Creamy Jalapeño Lime Vinaigrette

Jalapeño Lime Vinaigrette is tangy, smoky, spicy and sweet. It will add excitement to any salad, and can also enhance all sorts of other recipes. You can whip this up inside of just 15 minutes and it will keep for weeks.

This Jalapeño Lime Vinaigrette was originally created for my Cranberry Apple Chicken Salad, but it's amazing on almost any salad.

Not only that, it's also a fantastic marinade, sauce and addition to so many dishes.

The heat form the jalapeños is deliciously balanced with honey, though you can make this creamy green salad dressing as hot or as mild as you'd like.

The Ingredients

• Jalapeño peppers - Look for firm, deeply colored and slightly shiny peppers.
• lime juice - Choose limes that are heavy for their size with smooth skin.
• extra virgin olive oil
• honey
• ground cumin
• dried or ground oregano
• Kosher salt - If you use table salt, use half the amount.
• black pepper - Preferably freshly ground.

(See recipe card below for quantities.)

Substitutions and Variations

• Lime juice. You can try the recipe with lemon or orange juice instead of the lime juice. Since oranges are less acidic, use 2 tablespoons less and add 2 tablespoons of champagne or white wine vinegar.
• Honey. Granulated sugar is a good substitute for the honey. If you use it, add it to the lime juice and warm it on the stove so it dissolves before you blend it. You can also skip it altogether if you prefer a more tart flavor.

Recipe Tips

• If the honey is on the thick side, warm it a bit so it easily blends into the dressing.
• Feel free to use more or less of the honey, depending on the amount of sweetness you like, or as I mentioned above, you can also skip it.
• It's easiest to make the dressing in a blender, but you can also super finely chop the roasted jalapeños and add everything to a jar, tighten the lid, and shake.
• Taste chile peppers before you use them -- they will always vary in heat, from pepper to pepper, day to day, etc.
• Don't remove the seeds if you want a lot of heat, or leave some of them.

How to Make it

- Turn on the broiler and line a baking sheet with foil. Wash and dry the peppers, slice them in half vertically and use a teaspoon to remove the seeds. (Leave some of the seeds for more heat.)

- Place the peppers, round side up, on top of the foil-lined pan.

- The sheet pan should go a few inches beneath the broiler. Let them char until they’re mostly black. This should likely take less than a minute.

- Remove the pan from the oven, let them cool for a few minutes, and then use the back of a knife or your fingers to peel off the skin.

- Roughly chop the jalapeños and add them to a blender. Then add the lime juice, honey, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper.

- Blend until it's smooth. Add the oil and blend again for a few seconds.

More Highly Recommended Salad Dresings

• Wasabi Dressing
• Balsamic Cranberry Vinaigrette
• Lemon-Basil Vinaigrette
• Blackberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Creamy Avocado Salad Dressing
• Blood Orange Thyme Vinaigrette
• Prickly Pear Vinaigrette

Uses for Jalapeño Lime Vinaigrette

• Of course this is meant to be a salad dressing, and it's delicious with all sorts of ingredients.
• Marinate fish, shrimp or chicken in it. (If you're going to do this, use about ⅓ the amount of olive oil.)
• It's excellent mixed into rice, quinoa or couscous. You can even add some of it to stock for cooking rice and other grains.
• As a sauce, it's lovely lightly spooned over broiled salmon, sautéed chicken and scrambled eggs.
• Drizzle it over toast.
• Mix it into guacamole.
• Mix it into tortilla chips with Mexican beans and cheese, for Chilaquiles of sorts.

Can you make it ahead?

Yes! The vinaigrette will last in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.

I hope you love this Jalapeño Lime Vinaigrette recipe, however you decide to use it.