It was sometime in the early 90’s, with some people I don’t remember, at a restaurant somewhere in Berkeley. Alcohol may be responsible for the vague memory. Shhhh… don’t tell my mom.
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I do remember what I ate (go figure). It was a mixed greens salad with the dressing I always order: blue cheese. Now, the quality of blue cheese dressing can vary wildly. You can get chalky gloop that was obviously reconstituted from some dry instant mix just seconds before being poured, to what I was served that night. Pure nirvana.
The only way to achieve such taste is to use real ingredients. Real blue cheese, real sour cream, real seasonings. It took a bit of experimenting to get something that mirrored both the texture and taste of that dressing that I had that night that I will never forget. The recipe below is the product of many **nom nom nom** taste **nom nom slurp** tests. It was hard work, but I managed.
Blue Cheese Salad Dressing Recipe

Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. blue cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (or more to taste)
- 1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar (red can also be used)
- 2 tsp. Herbs de Provence
- 1/4 tsp. granulated onion
- 1/8 tsp. granulated garlic
- salt to taste (keep in mind the cheese already has salt)
Directions
Crumble 3/4 of the blue cheese into a blender, food processer, or container for use with an immersion blender (that’s my preference). Set the rest of the cheese aside.
Add all the remaining ingredients and puree until they are well incorporated. Crumble the remaining blue cheese into the blender and puree a little more. The goal is to have a mostly smooth dressing, but with some texture to it. You can make it as coarse or smooth as you prefer.
Refrigerate the dressing for at least an hour and taste and adjust seasoning as desired. The dressing will thicken in the refrigerator, but as you stir it up it will thin again. If you want a thinner dressing, add a little bit of milk until you get the desired consistency, but keep in mind it won’t take much. This dressing is perfect with a mixed green salad topped with a sprinkling of sunflower or pumpkin seeds, or chopped nuts, and seasoned croutons.
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