Makes: about 1 cup / Prep Time: 5 minutes / Optional Chill Time: 30 minutes
Creamy, a little zesty, and endlessly versatile, this Tex-Mex Sauce is the perfect drizzle, dip, or dressing for all your favorite tacos, nachos, and grilled meats.
This quick and easy Tex-Mex sauce brings together the cool creaminess of sour cream and mayo with the fun flavors of cumin, chili powder, and hot sauce. It’s a smooth, tangy, slightly spicy sauce that tastes amazing on just about everything from crispy tacos and fajita bowls to grilled chicken or roasted veggies.
It takes only 5 minutes to make, and you probably already have everything in your fridge. Serve it cold as a dipping sauce, like for these crispy baked chicken tacos ,or drizzle it on your favorite Tex-Mex dishes (like my my pork carnitas tacos or pork carnitas sliders) for an instant flavor upgrade. It’s such a great combination of a little spice with a lot of flavor, and I found it to be really great with the insanely delicious flavors of the tacos.
This Tex Mex sauce recipe that makes about one cup of sauce, and will keep in the refrigerator for up to five days.
Tex-Mex Sauce Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream
- 1/4 cup Mayonnaise best quality
- 1/4 cup Milk
- 1/4 tsp. Cumin
- 1/4 tsp. Mexican Oregano
- 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1/4 tsp. Chili Powder
- 1/4 tsp. Seasoned Salt (like Lawry’s)
- 1/4 tsp. freshly cracked Black Pepper
- 1 tbsp. Hot Sauce (use your favorite)
- 1 tbsp. fresh Lime Juice
Ingredient Notes + FAQs
Sour Cream → I prefer full-fat sour cream for the best texture and flavor here. Can I use fat-free sour cream? Sure! The flavor isn’t as rich, but if it’s your preference, use it! You can also use full-fat plain Greek yogurt (or non-fat plain Greek yogurt, but the flavor won’t be as full.)
Mayonnaise → I’m a big believer in using good quality mayonnaise, and Duke’s is consistently my go-to these days.
Milk → Whole Milk or 2% Milk are my recommendations for this sauce recipe. For a thicker sauce, go for half and half.
Mexican Oregano → Italian Oregano will work if you do not have Mexican Oregano.
Hot Sauce → I love the Original Cholula, but Tapitio is another great (milder) option! Valentina also has a really great flavor, and adds a little more heat. Use your favorite for this sauce!
Directions
Step One: Mix the Base Ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup mayonnaise. Whisk or stir until completely blended. Slowly stir in 1/4 cup milk until combined.
Step Two: Add Flavor. Stir in 1/4 tsp. Cumin, 1/4 tsp. Mexican Oregano, 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder, 1/4 tsp. Chili Powder, 1/4 tsp Seasoned Salt, 1/4 tsp. freshly cracked Black Pepper, 1 tbsp. Hot Sauce, and 1 tbsp. fresh Lime Juice.
Step Three: Season to Taste. Taste the sauce, then add more of any ingredient if you’re feeling it. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to two hours) to let the flavors build. Stir again before serving!
If you need to eat this sauce immediately, that’s totally fine. It’s still delicious as soon as it’s made! Letting it rest in the refrigerator allows the flavors to really blend together, so it does taste better if you have some time to wait.
I’ve made a few variations of this recipe, and this specific post has the ingredients I used when I made pork carnitas sliders (pictured above) at my parents Fourth of July party years ago. They were a big hit, and I had to make a couple of batches of sauce to keep up with the slider consumption!
This sauce recipe is quick, easy, and super flavorful. Again, your creamy tex-mex sauce can definitely be eaten immediately after you make it, but it does taste better if you let it set for at least a couple of hours. It gives the flavors a chance to meld and balance itself out.
Just as a side note: I like to spread it on the bottom and top bun of sliders, or down the middle of a tortilla before topping it with pork. You can do whatever you like, though! Drizzling it on top of the pork is always a great choice, then you can add extra flavor with fresh pico de gallo, thinly sliced jalapeños, cheese, cilantro, or anything else that you love!
What to Eat with Tex Mex Sauce
Creamy Tex-Mex sauce can work with nearly anything grilled, specifically with a Southwestern flavor profile. I recommend the following:
- spicy shrimp tacos (these have a sauce in the recipe, but this sauce would also be good!)
- pork carnitas sliders (pictured above!)
- pork carnitas tacos
- small batch spicy pork carnitas
- small batch barbacoa tacos
- fish tacos
*This recipe was originally published on July 20, 2016. It was updated on June 7, 2020 after multiple retests*, then again on October 23, 2025 for post structure updates. *for the original recipe, please email me!*
Creamy Tex-Mex Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream
- 1/4 cup Mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup Milk whole or 2%
- 1/4 tsp. Ground Cumin
- 1/4 tsp. Mexican Oregano or Italian oregano
- 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1/4 tsp. Chili Powder
- 1/4 tsp. Seasoned Salt
- 1/4 tsp. freshly cracked Black Pepper
- 1 Tbsp. Hot Sauce like Cholula
- 1 Tbsp. Fresh Lime Juice
Instructions
- Whisk sour cream and mayonnaise together until creamy and fully blended. Slowly whisk in the milk until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Whisk in the seasonings, then add the hot sauce and lime juice. Whisk until all ingredients are totally blended, and the sauce is smooth. Add more milk, one tablespoon at at time, to thin out the sauce (if desired).
- Cover the sauce with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for a couple of hours if you can; the flavors blend better that way!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
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Comments & Reviews
looks delicious. I’ve been craving tacos awhile now. Can’t wait to try this sauce. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
My pleasure! It’s so easy to make. Add some cayenne if you really want some heat 🙂 let me know how it goes!
Go to sauce for Al pastor chicken and tacos , and grilled mini potatoes,
LOVE this, Jay! I’m so glad you like it! Great call on using it on grilled mini potatoes, too!
This looks absolutely incredible! If you are looking for a taste tester, please let me know! Lol.
Haha! Mary, I seriously need more taste testers in my life! Let me know when you’re free! lol
So quick and easy to make. This was just want my pork carnitas needed! Thank you.
Awesome!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Kara!!
The only thing I did differently was to use a Sriracha mayonnaise. That just took it over the top! Great recipe!
Ohhh I LOVE that swap, Pat! It sounds amazing! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!!
I needed a quick and easy sauce for our carnitas tonight because we forgot our usual sauce. I had all the ingredients at home and whipped this together in 2 minutes, tasted, and doubled the hot sauce. Amazing results!!!
Thank you so much for this recipe, we now have a new staple sauce we can make anytime. Will try this on fish and shrimp tacos next!
I’m SO glad you liked it, Mike!! And I fully support the extra hot sauce!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such an awesome comment!
This Tex-Mex sauce is delicious. I followed the recipe and didn’t alter any spices. Used Chiluba (green pepper sauce). I sautéed onions and green pepper and put on the carnitas then poured.the sauce on then chopped cilantro. It was dripping everywhere and that’s what made it yummy.
Your carnitas sound SO good! I’m so glad you liked the sauce, too! Thank you for making it!
Made this tonight for pulled pork tacos, absolutely phenomenal, definitely a new staple! Swapped out sour cream for crème fraiche and seemed to work well too. Thanks!
SO happy to hear this, Mike!! I love your crème fraîche substitution, too – thank you so much for sharing that and for taking the time to come back and leave such a wonderful comment!
It looks delicious! I have everything but lime. Could I use lemon juice instead?
That will work!
When you say seasoned salt what type do you mean? I’ve probably got at least a dozen different varieties of seasoned salt. Thanks!
Hi Aaron! I use Lawry’s!