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Chuy’s Copycat Version Creamy Jalapeno Dip
I lived in Texas for about 2 days before everyone and their dog was telling me all about this famous Chuy’s creamy jalapeno dip that I must try asap. Of course, I ditched unpacking in my quest to do some culinary research. Was it really as good as everyone said? I wanted to be the judge.
Dean and I chose a weekend night and drove straight to Chuy’s. There was a line out the door and a long wait. That is always a good sign! People seemed to love this place — even if it was for the star of the show, the creamy jalapeno dip.
We sat down and within minutes, the creamy jalapeno dip was sitting right in front of me. A basket of hot chips, fresh out of the fryer were beckoning me. I took the tortilla chip and dipped it into what looked more like a cilantro jalapeno dressing than anything and took the first bite. Wow. This stuff was straight up addicting.
Before I knew it, Dean and I had devoured an entire basket of chips and he was asking for more. Trouble. I was hooked on this creamy jalapeno dip and there was no turning back!
We just flew back to San Antonio last week for my darling niece’s wedding (hi Amanda!). I married into such a wonderful family and loved being with the Stadler crew.
We had a Mexican feast on Sunday and another darling niece (I have a lot of them), Haley, was bringing it! She is a little whiz in the kitchen and shared her version of Chuy’s famous creamy cilantro jalapeno dip. Once she put it out on the table, it was like watching vultures. It was a huge hit and I begged her for the recipe!
This is our version of the Chuy’s famous creamy jalapeno dip is super simple to make and can be whipped up in less than 10 minutes. I without a doubt could drink this stuff….all day long. It is also reminiscent of Cafe Rio or Costa Vida’s cilantro ranch dressing. You can use this dressing to drizzle on a salad, a burrito bowl, or just as an appetizer.
How do you make this famous Chuy’s creamy jalapeno cilantro dip dressing? You start with jarred jalapenos and cilantro pureed in a blender. You can use fresh jalapenos as well but I prefer the jarred jalapenos as I can control the heat. The jarred jalapenos are much milder than fresh ones but give off a crazy amount of flavor. Fresh cilantro brings the freshness and balances out the heat.
Both sour cream and mayonnaise are used as the base of this creamy cilantro ranch dressing. A packet of dry ranch dressing dip brings that ranch flavor that everyone seems to love. If you want to add more freshness, throw in a couple of tomatillos. You can use fresh tomatillos or canned tomatillos. Buttermilk makes a huge difference in this dressing and use just enough to thin it to desired consistency and taste.
The jalapenos and cilantro are pureed in a blender or food processor. My favorite inexpensive food processor can be found HERE.
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Chuy's Creamy Jalapeno Cilantro Dip Dressing
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Sour Cream
- 3/4 cup Mayonnaise (if you prefer less mayonnaise, you may use 1 cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup mayonnaise)
- 1 packet 1 oz Dry Ranch Dip
- 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Salt
- 1/2 cup Cilantro (tightly packed, may add more for fresh flavor)
- 3/4 cup Pickled Jalapenos (plus juice from a jar (may add up to 1 cup depending on heat preference)
- 1/2 cup Buttermilk (if you want it to be thinner, add more buttermilk)
- 2 Tomatillos optional
- 2 teaspoons Fresh Lime Juice optional
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together sour cream, mayonnaise, ranch dip packet, and garlic salt.
- In blender or food processor, puree cilantro and pickled jalapenos with a little juice. (If using tomatillos, blend with jalapenos and cilantro).
- Add cilantro jalapeno puree to mayo mixture.
- Stir in buttermilk until you reach desired consistency. Add fresh lime juice, if using.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I hope you love this copycat version of Chuy’s popular Creamy Jalapeno Dip! It’s a family favorite. Happy Eating, my friends!
I have made this dip twice in a span of one week and let’s just say that it is drinkable! This will be a tailgate staple for a long time to come!
I made this for my family and best thing ever we doubled the dip and it was gone in 5 minutes. Delicious ????
I used everything that was on the ingredients but for the garlic salt. I used two crushed garlic cloves instead of garlic salt because some people mentioned it turned out kind of salty. This recipe turned out REALLY good and it was pretty much a match from Chuy’s. I will say it was a little bit more spicier from what I remember how Chuy’s make it but I’m ok with that. I love how it turned out.
Delicious and tasted very close to the huts recipe. It was even better the next day!
I made it without the lime and tomatillo (couldn’t find tomatillos in the store and then forgot to add the lime juice when I was making it). Used garlic powder instead of garlic salt, didn’t notice any extreme saltiness like others were mentioning. We wanted it hot so used all of the jalapeño juice, this made it maybe thinner than we’d have like but it seemed thicker the next day too.
This is fantastic. I used Uncle Dan’s packaged ranch, one-half package as it is a double package, only one-half cup jalapeno slices (Mrs. Renfro if you can get them) as my hubby doesn’t like quite as hot, 1 cup sour cream and one-half mayo (you said vary if we want) and more cilantro. Popped it all in the blender. It has been great with everything I have tried, and my daughter immediately asked for the recipe. I plan to try it with low fat sour cream to see if I notice any difference.
Yes I I have used avocados on mine and it’s awesome do not add Mayo youvwull love it if u like avacadoes I world use 2 medium size for this recipe
Yes I have used avocados and it taste so amazing I still use the sour cream and mayo.. bit it’delicious if you love avacadoes… must try it..
This dip is outstanding and it’s in the fridge chilling and calling out my name. . . I used the tomatillos as you suggested. I’m grilling tri tip tonight with coleslaw and it’s going on both lol thank you so much for the recipe
I made this to put on tacos, and then another meal, I used it for the sauce needed in coleslaw. Let me say, I’ll never make regular coleslaw again. This is so yummy!!!
I cannot believe you would post such a recipe… how do you expect us to ever leave the kitchen knowing this is in there!!! I am on a better eating plan so I used 1 c. Fagé 0% Greek yogurt, 1/2 c. Mayo, and followed all the other measurements of the ingredients. Wow!!! Next time I’m going to try only 1/4 c. Mayo and 1 1/4c. of the yogurt—hoping to eliminate the mayo completely. Thank you for your recipe, this is going to be a favorite for a long time to come!!
*Didnt have the optional items so I omitted them. Oh and wasn’t able to find buttermilk in the store so I used my kids whole milk (shh, don’t tell him).