DIY Cultured Buttermilk Recipe

By
Molly Sheridan
Molly Sheridan is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Molly Sheridan

Molly Sheridan began chronicling her cooking adventures on Wonderland Kitchen in 2011. Her writing has appeared in publications such as TimeOut and The Washington Post.

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Updated May. 05, 2021
Photograph: Molly Sheridan

Note: You can make larger (or smaller) volumes as needed. I use a ratio of one tablespoon starter for every cup milk with reliable results. Unless your culture was not designed to be perpetuated (some freeze-dried options fall into this category), you can reserve a bit of each batch to culture the next.

Some recipes indicate that you should pasteurize your milk (at 180°F) before culturing or at least warm it to 76°F. This step is entirely unnecessary, as store-bought milk is all pasteurized before it hits the shelves.

Recipe Facts

5

(1)

Active: 2 mins
Total: 10 hrs
Serves: 2 servings
Makes: 2 cups

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Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons buttermilk (store-bought or activated dried starter)

  • 2 cups milk (whole, 2%, or skim, depending on your nutritional needs and preferences)

Directions

  1. In a mason jar or other glass container, thoroughly mix the starter and milk. Cover with a coffee filter or piece of cheese cloth (do not seal tightly with a lid) and leave to culture out of drafts at a warm room temperature (between 70-78°F is recommended) until milk has clabbered (10-24 hours).

  2. To test if the milk has thickened, tip the jar slightly. It should move away from the wall of the jar as a single mass. Just as with yogurt making, once the milk sets, it will get more tart the longer you allow the culturing to continue.

  3. Refrigerate to halt culturing for at least six hours. Stir before using.

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
128 Calories
5g Fat
12g Carbs
9g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2
Amount per serving
Calories 128
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g 6%
Saturated Fat 3g 16%
Cholesterol 20mg 7%
Sodium 144mg 6%
Total Carbohydrate 12g 5%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Total Sugars 13g
Protein 9g
Vitamin C 1mg 3%
Calcium 311mg 24%
Iron 0mg 0%
Potassium 365mg 8%
*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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