Here are some of the best substitutes for buttermilk
On the weekends, you should always have buttermilk on hand, but it's not always something you keep in your fridge. Then, here's what you can do instead.
When I get up on Saturday morning, I often want pancakes but there is no buttermilk in the fridge. Buttermilk has a pleasant tang and can make my short stack very soft, but I don't usually have buttermilk on hand.
Because of this, I've learned how to change and use substitutes. This is why! There are a lot of good ones. Among them is a dairy-free one.
Buttermilk is a type of milk.
Buttermilk used to be the liquid that was leftover after making butter. Buttermilk, on the other hand, is now made by adding bacterial cultures to low-fat or whole milk to make a fermented milk product that is a little thick and has a yogurt-like tartness.
Buttermilk
is used mostly in baking. To help things like pancakes and biscuits rise, mix
baking soda with them. This makes things like pancakes and biscuits extra
puffy, too. It's also used to make chicken more tender before it's fried or
baked, and it's a key ingredient in creamy dressings like ranch.
Buttermilk used to be a byproduct of making butter, but now it is made by adding lactic acid bacteria to milk, which makes it sour.
It has a
tangy taste and is thicker than milk, so it is often used to make biscuits,
pancakes, waffles, muffins, and cakes.
Buttermilk
makes baked goods light and moist. Its acidity makes the baking soda in recipes
work and makes things rise.
Still, many
people don't have it on hand, and some people don't use it because of dietary
rules.
It turns out
that you can make buttermilk substitutes with ingredients that you probably
already have in your pantry or fridge. You can make dairy-based or non-dairy
buttermilk substitutes.
Here are 14 things you can use instead of buttermilk:
1. Vinegar and milk are both good for you
Making
buttermilk by adding vinegar to milk gives milk an acidic taste like that of
buttermilk You can use a lot of different kinds of vinegar, like apple cider
vinegar or distilled white vinegar. The latter has a more neutral taste.
In some
recipes, you might need a specific type of buttermilk, like low-fat buttermilk,
so you might want to use milk that is the same kind as the buttermilk you need.
In a liquid
measuring cup, put in 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of vinegar. This makes 1 cup (240
mL). There is 240 mL of milk in a 1-cup line. Then, add the milk and stir.
If you
measure the milk by itself, you'll need a small cup that isn't quite full
(around 220 mL).
There are a lot of places that tell you to let the mixture sit for 5–10 minutes before you add it to your recipe, but experts say that this isn't very important.
2. Lemon juice and milk
To make
buttermilk, you can use lemon juice instead of vinegar, which is an acid.
It's easy to
make 1 cup (240 mL) of buttermilk substitute by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon
juice to an empty measuring cup. There is 240 mL of milk in a 1-cup line. Then,
add the milk and stir.
Use fresh-squeezed or pre-made lemon juice for this. However, bottled varieties usually have preservatives like sodium benzoate and sodium sulfite to keep them fresh. Sulfites may make people with asthma feel bad.
3. Milk, cream
This isn't
the only acidic substance that can be mixed with milk to make buttermilk: cream
of tartar, which is also called potassium bitartrate, is another one.
This fine
white powder is a byproduct of making wine and has a taste that isn't very
good.
1 3/4 teaspoons
(5 grams) of cream of tartar should be used for every 1 cup (240 mL) of milk.
In general,
when the cream of tartar is mixed with milk, it tends to form lumps. Because of
this, it's better to mix the cream of tartar with the other dry ingredients in
your recipe, then add the milk to the mix.
Whisk the cream of tartar with 2 tablespoons (30 mL) of milk, then add this milk mixture to the rest of your milk. This way, you won't have to worry about clumps.
4. Lactose-free milk and acid are the fourth things you need to make your food
Lactose is a
sugar in milk, but buttermilk has less of it than regular milk. People who are
lactose intolerant may be able to drink it.
You can also
make a buttermilk substitute with milk that doesn't have lactose in it, but it
might taste a little sweet.
Take a liquid measuring cup and add 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of lemon juice or vinegar. Then stir it in. In the next step, add lactose-free milk to the 1-cup line (240 mL). Then, stir it.
5. Sour cream, water, or milk
Sour cream
is made by adding lactic acid bacteria to the cream and letting it ferment,
giving it a tangy taste like buttermilk.
If you want
to make a buttermilk substitute with sour cream instead, you'll need to add
water or milk.
Mix 3/4 cup of sour cream with 1/4 cup of water or milk, and whisk it until it's smooth.
6. Plain yogurt mixed with water or milk, or both
Plain yogurt
is a good substitute for buttermilk because it has a tangy, acidic taste and is
thick and creamy.
Cup for cup,
you can use plain yogurt instead of buttermilk. But it might be better to add
water or milk to the yogurt to make it a little thinner, like when you make a
cake.
This is how to make 1 cup of buttermilk substitute: Mix 6 ounces (170 grams) of plain yogurt with 1/4 cup of water or milk and whisk until smooth.
7. The plain kind of kefir
Unflavored
kefir is a milk drink that looks and tastes like buttermilk. It is made by
fermenting milk.
It's possible to use plain kefir instead of buttermilk when you want to make a cup of milk. Because your recipe calls for 1 cup (240 mL) of buttermilk, you can just use 1 cup (240 mL) of kefir instead.
Buttermilk doesn't have as many good bacteria and other microbes in it as kefir does, but heating it will kill many of the microbes.
8. Water and buttermilk powder
Buy powdered buttermilk and follow the directions on the package to make it into a liquid again by adding water, as it says to do on it.
About 1/4 cup (30 grams) of powdered buttermilk and 1 cup of water should make 1 cup of buttermilk.
Using powdered buttermilk in baking may be best if you mix the powder with the other dry ingredients, then add the water when you would use liquid buttermilk in the same way you would in a recipe.
12. low-carb, paleo-friendly foods
They are low carb and paleo-friendly. These plant-based buttermilk substitutes are also good for people who want to stay healthy.
Paleo diets,
which are said to be based on the diet of prehistoric humans, usually don't
include dairy products, grains, or legumes.
This is also true of these substitutes: They're vegan, too.
13. Milk and lemon juice together.
It's the
buttermilk substitute that I use most often because I always have milk and lemons
on hand. Sourcing milk with an acid is a quick and easy way to make buttermilk!
To make it, put 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup and add enough whole or low-fat milk until it's 1 cup. Then stir it. Then stir everything together and let the mixture sit out at room temperature for a few minutes until it has thickened and curdled a little. Any recipe that calls for 1 cup of buttermilk can use this mix instead.
14. Soy or almond milk with lemon juice or vinegar
Non-dairy milk
doesn't always thicken and curdle when you add lemon juice or white vinegar to
it. Some do, but not all do. Soy milk and almond milk are your best bets.
(Don't use coconut milk.)
Make a mixture of 1 tablespoon of the acid of your choice and 1 scant cup of non-dairy milk. Let it sit for a few minutes at room temperature until it has curdled, then mix it.
15. soy-based options
If you don't
want to use milk, you can use these soy-based alternatives. One cup (240 mL) of
buttermilk substitute can be made by following these recipes: Unsweetened soy
milk and acid. Take a measuring cup and add 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of lemon juice
or vinegar. Add soy milk to the line for 1 cup (240 mL). You can also use 1 3/4
teaspoons (5 grams) of cream of tartar instead of the acid, which is 1
tablespoon (5 grams).
It is made
with vegan sour cream and water. It's time to make some vegan sour cream. Add
about 1/2 cup of water and stir. Adjust the amount of water and sour cream
based on how thick you want it to be.
Tofu, water,
and acid are the three things you need to make tofu. Purée 1/4 cup (62 grams)
of soft, silky tofu with a blender. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice.