Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing

Homemade blue cheese dressing that takes just a few minutes to stir together, but will knock your socks off. With just a few simple ingredients and a small block of good quality blue cheese, this simple 5-minute dressing will spoil you forever. Say goodbye to store-bought blue cheese dressing with all the sugar and additives. This easy peasy dressing is SO much better.

In the huge galaxy of recipes, there aren’t that many you can whip up in 5 minutes, but salad dressing is one of them. For anyone that loves blue cheese, this simple homemade dressing is a MUST.

I made this dressing because my mom asked for blue cheese dressing for Christmas. I had to give it a taste test, but I have to admit I had a hard time not eating all the dressing I made for mom!

Pro Tip: Crumble the Blue Cheese Yourself

I beg of you if you want a really good blue cheese dressing: please please PLEASE start with a BLOCK of really good blue cheese. Gorgonzola or stilton are great options as well. Don’t fall for the “pre-crumbled” blue cheese. Blue cheese crumbles are typically coated with something to keep them crumbled and frankly, the flavor is lacking.

Get a little block of the real stuff. You don’t need a lot, but keep in mind this is your main flavor component. So if you want it to be good, you definitely want to crumble the cheese yourself. It’s super easy, very quick and it makes a HUGE difference.

Blue cheese is naturally crumbly, so all you do is simply break off a chunk of cheese. Then, over the bowl, muddle the cheese around with your fingers a bit and it will quickly fall into crumbles in the dressing. It takes just a few seconds and it’s SO worth it. Plus you get to lick your fingers afterwards and taste all that blue cheese goodness. Yes, you’ll need to wash your hands (or at least give them a good rinse) after crumbling, but in my mind that’s a bonus.

What kind of mayonnaise to use?

If you’re not a fan of mayo, you can substitute Greek yogurt for some of it. I’ve done it both ways and have to say the Greek yogurt version tasted just as good (if using a good quality plain Greek yogurt). But a little REAL mayo really is a necessity here. I recommend regular mayo for this recipe. I know I’ve recommended light mayo in the past, but for this recipe, I don’t think we should go light. Light mayonnaise tends to have added sugar, more additives and less flavor, and we don’t want sugar and stuff messing with the creamy blue cheese flavor.

For heart health, choose a healthier mayo like olive or avocado oil mayo. But Hellman’s isn’t a horrible choice either. I’ve been using Hellman’s all last year for my tuna salad and my HDL levels are stellar. (In fact, my doctor says my HDL is the highest she’s ever seen! I’m thinking all the triscuit tuna melts I ate all year long may have had something to do with that.)

How to Enjoy Blue Cheese Dressing

The classic answer, of course, is on a salad. But there are soooo many other good uses for blue cheese dressing:

• As a dip for fresh veggies like cauliflower florets, baby carrots, fresh mushrooms or celery sticks.
• Use it for dipping crunchy indulgences like zucchini fries, eggplant fries or steak fries — or potato skins!
• Blue cheese dressing is an essential for toning down the heat from buffalo chicken (or buffalo cauliflower)! Wings, of course, but also buffalo chicken stuffed wontons, buffalo chicken potato skins or buffalo chicken stuffed mushrooms.
• Use it as a sauce for tenderloin or steak tips.

And did you know? Buttermilk is both inexpensive and flavorful and it offers many health benefits.

Print Recipe Analysis uses real Hellman’s mayonnaise and non-fat Greek yogurt.