Substitute for Sour Cream

Sour cream is one of the most popular ingredients, and it’s safe to say that most kitchens will not lack this vital ingredient. This is simply regular milk cream that has been fermented using certain lactic acid bacteria. Bacterial culture is introduced naturally or deliberately into the cream so as to sour and thicken it. The dairy product is much loved for its great taste and versatility in cooking as it can be used make various sauces, dips, toppings and in baking as well.

image001

Substitute for Sour Cream

There are various reasons why anyone would want to substitute sour cream. For starters, you may have simply run out of the ingredient and direly need it for your recipe or you simply don’t want to consume the many calories that come with store bought cream cheese. Also, you may be lactose intolerant. Whatever the case, there is no shortage of sour cream substitutes as there are multiple ingredients you can use depending on the meal you are preparing and your taste as well. Below we give you some fantastic and easy sour cream substitutes.

1. Dairy Free Sour Cream

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tsp. sea salt
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp. garlic clove/ garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. onion powder

Directions:

Blend the all the ingredients using a mixer ensuring that you scrap the sides to get a fine blend. If you are making sour cream for a sweet dish, you can skip garlic and onion powder.

2. Low Fat Sour Cream

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup low fat plain yogurt
  • 1/2 cup unflavored gelatin
  • 4 tsp. buttermilk powder
  • 1 cup milk

Directions:

Using a medium sized saucepan, mix the buttermilk powder with the milk and sprinkle gelatin on the mixture. Keep this mix until the gelatin is soft and cook the mixture in low heat until the gelatin completely dissolves or for five minutes. Turn off the heat and add your plain yogurt. Chill this mixture until thickened.

3. Classic Sour Cream

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup buttermilk/sour milk
  • 1/3 cup butter

Directions:

Whisk up the two ingredients in a bowl.

4. Plain Sour Cream

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup plain yogurt

Directions:

Melt the butter in a pan or microwave and let it cool to room temperature before blending it with the yogurt. Refrigerate the sour cream for an hour before use.

5. Healthy Sour Cream

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup cottage cheese
  • 1tbsp. Lemon juice / vinegar

Directions:

Blend the cottage cheese and lemon/vinegar until smooth.

6. Cheese Sour Cream

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup yogurt
  • 1tsp. onion powder

Directions:

Pour the yogurt into a strainer and cover it using a plastic wrap. Set it the fridge overnight. Mix the strained yogurt with onion powder to have a sour cream substitute.

7. Vegan Sour Cream

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 tsp. Celtic salt
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 cup brazil nut

Directions:

Soak the nuts overnight before use. Combine the nuts, Celtic salt and lemon in a food processor and blend for about three minutes or until its light and creamy.

8. Homemade Sour Cream

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 cup plain yogurt

Directions:

Pour the plain yogurt, heavy cream and mayonnaise into a blender to create a light creamy paste. Alternatively you can pour all ingredients into a bowl and whisk them up.

9. Cashew Sour Cream

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup raw cashew nuts
  • 1 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp. apple cider

Directions:

The cashew nuts must be raw, not salted or roasted. Soak the cashew nuts overnight before use. Place nuts in a food processor and add the salt, vinegar, water and lemon juice. Puree the ingredients until creamy and smooth or to your desired consistency.

10. Simple Sour Cream

Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp. vinegar
  • 2/3 cup milk powder
  • 3/4 cup water

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a mixer and blend to your desired consistency. This produces one cup of sour cream.

More Substitutes for Sour Cream

The above sour cream substitutions can be used for various recipes. Yogurt as you may have noticed is a great substitute ingredient. Below we give you specific sour cream substitutes to meet your different cooking needs.

Used For

Recipes

Baking

There are different recipes you can use and substitute 2 above which is a low fat sour cream works great. You can also use the following recipes:

  1. Mix 1 cup yogurt with 1 tsp. baking soda
  2. Mix 1/3 cup butter with ¾ cup sour milk
  3. Mix 1/3 cup butter with ¾ cup buttermilk

Cooked Sauces

If you are keen on making substitute sour cream for cooked sauces substitutes 5 and 6 above should help. These produce a thick and creamy sour cream alternative.

Dips

Making your sour cream dip is also quite easy and substitutes 7 and 8 are great alternatives. You can also use the following recipe to create your sour cream dip.

  1. Mix 3 tbsp. milk with 6 ounces cream cheese
  2. Mix 1/4 cup buttermilk/yogurt with 1 cup cottage cheese

Low Fat

If you want a healthier sour cream substitute, you can use substitutes 9 and 10 above. Alternatively you can:

  1. Mix 1tsp lemon juice with 1 can evaporated milk
  2. Mix 2 tbsp. skim milk, 1 tbsp. lemon juice and 1 cup low fat cottage cheese