Blue Cheese Dressing
A thick, tangy, steakhouse-style blue cheese dressing that lands somewhere between a dip and a drizzle, packed with real crumbles in every spoonful. Mashing half the cheese into buttermilk first dissolves it into the base for deep, salty-funky flavor, while the rest is folded in at the end so you still get creamy pockets of cheese. Thirty minutes in the fridge lets the garlic mellow and the dressing thicken to wedge-salad perfection.
Mash half of 115 g (1 cup) crumbled blue cheese into 60 ml (1/4 cup) buttermilk and 1 tablespoon lemon juice with a fork until it looks like a coarse, lumpy paste, then whisk in 120 g (1/2 cup) each of mayonnaise and sour cream plus 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar until smooth. Season with 1 finely grated small garlic clove, 1/4 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, and sugar, fold in the remaining crumbles, and refrigerate for 30 minutes so the flavors meld and the dressing thickens. Thin with extra buttermilk a teaspoon at a time if you want it pourable, and finish with minced chives.
- Mash half the cheese into the buttermilk first — it flavors the whole base instead of just sitting in it as chunks.
- Chill at least 30 minutes before tasting for salt; blue cheese keeps releasing salt and funk as it sits.
- Control texture at the end: leave it thick for dipping wings, or whisk in buttermilk by the teaspoon for a pourable salad dressing.
Equipment
- Medium mixing bowl
- Dinner fork (for mashing)
- Whisk
- Flexible spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Microplane or fine grater
- Airtight jar for storage
Ingredients
Creamy Base
- 120 g mayonnaise, use a full-fat, good-quality mayo
- 115 g sour cream, full-fat for the creamiest body
- 60 ml buttermilk, plus more to thin, if needed
- 15 ml fresh lemon juice
- 5 ml white wine vinegar, sharpens the tang; cider vinegar works too
Cheese & Seasonings
- 115 g blue cheese, crumbled, buy a wedge and crumble it yourself for the best texture
- small garlic clove, finely grated
- 1 g granulated sugar, optional; rounds out the tang
- 1.5 g kosher salt, plus more to taste after chilling
- 0.5 g freshly ground black pepper
- 3 g fresh chives, minced, optional, for serving
Method
- STEP01
Put half of the crumbled blue cheese (about 60 g / 1/2 cup) in a medium bowl with the buttermilk and lemon juice. Mash firmly with a fork until the cheese mostly breaks down into a thick, slightly lumpy slurry. This step seasons the entire base with blue cheese flavor instead of leaving it all in isolated chunks.
- STEP02
Add the mayonnaise, sour cream, and white wine vinegar to the bowl. Whisk until the mixture is smooth, uniform, and pale ivory with tiny flecks of cheese throughout, about 30 seconds. Scrape the sides and bottom with a spatula to catch any pockets of unmixed mayo.
- STEP03
Grate the garlic clove directly into the bowl on a Microplane, then add the sugar (if using), salt, and black pepper. Whisk to combine. Go easy on the salt at this stage — blue cheese is salty and gets saltier-tasting as the dressing sits.
- STEP04
Switch to the spatula and gently fold in the rest of the blue cheese crumbles, keeping them as intact as possible. A few folds is enough; overmixing will dissolve the chunks you worked to preserve.
- STEP05
Cover the bowl or transfer the dressing to a jar and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. The dressing will thicken noticeably as the dairy proteins set up, the raw garlic will mellow, and the blue cheese flavor will bloom through the base.
- STEP06
Stir the chilled dressing and taste. Add more salt or a squeeze of lemon if it tastes flat. For a pourable salad dressing, whisk in extra buttermilk one teaspoon at a time until it drizzles slowly off a spoon; leave it thick for dipping. Shower with minced chives just before serving.
Make ahead
This dressing is made for working ahead. Mix it up to 3 days before you need it and keep it refrigerated in a sealed jar; the garlic mellows and the blue cheese flavor deepens overnight, so many cooks think day two is the peak. Hold back the chives and stir them in just before serving so they stay bright green. If it thickens too much in the fridge, thin with a teaspoon or two of buttermilk.
Storage
Store in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to 7 days — the flavor actually improves over the first day or two. It will thicken as it sits; loosen with a splash of buttermilk or milk and stir before serving. Do not freeze: the mayonnaise and sour cream will separate and turn grainy when thawed. Discard if it develops any off, sour-milk smell distinct from the cheese's natural funk.
Variations
Lighter Greek Yogurt Version
Swap the sour cream and half the mayonnaise for plain whole-milk Greek yogurt (about 175 g / 3/4 cup total). The dressing turns tangier and noticeably lighter, with roughly a third fewer calories per serving. Add an extra pinch of sugar to balance the yogurt's acidity, and expect a slightly thinner texture.
Extra-Chunky Steakhouse Style
Skip the mashing step entirely: whisk the base smooth first, then fold in the full 115 g of cheese in large, thumbnail-size chunks. Reduce the buttermilk to 2 tablespoons so the dressing stays thick enough to cling to an iceberg wedge. Finish with coarsely cracked black pepper.
Buffalo Wing Dip
Stir in 1 tablespoon of your favorite cayenne hot sauce and 1/2 teaspoon of Worcestershire-style vegetarian sauce (or regular Worcestershire if you don't need it vegetarian). Keep the dressing thick and serve it cold alongside hot wings and celery sticks — the temperature contrast is the whole point.
Serve with
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition values are estimates based on the metric measurements. Adjust as needed.
Frequently asked
What kind of blue cheese works best in this blue cheese dressing recipe?
Any blue you like to eat will work, and the dressing is a great place to match intensity to your taste. Danish blue and Gorgonzola dolce are mild and creamy; Roquefort and Stilton bring a sharper, saltier punch; a domestic wedge like Maytag blue splits the difference. Buy a wedge and crumble it yourself — pre-crumbled cheese is coated with anti-caking cellulose, so it resists mashing into the base and gives a weaker flavor.
How long does homemade blue cheese dressing last in the fridge?
Kept in a sealed jar in the refrigerator, it lasts about 7 days. Because everything in it is already cultured dairy, the flavor deepens rather than fades for the first couple of days. Stir before each use and thin with a little buttermilk if it has thickened. If it smells sour in a way that's different from the cheese's normal funk, or shows any pink or fuzzy growth, throw it out.
Can I make this without buttermilk?
Yes. Stir 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar into 60 ml (1/4 cup) of regular whole milk and let it sit for 5 minutes before using — it mimics buttermilk's tang and thinning power. Plain kefir works as a straight swap, too. Skipping the acid and using plain milk also works in a pinch, but the dressing will taste flatter, so add an extra squeeze of lemon at the end.
Why does my blue cheese dressing taste bitter or harsh?
Two usual suspects: the garlic and the cheese. Raw garlic added in large pieces or in too big a quantity turns acrid, which is why this blue cheese dressing recipe calls for just one small clove, finely grated so it disperses, plus a 30-minute rest to mellow it. Very aged or badly stored blue cheese can also read as bitter — taste a crumble before it goes in, and choose a milder blue like Gorgonzola dolce if you're sensitive.
Is blue cheese dressing gluten-free?
This homemade version is, since every ingredient — cheese, mayo, sour cream, buttermilk, lemon, vinegar — is naturally gluten-free. The old claim that the mold in blue cheese contains gluten from bread has been tested and debunked; blue cheese is considered safe for celiac diets. Bottled dressings are a different story, as some brands add wheat-based thickeners, so always check the label on store-bought.
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