Equipment
* optional
Ingredients
The Cheese Base
- 130 g blue cheese, room temperature
The Emulsion
- 210 g mayonnaise
- 220 ml sour cream
- 125 ml buttermilk, chilled
Aromatics and Seasoning
- 1 garlic, microplaned
- 5 g fresh chives, finely minced
- 15 ml lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 5 ml worcestershire sauce
- 1 g black pepper, freshly cracked
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 98 kcal
- Protein
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- 1 g
- Fat
- 10 g
- Fiber
- 0 g
- Sugar
- 0 g
- Sodium
- 142 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 3 g
- Trans Fat
- 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 2 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 4 g
- Cholesterol
- 12 mg
- Potassium
- 41 mg
- Calcium
- 48 mg
- Iron
- 0.1 mg
- Magnesium
- 3 mg
- Phosphorus
- 38 mg
- Zinc
- 0.2 mg
- Vitamin A
- 25 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 1 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0.1 mcg
- Vitamin E
- 0.3 mg
- Vitamin K
- 15 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.0 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 0.1 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.01 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.05 mg
- Niacin
- 0.1 mg
- Folate
- 4 mcg
- Water
- 18 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Place 65g (half) of the blue cheese into a mixing bowl and crush it into a coarse paste using the back of a fork or a whisk.
Add the mayonnaise, sour cream, microplaned garlic, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce to the crushed cheese base.
Whisk the mixture vigorously until the base is smooth and the cheese paste is fully integrated into the fats.
Slowly stream in the buttermilk while whisking constantly until you reach your desired pouring consistency.
Gently fold in the remaining 65g of crumbled blue cheese, the minced chives, and the black pepper.
Transfer the dressing to a glass jar and chill in the refrigerator at 4°C (40°F) for at least one hour before serving.
Chef's Notes
- For the ultimate steakhouse experience, serve this over a cold wedge of iceberg lettuce with crispy pancetta lardons.
- Always taste for salt at the very end; blue cheeses vary wildly in sodium content.
Storage
Refrigerator: 7 days — Store in a non-reactive glass container; flavor intensifies after 24 hours.
Reheating: Do not reheat. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Troubleshooting
Dressing is too thin and runny
Cause: Too much buttermilk or low-fat dairy substitutions
Fix: Whisk in 20g of additional mayonnaise or 20g of finely mashed blue cheese.
Prevention: Always add buttermilk incrementally at the end.
Overpowering raw garlic bite
Cause: Garlic clove was too large or not minced finely enough.
Fix: Add 5ml of honey or maple syrup to balance the sulfurous heat.
Prevention: Use a microplane to create a paste which distributes flavor evenly.
Cultural Context
While blue cheese sauces have roots in French 'Sauce Roquefort', the creamy dressing version is a quintessential American steakhouse staple that gained massive popularity in the mid-20th century.
