Creamy whole30 orange cilantro dressing where have you BEEN all my life?! Here I am, using all sorts of balsamic and red wine vinaigrettes to give my salads some life, and then you walked into the picture. Your glowing color, your sweet taste – I think I’m in love. Yes, I love you so…
Every time I open my refrigerator it’s like this dressing glows at me. It’s the little sunshine in my dark fridge – so happy and sweet. It’s my new obsession, and I’m not sure I can do salads any other way.
The inspiration for this creamy treat (it’s seriously a treat, not just a salad dressing), came from the bajillion oranges my husband got from a co-worker one day. This particular work buddy has a tree in his backyard, so basically one hint of, “oh my wife has a food blog” and that sweet husband of mine sealed the deal for oranges like they are goin’ out of style. And I take them, and love on every last one of ’em.
I hoard oranges and love on them like I do my ‘real’ mom friends. The ones you text and they never judge, ever. The ones that love on your babies (even when they are acting out). The ones that wipe the barf off your shoulder. Oranges do the same – they don’t judge, they nurture your kids, they make the barf smell go away. Oranges are real moms are my people.
This creamy whole30 orange cilantro salad dressing is as easy to make as peeling an orange. Seriously, I promise. It goes down like this:
Peel oranges and place in blender or food processor. Add cilantro, salt, garlic powder, and coconut milk. Puree. Pour. I can’t even say, “5-minute dressing” because I think it takes approximately 3.28 minutes to make. And that’s just confusing to add to the title. Creamy whole30 orange cilantro dressing is so much easier to type…
Not feeling the coconut milk? Not a problem – you can omit it. This will yield a runnier dressing, but will still taste fresh, sweet, and amazing on your lunch greens. Refrigerate any leftover dressing and let warm slightly before serving again. The coconut milk may solidify it slightly when chilled if you choose to use it.
Don’t throw out the balsamic or red wine vinegar just yet – even if you’ve wrote it off as your salad dressing of choice for good, you can always keep it to make this balsamic ground turkey and apple breakfast hash, turmeric balsamic beef over roasted red peppers, or this A1 inspired slow cooker beef roast (all recipes also whole30 compliant)!
- 4 small mandarine oranges
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 10 sprigs fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons full-fat coconut milk
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Peel the oranges and add all ingredients to a food processor or blender
- Mix well until creamy and well-combined
- Store in the refrigerator and let warm slightly (if using the coconut milk) before serving again
Loving the flavor combo and that slight coconut creaminess!
YES! This sounds amazing. I am always look for new, delicious dressing recipes..and this gets two thumbs up for being Whole30-approved!
Yes! I’ve been meaning to switch up my dressing game for a while now and this looks like a treat!
I love how you compared oranges to your real mom friends… I love oranges too. The creamy factor on this looks so good; coconut milk is so good when it comes to creaminess.
This on some grilled chicken would be DREAMY!!!! Pining that baby for later 🙂