For years, I hated buying buttermilk for a recipe because I could never just buy what I needed and inevitably half would go to waste. I hate waste and we no longer live in an age where buttermilk is widely enjoyed as a treat or like milk.

I bought some recently for a cake and had some leftover. After using a tablespoon or two here and there, I was racking my brain with how to use the rest. I don’t really like freezing it since I don’t feel like I get the same potency or consistency when thawing. Then, while reaching to put away my copy of Grandma’s Wartime Kitchen cookbook, it fell open to a recipe for buttermilk dressing. I recalled several years earlier, the pastor’s wife at my church telling me how good homemade buttermilk ranch dressing was when I was lamenting this same situation. So of course I had to make this recipe, right?

This recipe isn’t exactly buttermilk ranch, but it stands on its own nonetheless. It’s creamy, tangy, and a little spicy! It came in clutch when we had run out of dressing for our salad and I didn’t want to waste or freeze my remaining buttermilk. As luck would have it, I had just enough to make the dressing. Thank you, Lord, hallelujah!

What are some other ways you’ve used up your remaining buttermilk? I’m all open to recommendations!