This creamy dressing from Cafe Rio Tomatillo Ranch is incredibly good! Try it with salads, burritos, quesadillas and more!

Featured with the ingredients of this recipe in the dressing of Café

1. RioWhat goes with Café Rio dressing?
3. The #1 Site for

Imitation Cafe Rio Recipes

4. Get the Consistency
5. Right Recipe Tips
6. Check out these comments from our readers:
7. Frequently Asked Questions
8. More Imitation Cafe Rio Recipes

How to Make Creamy Tomatillo Dressing Ranch

9. Cafe Rio Tomatillo Ranch Creamy Dressing Recipe

Yes

You’ve been on for some time, you’ll know we’re big fans of Mexican cuisine. When Cafe Rio first opened in 1997 in St. George, Utah, we were some of the first customers and quickly became their biggest fans. They now have locations throughout the western United States and Maryland, but in the past, when we lived in California, Nevada and Washington, there was no Rio Café nearby. Because of this, many of our first imitation recipes were from Cafe Rio trying to achieve “Fresh Mex” flavors at home. We have had some success, if we say it ourselves. Please let us know if you agree!

Ingredients at Cafe Rio Dressing

• Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (traditional flavor, no buttermilk

)

• Mayonnaise – we like Best Foods / Hellmann’s mayonnaise the best
• buttermilk
• Tomatillos (look like small green tomatoes wrapped in a peel

)

• Fresh

Cilantro Lima-Jalapeño

• (if you don’t like spices you can leave the jalapeño out)

What about Cafe Rio Dressing?

Most people say their favorite menu item at Cafe Rio is sweet pork, but I say without a MOMENT of hesitation that mine is the creamy dressing at Tomatillo Ranch! It’s spicy and spicy and SO GOOD. What I like the most is that it’s so versatile! It can be much more than just a salad dressing. I got it serious about everything: our Cafe Rio Burrito and Cafe Rio Salad for sure, plus quesadillas, tacos, nachos, sandwiches, I even dip vegetables in it! I can’t keep it in the fridge for more than a few days before the bottle is licked clean!

The #1 Site for Imitation Cafe Rio Recipes

Our Cafe Rio recipes are the first thing that made our site take off. We published the recipe for Sweet Pork and people went crazy about it. Little by little we discovered more recipes and now we have a great collection! We received great feedback and positive feedback from our fans. Check them out and you’ll see why we’re the #1 site for Cafe Rio recipes! Be sure to send us your feedback too! We have had great reviews and very positive reviews about all the recipes! Check them out and then add your own reviews after trying them! We love listening to our readers! Enjoy!

Read next: All the best Cafe Rio recipes in one place

Getting The Right Consistency

We’ve had some feedback that the dressing is too liquid. This is easy to prevent. Remember, it’s much easier to dilute a dressing than to try to thicken it later without spoiling the flavors. Follow these tips for a perfect bandage thickness every time.

• If you’re picky about consistency, add whey little by little while mixing until you get the right consistency

.

• Use real whey, not a substitute. If you don’t have whey and need to substitute milk with lemon or vinegar, start with just 1/2 cup of the substitute in the blender and then add a little at a time until your preferred consistency is reached.
• Limes can vary in size and juiciness. Usually, one lime in juice will produce 2 tablespoons. Start with 1 teaspoon in the blender. After mixing, continue adding 1 teaspoon at a time until the consistency is right for you.

Recipe Tips

• Use Best Foods / Hellmann’s Mayonnaise. It has the best taste and consistency.
• If you want a lighter version of this recipe, you can always use Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise. Keep in mind that the consistency and taste won’t be exactly the same, but it will still taste delicious.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Stir well before serving.
• This recipe does NOT freeze well. Freezing will cause the dressing to separate and ruin the creamy consistency.

Check out these comments from our readers:

“I loved Cafe Rio, moved to Ohio, then California (NOT Cafe Rio!) So I’ve been doing this a lot over the last few years. Something funny happened. I was visiting Utah and we went to Café Rio and was totally disappointed! I think I’ve honed my cooking skills at Cafe Rio to the point where I prefer these recipes to the original. Thanks a lot! Note- Aso the tomatillos and jalapeño in the oven for dressing. I also buy raw tortillas and cook them at home. I think it makes a big difference.” – LIZ

“Wow!!! This was just amazing! I did this 4 nights ago to try my mock Cafe Rio chicken salad and my husband and I were sitting in our chairs going Mmmmmmmmm the whole time we ate. Guilty confession: I’ve had this every day ever since for lunch because you saw it so divine. Haha. I’m going to try more of their recipes, great!!!” – ASHLEY “

I couldn’t love this recipe more. I live in North Carolina and there is NO Rio’s O Costa-Vida’s Café. It makes me very sad, so we make this recipe a lot and have educated all our friends about its delight!” – ALEESHA

Frequently Asked Questions

The recipe is really that simple: just throw all the ingredients into the blender and mix! But, here I will answer some questions we’ve had from our readers over the years.

More imitation recipes

from Cafe Rio Our version of Cafe

• Rio’s Chicken Tortilla Soup

Sweet Pork Burritos

• Baking Salritos
• Fresh Sauce (Pico de Gallo)

Our version

• of Café Rio’s Cilantro and Lime Vinaigrette

Our version

• of Café Rio’s Sweet Pork Burrito
• Homemade
• flour tortillas Our Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Version
• Homemade tortilla strips

Our version of Cafe Rio’s cilantro and lime rice and

• black beans Our
• version of Cafe Rio’s ranch cilantro dressing

The

• BEST Guacamole OF ALL time
• The Complete Rio Coffee Sweet

pork salad To see ALL of our imitation Cafe Rio / Costa Vida recipes, click HERE.

How to Make Creamy Dressing from Tomatillo Ranch

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