Chuy's Creamy Jalapeno Sauce

If you live anywhere in SE Texas, you've seen Chuy's.  It's a great local Tex-Mex restaurant and many of us are addicted to the creamy jalapeno sauce. I've seen some copy-cat recipes for this stuff, but they don't contain the 'secret' ingredient(s).  I got the ingredients and percentages from a Chuy's manager.  If you're near a Chuy's, please go buy the dip from them.  If you live in the vast wilderness that does NOT have a Chuy's nearby, you can use this recipe.

Chuy's Creamy Jalapeno dip is the consistency of salad dressing, not dip.  By the way, the manager at Chuy's told me they do not put cilantro in their recipe.  I put it in because I used it when I was trying to make the Creamy Jalapeno dip the first time and we liked it.  Chuy's also puts cottonseed oil in their Creamy Jalapeno dip...since I couldn't taste it, I didn't add it.  Keep in mind that they are not allowed to give out the recipe--the most they could do was confirm the ingredients about which I asked and then tell me if I'd missed any.  I missed the cottonseed oil and the tomatillo sauce.  If you don't have those, I (personally) don't think it affects the taste very much.

For this batch, I used:
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup buttermilk
3 TBS Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
1 TBS Salsa Verde (green tomatillo sauce)
1/3 cup cilantro + 1 cube of Knorr cilantro
1/3 cup sliced jalapenos

Combine everything except the mayonnaise and blend well.  I use a Magic Bullet.  Add the mayonnaise and blend again.  Pour into a bowl, and you're done!  If you refrigerate it for a few hours before serving, it will thicken and the flavors will meld into a more flavorful dip.

Dip shown here with cheese chips and pepperoni chips.  Delicious!!!!

This recipe makes a little over 16 servings of 2 TBS each.

Volley's Notes:

• We like hot things, so I often use more than 1/3 cup of jalapenos--but, keep in mind that the dip will get a little hotter as it sits in the fridge.
• I like cilantro--and often put a whole 'bunch' (as bought from the grocery store) in 4 cups of dip.
• Today, I used cilantro from the garden--and I didn't have much.  I keep the Knorr cubes in the pantry for times such as these.
• If you really want the dip thick--and prefer not to play with the ratios--use 1/2 cup mayo, 1/2 cup buttermilk, and 1 cup of sour cream.
• We eat this with veggies at home.  At Chuy's, I use it over lettuce and my kids eat it with the corn tortilla chips.  
• One of our favorite ways to use this is as the dressing for Cole Slaw--you wouldn't believe the number of compliments we get on something as simple as shredded cabbage and Creamy Jalapeno dip!

	Nutrition Facts   16 Servings Amount Per Serving   Calories 99.2   Total Fat 10.1 g       Saturated Fat 1.6 g       Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g       Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g   Cholesterol 4.4 mg   Sodium 193.6 mg   Potassium 25.7 mg   Total Carbohydrate 1.3 g       Dietary Fiber 0.0 g       Sugars 0.7 g   Protein 0.6 g   Vitamin A 0.7 %   Vitamin B-12 1.1 %   Vitamin B-6 0.4 %   Vitamin C 0.5 %   Vitamin D 0.0 %   Vitamin E 2.9 %   Calcium 2.0 %   Copper 0.2 %   Folate 0.4 %   Iron 0.2 %   Magnesium 0.5 %   Manganese 0.0 %   Niacin 0.0 %   Pantothenic Acid     0.8 %   Phosphorus     1.8 %   Riboflavin 1.6 %   Selenium 0.7 %   Thiamin 0.4 %   Zinc 0.6 % *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. As always, the Nutritional Facts were calculated on SparkPeople's Recipe Builder.