How to make vegan buttermilk

Are you trying to veganise a recipe that calls for buttermilk? Well, you may not get such good results from substituting it like-for-like with plain vegan milk. It won’t add a tangy taste like buttermilk does, nor will it create fluffy soft bakes.

But you can make your own vegan buttermilk using two simple ingredients, vegan milk + an acid like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar.

This quick and easy vegan buttermilk recipe is completely fool-proof and works amazingly as a buttermilk substitute. It can be used like-for-like and will produce very similar results, in both taste and texture. You can use it in your vegan baking, as well as a batter for plant-based proteins like tofu.

You can whip it together in just 5 minutes and keep it in the fridge for about 3 days. Got any questions about making vegan buttermilk? Check out the FAQs below.

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Vegan buttermilk FAQs

Here are my answers to all your frequently asked questions about vegan buttermilk.

What can I make with vegan buttermilk?

There are many recipes you can create using vegan buttermilk. You can either use it to veganise a favourite recipe of yours, like buttermilk fried ‘chicken’, or you can follow one of these tasty plant-based recipes:

• Fluffy vegan buttermilk pancakes
• Air-fried vegan buttermilk seitan ‘chicken’ tenders
• Vegan buttermilk waffles
• Vegan buttermilk vanilla cake

What is a good milk alternative for buttermilk?

Ideally, you should use a thick plant-based milk alternative because buttermilk has quite a thick consistency. Great options include soy milk, oat milk and almond milk.

Soy milk is one of the thickest milk alternatives, but ultimately, once you’ve cooked with it, you won’t be able to tell the difference between soy, oat or almond milk. Therefore, which one you choose really depends upon your personal preference.

If you don’t like using any of the above milk alternatives, I would recommend trying out other nut milks. You could even try out making your own in one of these nut milk makers! But stay away from using rice milk, since it is much too thin.

Is vegan buttermilk really necessary?

If you are looking to achieve the tangy taste and fluffy texture of food that has been made using buttermilk, then you do need vegan buttermilk. Thankfully, it is really quick and simple to make. Plus it only requires two ingredients, vegan milk and acid.

Moreover, in many recipes, vegan buttermilk is actually used as a binder. Which means it will be doing the work of an egg. Therefore, if you substitute it for plain vegan milk the recipe may not work. This is usually the case in baked recipes, like cakes or cookies. So do be wary of this!