How To Make Homemade Buttermilk

How To Make Homemade Buttermilk At Home in 3 Easy Steps- never buy a container of buttermilk again! Making it yourself at home is so much easier! And I bet you have the 2 ingredients needed to make it.

You’re in the middle of making some one bowl red velvet cupcakes and you realize the recipe calls for buttermilk. You don’t even have to peek in the fridge, because you know that isn’t going to be in there. Shoot. 

So what do you do? Stop what you’re doing, wake the little ones, and rush out to the grocery store? Text your husband, hoping he sees it on his way home? How about this instead. Make your own buttermilk.

Yup, make your own. Seriously with two ingredients you can make your own. Save your sanity, a trip to the store and a few bucks while you’re at it. Before I show you how easy it is.

See Also:

• If you’ve run out of brown sugar in the middle of baking, you can make your own homemade brown sugar with just 2 ingredients!
• Make your own powdered sugar in a pinch when you’ve run out! Just 2 ingredients is all you need.

What is buttermilk? 

Buttermilk is fermented or cultured milk, similar to a yogurt or sour cream. It’s a bit thicker than regular milk, and  is a bit tangy in flavor. That tangy flavor means it’s acidic in nature and will react with the baking soda in your recipe. Together the buttermilk and the baking soda will react together to create carbon dioxide and help your baked goods rise. 

Buttermilk used to be the liquid that was left behind when heavy cream was turned into butter. The non-fat liquid was full of wonderful cultures , meaning it would store longer than regular milk making it ideal for baking and cooking back in the days before refrigeration. 

Today’s buttermilk is made from pasteurized milk with cultures, or lactic acid bacteria, added to it. You can buy it in your grocery dairy aisle and is usually found as a low-fat variety.

Is homemade buttermilk as good as store bought buttermilk? 

Homemade buttermilk is a good substitute when you don’t have any store-bought buttermilk. However you will find that the homemade version is not as thick or as tangy as the store bought buttermilk. 

Unlike store bought buttermilk which contains the lactic acid bacteria, making it a cultured milk, homemade buttermilk is essentially a soured milk because an acid, like lemon juice or vinegar is added. 

Ingredients needed

To make your own buttermilk you really just need milk and then some sort of acidic ingredient to turn it sour.

• Milk – You can use any milk you need to – regular dairy milk (I prefer whole milk for richness, but low-fat also works). But you can also use almond, soy, or coconut. Make sure your milk is at room temperature which will help to thicken it.  I’ve also used heavy cream instead of milk, but it does make for a very thick buttermilk.

• Acid– You need to add some sort of acid to make a homemade buttermilk. You can use lemon juice or vinegar (most commonly used), but you can also use cream of tartar.

How do you make regular milk into buttermilk?

1. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice (or 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar) to your measuring cup. 
2. Add room temperature milk up to the 1 cup line. 
3. Stir together.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes (the milk will begin to curdle slightly – this is normal).
4. Then give it one final stir before using.

Yea, that’s it. Seriously. Don’t you feel silly now for buying that expensive container of buttermilk at the store? 

If you need more or less, just simply adjust your recipe accordingly. Just always keep the ratio of 1 cup of milk to 1 Tablespoon of vinegar and you will have perfect results each time.

I broke down the math for you: 

• ¾ cup buttermilk = 2 ½ teaspoons vinegar or lemon juice + milk up to the ¾ cup milk line 
• ½ cup buttermilk = 1 ½ teaspoons vinegar or lemon juice + milk up to the ½ cup line
• ⅓ cup buttermilk = 1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice + milk up to the ⅓ line
• ¼ cup buttermilk = ¾ teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice + milk up to the ¼ cup line

Other buttermilk substitutes:

You can also replace the buttermilk in your recipe with these other buttermilk substitutes:

• Sour cream: Replace 1 cup of buttermilk with ¾ cup sour cream + ¼ cup milk (or water)
• Greek yogurt: Replace 1 cup of buttermilk with ¾ cup greek yogurt + ¼ cup milk (or water)
• Buttermilk powder: Combine ¼ cup buttermilk powder + 1 cup water
• Plain, unsweetened kefir: Replace in a 1:1 ratio

Recipe FAQs

How to use homemade buttermilk

• Red velvet desserts – Buttermilk is very traditional in red velvet desserts, like my easy red velvet cupcake recipe or red velvet layer cake, to and give red velvet their color and flavor. 
• Biscuits – Biscuits wouldn’t be the same without buttermilk for flavor and giving them their rise. Try these old fashioned buttermilk biscuits, or easy drop biscuits. 
• Cakes and cupcakes – I love how buttermilk gives a tender crumb in cakes that is unbeatable. Try using some homemade buttermilk in this easy pineapple upside down cake, or my vanilla layer cake. 

More Baking Tutorials and recipes

• Red Velvet Nutella Stuffed Cupcakes
• Red Velvet Layer Cake
• 5 Ingredient Desserts
• Red Velvet Cupcakes
• Red Velvet Bars

Homemade Buttermilk

Learn how to make homemade buttermilk in 3 easy steps!

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 2 minutes minutes

Resting Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 12 minutes minutes

Servings: 1 cup

Calories: 152kcal

Author: Heather Perine

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice *or 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• ▢ 1 cup milk or heavy cream (240 ml) *you will need a scant cup (just a little less, see instructions)

Instructions

• Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice (or 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar) to your measuring cup.
• Add room temperature milk up to the 1 cup line.
• Stir together.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes (the milk will begin to curdle slightly – this is normal).
• Then give it one final stir before using.

Notes

• Storage: Homemade buttermilk can be used right away or stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a couple of weeks. Use the expiration date on the milk used to make it for a good guideline on how long to keep your homemade buttermilk. Stir the homemade buttermilk before adding it to your recipe.
• Freezing: You can freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. To freeze small portions, freeze in an ice-cube tray!
• Milk – You can use any milk you need to – regular dairy milk (I prefer whole milk for richness, but low-fat also works). But you can also use almond, soy, or coconut. Make sure your milk is at room temperature which will help to thicken it.  I’ve also used heavy cream instead of milk, but it does make for a very thick buttermilk.
• Acid– You need to add some sort of acid to make a homemade buttermilk. You can use lemon juice or vinegar (white or apple cider), but you can also use cream of tartar.
• For a dairy free alternative: You can also use coconut milk or coconut milk if you have a dairy allergy.
• For a vegan alternative: You can swap and use soy milk as well to make a vegan buttermilk.

Nutrition

Calories: 152kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 105mg | Potassium: 322mg | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 395IU | Calcium: 277mg | Iron: 1mg

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