How To Make Buttermilk
How To Make Buttermilk (Recipe) – Try this Homemade Substitute in your next baking project! This quick recipe is so easy to make, you’ll never buy buttermilk again!
Why We Love This Homemade Buttermilk Recipe
It’s happened to all of us. You’re planning to make an incredible batch of fluffy pancakes over the weekend, and your recipe calls for buttermilk.
You run to the grocery store to buy all the necessary ingredients. Then return home with a half-gallon jug of buttermilk, when really, you only needed one cup for your recipe.
Now the nearly-full jug sits in the fridge… Glaring at you every time you open the door.
It’s taunting you with questions like:
- Am I a lost cause?
- Will you use me in future recipes?
- Will I end up in the trash, yet again, as wasted money?
Buttermilk can be so passive-aggressive.
Easy Substitute for Buttermilk
I have a suggestion… Stop buying buttermilk and make an easy substitute instead, whenever the occasion arises.
When you want to make a quick buttermilk dressing, waffles, or cake, there’s no need to run back to the store.
This old bakers’ trick for homemade buttermilk is a fabulous quick-fix for when you need a small amount.
It only requires 2 staple ingredients, that we all usually have on-hand, and about 10 minutes of wait time!
What Is Buttermilk?
Well, that’s sort of a trick question.
Historically, it is the liquid remaining after butter is churned. It is thin and slightly tart with little bits of buttery bits left behind.
In order to waste-not, pioneers and settlers used this liquid to enhance everything from cornbread and biscuits to stews and gravy.
They even created household uses for this recipe, such as washing hair and skin for beautification, or pouring it in the garden to fertilize certain types of edible plants.
Yet, nowadays we find cultured buttermilk at the market. This high-tech processed buttermilk has nothing to do with making butter. Instead, bacteria is added to milk to induce fermentation.
Cultured buttermilk is usually much more tangy and thick than the traditional version, and cannot always be used in equal proportions in old-time recipes, especially when measuring by weight.
Homemade Substitute
So if cultured buttermilk is fermented in factories to simulate traditional buttermilk, why can’t we make it at home?
Well, I’m sure you’ve guessed by now… You can.
And it’s so easy to do, you’ll never see the need to buy cultured buttermilk again.
Whether you need low-fat or full-fat buttermilk for your recipes, you can make it in minutes! Ready to get started?
How To Make Buttermilk
This Homemade Buttermilk Substitute is so handy, you will wonder why you haven’t tried this before.
What Ingredients You Will Need:
- Milk
- Lemon Juice (or White Vinegar)
Step by Step Recipe:
- Simply mix milk and lemon juice together. Use the ratio of 1 cup milk to 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
- Allow the mixture to rest and curdle. It only takes a few minutes.
- Then stir and use!
Get the Full Printable How to Make Buttermilk (Easy Recipe + VIDEO) Below. Enjoy!
Can You Make This Substitute With Skim Milk?
Of Course! I usually suggest using the full-fat “whole milk” version in recipes, because it offers a creamier texture and richer taste.
However, you can make this substitute with any kind of milk, including fat-free and 1% milk.
Just follow the same procedure, remembering that thinner milk will produce thinner liquid.
Dairy-Free Substitute
Can you make a milk-free substitute for vegan and dairy-free recipes?
Absolutely! Believe it or not, most alternative milks, like almond milk, soy milk, and coconut milk will curdle with a little splash of lemon juice as well.
You can follow the exact same instructions to make any sort of non-dairy substitute you prefer.
This is a great option when baking for friends and family with food allergies!
Can Buttermilk And Milk Be Used Interchangeably?
Yes and no.
Yes, you can use buttermilk in place of standard milk in most recipes. And visa-versa.
However, this substitute is thicker and contains less moisture than milk. Therefore, you always need to add 1-2 tablespoons more buttermilk in recipes that call for 1 cup plain milk.
Consequently, if a recipe calls for 1 cup buttermilk, and you want to use regular milk, you will need to reduce the buttermilk by 1-2 tablespoons.
How Long Does This Recipe Last?
This Homemade Substitute will last as long as regular milk. Usually 2-4 weeks.
Check the expiration date on your milk carton. Then once the substitute is made, store it in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, up to the expiration date.
If the mixture has been sitting for quite a while, you will need to shake the container to re-mix before using it. Otherwise, the liquid will have little bits of curd in it.
Ways To Use This Buttermilk Recipe
Ready to start cooking and baking with this substitute? Try one (or all) of these amazing recipes!
- Roasted Shrimp Salad with Dressing Recipe
- Best Lemon Cake Recipe
- Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Frosting Recipe
- Cherry Cupcakes Recipe
- Zesty Baked Onion Rings Recipe
- Jamaican Johnny Cakes Recipe
- Blueberry Bundt Cake Recipe
- Southern Cathead Biscuits Recipe
- Grilled Romaine Salad with Dressing Recipe
- Amazing Pound Cake by Taste of Home
If you love making things at home instead of buying them at the store, check out how to make vegetable stock or how to make ricotta cheese!
Looking for More Kitchen Hack Recipes? Be Sure to Also Try:
How To Make Buttermilk
Instructions
- Pour milk into a one-cup measuring pitcher, stopping just shy of one full cup.
- Add one tablespoon of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar to the milk. If you need to add another splash of milk to the pitcher, do so to make sure you have one full cup of liquid.
- Stir the milk and lemon juice to mix well.
- Allow the mixture to sit and curdle for 10 minutes. Then stir again and use as needed.
Hey Sommer, thanks for sharing great recipe tip for making buttermilk at home easily with just few of the steps. I love it. I was not expecting how much it is easy….
I want to add one thing that you should mention the best juicer to extract he lemon juice. i read and see the image with one juicer where you are extracting the lemon juice but i try to find what is this juicer , i mean what is the best juicer machine to take out juice for use, any way it is admirable article by you .
its so easy thanks for this.
Love buttermilk, raised in the south we always had buttermilk in the refrigerator, being stationed in Spain I was always missing the arrival of it to the PX, I complained to my neighbor, who just happened to be a American and a doctor. The next day he was at my door with a quart of buttermilk and told me a way to always have buttermilk in my refrigerator again. I will pass it it on , when your carton gets down to about a quarter of a cup, fill the empty carton
up with a carton of fresh milk, put in a warm area, I put in a open window in summer and in a warm area of the house over night In the winter, and you get another quart without having to run to the market. Usually you can do the one carton a couple of times .
Love buttermilk, raised in the south we always had buttermilk in the refrigerator, being stationed in Spain I was always missing the arrival of it to the PX, I complained to my neighbor, who just happened to be a American and a doctor. The next day he was at my door with a quart of buttermilk and told me a way to always have buttermilk in my refrigerator again.
your food All verity is amazing and quality so good
Love buttermilk, raised in the south we always had buttermilk in the refrigerator, being stationed in Spain I was always missing the arrival of it to the PX, I complained to my neighbor, who just happened to be a American  and a doctor.  The next day he was at my door with a quart of buttermilk and told me a way to always have buttermilk in my refrigerator again. I will pass it it on , when your carton gets down to about a quarter of a cup, fill the empty carton
 up with a carton of fresh milk, put in a warm area, I put in a open window in summer and in a warm area of the house over night In the winter, and you get another quart without having to run to the market. Usually you can do the one carton a couple of times .
Pingback: How to remove dark spots from Face, Legs & Hands – SkillBoost.In
Pingback: Cinnamon Swirl Bread (Easy Quick Bread Recipe) – ORMUS/EN.IR
Pingback: 100 things to do when quarantined with kids - Christian Parenting
Pingback: Cinnamon Swirl Bread – sundullanguage
Pingback: Cinnamon Swirl Bread (Easy Quick Bread Recipe) | Valerie's Kitchen
Does it have to be fresh lemon juice?Â
Hi Nicole,
Fresh is definitely best, but if you have a store-bought version you like, feel free to give it a try. :)
I never knew how easy it was to make this! Looking forward to whipping up some this weekend!
I always make buttermilk too! It’s just so easy!
Thank you for this! I always find myself only needing a little bit of buttermilk versus a whole gallon. This is wonderful that I can just make it myself!
You don’t know how many times I’ve needed buttermilk & didn’t have it on hand. I am keeping these ingredients on hand, so that I can always have buttermilk!
My favorite banana bread recipe uses buttermilk and I never have the storebought on hand, so I love using this because I always seem to have milk and lemon juice on hand! Thank you!
If you warm the milk in the microwave for a quick 10-15 seconds, then add the lemon juice, you get a thicker buttermilk. But … if you add the lemon juice first, and then nuke it for 30+ seconds, it will curd up into paste.Â
So for someone that buys buttermilk because I like the taste… how does the taste of this compare?
Hi Steve!
Honestly, it tastes almost exactly the same. If anything, I think the homemade buttermilk version might taste a little fresher, especially when made with lemon juice.