Best Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing Recipe

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

By
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Senior 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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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.

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Recipe Facts

Active: 5 mins
Total: 5 mins
Serves: 12 servings
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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Nutrition Facts (per serving)
103 Calories
10g Fat
1g Carbs
2g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12
Amount per serving
Calories 103
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10g 13%
Saturated Fat 3g 15%
Cholesterol 13mg 4%
Sodium 139mg 6%
Total Carbohydrate 1g 0%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 2g
Vitamin C 1mg 3%
Calcium 48mg 4%
Iron 0mg 0%
Potassium 43mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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