This creamy avocado green goddess dressing recipe is a delicious and versatile twist on the original recipe, replacing sour cream and mayonnaise with avocado and Greek yogurt. Not only does this vibrant green sauce add a ton of flavor to any meal, but it's also make-ahead friendly. With plenty of fresh herbs and lemon juice, you'll love this dressing in your next spring salad!
I love green goddess anything - green goddess dip, dressing; you name it. It's bright, refreshing, and extra delicious this time of year when spring herbs are in season.
Classic green goddess dressing, developed in California, includes sour cream, mayonnaise, chives, parsley, and tarragon. I've tweaked the classic formula by introducing fresh avocado for a richer flavor and Greek yogurt to pack in more protein.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
This homemade avocado dressing is lemony and bright with a bit of heat. Here's why you'll love this recipe:
- Light and creamy. It's one of my favorite ways to coat leafy greens for a refreshing salad.
- Flavorful. In the past, I've found that some green goddess dressings taste creamy but lack a bit of "oomph." I include anchovies, garlic, and jalapeno for added flavor and heat.
- Make-ahead friendly.
Best of all? It comes together in just about 15 minutes.
For more delicious salad recipes, try my kale salad with caesar dressing, tuna caesar salad, or spicy watermelon jalapeño salad.
Main Ingredients
- Fresh Herbs: Use a combination of soft green herbs! I like using a mix of basil, parsley, tarragon, and chives. You can also use fresh cilantro instead of parsley or scallions instead of chives. Personally, I find tarragon's licorice flavor to be quite strong, so I only use a tablespoon, but if you love it, feel free to double that amount (or omit).
- Garlic: If you're sensitive to raw garlic, start with 1 clove instead of 2.
- Anchovies: Feel free to use fresh anchovies or anchovy paste. If you're vegetarian or you don't like anchovies, you can substitute 2 teaspoons capers.
- Jalapeno: Jalapenos can vary significantly in heat, so I recommend deseeding and de-ribbing the pepper, which will remove most of the spice. If you don't like heat, you can omit this!
- Avocado: You'll only need ½ of a ripe avocado for the dressing, but you can cut up the remaining half and add it to a salad or save for another use.
For a full list of ingredients and quantities, refer to the recipe card.
Serving Suggestions & Variations
I love how customizable this recipe is! You can...
- Serve it as a dip! If doing so, omit the water to keep it on the thicker side, then thin it out to your desired consistency once everything is pureed. Enjoy alongside crunchy veggies.
- Make it vegan. For a vegan version, replace the skyr with plain vegan yogurt or use a full avocado and thin out the dressing with more water.
- Serve in a grain bowl. You don't need to use this dressing just for salads. It's delicious in grain bowls, too!
How to Make This Dressing
The dressing comes together very quickly once you've got your prep done! Your food processor is going to do most of the work here.
Step 1: Add the aromatics (herbs, anchovies, jalapeno and garlic) to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse into a chunky paste (it's okay if they don't form a smooth puree yet).
Step 2: Next, add the avocado and liquids (except for the olive oil). Puree until smooth, then add the skyr/yogurt and extra-virgin olive oil.
Step 3: The final dressing should be perfectly smooth and creamy, and you may need to run the food processor for an extra 30 seconds to a minute to get there. Once it's reached a nice texture, season it with salt and black pepper.
Step 4: Transfer mixture to an airtight container and store in the fridge for later use.
Tips and Tricks
Salt and acid are your friends. Avocado is fatty and needs a good amount of salt and acid for balance. If your dressing tastes a bit bland, make sure it's very well-seasoned with salt and plenty of lemon juice (you need more than you think)!
Don't be afraid to add water. Depending on the texture and size of your avocado, you may need to add a little bit more water. While this is a thicker dressing, it shouldn't be as thick as, say, guacamole.
Integrate this dressing into your meal prep. I love having flavorful sauces on hand to incorporate into my lunches and dinners throughout the week. You can use this as a salad dressing, dip, or topping so feel free to get creative!
Storage Instructions
This avocado dressing will last about 4 days in the fridge stored in an airtight container.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! Just substitute the anchovies for capers (for 4 anchovies, you will want 2 teaspoons capers).
You can replace the skyr with a neutral plant-based yogurt. But you can just as easily use the full avocado and thin out the dressing with a bit more water.
The sauce creates a "back of the throat" heat that slowly builds up over time. But either way, I'd say it's mild. That said, every jalapeno is different. If you're nervous, I'd recommend using half of the pepper to start.
I've made this dressing successfully in a single serving blender. For best results, use a smaller blender cup so that the herbs and garlic get chopped up finely.
Other recipes you might like:
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Avocado Green Goddess Dressing
Equipment
- Food processor, or a high-powered, single serve blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup tightly packed fresh herbs (basil, parsley, cilantro), destemmed to yield 1 ounce
- 1 tablespoon tarragon
- 3 tablespoons chopped chives, or 1 scallion | chopped
- 4 anchovy filets, or 2 teaspoons capers
- 1 jalapeno, deseeded, ribbed, and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- ½ avocado
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus more if needed
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons water, plus more if needed
- ⅓ cup low-fat skyr, or low-fat greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and black pepper
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine 1 cup tightly packed fresh herbs (basil, parsley, cilantro), 1 tablespoon tarragon, 3 tablespoons chopped chives, 4 anchovy filets, 1 jalapeno, and 2 cloves garlic. Process until everything is finely minced and broken down (it won't be completely smooth yet).
- Add ½ avocado, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, and 3 tablespoons water. Process until the mixture turns light green and is fully pureed into a mostly homogeneous texture.
- Mix in ⅓ cup low-fat skyr and 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and process until smooth. This dressing is on the thicker side, but if it feels too thick you can thin it out with more water.Season generously with salt and black pepper. Note: The dressing should taste creamy, garlicky, spicy, with plenty of salt and acid. If needed, you can add more lemon juice if you'd like it more sour. If using as a dip, you'll want it to be well-seasoned. If using as a dressing, you'll want it to be *slightly* over-seasoned as the flavors will dilute once you toss it with the salad ingredients.
Notes
- Jalapenos can vary significantly in heat, so if you’re spice sensitive, you can add half of it to start and adjust as needed (or omit if you don't want the heat at all).
- If using full-fat greek yogurt, fill your ⅓ cup measurement with ¼ cup yogurt and water. You can also use ⅓ cup of regular full-fat plain yogurt.
- The recipe yields about ¾ cup of dressing, and I typically use about 1 ½ tablespoons dressing per person in a salad.
- Storage: Leftover dressing can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can use it as a dip, drizzle it on tacos, smear it on sandwiches -- the sky's the limit!
- Avocado is fatty, so it needs a good amount of salt and acid for balance. If your dressing tastes a bit bland, make sure it's very well-seasoned with salt and plenty of lemon juice (you need more than you think)!
- Depending on the texture and size of your avocado, you may need to add more water. While this is a thicker dressing, it shouldn't be as thick as, say, guacamole.
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
