Name: Cilantro Lime Crema
Prep time: 7 min
Total time: 7 min
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: ½ cup sour cream; ¼ cup mayonnaise; 2 tablespoons cotija cheese; 2 limes, juiced (about 4 tablespoons); 2 garlic cloves; 1 small jalapeno, seeded; ½ cup chopped cilantro; ½ teaspoon salt

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This Mexican-style cilantro lime crema is made with fresh ingredients and takes less than 10 minutes. It’s flavored with cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno, and sour cream. You can put this sauce on everything. It’s the best sauce for Baja fish tacos!

Spooning homemade cilantro lime crema into a jar.

This cilantro lime crema is the best sauce for your favorite meals. Try it on street tacos, burritos, quesadillas, tostadas, nachos, potatoes, burgers, chicken tenders, and wings!

Or try it as a salad dressing. It’s tasty on a taco salad or southwest salad. Get creative with the foods you try with it. This sauce is good on pretty much anything ranch dressing is good on. Which is pretty much everything. 🙂

This tangy and creamy sauce has the consistency of a dressing and is bursting with fresh flavor! It’s like the Don Pancho Cilantro Lime Crema at Costco. But so much better. Making this sauce with fresh herbs, freshly squeezed lime juice, raw jalapeno, and garlic gives it so much flavor. Bottled, store-bought dressings can’t replicate it.

You’ll need a blender to make this quick lime crema.

Ingredients

Cilantro, jalapeno, limes, garlic, mayonnaise, cotija cheese, and salt.

Fresh cilantro gives this sauce a bright, bold, and herby flavor.

Freshly squeezed lime juice packs a tart and citrusy punch. It brightens this sauce and makes it addictive.

Jalapeno and garlic add tons of flavor and just a hint of heat.

Cotija cheese adds a complex cheesy flavor and a little salt.

Sour cream and mayonnaise make a creamy and tangy base for the dressing. You can use crema Mexicana instead of sour cream.

How to Make Cilantro Lime Crema

Cilantro, jalapenos, lime juice, sour cream, and mayonnaise in a blender.

Once your ingredients are prepped, add everything to a blender. Then, blend until it forms a smooth and creamy sauce.

That’s it! This stuff is so easy to make!

Storage

Keep refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 5 days. Shake or stir before serving.

How to Use Cilantro Lime Crema

This yummy sauce works on just about everything! It’s delicious with Mexican foods, American foods, and Tex-Mex recipes. It pairs well with avocado.
Use it as a dip for Mexican potatoes or a sauce on spicy potato soft tacos.
I use it on my chili lime shrimp tacos, and it’s perfect on fish tacos.
Seve it with carne asada or carnitas. In the form of street tacos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, or tostadas.
Use it as a marinade for grilled chicken.
It makes a nice, tangy dressing for slaw.
Use it as a topping for taco soup or black bean soup.
Try it instead of BBQ sauce on pulled pork sandwiches. Add some quick pickled red onions, and thank me later!
Serve it as a dip for chicken tenders, wings, or french fries.

More Mexican Style Dips and Salsas

What’s your favorite food to put cilantro lime crema on? Let me know in the comments!