TL;DR: This old-fashioned Buttermilk Dressing is creamy, tangy, and packed with fresh herbs. Inspired by the simple dressings served on Waterloo County tables for generations, it’s ready in just five minutes and tastes fresher than anything you’ll find at the grocery store.
If you grew up around Waterloo County, there’s a good chance you’ve eaten a dressing like this.
Maybe it was drizzled over a bowl of garden lettuce picked just before supper. Maybe it appeared beside a platter of fresh vegetables at a church picnic or family gathering. It wasn’t called ranch. It was simply buttermilk dressing. Creamy, tangy, full of fresh herbs, and made with ingredients that were almost always sitting in the fridge.
Our inspiration doesn’t stop there, though.
Does anyone else remember going to Cultures at the mall in the ’80s and ’90s? A shopping trip with our moms often included a stop for one of those enormous salads with their signature creamy buttermilk dressing on baby spinach with bacon, hard-boiled egg and thinly sliced raw mushrooms. We both remember our mom’s trying to figure out what made that dressing taste so much better than the bottled versions at home.
Years later, after becoming Red Seal chefs, we realized the answer was simple and all about balance.
This recipe brings together those two memories. It’s rooted in the simple buttermilk dressings we grew up with here in Waterloo County, while capturing a little of that classic Cultures salad dressing we both loved. It’s bright, fresh, and incredibly versatile. We make it for salads, use it as a dip for vegetables, drizzle it over roasted potatoes, and keep a jar in the refrigerator almost all summer long.
Sometimes the best recipes aren’t about reinventing the wheel. They’re about making the classics the way they deserve to be made.
A great buttermilk dressing balances creamy richness with bright acidity and fresh herbs. It’s simple to make, but every ingredient has an important job to do.
The secret to a creamy, balanced dressing is understanding how acid, fat, and fresh herbs work together.
Buttermilk is naturally tangy because it’s cultured, which gives the dressing its signature fresh flavour while keeping it lighter than an all-mayonnaise dressing. Source out the best buttermilk you can find, such as our fave from Kawartha Dairy.
Fresh lemon juice brightens everything and helps balance the richness. Dijon mustard acts as a natural emulsifier, helping the mayonnaise and buttermilk stay beautifully blended. It doesn’t make the dressing taste like mustard. Instead, it creates a silky texture that coats lettuce instead of running straight to the bottom of the bowl.
Blending the garlic with the lemon juice first softens its sharp edge while spreading the flavour evenly throughout the dressing. Instead of getting an occasional bite of raw garlic, every spoonful has just enough savoury flavour.
Last, don’t be shy with the fresh herbs. If you use a blender you’ll get a ‘green smoothie’ effect, whereas if you chop everything by hand, you’ll get a whiter dressing with beautiful flecks of green.
One of the reasons we’ve made this dressing for years is because it’s incredibly forgiving.
Swap the chives for fresh dill if you’re serving seafood, or use parsley for a milder, garden-fresh flavour. Thinly sliced spring onions add a little more bite and are perfect in the spring when they’re growing in abundance.
Want a little extra zip? Add a pinch of cayenne, a splash of your favourite hot sauce, or a little extra black pepper.
This dressing also makes an excellent marinade for chicken. The cultured buttermilk gently tenderizes the meat while adding just enough flavour without overpowering it.
Fresh lemon juice makes a noticeable difference. Bottled lemon juice simply doesn’t have the same brightness.
Don’t skip the Dijon mustard. You won’t taste it, but you’ll notice the silky texture it creates.
Use fresh herbs whenever possible. Dried herbs can certainly work in a pinch, but they won’t deliver the same vibrant flavour that makes this dressing so special.
Finally, give it time. Even an hour in the refrigerator makes a remarkable difference, and overnight is even better.
Store the dressing in a sealed glass jar in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Give it a quick shake before serving, as a little natural separation is completely normal.
Yes. In fact, we recommend it. The flavours continue to develop as the dressing rests in the refrigerator.
It’s wonderful on green salads, cucumber and tomato salads, grain bowls, roasted potatoes, grilled vegetables, fresh vegetables, sandwiches, wraps, and as a dipping sauce for chicken.
We don’t recommend it. Dairy-based dressings often separate after freezing and lose their smooth texture.
Fresh herbs provide the best flavour, but if needed, use about one-third the amount of dried herbs.
The best salad dressings don’t come from a bottle. They come from understanding how a few simple ingredients work together. That’s exactly what we love teaching in our live online cooking classes and on-demand recipes. When you understand the “why,” you’ll never have to rely on store-bought shortcuts again.
Jody O’Malley and Kirstie Herbstreit are the Red Seal certified chef co-owners of The Culinary Studio in Waterloo, Ontario. Jody is a Stratford Chefs School graduate (2002) and Kirstie trained at SAIT in Calgary (2003). Together, they bring over 20 years of professional cooking experience and 15 years building one of Canada’s leading culinary education businesses. They teach home cooks the science and techniques behind great food, not just the recipes, and co-host the Chef Over Your Shoulder podcast alongside Amy Schlueter.