick you want it to be.
Notes
- This recipe makes roughly 2 cups of dressing, but will vary depending on how much water you use. Nutrition label is based on 8 servings (1/4 cup per serving).
- Dressing will last up to a week in the fridge.
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Nutrition Facts
8 servings per container
Serving Size1 servings
Calories67.7
- Amount Per Serving% Daily Value *
- Total Fat
5.3g
9%
- Saturated Fat 0.7g 4%
- Sodium 302.4mg 13%
- Amount Per Serving% Daily Value *
- Total Carbohydrate
5.4g
2%
- Dietary Fiber 2.8g 12%
- Sugars 0.9g
- Protein 1g 2%
* The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
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