Best Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing Recipe

A tangy and funky accompaniment to an iceberg wedge salad, or any other.

by
Daniel Gritzer Culinary Director
Daniel joined the Serious Eats culinary team in 2014 and writes recipes, equipment reviews, articles on cooking techniques. Prior to that he was a food editor at Food & Wine magazine, and the staff writer for Time Out New York's restaurant and bars section.
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Daniel Gritzer
updated Apr. 20, 2020
20170822-blue-cheese-dressing-vicky-wasik.jpg
Photograph: Vicky Wasik

Why It Works

  • Buttermilk adds a lactic tang to offset the richness of mayonnaise and cheese, and allows the finished dressing to flow freely.
  • A tablespoon of lemon juice brings the flavors into balance.

Making your own blue cheese dressing at home is worth the extra effort. For this one, we combine a not-too-aggressive blue cheese with sour cream, mayonnaise, and buttermilk, plus a touch of lemon juice to brighten it up. The buttermilk may seem superfluous, but it absolutely makes the dressing, both for the great lactic flavor it adds and also because it thins the dressing just enough for it to cascade down the face of your iceberg wedge without clotting and clumping.

Recipe Facts

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Active: 5 mins
Total: 5 mins
Makes: 1 1/2 cups

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Ingredients

  • 2 ounces (60g) mild blue cheese
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) sour cream
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) fresh juice from 1 lemon
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Kosher salt (if needed)

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, mash blue cheese with a whisk. Whisk in mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk, and lemon juice until a smooth, slightly lumpy dressing forms. Season with pepper. (The blue cheese will likely make the dressing salty enough, but taste and add salt if necessary.) Serve.

Special equipment

Whisk

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