How To Make Homemade Buttermilk [Video]

I rarely have store-bought buttermilk in the fridge. And so, I always rely on homemade buttermilk substitutes when making sweet or savory recipes. Today I’ll share with you six ways how you can make easy DIY buttermilk at home.

updated post form 2010

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK

Buttermilk has been around for many years. It’s used in cooking and baking and can also make refreshing drinks. And even though it’s widely available in grocery stores, I rarely buy it. Instead, I use quick buttermilk substitutes that are easily prepared at home.

INGREDIENTS

Making buttermilk is so easy! All you have to do is add an acidic ingredient to the milk and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Stir and use right away.

• Milk
• Acid Ingredients: Vinegar (image 1), Lemon Juice (image 2), Citric Acid( image 3), Cream of Tartar (image 4), Sour Cream (image 5), Yogurt (image 6).

VINEGAR AND LEMON JUICE HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK

Let’s get started with 2 most popular ways to prepare homemade buttermilk.

Vinegar and Lemon Juice are most commonly used to make buttermilk at home. Lemon and vinegar can do wonders. I also use them to make easy Homemade Farmer’s Cheese.

I’ve tried several ratios of lemon/vinegar to milk, and I prefer one tablespoon(15ml) of lemon/vinegar to 1 cup(236-250ml) of milk.

• VINEGAR/LEMON HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK
• Pour 1 tablespoon Vinegar/Lemon Juice into a 1 cup(236-250ml) measure.
• Top it off with room temperature milk. Stir.
• Let rest for 5-10 minutes.
• Mixture will be curdled.
• Stir again and use right away, or use within 3 hours.
• Works great in baking and cooking.
• Moderate acidic taste, not great for drinking.

CITRIC ACID AND CREAM OF TARTAR HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK

Did you know you can use Citric Acid and Cream of Tartar to make buttermilk? They are not as commonly used as lemon juice or vinegar. But both can be used successfully to prepare homemade buttermilk.

Both citric acid and cream of tartar are sold in dry powder form. And both can be used as crystallization inhibitors in candy making.

Citric Acid (pH3) – strongly acidic, use small amounts

Citric Acid is naturally found in fruits like lemons, limes, grapefruits, pineapples and berries, to name a few.

Commercially produced citric acid has table salt like texture. And it is used as food additive. For example it’s used in flavored drinks, wine, canning, caramel, gummy candies, frozen fish and more. I also used it to make Invert Sugar Syrup.

• CITRIC ACID HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK
• Into a cup measure pour 1 cup room temperature milk.(step 1-3)
• Whisk in 1/4 tsp citric acid, let sit 5-10 minutes. (step 4-7)
• Stir before using. (step 8)
• Thick, creamy not too acidic, I found it surprisingly tasty.

Cream of Tartar (pH5) – mildly acidic

Cream of tartar is a byproduct of wine production. It contains tartaric acid. And tartaric acid is similar to lemon and vinegar.

In recipes cream of tartar works as stabilizer. It’s often used in recipes for royal icing and meringues. And it can also be helpful in candy making process as well, working as inhibitor of sugar crystallization in candies. Try it next time you make homemade thick caramel.

• CREAM OF TARTAR HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK
• Into a cup measure pour 1 cup room temperature milk. (step 1-3)
• Whisk in 1 and 1/2tsp cream of tartar, let sit 5-10 minutes. (step 4-7)
• Be sure to whisk it again right before adding it to the recipe. (step 8)
• Powdered cream of tartar tends to sink to the bottom of the dish (similarly like corn starch)
• Very mild in taste and it doesn’t thicken up.

SOUR CREAM AND GREEK YOGURT HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK

Sour cream and Greek Yogurt can also be used to make buttermilk from scratch. Use 1:1 ratio (sour cream/yogurt : milk).

This smooth homemade buttermilk is good enough to be used for delicious and refreshing drinks and it works great as meat marinade as well. Use it with chicken, fish or venison. This buttermilk is so delicious I could drink it every day!

• SOUR CREAM/YOGURT HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK
• Measure 1/2 cup milk. Pour it into a small bowl. (step 1-2)
• Spoon sour cream/yogurt into a 1/2 cup measure. (step 3)
• Add sour cream/yogurt into the milk.(step 4)
• Whisk well until smooth. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.(step 5)
• Stir again and use.(step 6)
• Both, sour cream and yogurt produce smooth, very mildly tangy buttermilk.
• Yogurt Buttermilk had slightly thicker consistency than Sour Cream Buttermilk.
• They also work great for marinades and drinks.

CAN I MAKE HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK USING COLD MILK?

I’ve made buttermilk using cold, straight from the fridge milk many times. And though it works it’s not as effective as when you use room temperature milk.

For best results, use room temperature milk to make buttermilk at home. To quickly bring cold milk to room temperature, microwave it for 20 seconds. Stir well. And then add an acidic ingredient. The acid reacts faster with room temperature milk than with cold milk.

HOW CAN I MAKE DAIRY FREE BUTTERMILK?

Use a non-dairy milk instead (rice, almond, oat etc.) and add lemon or vinegar.

• DELICIOUS RECIPES USING BUTTERMILK
• Potato Buttermilk Hamburger Buns
• Chocolate Cake Recipe
• Blueberry Buckle Muffins

This post was originally published on May 28th, 2010. On January 25th, 2020 I updated this post with new photos, written text and a video.

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