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How to Make Vegan Buttermilk

January 27, 2023

17 4 minutes read

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You only need two minutes and two ingredients to make homemade vegan buttermilk! It’s the perfect substitute for buttermilk in just about any recipe.

When you do a lot of vegan baking you tend to accumulate lists and list of ingredient substitutions over time. I know I sure do! I’ve got my handy list of egg substitutes, my list of dairy substitutes, and honey substitutes.

But every now and then you come across the odd ingredient that doesn’t quite fit into any of these categories, like buttermilk. You can’t just use any dairy substitute to make something like this, because buttermilk has specific properties that make it behave in specific ways in baked goods.

There’s good news though: making dairy free buttermilk is almost as easy as replacing regular milk with non-dairy milk. You just need to alter the chemistry of it a bit.

Read on to learn how!

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Ingredients You’ll Need

There are only two, and you probably already have them both on hand!

Non-Dairy Milk

Most dairy-free milks will work here! Do you have a favorite non-dairy milk that you usually use for baking? It can probably be turned into vegan buttermilk. Canned coconut milk is the only variety I don’t recommend, because it tends to behave differently in baked goods due to it’s high fat-content.

Soy milk is my preference here, because it’s high protein content causes it to curdle when acidified (which is what we’ll be doing), which in turn causes your vegan buttermilk to thicken and appear like actual buttermilk.

Almond milk will curdle, not as much soy milk. Other varieties like oat milk, rice milk and cashew milk won’t curdle very much, so the vegan buttermilk will be thin, but it will still be acidic, so it will perform just as well in recipes for baked goods.

You’ll most likely want to use a variety of milk that’s unflavored and unsweetened, which is a rule I generally apply when baking with plant-milks. You can also use homemade or store-bought milk — your choice!

Take a look at my guide to dairy-free milk if you need help picking one.

Apple Cider Vinegar

This adds some acidity to our milk, so we get a tangy flavor which enhances the taste of our baked goods, just like you would with conventional buttermilk. The acidity also reacts with baking soda when it’s used as a leavening agent, giving you extra fluffy pancakes, flaky biscuits, tender cakes, and beautifully domed muffins.

Other acidic ingredients like white vinegar and lemon juice can be substituted if needed. Read up on your options in my guide to apple cider vinegar substitutes.

How It’s Made

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!

Start by adding your apple cider vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. You need a tablespoon.
Now begin pouring your non-dairy milk into the liquid measuring cup. Stop once it reaches the 1-cup line.
Stir the ingredients together.

Hand stirring Vegan Buttermilk ingredients together in a liquid measuring cup.

That’s it! Your vegan buttermilk is ready to use. Use it as a substitute in any recipe that calls for regular buttermilk.

Note: If you use a non-dairy milk that’s high in protein, like soy milk, it will curdle within a few minutes of adding the vinegar. This is nothing to worry about and won’t affect the outcome of any recipe you use the vegan buttermilk in. In fact, it will eventually appear thicker, so it will look more like conventional buttermilk.

Vegan Buttermilk being poured from a measuring cup into a bottle.

Shelf-Life & Storage

Vegan buttermilk will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 7 days. I prefer to make it right before I need it (it literally takes two minutes).

It can also be frozen if you need to store it longer. Try portioning it out in ice cube trays, then transferring your vegan buttermilk cubes to an airtight container or freezer bag once they’re solid.

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