This is my classic Blue Cheese Dressing, a great all-rounder that I use for “everything”. It’s a dip, it’s a dressing, it’s a sauce! It’s loose enough to toss through your favourite salads, yet thick enough to cling to anything you dip into it. I can’t wait to show you how I make a big steak salad with this!
Blue Cheese Dressing
I know blue cheese is a little divisive but I’m firmly in the love-it camp! Especially in dressing / dip form. Not because the bold blue cheese flavour is mellowed, but because it becomes endlessly useable, beyond just cutting off huge hunks of cheese to balance on bread.
In this dressing form, it is thick enough so it clings to anything you dip in it (veggie sticks, buffalo wings, wedges), creamy enough for tossing through salads, and saucy enough for spooning over steak and drizzle over pizza.
Just give me an excuse to use it and I will!
Ingredients in Blue Cheese Dressing
Here’s what you need to make this. If you’re a seasoned blue cheese eater, I recommend roquefort for its bold, beautiful blue cheese flavour. If you’re a newbie feeling a bit nervous, start with Blue Castello. Blue cheese training wheels!
Blue cheese – Any creamy blue cheese will work, just don’t use the hard crumbly sort as they won’t melt into the dressing. As for strength of blue cheese flavour, here’s a list of common ones from the strongest to mildest:
Roquefort – Sharp, tangy, salty, creamy and complex. My favourite!
Stilton – strong, rich and savoury, but rounder and less sharp than Roquefort.
Danish Blue / Danablu – classic blue-cheese flavour. This is a good value easy to find choice.
Gorgonzola Piccante – fairly strong and spicy, though creamier and less salty.
Bleu d’Auvergne – medium-strong, creamy and earthy.
Gorgonzola Dolce – mild, creamy, sweet and buttery with gentle blue flavour.
Blue Castello – most mild, good one for beginners! This is also easy to find, sold at grocery stores an suburban corner stores here in Australia. We love a Blue Castello!!
Buttermilk – This is the main liquid in the dressing that thins it into a dressing consistency. Thicker than milk, thinner than sour cream, with a lovely tangy flavour. 🙂 If you’d rather not get a whole carton just for this recipe, you can use a 50/50 mix of milk and yogurt instead.
Mayonnaise and sour cream – These add richness and keeps the dressing a nice thick, creamy consistency. Whole-egg mayonnaise is best, the flavour is smoother and not as sweet or tangy as regular mayonnaise can be. Kewpie is also great here!
Garlic powder – This is the only flavouring I use in blue cheese dressing, I personally feel that anything more is unnecessary as the blue cheese already adds so much flavour. I prefer using powder to fresh as it’s more earthy and suits the blue cheese flavour better. If you substitute with fresh, leave the dressing for a few hours to let the flavour mellow.
Apple cider vinegar – Just a touch of acidity. We don’t need too much as the buttermilk already provides some. You can substitute with lemon juice.
Worcestershire sauce (OPTIONAL) – Just a small 1/2 teaspoon (do not want to taste it), I personally feel it’s not needed if using a blue cheese with strong flavour but I’d add it if using a mild blue cheese (like blue castello).
How to make Blue Cheese Dressing
Blue cheese dressing is supposed to have some little lumps of blue cheese in it. But if you prefer to make it completely smooth, you can use a stick blender instead.
Mash the blue cheese with a fork until it sort of becomes crumbly. Best to use a fork rather than fingers as it’s creamy (unless you’re just looking for an excuse to suck your fingers clean of blue cheese!).
Whisk with the remaining ingredients until it becomes a thick creamy dressing. Whisk vigorously for 10 to 15 seconds until most of the blue cheese blends into the dressing. As mentioned above, it won’t be completely smooth, there will be some little lumps of blue cheese which is normal – everybody loves the little pops of blue cheese!
And that’s it. Your blue cheese dressing is ready to use!
What to use Blue Cheese Dressing For
Its uses extend far beyond the basic role as a salad dressing! Here are just a few ideas:
Salad dressing – Toss it through salads or drizzle over iceberg lettuce wedges, like pictured above!
Dipping sauce – Buffalo wings, veggie sticks, crackers, potato chips (plain), potato wedges, chicken fingers, Fish Fingers, Popcorn chicken, bread.
Drizzle – on pizza (especially Buffalo chicken pizza!), fries, baked potatoes, roasted potatoes, smashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, a big show-off Tomahawk Steak (or a regular one)
Fellow blue cheese lovers, tell me – what are some other ways to use blue cheese dressing?? I wanna know! – Nagi x
PS No video today because this is a quick-flick recipe. 🙂
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Blue Cheese Dressing
Ingredients
- 120g / 3 oz Roquefort, or other creamy blue cheese – about 1 lightly packed cup when crumbled (Note 1)
- 1/4 cup whole-egg mayonnaise (Note 2)
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup buttermilk , plus more as needed (Note 3 for substitute)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar , or lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Optional extra flavouring:
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (good to add if using mild flavoured blue cheese)
Instructions
- Mash – Put the blue cheese in a bowl and mash with a fork until it's crumbly (blue cheese is soft so it's easy).
- Whisk – Add the remaining ingredients and whisk vigorously for about 15 seconds so the blue cheese blends in. There will be some little lumps – this is normal. Desirable! Lovely little pops of blue cheese (for completely smooth, see Note 4 ).
- Thickness – This dressing is pretty thick, ideal for dipping, and clings well to leafy greens. To loosen, add a little bit more buttermilk.
Recipe Notes:
- Roquefort – Sharp, tangy, salty, and complex *My favourite!*
- Stilton – strong, rich and savoury, but rounder and less sharp than Roquefort.
- Danish Blue / Danablu – classic blue-cheese flavour *good value easy-to-find choice*
- Gorgonzola Piccante – fairly strong and spicy, though creamier and less salty.
- Bleu d’Auvergne – medium-strong, creamy and earthy.
- Gorgonzola Dolce – mild, creamy, sweet and buttery with gentle blue flavour.
- Blue Castello – Most mild, good one for beginners! *good value, easy-to-find choice*
Nutrition Information:
Life of Jaffle
Apparently, the one toy he desperately needs is buried under the other 47.
Oh wait, no. He wasn’t actually looking for a particular toy. Turns out the toy basket WAS the toy. And the game is called “Empty the Toy Basket”. A game we play every single day!
Yummy as a pasta sauce!!
Hi Nagi,
Your blue cheese dipping sauce is perfect drizzled over (I prefer drowned in!) arancini.
Yum 🤤
I am a retired chef and look forward to and really enjoy your recipes.
Nagi. Replying to your question – is my Guide Dog pup part of the family etc ?
No unfortunately. After loving him in my home for 18 months I’ve had to give him back and he’s now being a big dog with a harness training to be a guide dog. He now has 5 months of training ahead of him. (But not with me…)
I miss him SO much.
I’ve written before. I work for OneMeal and see the results of your work every day.
Thank you Nagi and your team.
Annette Ritchie and Luckie.
How sacrilegious is it to ask if it can be made with feta? 🫣 oh I know I should give blue cheese a go!! So glad it’s a hit with so many readers! Love love love Nagi’s salad dressings ❤️❤️❤️
Not s sacrilege!! You will need a stick blender to make it smooth though 🙂 You could also use this one https://lean-target.today/mediterranean-tuna-salad-with-creamy-feta-dressing/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
It is not as rich because it’s purpose made for that salad 🙂 – N x
Thanks so much, Nagi! Can’t wait to give both ideas a go!! 🙂
My Guide Dog puppy (now 18 months) would do that and enjoyed eating the basket AND the toys.
Good luck.
Aww! Are you fostering or is she a permanent memeber of your family?? 🙂
He’s just making sure he’s got the ‘right’ one. Beautiful little ‘puppy;.
He seems to have to check a lot? 😂
I added a couple big drops of Worcestershire sauce and a touch of fresh garlic to jump the flavor! Great recipe!
Great job on tweaking the recipe to fit your taste Julie and thank you for making it!
Yes! I should probably add Worcestershire as an optional extra 🙂 Helps especialy when using a mild blue cheese!
I agree!! I love a bit of Worcestershire and a bit of original Tobasco in mine – adds a bit of umami.
I’ve used a recipe exactly like this one with one important difference. I add grated fresh Parmesan. It adds a wonderful sharpness without taking away from the blue cheese.
It does sound delicious with parmesan too, thanks for sharing Bryan!
I am not sure why we have a toy basket. I put them in every night; they take them out the next day. Our house looks like a doggy day care.
Nagi, thank you for sharing Jaffle’s pics. I am glad other dogs do the same thing. Aren’t we blessed?
YES! I so agree with you, I have questioned it myself! But then one day I put everything in a tub with a lid and the house was neat….but it wasn’t the same. Restricting his access to permitted times was boring – I missed the chaos! 😂
Everyone is coming in with their beautiful ideas of what this would pair well with, and I arrive to the party from the US with the one-hit-wonder “Blue Cheese Has Mold in It” stuck in my head…
It’s funny how similar dogs and children are. My kids play that same game. Haha Delightful.
It’s ok Melissa, we all have different opinion :). We hope you can give this a go and maybe it’ll change your mind!
Oh, I don’t have anything against blue cheese. I’m sorry my comment seemed to say that. It’s just a silly song, based on an argument some people had on some social media platform. Someone put it to music of the sort that sticks in your head if you hear it even once. I find myself singing it now anytime someone mentions blue cheese. 😅😮💨
Ha ha ha I love that a song is the first thing that comes to your mind!! 😂
Absolutely love blue cheese in any form. I go over the top – I make open faced garlic bread and spoon dollops of blue cheese on top of the garlic butter & parsley and bake – it is sooooo yummy!
You have to try this one Sharon! You are gonna love it 🙂
I think I have to try Sharon’s Garlic + Blue Bread!
Please do Hollis & let me know what you think 😊 I actually buy a chunky brand of blue cheese dressing that I use but I’m going to make this recipe and bang it on some garlic bread.
The best part of this is the fact that my kids don’t like blue cheese. It will be mine, all mine!!!
Haha, that’s perfect! Thanks Gordon!
This is great on home made hamburger with just the meat lettuce and tomato on a roll
OR
Make a coleslaw with the dressing and have just that and meat on a roll
Love anything blue cheese to eat but not a lover of the smell
That’s why this recipe is so great, it’s so versatile! Works with everything! Thanks Linda!
I love, love, LOVE blue cheese dressing! I do sub lemon juice for vinegar, and I add dill (either dried or fresh), usually instead of garlic, because it makes the dressing taste “fresh”–the garlic gives it a slightly more “cooked” taste, to me.
Your version sounds as delicious! Thanks Erin!
Oh my. 50 years ago, I tried a Roquefort dressing at a restaurant. Being a lousy “cook”, my go to was adding any blue vein to a purchased (I hang my head in shame) coleslaw dressing. Everyone loved it but to make it properly, I am definitely making this one with my current favourite, gorgonzola dolce. Hmmmm thanks Nagi! x
Sounds great! We hope you get to try it soon! 🙂
Hey! We do not judge around here 🙂 I’m the first to admit I do the drive through of shame on occasion!! – N x
Wow, Jaffle is a good puppy, his toys look like new – I’d be ashamed to show the condition of our girl’s toys! This blue cheese dressing has my name ALL OVER IT!! Thanks Nagi, will be making this ASAP!
Thank you Lina, please drop a feedback after making it 🙂
Yum will definitely be giving this a crack – Lurve blue cheese. Wonder how a thicker version would go in a Croque Monsieur?
Now you got me Heather! I have to try this!
Moi aussi, JB!
I’ve never seen such a brilliant Comments section! What is it about blue/bleu that has unleashed such creativity?
Jaffle is a hoot!
😂😂😂😂
How long will this stay fresh in the refrigerator?
From the notes section:
“Leftovers will keep for the shorter of the shelf life of the ingredients used”