Blue Cheese Dressing

Blue cheese dressing is a classic rich and creamy dressing fit for a hearty salad, and nothing beats this homemade version made from scratch with fresh ingredients. My thick and creamy recipe features fresh blue cheese and a touch of both buttermilk and sour cream for cool, tangy flavor—thise recipe is so easy and so delicious!

A Hearty Salad's Cool and Creamy Partner

There are many times when little sounds as good to me as a nice hearty salad brimming with lots of savory add-ins and rich, creamy dressing...mmm, mmm!

For me, a thick wedge of iceberg lettuce complete with a sprinkle of crispy bacon and a little thinly-sliced red onion, perhaps some diced tomato, is a prime example of this type of scrumptious salad, and I honestly can't imagine a wedge salad dressed in anything other than a cool blue cheese dressing with lots of little bits of fresh blue cheese throughout.

A salad so tangy, so savory, and truly such a treat!

In my book, nothing beats a homemade blue cheese dressing because it's free of all sorts of additives and preservatives that a store-bought version so often contains. Plus, I can make it exactly to my taste, which is less vinegary and rather more rich and creamy, made with freshly crumbled blue cheese, some buttermilk, sour cream and a hint of mayo.

I also love the savory note of a teeny splash of Worcestershire sauce in mine! 😉

Simple to prepare with only a small handful of fresh ingredients, my blue cheese dressing recipe is most definitely a hearty salad's cool and creamy partner, and a scrumptious little indulgence!

How to Make Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

Making delicious homemade blue cheese dressing is a quick and easy process, with most of the “heavy lifting” (if you can even call it that!) being done by the food processor to create the creamy base of the dressing.

Because I like to see some crumbles in my dressing, I process only half of the blue cheese into the dressing to sort of “infuse” it with lots of bold flavor, then fold the remainder of the crumbles in at the end by hand before pouring into a jar for keeping.

The flavors are rich and creamy with just enough tang to create a bit of a brighter note.

As for the variety of blue cheese that's great to use, the three top picks are Roquefort (French, stronger flavor, sheep's milk), Gorgonzola (Italian, strong flavor, cow's milk), and Stilton (English, milder, cow's milk). All are delicious, but typically, I'll use the Gorgonzola because I like the slightly creamier texture.

Here's a peek at my blue cheese dressing recipe: (or just jump to the full recipe...)

1. I add my sour cream and mayo to the bowl of my food processor, along with about half of my blue cheese, and my seasonings; then, I process until nice and smooth, then drizzle in my buttermilk and continue to process just until blended.
2. To finish, I pour the dressing into a bowl and fold in the remainder of the blue cheese crumbles just until blended.
3. To store the dressing, I pour it into a mason jar or covered container, and keep in the fridge for a week or up to two.

Recipe

Blue Cheese Dressing

by Ingrid Beer

Print Recipe

This blue cheese dressing made with savory blue cheese crumbles and tangy buttermilk is a cool, creamy dressing perfect for a hearty salad!

Category: Entree
Cuisine: American

Yield: 2 ¾ cups

Nutrition Info: 93 calories per 2 tablespoons

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups sour cream
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 6 ounces blue cheese, crumbled, divided use
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¾ teaspoon granulated onion
• ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Pinch black pepper
• ¼ cup cold buttermilk

Preparation:

1. Add the sour cream, mayonnaise, 3 ounces of the blue cheese crumbles, the salt, granulated onion, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper to the bowl of a food processor; blend on low until all of the ingredients are well blended and creamy.
2. Drizzle in the buttermilk, and continue to blend until completely combined; then, pour the dressing into a bowl.
3. Add the remaining 3 ounces of blue cheese crumbles into the dressing, and switching to a spatula or spoon, fold the crumbles in just until blended and the dressing is slightly chunky.
4. Pour the prepared blue cheese dressing into a glass mason jar or other container with a lid or cover, and keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Tips & Tidbits for my Blue Cheese Dressing:

• Flavorful, creamy blue cheese: I typically like to use Gorgonzola blue cheese that I purchase in a wedge, and crumble it myself into the size of crumbles that I like. Other tasty varieties are Roquefort (a bit crumblier) or Stilton, which can also be purchased in wedges/blocks. However, feel free to use pre-packaged crumbled blue cheese for convenience, if you prefer.
• Buttermilk for tangy, creamy flavor: Buttermilk is such a delicious addition to blue cheese dressing, and I use it as the liquid component in this scrumptious dressing. Sour cream and a touch of mayo create that creamy consistency and rich flavor, and the buttermilk helps to make the dressing pourable.
• Leave things a bit chunky: To achieve that little bit of chunkiness in this dressing, set aside half of the blue cheese crumbles to fold into the dressing after it has been processed. If you'd like to completely smooth, then process all of the cheese; but for this chunkier texture, fold the remaining crumbles in with a spatula.
• Little additions: While I'm a bit of a purist with blue cheese dressing and keep the ingredients pretty basic, a little sprinkle of finely minced chives are a nice to fold in at the end if you like to have a bit of mild-yet-fresh onion flavor.

Hungry for more salad and dressing recipes? Check out this Mexican Wedge Salad, this Greek Salad, this Avocado Salad, or this Steak Salad!