Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing
Prepare this homemade blue cheese dressing with a perfect creamy blend of funky, zesty flavors and say goodbye to store-bought mediocrity. Salads will finally taste delicious, wings will be properly accessorized, and even veggie sticks will find a spot on your plate. Maybe that’s a generous assumption, but this blue cheese sauce is pretty amazing.
Grab your mixing bowl and combine sour cream, mayo, blue cheese, and all of the spices and flavor agents that will bring this creamy dressing to life. Mix it and to put it on everything – Top a wedge salad, a pile of buffalo chicken wings, grilled sandwiches, burgers, or perhaps even your morning toast with eggs (no judgment).
Related: We also love our simple and smoky BBQ Ranch Dressing, another irresistible sauce.
Choosing the Right Blue Cheese
Blue cheese has many varieties of flavors, creaminess, and levels of tanginess. With such a wide range of options available, it can be overwhelming to make a decision. Here are a few recommended options:
- Point Reyes Blue Cheese – Extra creamy with a well-balanced flavor, making this ideal to mash and whip into a tasty dressing.
- Maytag Blue Cheese – If you love stronger blue cheese flavor, use this brand. It has a bit more funk along with a zippy tang, almost like citrus.
- Smoked Blue Cheese – The subtle smoke flavor brings blue cheese to a new dimension, which is really picked up in this dressing. Use this flavor for dishes that don’t normally have smoked flavor, such as sandwiches or salads.
- Gorgonzola – Use this for the strongest flavors, which are going to be a little saltier and more pungent. Gorgonzola tends to be more crumbly than other options.
- Danish Blue Cheese – Extremely creamy, mild funk, with a sharp flavor. This higher-fat cheese has a yellowish tint and mixes perfectly into the dressing.
You can find tubs of crumbled blue cheese at the grocery store, which makes for a great option if you want a chunkier blue cheese dressing. This type of cheese usually doesn’t mash as well, so skip these if you want a smoother dressing.
Key Ingredients
Most of these ingredients will likely be available in your fridge or pantry. You can easily customize the flavors with various spices, sauces, and seasonings. Here are the base ingredients for our homemade blue cheese dressing:
- Blue Cheese – Many varieties allow you to customize the flavors, read above for some recommended options.
- Mayonnaise – Use your favorite store-bought brand or make it homemade. Our favorite is Duke’s, which is wildly popular in the South for its unique flavor.
- Sour Cream – Provides a creamy tang to balance out the other flavors, while also contributing to the thickness of the blue cheese dressing. Use more if you want it to be thicker.
- Lemon Juice – A splash goes a long way, creating a nice tang of citrus to balance flavors. White vinegar can be used for a neutral flavor.
- Worcestershire Sauce – The worst sister ever has a place in this dressing, adding a little savory umami.
- Fresh Garlic – Grate a clove into this sauce for some extra savory notes. Garlic powder can work in a pinch.
- Herbs – Fresh parsley, dill, or even celery leaves will add some color and herbal flavors. Add some diced chives or scallions for a little crunch.
- Salt & Pepper – Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste will finish off the balance of flavor. Try celery salt as an alternative, which adds a nice pop.
Preparing the Blue Cheese Dressing
Now that you’ve picked the perfect blue cheese, it’s time for the hardest part: Mixing everything in a bowl.
- Mash half of the blue cheese with a fork in a medium bowl. This portion will be thoroughly mixed with the rest of the ingredients, allowing the dressing to be deeply flavored with the blue cheese.
- Combine the rest of the ingredients into the bowl and stir until well blended and creamy. Whisks are not necessary unless you’re making a huge batch. Stick with that same fork and keep it simple.
- Stir in the rest of the blue cheese, and add salt & pepper to taste. Here’s where you can customize the flavors. Taste, adjust, and enjoy.
How Long Will Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing Last?
Transfer the homemade salad dressing to an airtight container and store it in the fridge for 5-7 days. You can tell that blue cheese dressing is bad if it develops a strange color, typically a pink hue.
Why Does My Blue Cheese Dressing Get Watery?
As the homemade blue cheese dressing sits in the fridge, the water in the sour cream or blue cheese can start to separate from the mayo. Simply stir the dressing before serving. If it’s extremely watery, you can add a little more mayo and stir to thicken it.
Extra creamy blue cheese can also contribute to the water content. Try using blue cheese that’s more crumbly if this keeps happening.
Customizing The Dressing
Customize this chunky blue cheese dressing to suit your taste. Adjust the thickness, add a dash of hot sauce, or toss in a handful of chopped herbs. Let’s explore some recommended ways you can take this cheese dip to the next level.
Adjusting Thickness
This recipe makes a thicker blue cheese sauce, but there are a few simple ways to tweak the consistency.
- Buttermilk – Add in a few tablespoons to thin out the sauce, making a very pourable blue cheese dressing for salads. The flavor pairs perfectly, adding a nice tang.
- Greek Yogurt – Substitute some of the sour cream, which will also thin out the dressing slightly without taking away from the tangy flavors.
- Milk – Use this if you don’t have buttermilk on hand. Add a tablespoon at a time to thin out the blue cheese sauce and mix to test.
Optional Ingredients
Depending on how you plan to serve this blue cheese dip, you may want to alter the flavors slightly.
- Hot Sauce – A little dash of heat works well when using this as a dipping sauce for veggies.
- Dijon – The sharp tang of Dijon mustard pairs very well with the Worcestershire sauce and blue cheese.
- Jalapeno Brine – Use a splash of liquid from Pickled Jalapenos instead of the lemon for a little kick.
- Sherry Vinegar – Skip the fresh lemon juice and use a splash of this for the acidic tang.
- Roasted Chiles – Add in diced green chiles, whether it’s Hatch chiles, poblanos, or jalapenos.
- Goat Cheese – Don’t like blue cheese? That’s weird, because you’re here. Swap it out and make a creamy goat cheese dressing instead.
Uses for Blue Cheese Dip
You can see several options in the photos that pair well with this blue cheese sauce. Here are some specific recipe suggestions you should try:
- Chicken Wings: Buffalo chicken and crumbled blue cheese are the perfect pair, but we have more options too! Check out Grilled Cajun Wings, Grilled Fajita Wings, Smoked Buffalo BBQ Wings, and of course the Best Buffalo Wings.
- Tri-Tip Steaks: Serve some roasted potatoes along with this Reverse Seared Tri Tip.
- Grilled Salads: Try searing steak or chicken and serve it with a salad, such as the BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad. Just swap out the dressings and enjoy.
- Burgers: Bacon, blue cheese, burger. Need I say more?
- Chicken Sandwiches: Grill up this Griddled Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwich and swap out the ranch for this tangy sauce.
- Fries: Regular potatoes or even Grilled Sweet Potato Fries would love to be dunked.
- Corn: Try out these Grilled Corn Ribs and serve alongside chicken or steak, if they even make it that far.
Blue Cheese Dressing RECIPE
This homemade chunky blue cheese dressing is good for dipping, pouring, and… well you get the idea. I don’t need to mansplain it, just grab some wings and dive in. At Chiles and Smoke, we’re here to bring people together with bold flavors, using spice and flames to ignite the food and friendships.
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Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing
Prepare this homemade blue cheese dressing with a perfect creamy blend of funky, zesty flavors and say goodbye to store-bought mediocrity. Salads will finally taste delicious, wings will be properly accessorized, and even veggie sticks will find a spot on your plate.
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: About 2 1/2 cups 1x
Ingredients
- 4 ounces blue cheese (about 1 cup)
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise, Duke’s recommended
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- Dash of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons yellow celery leaves, diced
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Kosher salt to taste
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mash up half of the blue cheese with a fork. This will help to thicken the sauce and fully incorporate the blue cheese flavor.
- Add the sour cream, mayo, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, celery leaves, and garlic to the bowl. Use the fork to mix the sauce until thick and creamy.
- Stir in the rest of the blue cheese, and taste. Add salt and fresh cracked black pepper as needed.
- Store in the fridge for up to 5-7 days, covered. Good luck keeping it that long!
Notes
- Mix up the herbs with scallions, chives, parsley, or fresh dill.
- Add a tablespoon of Dijon or hot sauce for an extra flavor boost.
- Thin out the dressing with a tablespoon of buttermilk or milk, adding more as needed.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Sauces & Salsas
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: Dressing
