How to Substitute for Buttermilk

Buttermilk is the name given to a fermented dairy product. It is mainly produced from the milk of a cow and the specialty of the product is that it has a distinctively sour taste. Buttermilk can be prepared in two ways - traditional way and cultured way. The original buttermilk is the liquid that is left as a residue, after you churn butter from cream. Today, this buttermilk had been given the name of traditional buttermilk and is quite uncommon. The second method through which buttermilk is prepared is called the cultured method. For making the cultured buttermilk, lactic acid bacteria are added to cow’s milk.

Whatever be the method of preparation, the sourness of buttermilk is because of the presence of acid in the milk. Apart from being used for drinking purposes, especially in summers, the fermented dairy product has other uses as well. For instance, there are a number of recipes in which buttermilk is used as a very important ingredient. The problem comes when the buttermilk is not handy or we live at such a place where it is not easily available. Rather than giving up the recipe, it is better to substitute buttermilk with other ingredients. Read on to know how to substitute for buttermilk.

What Can You Substitute For Buttermilk

You can easily make buttermilk at your home. For that, use 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 cup milk. Mix both the ingredients and let the mixture stand for 5 to 10 min. After that, stir the mixture well and use it as buttermilk.
You can also make buttermilk by adding 1 3/4 tablespoons cream of tartar to 1 cup milk. Let the mixture stand at room temperature for about 15 min. As soon as the milk starts curdling, mix it well and then, use it in the form of buttermilk.
Buttermilk powder is easily available in the market. All you have to do is add 1/4 cup the powder to 1 cup water and your buttermilk is ready to be used in almost any recipe.
In recipes where you are required to use buttermilk, you can always opt for plain yoghurt (curd) instead, making sure to employ it in exactly the same quantity.
You can easily substitute sour cream for buttermilk in any recipe. However, make sure the quantity of the cream is the same as that of buttermilk.
Yet another option for you would be to make use of regular milk, skim milk or even reconstituted powdered milk, to which one tablespoon of vinegar has been added. Let the milk stands for 5-10 minutes, until it begins to thicken, and then use it in place of buttermilk.
In a recipe that asks you to use 1 cup of buttermilk, you can put one half cup of milk, after mixing one half cup of either yogurt or sour cream to it. This will result in a thick milky liquid, which you can use in place of the buttermilk.

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