Combine a milk product and an acid to make a perfect buttermilk substitute in just 10 minutes. Many 2 ingredient buttermilk recipes exist, so we tested them to see which ones work the best in recipes. Here’s what we discovered.

What do you do for a buttermilk substitute if you don’t have buttermilk, but you need it for a recipe?  How do you make buttermilk?  Are substitutes just as good in every recipe?

Buttermilk is not one of those grocery items I buy every week, like eggs or bread.  So if midweek I pull out a recipe requiring buttermilk, I may not find it in my refrigerator.  As you can imagine I’ve been without buttermilk many times when I have needed it.

Fortunately, making a substitute is quick and easy.  How do you make buttermilk if you are out of the real thing? 

A basic buttermilk recipe combines an acid with a milk product.

Many acids will work, including white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, yogurt, and sour cream.

A variety of milk products can also be used, including milk (any percentage), half and half, cream, or even a plant-based milk.

A variety of acid + milk product combinations will work.  But how effective are these substitutions? 

What is the role of buttermilk in a recipe?  Do buttermilk substitutes work in every recipe? Do they taste the same? 

These were some of the questions I explored in my epic buttermilk substitute experiment. But first, I had to figure out the right combination of acid and milk to make the best substitute.

What is Buttermilk?

Although the name buttermilk may conjure the image of a rich, fatty, creamy milk, this is not the case.  Originally buttermilk was the thin liquid leftover when cream was churned into butter.

However, most buttermilk available in the grocery store is cultured. Cultured buttermilk is milk (usually low-fat or skim) with lactic acid bacteria added.  It is a fermented dairy drink.

You can make your own cultured buttermilk.  But that is not what this article is about.  This post is about making a quick 10-minute substitute to eliminate emergency trips to the grocery store.

What is the Role of Buttermilk?

In Baking: Buttermilk adds a slightly tangy and rich buttery flavor to baked goods.  The acid in the buttermilk can tenderize and whiten the crumb. When this acid reacts with the base in the recipe, it gives rise and leavens the bakery items.

With Meat:  The buttermilk adds flavor and the acid it contains can tenderize the surface of the meat.

In Taste:  What does buttermilk taste like?  The taste is slightly tangy, but bright and light.  

Now that we know buttermilk’s role, let’s explore how to make the best buttermilk substitute. Then we will test the best substitutes in real recipes.

Experiment #1: Acid Quantity

QUESTION: How much acid should you add to milk to get the closest substitute to buttermilk?

Since the acidity level of white vinegar is a consistent 5% acidity, I used it for the experiment. 

I conducted three trials with different quantities of vinegar and noted the appearance and taste after 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and 1 hour.

There are 16 tablespoons in one cup.  Instead of counting out tablespoons of milk to equal a cup, I added vinegar to the liquid measuring cup first. Then I poured in enough milk to get 1 cup.

ACID AMOUNT VARIABLES

• 1 tablespoon of vinegar + 1% milk to make 1 cup (15 tablespoons milk)
• 2 tablespoons of vinegar + 1% milk to make 1 cup (14 tablespoons milk)
• 3 tablespoons of vinegar + 1% milk to make 1 cup (13 tablespoons milk)

Results

APPEARANCE AFTER 5 MINUTES

All the milks were curdled, but not the texture of buttermilk.  The more vinegar the milk contained, the more curdled the milk appeared.  

I did not taste them at this point.

APPEARANCE AFTER 10 MINUTES

The milks were more curdled, though still not as thick or smooth as buttermilk. A quick whisk and they more closely resembled buttermilk.

TASTE AFTER 10 MINUTES

• 1 tablespoon vinegar + milk: Tasted like watered down vinegar.
• 2 tablespoons vinegar + milk: More mellow and tasted the closest to buttermilk.
• 3 tablespoons vinegar + milk: Tasted sharper than buttermilk.

APPEARANCE AND TASTE AFTER 30 MINUTES

The milks appeared to be separating from their curdled state.  The more vinegar the milk contained, the more separation occurred.

However, whisking the milk brought everything back to the texture I wanted.

All were more acidic tasting and none of them tasted similar to buttermilk anymore.

APPEARANCE AND TASTE AFTER 1 HOUR

No noticeable changes in appearance from 30 minutes.

Very hard to taste any of them because they tasted too acidic.

CONCLUSION

1. Use 2 tablespoons of vinegar + enough milk to make 1 cup (14 tablespoons). This ratio produced a substitute closest in appearance and taste to buttermilk.
2. Rest for 10 minutes.  The substitute was ready at 10 minutes.  The longer it sat after 10 minutes, the more it separated began to taste too acidic.

Experiment #2: Best Milk to Use

QUESTION: What milk or milk product produces the best buttermilk substitute?

All milks/milk products were tested with 2 tablespoons of white vinegar.  Each was evaluated after 10 minutes.

MILK PRODUCT VARIABLES

• 1% milk
• 2% milk
• Whole milk
• Half and half
• Cream

Results

Half and half had a consistency, thickness, appearance, and taste closest to real buttermilk. Whole milk was a close second.

Other noteworthy results:

• The more fat in the milk, the thicker it became after adding vinegar. Whole milk was thicker than 2% or 1% milk.

• The 1% milk with white vinegar was the thinnest dairy milk and the cream with white vinegar was the thickest.

• Half and half, whole milk, and 2% milk with 2 tablespoons of white vinegar produced substitutes mostly closely resembling buttermilk.

• Almond milk was the thinnest and runniest. It had a strong vinegar taste.  The curdling dissipated over time.

All the milk products worked.  However, almond milk and 1% milk were my least favorites because they were both very thin.  I didn’t prefer cream either because it was very thick.  

CONCLUSION

Half and half makes the best buttermilk substitute, with whole milk as a good second choice.  But any of these milk substitutes will work in a bind.

Experiment #3 Best Acid to Use

QUESTION: What acid added to milk produces the substitute closest to buttermilk?

ACID VARIABLES

• White vinegar + whole milk
• Apple cider vinegar + whole milk
• Lemon juice + whole milk
• Cream of tartar + whole milk
• Yogurt + whole milk
• Sour cream + whole milk

Note: Even though I preferred half and half to whole milk in the previous experiment, it is not something I buy on a weekly basis.

I assumed that people will have milk in their refrigerator more often than half and half, so I used whole milk combined with various acids in this experiment.

Results

APPEARANCE

• Apple cider vinegar + milk produced a thicker substitute than white vinegar.  

• Lemon juice + milk produced a thicker substitute than either of the vinegars.

• Cream of tartar + milk produced a thinner and smoother substitute.  It did not curdle.

• Yogurt + milk was the closest in texture to buttermilk.

• Sour cream + milk was a little thicker than buttermilk.

TASTE

• Apple cider vinegar + milk tasted strongly of apple cider vinegar.

• Lemon juice + milk tasted slightly citrusy. I preferred the taste and texture of lemon juice more than either vinegar.

• Cream of tartar was smooth, but gritty.  It had a neutral taste initially, but a slight after taste.  It was not runny.

• Yogurt was very similar in texture, but it tasted more sour than buttermilk.

• Sour cream was slightly thicker, but its taste was the closest to buttermilk.  It was a more neutral taste.

CONCLUSION

My favorite acid for a buttermilk substitute is lemon juice.  Or, if a thicker substitute fits with your recipe, sour cream + milk is a great choice. 

Best Buttermilk Substitute Recipes 

How do you make buttermilk with milk?

1. MIX 2 tablespoons lemon juice + 14 tablespoons of milk (1%, 2%, or whole).
2. REST for 10 minutes.
3. WHISK and it is ready to use.

How do you make buttermilk with vinegar?

1. MIX 2 tablespoons white vinegar or apple cider vinegar + 14 tablespoons of milk (1%, 2%, or whole)
2. REST for 10 minutes.
3. WHISK and it is ready to use.

How do you make buttermilk with half and half?

1. MIX 2 tablespoons lemon juice + 14 tablespoons of half and half.
2. REST for 10 minutes.
3. WHISK and it is ready to use.

How do you make buttermilk with yogurt?

1. MIX ¾ cup yogurt + ¼ cup milk. (A nut yogurt and nut milk will work also.)
2. WHISK very well to remove all lumps and it is ready to use.

How do you make buttermilk with sour cream?

1. MIX ⅔ cup sour cream + ⅓ cup milk.
2. WHISK very well to remove all lumps and it is ready to use.

Using a Buttermilk Substitute

As you can see, there are several options for a buttermilk substitute.  But what happens in recipes when we use one of the substitutes? 

Let’s try some substitutes with buttermilk pancakes, buttermilk chicken, and buttermilk ranch dressing.

Buttermilk Pancakes With a Buttermilk Substitute

After trying a variety of buttermilk substitutes in my buttermilk pancake recipe, I evaluated appearance and taste.

APPEARANCE

• Substitutes using white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice were much lighter in color.
• Pancakes made with cream of tartar + milk or with yogurt + milk were slightly darker.
• Sour cream + milk was darker and the closest in color to real buttermilk pancakes.

TASTE

• Real buttermilk pancakes: Flavorful and sweet.
• White vinegar + milk: Pancake tasted bland.  There was a slight tangy vinegar taste. 
• Apple cider vinegar + milk: The pancake had a slight apple cider vinegar taste.  
• Lemon juice + milk: Sweet with a taste resembling real buttermilk pancakes.  The flavor lingers.
• Cream of tartar + milk: Resembled the taste of buttermilk with a lingering flavor.
• Yogurt + milk: Thicker and breadier. Not a bad taste, but not my favorite.
• Sour cream + milk: Sweeter and breadier. Perhaps more milk is needed to thin out the batter. The taste was similar to the real thing.
• Almond milk + lemon juice: The batter and pancake was thin with noticeable holes.  It had a slight nutty flavor.

CONCLUSION

My favorite two buttermilk substitutes to use in a buttermilk pancake recipe are lemon juice + whole milk and sour cream + whole milk.

In the future, if I were to use the sour cream alternative, I would add more milk when making the substitute so the end pancake would be a little less thick.

Buttermilk Substitute for Buttermilk Chicken

QUESTION: Does a substitute work for buttermilk chicken?  

The following substitutes were tested.

• Half and half + lemon juice
• Whole milk + lemon juice
• Whole Milk + Sour cream 

APPEARANCE

The only difference in appearance between the substitutes and real buttermilk chicken was how well the crumbs stuck to the chicken when it was coated.

The whole milk + lemon substitute held the crumbs less easily.

The sour cream + whole milk made the crumb coating much thicker.

TASTE

I did not notice any big difference in chicken taste between real buttermilk chicken and the substitutes.

CONCLUSION

Any substitute will work with buttermilk chicken.

Buttermilk Substitute in Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

QUESTION: How effective is a substitute in buttermilk ranch dressing when the buttermilk flavor needs to be tasted?

Since I was looking for a good taste, I only used substitutes that tasted great on their own.

In this test, I made buttermilk ranch dressing using these substitutes.

• Half and half + lemon juice
• Whole milk + lemon juice
• Whole Milk + Sour cream 

After blending the ingredients together, I evaluated the texture and taste of the ranch dressing using buttermilk substitutes versus the real thing.

Results

APPEARANCE

All salad dressings were close in consistency to buttermilk ranch dressing.  The salad dressing with milk was slightly thinner and the dressing with sour cream was slightly thicker.

TASTE

• Half and half plus lemon juice is the best substitute to use in buttermilk ranch dressing.  The consistency and taste was the closest to the salad dressing with real buttermilk.

• Second favorite was sour cream with milk.  This was a thicker salad dressing, but potentially it could be thinned with additional milk.

• Whole milk + lemon juice was the least favorite substitute.  It was a thinner dressing and not as flavorful.

How do You Make the Best Tasting Buttermilk Substitute?

For all the recipe testing I found sour cream + milk or half and half + lemon juice (rested 10 minutes) to be the closest substitutes for buttermilk.  This was followed by whole milk + lemon juice (rested 10 minutes).

However, any milk product + acid worked as well.

Now with a bunch of recipe possibilities available, you can make any recipe that needs buttermilk.

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