Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

This Best Blue Cheese Dressing recipe is so easy to make, all natural, and blows store-bought versions out of the water!

This Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing recipe is tangy, rich, cool and creamy and makes everything 1000X better. It’s ideal for dressing salads, as a dip for veggies, chicken wings, pizza and more, or as spread for burgers, sandwiches and wraps (pictured). This Blue Cheese Dressing is made with any type of blue cheese you like, both mayonnaise and Greek yogurt for luscious creaminess, fresh and zingy ranch-style herbs, finished with a splash of lemon juice for vibrancy. It’s quick and easy to make, and most importantly, YOU customize the flavor, consistency and how aggressive you want to be with the blue cheese. Once you taste this homemade recipe, you’ll never go back to store-bought again!  

how to serve blue cheese dressing by adding to a chicken wrap


 
a spoon dipping into blue cheese dressing showing how creamy the recipe is

Blue Cheese Dressing Ingredients 

Making Blue Cheese Dressing at home is ridiculously easy! Let’s take a closer look at what you’ll need (measurements listed in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post): 

  • Blue cheese: Semi-soft, creamy, and pungent, blue cheese is a dream to flavor dressings! Your grocery store likely carries a wide selection that varying in sharpness, saltiness and overall pungent flavor – use whichever one you like! I’ve detailed the most common types below and how they differ in flavor.
  • Greek yogurt:  Use plain Greek yogurt with any fat content. I use nonfat and the dressing is still delightfully rich and creamy. You may also substitute with sour cream.
  • Mayonnaise: This adds a depth of rich creaminess and binds all of the ingredients together.  Even if you don’t like mayo, I don’t suggest skipping – your dressing will not taste like mayo!  Please use real mayonnaise and not Miracle Whip. 
  • Lemon juice: ​​Lemon juice cuts through the creaminess of the dressing and highlights the rest of the flavors with its fresh, vibrant pop of citrus without tasting “lemony.”  It also allows for the use of accessible regular milk instead of buttermilk. Freshly-squeezed lemon juice is always best, but you may use bottled in a pinch.
  • Fresh herbs: A combination of fresh parsley and chives add herbaceous flavor. You may substitute with dried.
  • Seasonings: Garlic powder, onion powder, dried dill, salt and pepper round out the symphony of flavor.
  • Milk: No need for buttermilk in this recipe! Just a few tablespoons of milk work beautifully to thin the dressing to your liking. 

Ingredient Substitutions

  • Mayo: You may also use avocado-based mayo, olive oil mayo or vegan mayo.
  • Greek yogurt: Sour cream is a great substitute.
  • Fresh herbs: May be substituted with dried. I’ve made it both ways, and both are delicious!
showing how to make blue cheese dressing by whisking blue cheese, mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, chives, parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper together in a bowl

Blue Cheeses Ranked Strongest to Mildest

  • Roquefort: This blue cheese boasts a moist, crumbly texture, a sharp tanginess and is the strongest smelling and tasting of all the blue cheeses.  It’s made from ewe or sheep’s milk in Roquefort, France, its namesake.
  • Stilton:  This blue cheese is also very pungent, just a couple notches below Roquefort.  It’s made from cow’s milk, and must be produced in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, or Derbyshire in England, where only seven dairies are licensed to make it.
  • Maytag: This is moist and crumbly semi-soft cheese with a mildly piquant flavor. It’s made from cow’s milk in Maytag Dairy Farms, located just outside of Newton, Iowa.
  • American Blue Cheese: There are several other American blue cheese companies (aside from famous Maytag) that usually fall somewhere in between a stilton and gorgonzola in pungency. If the blue cheese brand doesn’t specify a type of blue cheese, they likely fall into this category. These are great middle-of-the-road cheeses for Blue Cheese Dressing.
  • Danish Blue (Danablu):  This is a semi-soft, creamy blue cheese on the milder end of the pungency spectrum.  It’s made from cow’s milk in Rosenborg, Denmark.
  • Gorgonzola: This creamy blue cheese is softer and milder than most blue cheeses.  It’s made from either goat’s or unskimmed cow’s milk or a combination of the two. Gorgonzola is an Italian cheese named after Gorgonzola, a small Italian city just outside of Milan, and is now also made in the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont, Italy.

how to make Blue Cheese Dressing

As long as you use the correct ingredients, this homemade Blue Cheese Dressing recipe is FOOLPROOF! The very recipe is truly as easy as:

  • Combine all of the recipe ingredients in a big bowl.
  • Whisk until creamy and evenly combined,
  • Taste, and add additional blue cheese for more pungent, additional lemon juice for tangier, and/or more milk as needed to achieve your desired consistency.
  • Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors mingle.
showing how to make blue cheese dressing by whisking the ingredients until smooth in a bowl
stirring the best blue cheese dressing in a jar
  • Play with ingredient quantities.  Use more or less of any of the ingredients to make this recipe perfect for YOU!  I love a bold, full-flavored dressing but you can tame the dressing by using less herbs, garlic, blue cheese, lemon etc.
  • Use a different blue cheese. Go as pungent as Roquefort or as mild as Gorgonzola depending on your mood, audience or what you’re serving it with.
  • Add cilantro: I love making Cilantro Blue Cheese Dressing like in my Buffalo Chicken Salad by adding a few tablespoons minced cilantro.
  • Vegan Blue Cheese Dressing:  Use dairy free blue cheese crumbles, like the brand Follow Your Heart, sold at Sprouts, Whole Foods, etc. Use vegan yogurt or sour cream, vegan mayonnaise, and your vegan milk of choice.
  • Peppercorn Blue Cheese Dressing:  Replace the ground pepper with loads of freshly cracked pepper to taste.
  • Spicy Blue Cheese Dressing:  Add cayenne pepper, buffalo hot sauce, hot sauce, chipotle or sriracha to taste.
  • Jalapeno Lime Blue Cheese Dressing:  Swap the lemon juice and some of the milk for lime juice and add one seeded, diced jalapeno.
  • BBQ Blue Cheese Dressing:  Reduce the sour cream to ¾ cup and the mayonnaise to ⅓ cup.  Add 1/3-½ cup of your favorite barbecue sauce.
  • Blackened Blue Cheese Dressing:  Add 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning, more or less to taste.

How to Make a Healthier Blue Cheese Dressing

If you want to make a healthier version, consider one of these mayo options:

  • Use olive oil mayo or avocado mayo: Instead of using regular mayo, try using mayonnaise made with olive oil or avocado (it will say right on the label). These mayonnaises traditionally have the same amount of calories but replace the polyunsaturated fat (in regular mayo) with monounsaturated fat which is considered a good kind of fat that we all need to function optimally. Of course, you can also use traditional nonfat and reduced fat mayo.
  • Use vegan mayonnaise:  These types of mayonnaise don’t include eggs.  You can choose from regular, avocado, soy, reduced fat, etc.  

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to add buttermilk?

No. We are keeping this Blue Cheese Dressing recipe super accessible without the use of buttermilk. Instead, lemon juice is added for the tanginess. If you prefer to use buttermilk in place of the milk, then omit the lemon juice then add lemon to taste if you would still like a tangier dressing.

Is blue cheese dressing keto? 

Yes, this recipe, as written, is keto.

Is blue cheese dressing gluten-free? 

This recipe, as written, is gluten free.

Can blue cheese dressing be frozen?

No, this dressing recipe does not freeze well. The ingredients will make for a funky, grainy texture when frozen and thawed.  

up close of sliced Buffalo Chicken in Buffalo Chicken Salad in a white bowl with blue cheese, celery, carrots, avocado, red bell peppers and lettuce

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how to serve blue cheese dressing by adding to a chicken wrap

Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

This Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing recipe is tangy, rich, cool and creamy and makes everything 1000X better. It's ideal for dressing salads, as a dip for veggies, chicken wings, pizza and more, or as spread for burgers, sandwiches and wraps (pictured). This Blue Cheese Dressing is made with any type of blue cheese you like, both mayonnaise and Greek yogurt for luscious creaminess, fresh and zingy ranch-style herbs, finished with a splash of lemon juice for vibrancy. It's quick and easy to make, and most importantly, YOU customize the flavor, consistency and how aggressive you want to be with the blue cheese. Once you taste this homemade recipe, you'll never go back to store-bought again!  
Servings: 24 servings (about 1 ½ cups)
Total Time: 10 minutes
Prep Time: 10 minutes

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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (nonfat is great) or sour cream
  • 1/2 cup real mayonnaise
  • 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese, more or less as desired
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (or 2 tsp dried)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh chives or minced green onions (or 1 tsp dried)
  • 1/2 tsp EACH dried dill, garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp EACH salt, pepper
  • 2 tablespoons milk, more or less as needed

Instructions

  • Whisk all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add milk as needed to reach desired consistency.
  • Taste and add additional blue cheese, lemon juice and salt and pepper as desired. I add up to an additional ¼ teaspoon each salt/pepper depending on what I’m serving it with.
  • The dressing is best if chilled for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Notes

  • Use the blue cheese that’s right for you. Refer to the list of blue cheeses in the post and choose as mild or as pungent as you like. I suggest starting with less blue cheese then adding more to taste if you’re not sure.
  • To serve as a dip:  Omit the milk or add less to reach your desired consistency.
  • Storage:  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.  If you use all dried herbs, it can last up to 2 weeks, depending on the expiration of your milk and yogurt.

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