Taco Salad Dressing (Copycat Cafe Rio dressing)
I have literally had a note in my phone for this Cafe Rio dressing that I’ve made and updated and tweaked and edited some more, for 6 years. I’ve tried at least 10 copy cat recipes for Cafe Rio dressings and every time the recipe claims “TASTES EXACTLY LIKE CAFE RIO” and then they don’t taste like it at all. So, I’m not claiming that about this recipe because it still tastes a little different, BUT it’s the closest I’ve ever tasted to the real thing.
I can’t find tomatillos in Finland, it’s a sad truth, so I’ve been using salsa verde here, but if I were somewhere were I could buy tomatillos I’d use that. But, the salsa verde is honestly really delicious in it too so either is a good choice!
This dressing is delicious on a taco salad, smothered over a burritos or in a taco. Also, I love to dip carrot sticks in it, dip chicken nuggets in. If I’m being honest, I could honestly almost put this in a cup and sip it like a smoothie. I haven’t, but I think I almost could. It’s that good.
PrintTaco Salad Dressing (Copycat Cafe Rio dressing)
The closest copycat Cafe Rio dressing out there that I’ve been working on for 6 years. Delicious on taco salad, burritos, tacos, with veggies dipped in it, and more!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: about 3 cups of dressing 1x
Ingredients
1 cup of buttermilk
1 cup mayo
1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream but Greek yogurt is better)
2 tsp lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons ranch powder
3 tomatillos cut into chunks or 1/3 cup salsa verde
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapeños diced small with at least the seeds of 1 jalapeño *see note
1.5 bunch of cilantro chopped
Instructions
Add all the ingredients to a blender except the cilantro. Blend really well till dressing is basically totally smooth.
Add the cilantro and blend till incorporated *see note.
Refrigerate over-night to make a bit thicker or at least 3 hours.
Notes
I like the spiciness of all the seeds, but put in less if you want the dressing with less kick.
Save the seeds and put more in after blending (but before adding the cilantro) if you want more kick.
Half amounts for small batch, it does make quite a bit.
Don’t over blend after adding cilantro or the dressing will get too thin.
Keywords: salad dressing, Taco salad dressing, cafe rio, Dip, cilantro, spicy
I’ve tried 2 other cafe rio dressing recipes and this is definitely the closest I’ve tried. I appreciate that you say it doesn’t take identical to it but that it’s close. I’d agree, it’s really close. I too could drink this stuff.