A creamy, tangy salad dressing recipe with garden-fresh herbs, lemon, and avocado! It's easy to make, full of flavor, and so tasty drizzled on a variety of salads. (Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free.)
This deliciously creamy lemon herb salad dressing is so flavorful!
It combines both parsley and basil for amazing freshness.
Plus it's oil-free. The creamy base is achieved with avocado, but feel free to swap in dairy-free yogurt or silken tofu if you wish.
The dressing works beautifully with a variety of summer salads (or also as a flavor-packed veggie dip).
Ingredients for Avocado Herb Dressing
For this recipe you will need a blender (or small food processor) and these ingredients:
- Avocado: This creates the creamy base for the dressing. You could also replace it with plain, unsweetened vegan yogurt, silken tofu, or vegan mayonnaise if desired.
- Fresh parsley: Most often I use flat leaf parsley, but curly parsley works too.
- Fresh basil: Or you can substitute other fresh herbs like cilantro, dill, fresh chives, etc.
- Lemon juice: We will need three tablespoons fresh lemon juice for this recipe, which is about one lemon. Lime juice could also work however.
- Fresh garlic cloves: Or you can substitute fresh shallot if desired.
- White wine vinegar: Or you can use apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar.
- Agave: This is to lightly sweeten and balance the flavors. If you don't have agave, simply use pure maple syrup or other sweetener of choice.
- Salt and water
Customizing
Herbs: Change this up with your own favorite herb combinations or whatever is available near you. Fresh dill, cilantro, and chives are all tasty as well.
Olive oil: I keep this dressing oil-free, but you could also whisk in a tablespoon of good quality olive oil to create an herb vinaigrette.
Vegetable dip: To make this dressing a veggie dip instead, simply add less water to achieve a thicker consistency.
Storing
Store leftovers in an airtight container or jar in the refrigerator. We find it keeps for about 3 days.
Serving
We especially enjoy this creamy dressing tossed on a fresh Summer Chopped Salad with colorful veggies (pictured below).
Note: For a similar variation, try my Creamy Cilantro-Lime Dressing which we adore as well!
For more inspiration, also browse all salad dressing recipes or avocado recipes.
Creamy Avocado Herb Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 small avocado (or 1/2 large avocado)
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley (thick stems removed)
- 1/3 cup fresh basil (or dill, cilantro, etc.)
- 3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon, or more to taste)
- 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tsp. white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp. agave (or other sweetener)
- 1/8 tsp. salt (more/less to taste)
- 3 Tbsp. water to thin (more as need for desired consistency)
Instructions
- Puree all ingredients in a small food processor or blender until smooth. (Scrape down sides with spatula as needed.)
- Add more water if needed, a little at a time, until it reaches your desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. (More salt, lemon juice, sweetener, etc.)
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving (Estimate)
Sodium: This is omitted as I cannot provide an accurate number. I encourage you to calculate your own to provide a much more precise reading based on the exact ingredients, brands, and amounts you're using.
If you are enjoying this creamy avocado garden herb salad dressing recipe, also feel free to check out:
- Carrot Ginger Miso Dressing
- Basil Balsamic Dressing
- Quinoa Avocado Spinach Power Salad
- Cucumber Tomato Salad
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Deb W
This is fabulous! I didn't add water and used it as a salad dressing. Tomorrow, I'm making salmon and will serve the salmon with this dressing as a topping. It won't take much as it's so full of flavor! So, so good. Oh, I've made it twice and added some extra herbs and enjoyed that, too.
Kaitlin
Hello Deb! I'm so thrilled to hear you've enjoyed this dressing a couple times. Extra herbs sound wonderful! Thanks for sharing your kind feedback!
Heather
How much silken tofu do you think would be equivalent to 1 avocado? Thanks.
Kaitlin McGinn
Hi Heather! Silken tofu typically comes in a 12 oz. container, and I'd start with a third to a half of that. (About 4-6 oz.) It's a pretty forgiving recipe so you can adjust it as needed to achieve the consistency you desire.