Buttermilk at Home (Milk and Lemon)
Milk soured with lemon juice and left to stand for ten minutes until it curdles. Two ingredients and no heat, and it is what to make when a recipe asks for buttermilk and there is none in the shop.
Servings: 3
Calories: 52kcal
Ingredients
- 250 ml milk
- The juice of ½ lemon
Instructions
- Add the lemon juice to the milk.
- Stir it and leave it to stand for about 10 minutes at room temperature.
- By then it will look curdled, with fine lumps through it. That is the texture you want. Stir it and use it as it is, without straining.
- Use it within about two days. It is a fresh preparation and it does not keep the way shop-bought cultured buttermilk does.
Notes
This is a substitute rather than the real thing, and it is worth being clear about that. Cultured buttermilk is fermented with bacteria over hours and has a thicker body and a more complex sourness. Milk soured with lemon juice gives you the acidity, which is what most recipes actually need it for: acid reacting with baking soda to make things rise, and acid tenderising a batter or a marinade. Ten minutes is enough. The milk will look separated and slightly lumpy and that is correct, not a sign that something went wrong. Do not strain it: the curds are part of what you are making. It works with any milk, though whole milk gives a thicker result than skimmed. White vinegar can replace the lemon juice in the same quantity.
Nutrition
Calories: 52kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 36mg | Potassium: 115mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 135IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 94mg | Iron: 1mg