Buttermilk substitute
For each cup of buttermilk, stir 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar into a measuring cup, fill to the 1 cup line with milk, and let it sit 10 to 15 minutes.
Out of buttermilk mid-recipe?
Tell Sous Chef what you are missing. It swaps the ingredient and rewrites the steps that use it, and keeps your original recipe.
What are you making?
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Greek yogurt + milk
Great fit⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt and ⅔ cup 1% or skim milk
For this dish: It was the runner-up in King Arthur's biscuit tests, with real tang and body.
How: Whisk 1 part Greek yogurt into 2 parts milk until smooth. Use it right away.
What changes: It is cultured, so it is tangier and thicker than soured milk. In King Arthur's tests it was runner-up to real buttermilk in biscuits and tied with it in pancakes.
Contains milk.
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Plain yogurt + milk
Great fit¾ cup plain yogurt (not Greek) and ¼ cup milk or water
For this dish: The cultured tang and body are close to real buttermilk.
How: Whisk the yogurt and milk together until smooth.
What changes: Cultured tang and a thick texture close to buttermilk. Regular yogurt only. Greek yogurt needs more thinning.
Contains milk.
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Plain kefir
Great fit1 cup plain unsweetened kefir
For this dish: It is cultured and acidic, like buttermilk.
How: Use it straight, cup for cup. Check the label for plain, unsweetened kefir.
What changes: Kefir is cultured and pourable, so it is the closest match in flavor and texture. It can be a touch fizzy and tart.
Contains milk.
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Sour cream + water
Great fit¾ cup sour cream and ¼ cup water or milk
For this dish: Added fat and acid give a rich, tender biscuit.
How: Whisk the sour cream and water together until it pours like buttermilk.
What changes: Richer than buttermilk because of the extra fat. Acid and tang are similar.
Contains milk.
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Milk + lemon juice
Works1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 cup minus 1 tbsp milk
For this dish: It supplies the acid for lift, but biscuits taste flatter because there is little else to hide the missing buttermilk flavor.
How: Put the lemon juice in a measuring cup, add milk to the 1 cup line, and stir. Let it stand 10 to 15 minutes until it looks slightly curdled.
What changes: It is thinner and less rich than cultured buttermilk. In King Arthur's tests, soured milk gave biscuits less depth of flavor but worked well in cake.
Contains milk.
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Milk + white vinegar
Works1 tbsp white vinegar and 1 cup minus 1 tbsp milk
For this dish: It gives the acid for rise, but not the depth of real buttermilk.
How: Stir the vinegar into the milk and leave it undisturbed 10 to 15 minutes. Apple cider vinegar also works.
What changes: Same result as the lemon version. A faint vinegar note can show if you use more than the stated amount.
Contains milk.
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Milk + cream of tartar
Works1¾ tsp cream of tartar and 1 cup milk
For this dish: It adds acid, but biscuits taste flat with so few ingredients.
How: Stir the cream of tartar into a few teaspoons of milk to break up clumps, then stir in the rest. It can be used right away.
What changes: No wait time. Extension charts give 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 teaspoons per cup. Like the other soured milks, it tastes less deep than real buttermilk in biscuits.
Contains milk.
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Soy milk + lemon juice (dairy-free)
Works1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 cup minus 1 tbsp unsweetened soy milk
For this dish: Acid is present, but the batter is thinner and the soy taste can show.
How: Stir the lemon juice into the soy milk and let it stand 10 minutes.
What changes: It adds the acid but does not thicken the way dairy does, and soy flavor may be noticeable. Almond and oat milk follow the same ratio.
Contains soy.
What buttermilk does in a recipe
Buttermilk is tangy and acidic. In baking the acid reacts with baking soda to make bubbles, which helps cakes, biscuits and pancakes rise. The acid also softens gluten for a tender crumb. In dressings and marinades it adds tang and body, so a substitute needs both acidity and some thickness.
Swap it in your recipe with Sous Chef
A substitution is more than one ingredient line. The steps that use it change too. Sous Chef edits both on a working copy of your recipe, so the original is always one tap away.
You ask Sous Chef
"I don't have buttermilk."
Sous Chef edits the recipe
1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 cup minus 1 tbsp milk
Put the lemon juice in a measuring cup, add milk to the 1 cup line, and stir. Let it stand 10 to 15 minutes until it looks slightly curdled.
When not to substitute
If buttermilk is the main ingredient, as in ranch dressing, cold soup or a buttermilk panna cotta, use real cultured buttermilk or kefir. The fewer ingredients a recipe has, the more you will notice the difference.
Common questions
Can I use milk instead of buttermilk?
Plain milk works only if you add acid. King Arthur found plain milk gave flatter biscuits and pancakes that rose less, and a denser cake in a baking soda recipe.
How long does milk and lemon juice take to turn into buttermilk?
About 10 to 15 minutes. Small curdled bits show it is ready. If it looks unchanged, it still works in most baking.
Can I make dairy-free buttermilk?
Yes. Use the same ratio, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar per cup, with soy, almond or oat milk. It will be thinner than dairy buttermilk.
Related
- Sour cream substitutes
- Baking soda substitutes
- Cream of tartar substitutes
- Baking powder substitutes
- Buttermilk cups to grams
- All ingredient substitutes
- How to substitute an ingredient
Sources
- Buttermilk substitute (King Arthur Baking)
- Best buttermilk substitutes (Tasting Table)
- How to make buttermilk (Once Upon a Chef)
- Ingredient substitutions (Colorado State University Extension)
Cook with what you have.
Import any recipe into Sous Chef and ask for the swap. It rewrites the ingredient list and the steps, and never loses the original. Free on iPhone.