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)!
PrintCreamy Whole30 Orange Cilantro Dressing
- Yield: 1/4 cup
Ingredients
- 4 small mandarin oranges
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 10 sprigs fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons full-fat coconut milk
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- 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 🙂
Wow this is good! I absolutely love the light, sweet, perky flavor. Definitely a winner and a keeper. Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
I’m so thrilled you liked it!
My lunch is usually spinach with rotisserie chicken, green onion and dressing. So Im always looking for new dressings to try. We loved your Orange Cilantro dressing. It was super easy to make and lasted all week for 2 adults eating it on salad everyday for lunch. I do wish the orange flavor was a bit more prominent. Do you think adding the Mandarin zest would do the trick?
★★★★★
Yes, zest would definitely help!
I wanted a whole 30 dressing specifically for a taco salad… In the past I have tried others like cilantro-lime dressing, mango-jalepeno dressing… they were just ok. Not worth making again. I decided this recioe looked “different” and since I had oranges, why not give it a try. We are having friends over tonight for a whole 30 taco salad bar. I just made the dressing and it is perfect. Light, but very good flavor. Sweet and citrusy. Creamy. I probably need a better blender, mine didn’t make it smooth, but it’s good enough. Thanks for a nice dressing option for any salad, and for a way to make our taco salad bar a little more fun 🙂
I’m so glad yo liked it Christa! Such great feedback that I appreciate so much!