Chili Lime Vinaigrette

This Chili Lime Vinaigrette is an easy, 5 minute vinaigrette recipe that has a little kick to it. It is a light dressing recipe that is great for any Mexican inspired salad recipes.

If you enjoy vinaigrette dressings, you would also like this Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette, this Lemon Oregano Vinaigrette, or this Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Jump to:

• Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• Ingredients & Substitutions
• How To Make Chili Lime Vinaigrette
• Serving Suggestions
• Expert Tips
• Recipe FAQs
• 📖 Recipe

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Just the Right Amount of Spice — This lime vinaigrette has a bit of a kick to it from the chili powder, but it is well balanced out by the other ingredients. It is not overly spicy and can easily be adjusted to your taste.
• Easy to Make — This is a really simple dressing to make. All you have to do is shake all the ingredients together in a jar. No blenders are needed!
• Great for Quinoa Salads — I love this dressing on this Southwest Quinoa Salad, but there are so many types of salad recipes that it would work well with.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Olive Oil: Use a high quality extra virgin olive oil for this dressing. As a substitute, you can also use avocado oil or sunflower oil. A combination of olive oil as well as avocado oil works really well also.
• Lime Juice: Freshly squeezed lime juice will always taste best, but to save time, you can use a high quality bottled lime juice instead.
• Garlic: Use freshly minced garlic. If you don’t like garlic you can leave out the garlic entirely.
• Honey: A bit of honey adds some sweetness to balance out the lime juice. For a vegan substitute, you can use maple syrup instead. Don’t skip the honey, otherwise the dressing will be too sour.
• Cumin: Cumin powder complements the chili powder well.
• Chili Powder: Chili powder is what gives this chili lime vinaigrette its kick of spice.

How To Make Chili Lime Vinaigrette

Step 1: Add the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, honey, cumin and chili powder together in an airtight container.

Step 2: Shake vigorously for 20 seconds until the ingredients are well emulsified. Pour over your salad immediately.

Serving Suggestions

This Chili Lime Vinaigrette works well on a variety of salads, but it is especially delicious with quinoa or other grain bowl salad recipes, such as this Southwest Quinoa Salad.

Here are some ideas for ingredients to use to build your salad around this Lime & Chili Vinaigrette:

• Quinoa, Couscous, Orzo
• Chickpeas
• Cucumber
• Feta or Cotija Cheese
• Bell Peppers
• Corn
• Onion
• Cilantro
• Roasted Tomatoes
• Avocado
• Sweet Potato
• Black Olives
• Grilled Zucchini
• Black Beans
• Chicken or Salmon

Expert Tips

• Shake well before serving. This dressing separates quite easily. Always shake the dressing vigorously before pouring it over your salad.
• Store in the fridge. Store this dressing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. If the salad you are using it with doesn’t have greens, you can mix it into the salad and store the salad in the fridge until you are ready to serve it. This helps the dressing infuse into the salad for more flavor.
• Add a bit more spice. If you want a spicier dressing, add in a bit of extra chili powder. Add a small amount at a time (⅛ tsp) and taste as you go so you don’t accidentally over-do it.

Recipe FAQs

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