Buttermilk

Free up your oven and make the case for crispy, crunchy, sage and thyme-y fried chicken this Thanksgiving.

Enjoy the best of both worlds with this savory mash-up that plays well as a side on the holiday table—or as the star that it is.

Biscuits and gravy, reimagined by L.A.’s Yangban Society to feature lofty buttermilk biscuits with rich curry gravy made with curry roux blocks (kare).

How do you make chocolate sheet cake better? Just add brown butter frosting, whose nuttiness is enhanced by an ingredient found in most grocery stores.

Call it a BLT salad, call it ranch salad, this combination of bacon-y breadcrumbs, tomatoes, and creamy cool dressing has got just enough going on for us to call it dinner.

It’s not like a regular wedge; it’s a cool wedge—and by cool we mean stuffed with pickled jalapeños and paper-thin slices of mortadella and drizzled with tangy buttermilk dressing.

Like the best possible Morning Glory muffins but with grated butternut squash instead of carrot.

We gave biscuits the Thanksgiving treatment by packing these with classic stuffing flavors like sage, rosemary, fennel seed, and scallion.

Move over, salads: Green goddess is perfect as a marinade for grilled chicken thighs.

Blueberries and saffron may seem like they’re from different worlds, but here they come together like delicious star-crossed lovers.

Buttermilk adds a great tang to this mildly sweet, smooth, and custardy pie with a deep chocolate flavor from chef Deborah VanTrece.

A modern take on the classic poke cake, inspired by Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger tea, with a marshmallow whipped cream frosting.

The classic blueberry muffin gets a makeover with nutty, whole-grain spelt flour in the batter and the crispy streusel topping.

This ode to Gullah Geechee cuisine marries crabmeat with corn kernels for a crispy party starter.

Tart and sweet individual cranberry pies from Amanda Mack of Crust by Mack in Baltimore.

This pick-your-own-protein salad is all about the green goddess dressing, an herby, punchy, creamy green sauce that originated in San Francisco in the 1920s. It's just as delicious as it is versatile: You can use any combo of tender herbs (cilantro, mint, basil, parsley, dill, tarragon, chives), cultured dairy (yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk, labneh, crème fraîche), and acid (lemon juice, lime juice, unseasoned rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar).

This herbaceous, crunchy, green riff on the iconic bread and tomato salad features all of our favorite spring vegetables, plus a tangy buttermilk dressing.

People have been brining chicken in buttermilk since forever, often as the first step in a dredged and fried chicken situation. But we have chef and cookbook author Samin Nosrat to credit for the idea of roasting poultry straight out of a buttermilk bath, which not only imparts delicious tangy flavor, but also helps the skin achieve a walnut-colored hue when roasted at high heat.

This style of chopped salad is a staple of Hmong potlucks. This recipe, from chef Yia Vang, is packed with crunchy vegetables and tossed with a creamy-umami dressing.

These flaky buttermilk biscuits get a nutty twist from benne seeds and whole wheat flour.

These fluffy buttermilk-laced buns are filled with a cinnamon-scented date purée to capture all that gooey sticky bun glory without being overly sweet.

We really went for it here, drawing on the flavor and texture of idli podi (a coarsely ground spice mixture that also goes by the name “gunpowder spice”) to create a gluten-free version of craggy-crunchy fried chicken. Our version swaps chickpea flour and sesame seeds for wheat flour, and, once fried, we dust it with lime zest, coconut, and crushed red pepper flakes. Be sure to fry the chicken to a deep brown to create superior crunch and coax out the nutty flavors of the chickpea flour and sesame seeds. And don’t skip the honey: It will balance out all the bold flavors.

Making tart, tangy ingredients the star is one of the simplest (and most delicious) ways to brighten up your cooking.

This dressing will remind you of the freshest, greenest ranch you’ve ever tasted.