I usually prefer to make my own homemade ‘buttermilk’ recipes over buying a full carton of buttermilk from the store. If you don’t keep buttermilk all that often either, making your own 2-ingredient buttermilk substitute for recipes is quick and easy.

How to Make a Buttermilk Substitute with Just 2 Ingredients

Combine the ingredients. Add the full fat milk and your choice of either white vinegar or lemon juice into a large measuring cup. Stir to combine the two until well incorporated.
Wait. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes before you use it in your recipes. That’s sit!

Can I Use This Buttermilk Substitute with My Other Recipes?

You can definitely use this buttermilk substitute in pretty much any recipe that calls for regular buttermilk. I’ve used it for making pancakes and salad dressings mainly and it works phenomenally well for both.

If you want to use this substitute to make a tasty salad dressing, then check out:

Healthy Avocado Ranch Salad Dressing

Alternatively, you can use this as a substitute for almond milk to easily make ridiculously fluffy low carb pancakes with this recipe:

The Best Low Carb Almond Flour Pancakes

How Long Does This Buttermilk Substitute Last? Can I Bottle It?

This buttermilk substitute can last for up to one week if you keep it stored in your fridge. Any longer than that and the acidic content from the vinegar or lemon juice will start to cause it to spoil.

With that in mind though, you can definitely make your own batch of this buttermilk substitute to bottle up. You’ll just have to increase the amounts of the ingredients that you use accordingly.

Store for no longer than 2-3 days in the refrigerator.

Why Should I Use Buttermilk Over Regular Milk?

If you haven’t really baked with buttermilk before, you might be wondering why you would choose it over regular milk.

Buttermilk is naturally acidic, hence why this recipe adds either vinegar or lemon juice in with full fat milk. The fact that it’s acidic is beneficial because it ends up reacting with leavening agents in baking recipes like baking powder or baking soda.

When this reaction occurs, you end up with a mixture that rises easily with a fluffy and light consistency, which is absolutely perfect for making recipes like pancakes.

(You may also like: Vegan Buttermilk Substitute)

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