Forget the bottled dressings. You can make tasty Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing in just minutes with only a handful of ingredients.
This homemade blue cheese dressing is great in Buffalo Chicken Wraps or for dipping Buffalo Chicken Bites. You can also serve it with baked potatoes, salad, and pizza.
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Like Napoleon Dynamite or mushrooms, Blue Cheese Dressing is one of those things that people either love or hate. There isn’t much middle ground.
For the haters I’d like to suggest that perhaps you’ve never had homemade Blue Cheese Dressing. Even I, super fan though I may be, have come across Blue Cheese Dressings that were less than stellar. They can be too thick, too mayonnaise-y, too sweet, or have massive chunks of poor quality cheese that just… bleh.
When you make Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing, you’re in control. Prep it just as you like it!
Why Make This
It’s easy. With just six ingredients, you can easily stir up a custom batch of homemade Blue Cheese Dressing without batting an eye.
It’s economical. A bottle of good quality commercial dressing costs $4 to $5 at the minimum. Whip up this homemade version for about a fourth the cost! You can make just as much or as little as you need so no more half-used bottles of dressing clogging up the fridge.
It’s delicious. Tangy buttermilk, creamy mayo, fresh green onion, and the bite of blue cheese combine in a dressing that is simply out of this world! It’s super tasty on a Buffalo Chicken Salad.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing:
buttermilk – You DO need real buttermilk, not the dried powder, not the add-vinegar-to-milk stuff. Real cultured buttermilk from the dairy case. You can culture buttermilk yourself or buy it at the store. It costs about $1.99 at Walmart and you can use it in lots of things. You can also freeze buttermilk that you might not use right away. If you’re really in need of a substitute, I recommend whisking together equal parts of plain yogurt and milk.
mayonnaise – Make your own mayonnaise if you’d like to have a super fresh and “real food” dressing or use your favorite bottled variety. I am a Hellmans/Best Foods fan for life!
blue cheese – Blue cheese, roquefort, or gorgonzola crumbles will both work in this recipe, but for the freshest and best-tasting cheese, buy it in a block and crumble it yourself. If you’re in a pinch, you can use feta. Obviously not blue cheese, but a tasty substitute.
green onion – Green onion is an easy cheap aromatic that ups the fresh flavor in this homemade blue cheese dressing. You can experiment with other aromatics besides the scallions or add in your favorite herbs if you like, such as chopped dill or basil.
salt and pepper – Just a bit of salt and pepper to taste makes this dressing super simple and easy. If you want to get fancy, you can try cracked peppercorn or a pinch of cayenne or paprika to jazz things up a bit.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Mixing up your dressings and marinades is such a great economical thing to do. Making homemade blue cheese dressing really couldn’t be simpler. Just two simple steps:
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and mayonnaise until smooth.
- Stir in the blue cheese crumbles and scallions. Season to taste with salt and pepper.Chill the dressing to allow the flavors to blend. Use within one week.
FAQs & Recipe Costs
Prepped food is good in the fridge for up to four days. It’s not recommended that you freeze mayo-based dressings, so use it up quickly. Remember that you can easily scale the recipe and make a half batch if you want to avoid wasting food.
If you find that you use blue cheese infrequently, but still want to have some on hand, freeze it. Store the crumbles in an air tight container or wrap small blocks in plastic wrap and then in a ziptop bag and place in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Roquefort is one of many types of blue cheese, so the different dressings are going to be similar. You can use whatever type of blue you prefer to make a homemade dressing.
Ranch and Blue Cheese share the same base components, such as buttermilk, mayonnaise, herbs, and spices. You will find variations about different recipes, with yogurt or sour cream used, but essential the base creamy sauce is the same; the main difference is the addition of crumbled or cubed blue cheese.
Recipe Costs
Knowing how much it costs you to prepare a recipe can help you decide if it’s the type of recipe to make regularly or one you might want to save for special occasions. Let’s crunch some numbers and see how this recipe pencils out.
- buttermilk – $0.40
- mayonnaise – $0.33
- blue cheese – $0.50
- green onion – $0.10
While your costs may vary depending on where and how you shop, you can expect to pay about $1.33 for a batch of Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing.
How to make this good and cheap:
Here are some of the strategies you can use to make this cilantro lime dress recipe more economical:
- Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. Instead of paying full price, buy more than you need when you see it on sale. Then you always have it when you want it. This is one way of 13 that I use to save a $100 a month on groceries.
- Speaking of which, shop the stores that have the best prices. When I did my big grocery store showdown, I learned that ALDI and Costco have the best prices for a lot of the things I buy. You will naturally save money if you shop the best store for the items YOU buy. This may not be ALDI or Costco, so you’ll need to do your own price comparisons. The time investment as your research it is super valuable!
More Uses for Blue Cheese
Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing
Ingredients
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles
- 1 green onion finely chopped
- salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and mayonnaise until smooth. Stir in the blue cheese crumbles and scallions. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Chill the dressing to allow the flavors to blend. Use within 4 days.
Notes
- You DO need real buttermilk, not the dried powder, not the add-vinegar-to-milk stuff. If in a pinch, mix equal parts of yogurt and milk for a reasonable buttermilk substitute.
- Blue cheese or gorgonzola crumbles will both work in this recipe, but for the freshest and best-tasting cheese, buy it in a block and crumble it yourself. Freeze extra cheese for another time.
- You can experiment with other aromatics besides the scallions. Add in your favorite herbs if you like, such as dill or basil.
Nutrition
This post was originally published on April 23, 2017. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Jennifer Teets
Yum! This is similar to my recipe. I use chives and a pinch of garlic powder in addition.
Jessica Fisher
Sounds yummy!
Sandi
I’m with you! If I don’t go with the usual vinaigrette, I go with Bleu Cheese. yum yum. Doesn’t it figure, the kid doesn’t like either one of those? And I don’t care for the Ranch that he likes. Separate choices every salad. Grrr. I can’t recall the last time I bought buttermilk. Does it freeze ok? I know regular milk does, but I don’t know that I’ve ever tried it with buttermilk.
Jessica Fisher
Buttermilk freezes okay for baking. Not sure for dressing. But, does the kid like homemade ranch? They basically have the same base and you can add blue cheese to yours. Blue cheese freezes really well so you could squirrel it away in the fridge.