Can You Freeze Buttermilk?

What happens when you freeze buttermilk

Buttermilk is already tangy and thin, so the freezer takes less from it than from other dairy. It thaws split, with clear liquid and pale flecks, and a hard shake brings most of that back together. What it won’t be again is something you drink. As an ingredient it’s indistinguishable — the acid does its work in a batter or a brine whether or not the texture is pretty. Freezing also solves the usual problem: the recipe wants a cup and the carton holds four.

How to freeze it right

1. Shake the carton, then measure into cup and half-cup portions.
2. Use ice-cube trays for the small splashes a marinade or a dressing wants.
3. Leave headspace, seal, and press the air out of any bag.
4. Label with the amount and the date — ‘one cup’ saves you a measuring jug later.

Thawing and using it

Thaw overnight in the fridge and shake hard, or melt frozen cubes straight into a hot pan or a marinade. It’s ready for pancakes, waffles, biscuits, cornbread, soda bread, ranch dressing, and fried-chicken brine — every one of them a job the separation can’t spoil.

Can you refreeze it?

Fridge-thawed buttermilk can be refrozen safely; it simply separates a bit more each time. Portion it by the recipe and the question stops arising.