A perfect balance between creamy and chunky makes this the best blue cheese dressing recipe, and better than anything you can buy at the store. Adding Worcestershire sauce to this homemade blue cheese dressing recipe brings an irresistible layer of flavor. This recipe is everything you’d expect from a chunky blue cheese dressing. Super creamy and gutsy with plenty of crumbled blue cheese. Perfect for your next tossed salad or a blue cheese dipping sauce for wings.
Why This The Best Blue Cheese Dressing Recipe?
This Blue Cheese Dressing Recipe is my “go-to”. And cooking is all about making things from scratch? Don’t you agree?
I’ve never ever, EVER found a bottled blue cheese dressing that’s as good as this homemade version. I’m of the opinion that bottled dressing makers add too much sugar, which detracts from the glorious flavor of good blue cheese.
Blue cheese dressing should be brash with flavor, yet still refined and gutsy with cheese. And a perfect balance of creamy and chunky.
So next time you’re getting ready to browse the salad dressing aisle at the grocery store, browse the dairy section instead.
All you need is some sour cream and crumbled blue cheese. The remaining ingredients are staples from your pantry.
Let’s take a look:
Table of contents
Ingredients You’ll Need
Mise en place. Always gather ingredients before starting any recipe. It will save you time and organize your mind.
- Blue Cheese: You can purchase a container of already crumbled blue cheese, but a wedge of blue cheese is the better choice. Blue cheese is easy to crumble, so I always reach for my favorite wedge in the specialty cheese section. Pre-crumbled blue cheese may be a drier product.
- The Creamy: This recipe calls for both sour cream and mayonnaise. A perfect rich combination of tangy and creamy. And using both ingredients makes this recipe extra creamy.
- Worcestershire Sauce: The secret ingredient that gives this chunky blue cheese dressing just the savory kick it needs. Worcestershire Sauce is used in many steakhouse blue cheese recipes.
- Acid: We’ll use lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. Not only does an acid introduce a slight sour undertone to the flavor. Adding any acid to any recipe brightens and enhances flavors in a way that salt can’t do.
- Seasoning: Garlic powder and sugar, salt and pepper to taste.
How To Make Blue Cheese Dressing, It’s Easy
Be sure to see the recipe card below for complete ingredients and instructions.
So easy! Once you’ve gathered the ingredients, the rest is a cinch. Just grab a large mixing bowl and start adding ingredients.
- Step 1: Using a whisk, mix the sour cream, half and half, mayonnaise, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, and salt and pepper.
- Step 2: Switch to a spatula and fold in the chunks of blue cheese. If you try to mix the ingredients with a whisk, the chucks of blue cheese will get stuck in between the wires.
- Step 3: Simply stir until all ingredients are well blended.
What Type of Blue Cheese Should I Use?
- Maytag Blue Cheese: I have received no incentive to mention this name brand, it’s simply the brand I prefer. It’s an American made blue cheese produced in Iowa. A cow’s milk cheese that is creamy and mild in flavor and easy to find.
- Roquefort Blue Cheese: Roquefort is a sheep milk’s cheese. Creamy and aromatic, complex and intense. This cheese will add a stronger funky flavor to blue cheese dressing. This cheese and its strong personality is made for serious blue cheese lovers.
- Traditional Danish Blue Cheese: A strong blue veined cheese that is rich and creamy, with a slight bitterness and salt. Made with cow’s milk, it’s milder than Roquefort and an excellent choice for blue cheese dressing.
- Stilton Cheese: The best known British Blue Cheese that has a strong spicy flavor. I use it whenever I can find it.
- Gorgonzola: Gorgonzola, from Italy, is soft and spreadable. Depending on age, the flavor ranges from mild to sharp. Due to its softness, your chunky factor will be compromised. I’d save this one to spread on a burger.
- Amish Blue Cheese: Made in Wisconsin, it’s a medium strength cow’s milk cheese and a good value and I’ve made this recipe many times using this cheese. The color variation isn’t as crisp as other blue cheeses, making it not my first choice.
In summary, any blue cheese will work for the blue cheese dressing recipe. Try them all, find your favorite and make it your own.
This recipe will keep for 7 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Yes. Whenever I make Buffalo Style Chicken Wings, this is the recipe I use as a dip for the wings and the celery. It’s absolutely perfect.
Yes. All the ingredients in this blue cheese dressing recipe are naturally gluten free.
Storage
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Make a double batch so you can drizzle it on every salad and dip those fresh veggies all week long.
How to use this dressing
- A big beautiful salad of course: Our favorite salad is bowl of fresh greens, topped with bell pepper, sliced mushrooms, tomato wedges finished with a generous grating of mozzarella cheese. And topped with blue cheese dressing, Just like our favorite Italian Restaurant serves.
- Hamburger: Add a dollop to your next Blue Cheese Burger.
- Chicken Wings: Use it as a blue cheese dipping sauce. We prefer Blue Cheese Dressing over Ranch dressing for spicy chicken wings.
- Vegetables: Place a small bowl of this dressing in the middle of a fresh veggie platter. It’s tasty for dipping raw cauliflower, carrots, celery and beyond.
- Baked Potato: You bet, add a spoonful to your next baked potato instead of sour cream. Give that one a try, you’ll be glad you did.
The Best Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing Recipe
This recipe is one from Culinary School that I’ve tweaked to make it mine. It’s simply the best blue cheese salad dressing recipe I’ve found to date. It’s a absolutely perfect for a classic wedge salad and beyond.
This homemade blue cheese dressing recipe is extra creamy and extra chunky. it’s perfect for your next salad or used as a dipping sauce. I truly hope the next time you’re thinking about blue cheese dressing, you’ll give this recipe a try rather than reaching for store purchased.
More Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes
- Red Chile Buttermilk Ranch Dressing a riff on Ranch Dressing from a James Beard Winning Restaurant.
- Sweet Red Wine Vinaigrette Our favorite and the best vinaigrette, EVER
- Ina Garten’s Creamy Mustard Vinaigrette
And if you’re looking for more salad recipes, don’t miss my Salad Category. You’ll find lots of great salad and dressing recipes, including the most popular for everyone’s favorite Old Fashioned Taco Salad Recipe with Catalina Dressing.
And if you’re looking for a unique Wedge Salad Recipe, don’t miss my version of the Drunken Wedge.
If you liked this recipe, please leave a star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I always appreciate your feedback and hearing how everything went.
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The Best Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup sour cream full fat is best
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup half and half or milk
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup crumbled blue cheese
Instructions
- Using a whisk, mix sour cream, mayonnaise, half and half, lemon juice, Worcestershire, garlic powder, sugar, vinegar and salt and pepper together in a medium sized bowl. Stir until well blended.
- Switching to a spatula, fold in the crumbled blue cheese and mix well. If you try to mix the blue cheese crumbles in with a whisk, the'll get stuck between the wires of the whisk.
- Let sit in the refrigerator for about an hour for flavors to blend. Take a little taste and add more salt if needed.
Video
Notes
- You can purchase a container of already crumbled blue cheese, but a wedge of blue cheese is the better choice. Blue cheese is easy to crumble, so I always reach for my favorite wedge in the specialty cheese section. Pre-crumbled blue cheese may be a dryer product.
- Let this dressing sit in the refrigerator for an hour or so before serving. A quick rest will allow those flavors to marry.
Nutrition
Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing Recipe … It’s what’s for a Salad
This recipe was first published June, 2017 and updated January 2021.
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and believe that everyone should try to cook as often as they can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
Ronni says
I cannot wait to make this recipe! My mouth is watering just reading the comments 😋
Two questions before I do..
Can I substitute with heavy cream? And, can this dressing be frozen? Sounds crazy, I know; but I’m just one small gal. I’m not sure if I can Always use it all up within a week.
Either way, I’ll make it! If I must eat more salad, so be it 😉 !
Thank you in advance for this glorious recipe. 💐🥂
Lea Ann Brown says
Hi Ronni and thanks for your note.
Are you asking to substitute the cream for the half and half? Absolutely yes.
If you’re asking to substitute cream for the sour cream, then the dressing would be quite runny.
I’ve never tried to freeze this recipe, but I believe it would work. With so much milk product involved, the texture could be compromised after it thawed, but a quick stir should bring it all back to a creamy state.
This recipe could also be halved, which might be a better solution.
Let me know if you have any other questions. Enjoy.
Maria L. says
I am a total blu cheese snob! I hate mayo so anything with it in it if I can taste it I don’t like it! I was a little bit concerned about using the full amount of mayo but I did! I usedbuttermilk as suggested by someone else here and brags apple cider vinegar a dash over the 1/8 I added extra garlic powder & I used Dansk blu cheese from Fred Meyer. My go to is litehouse dressing I hate bottled in the grocery asile, but this beats that hands down! It’s definitely a keeper. Will play around with different types of blue chesses though
Maria L says
I forgot to add that I used the Worcestershire powder because it’s vegan from Amazon I added a dash into the butter milk
Mary Jo says
I have made this recipe many times but this time I used Buttermilk in place of milk and it gave the dressing a little extra. SO DELICIOUS. Thank you
Lea Ann Brown says
Good Morning Mary Jo. Thanks so much for taking the time to rate the recipe and leave a glowing comment.
I’ve got to try making it with buttermilk! Why didn’t I think of that!
Make it a delicious day.
Drew says
This dressing is a game changer. And what’s crazy is I think it’s even better after resting overnight! Thank you for this 🙂
Jeffrey Bass says
Let me just say this recipe is amazing. But what really took it over the top was the blue cheese I used itself . Better yet, it only cost $2.99 USD!!!!! Run. Don’t walk to your nearest Aldi and look for the small tub of the Emporium Selection Blue Cheese Crumbles. And here is their dirty little secret—- for the cheese connoisseurs reading this –this blue cheese is actually imported from France and is a blue des causses. For those who are not in the know, this is one for the best tasting blue cheeses in the world. Normally, a small wedge at a gourmet shop would be about $15-25 . Trust me use this cheese and you might convert the most ardent of blue cheese haters you know!!!
Lisa Ct says
Holy smithereens this was a freaking treat!! This blew me away. It was my first attempt making blue cheese dressing and I’ve found my new ‘true blue love’. Lol No need to look at other recipes. Why bother?It was easy to make and tasted spectacular. I used a 5.5 ounce chunk of blue cheese(No substitutions were necessary). Absolutely LOVE the tips regarding the different blue cheese. Thank you. By the way, my fiance is a very happy man!
Lea Ann Brown says
Good Morning Lisa
And holy smitherineens what a great review of my recipe. 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a glowing report.
Lisa CT says
Hi Lea Ann,
Your quite welcome. Thank you for sharing such an outstanding recipe with me. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your creations and giving them a whirl 🙂
Laura says
Excellent recipe! It’s really good on mushroom Swiss burgers too.
Kim says
First time I tried it. Used buttermilk for half n half and Danish blue cheese. Delicious but a bit sweet and mild for me. I will use white vinegar and stronger blue cheese next time.
Debbie says
So good! Might as well just double it…..
Alice says
Whoa! I tried several blue cheese dressing recipes, and this tops them all! Thank you
Dawn says
Perfect blue cheese recipe. I’ll sometimes leave off the milk/half and half and use it as an appetizer cheese spread. I’ve also added caramelized onions to it. Thank you! My guests also thank you.
Robert McLellan says
This recipe turned out perfectly! I used Maytag and Stilton blue cheese, then extra big chunks for crumbling on the top! I will never return to store bought blue cheese dressing.
Kathi Mostefai says
This is the first time I made blue cheese dressing and it was absolutely delicious. I wanted to make it per the recipe but I had to make a few modifications because I only had 1/3 cup of mayo (didn’t know I was that low). Since I didn’t have enough mayo, I added 2/3 cup of sour cream and 1/3 cup cream (didn’t have half & half). Everything else was per directions. I had limited choices of blue cheese so I used Dietz & Watson, which was a little soft. It was nice and strong and I was able to cut it into chunks so it worked out great.
Lea Ann Brown says
Fabulous! And thanks for taking the time to write a review. And love the improvising … things always work out if we just stop and think about what we can do.
Lori says
I will Never buy blue cheese dressing again!!!
We were always adding extra blue cheese crumbles to other dressings to thicken them up and punch up the flavor. No need to do that anymore.
I used the Danish blue cheese to make this one. I usually have all the other ingredients in my pantry and fridge, so this was a snap to make. On salads, wings, (not even buffalo) great as a veggie dip. I’m hooked and my husband is addicted!!
This is on the top of my recipe list.
Quinn Roberts says
This recipe is perfect and is now my go to blue cheese recipe. The company I work for owns a couple of brew pubs and has the best blue cheese I’ve had. I’ve tried to scale it down their recipe from 5 gallons but couldn’t get it to taste quit right. Only change I did was to substitute red wine vinegar for the apple cider vinegar as we usually have this around for other recipes. Thanks so much for posting this.
Lea Ann Brown says
Quinn, thank you so much for your rave reviews. Such a huge compliment. I’m so glad you like this recipe.
Lindsay says
Venturing out to make blue cheese dressing for the first time, I unfortunately used a different recipe (simply bc of where it showed up on my screen lol)…and despite the good reviews, my SO and I agreed there was something major missing. So I went back to the search bar to look for another recipe to see if there was a secret ingredient I was missing and stumbled upon this… a little Worcestershire and sugar and voila! Delicious!! Thanks so much for the great recipe! It will go great with my buffalo cauliflower “wings” yay!
Catherine says
W O W!!!! This dressing was Great!!!! Better than I expected. It tasted just like the creamy blue cheese dressing you’d get at a high-end prime steakhouse. I used Danish blue cheese which is a reasonable price for a large wedge, and I like the balance of its creaminess but also its ease to crumble. I served it traditional-style,…drizzled on top of iceburg lettuce and topped with cracked black pepper and halved grape tomatoes– paired with grilled, thinly sliced-flank steak. Perfect summer evening dinner!! My family loved it!! 😀
Glenda Preston says
Excellent! And this was very easy to make.
Lea Ann Brown says
Hi Glenda. Thanks so much for taking the time to write a note and rate the recipe. So glad you liked the dressing.
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
I never thought to add Worcestershire sauce to bleu cheese dressing but I always add it to my Caesar so thanks for the inspiration.
Vickie says
Bleu cheese is my favorite as well! This recipe sounds luscious and I love the action shot.