Today I am going to show you how to make homemade buttermilk. It is so fun to make and I was amazed to learn just how simple it really was. You start with heavy whipping cream and you separate the solids (butter) from the liquids (fresh buttermilk) by mixing it in an electric appliance, because ain’t nobody want to churn it the ol fashioned way… nobody. Okay, that may be a lie. Part of me wants to do it the old fashioned way, but that’s because I’m a dreamer and I am weird. Moving on….
Here are my step by step directions on how to make homemade buttermilk
Step 1: Pour 1 quart of heavy whipping cream in a stand mixer, blender, or food Processor. I used my food processor with the blade attachment. Turn the machine on and walk away. The magic will happen, I promise.
After a while( 5-7 minutes) the mixture gets thicker and you can hear the machine make different noises as the consistency of the cream changes from milk to butter.
You want to let the machine run until the mixture gets all curdled like cottage cheese and the liquid separates from the butter. The liquid is the buttermilk.
Using a cheesecloth over a strainer covered bowl, I dumped out the cottage cheese mixture. All the liquid falls into the bowl and what’s left is homemade butter. How cool is that? I insist that you to check out my 5 amazing flavored butter recipes… it’s the right thing to do.
Squeeze the cheese cloth to get the remaining buttermilk from the butter. We want to get as much of that yummy buttermilk as we can.
And…. viola! Homemade buttermilk in minutes. You will notice that this homemade buttermilk looks different than the store bought kind. It’s thinner and just not quite the same. That is because the buttermilk we buy at the store is cultured and this is not. It is still okay for baking and drinking but if you want to you can always add in a tablespoon or 2 of plain yogurt for that thick tangy buttermilk that we are used to. I still can’t believe how easy homemade buttermilk was to make. Now if only I had my own cow to get the cream from… I told you I was a dreamer.
How to make Buttermilk
Ingredients
- 1 quart of heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Pour cream into a food processor/ blender/ mixer and beat on high until mixture resembles cottage cheese and the liquid separates from the butter. Strain the liquid from the butter and use a cheesecloth to get the remaining buttermilk from butter.
- Pour buttermilk into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
- Quart of heavy whipping cream makes 2 cups of buttermilk.
Nutrition
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Here are a few of my favorite recipes to make using homemade buttermilk.
And don’t forget to check out my homemade flavored butter recipes too!
About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Tari York says
Carrie, I feel like we could be friends! I want to own a cow, too. And churn my own butter! And have a small farm! I would want to share the responsibilities of my small farm with a neighbor, though. My dad grew up having to milk the family cow and he said he was married to that cow. Had to milk it day and night.
Alex says
And if you’re extra lazy like me, (don’t feel like having to wash extra appliances) just add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in 1 cup of plain milk and let it work for 10 minutes before pouring into your recipes. Works great for bread making! I always make my bread from scratch and between this and store bought buttermilk I haven’t seen a difference in my loaf!
Ian says
I hope you get your cream from Pure Eire. I made butter from their cream the other day in my stand mixer. Thanks for spreading the word about homemade butter.
Margaret says
How much butter do you get from a quart of whipping cream? Some whipping cream has carrageenan or other weird stuff in it. Does that make a difference? Thanks!
Brittany says
I make this all the time. I made it today. It makes roughly a little over a lb of butter. I add a teaspoon of salt and two table spoons oil to make it more spreadable out of the fridge. Beware if you leave it out on the counter it will go bad in a couple of days because of the lack of preservatives. The butter keeps about three weeks in the fridge and three months in the freezer. You can also freeze the buttermilk too.