Sour cream is one of the ubiquitous ingredients in the kitchen and is part of many recipes. Almost no household should be without it. Many dishes can be refined with it and it is indispensable for dips and dressings. Sour cream is one of the basic baking ingredients for numerous cakes and casseroles.
But what do you do if it is not available or if you follow a vegan diet and want to avoid animal products completely?
Luckily, we know the best vegan products that are an excellent substitute for sour cream .
Sour cream - an enriching ingredient for many dishes
The firm yet creamy mass with its slightly sour taste can be used in many different ways in the kitchen . Cooks use it to thicken sauces and use it for baking cakes or casseroles.
Spicy spreads, sour and sweet dips as well as soups become exquisite delicacies with the help of the aromatic cream. Toppings for tarte flambée or cheesecake also largely consist of this product. Anyone who likes to bake appreciates the special property that it brings moisture into the cakes and bread .
What exactly is sour cream?
The name reveals it : the basis of sour cream is sweet cream. On the one hand, the acidification process can occur naturally when certain bacteria act. During industrial production , lactic acid bacteria are specifically added to the sweet cream .
This allows the acidification process to be triggered and accelerated in a controlled manner. The decomposition process that occurs creates the firm, slightly sour cream that we know as sour cream . It contains 10 percent fat and flocculates over high heat. It is therefore preferred for cold cuisine.
Other sour dairy products can act as substitutes
If you don't have sour cream in the fridge, you can replace it with similar dairy products . They are usually also obtained with the addition of bacteria. One of the best-known products of this type is sour cream.
It has a firmer consistency than sour cream because thickeners are added to it during production. Its fat content is 20 to 25 percent higher than that of sour cream. Other dairy products include crème fraîche with 30 percent fat content and crème double with 40 percent fat.
Quark and cream cheese , which can be diluted with milk, are also possible alternative products. The taste can be changed to sour with a little lemon juice.
A less fatty option is natural yogurt,kefir and cottage cheese. They are low in fat and can easily replace sour cream for salad dressings, desserts and cakes .
3 vegan products as an alternative to sour cream
If you like the taste of sour cream but don't want to consume animal products or use them in your cooking, you can choose from excellent vegan options. Sour cream can be easily replaced with purely vegan products .
Here we show you the best plant-based alternatives :
Simply replace sour cream with soy yogurt
A vegan product with a sour milk taste is soy yogurt . It is naturally closest to the taste of sour cream. Soy yogurt scores with a characteristic lactic acid aroma. As with sour milk products, lactic acid bacteria are at work in its production.
It is also quick and easy to use. It is therefore particularly popular as an everyday, tasty cream with a creamy consistency and pleasantly sour taste .
When using soy yogurt, please note that some commercial varieties are flavored and sweetened. It is therefore advisable to choose a variant without flavors if you want to use the cream for processing in the kitchen .
However, you can also use flavored sweet soy yogurt for baking, perhaps you can make your best vegan cake ever with this delicious ingredient.
Vegan cream cheese and yogurt form a fine duo
There are excellent vegan cream cheese alternatives that are rich in lactic acid. You can thin the cream cheese to give it a softer consistency.
If you mix it with vegan yoghurt , such as the oat-based one offered by Greenforce, you will get a tasty cream.
Make your own vegan sour cream from cashew nuts
A particularly delicious product that is vegan and comes closest to sour cream is the vegan alternative made from cashew nuts . The production of this exquisite cream is a little more complex than soy yoghurt cream, but it is particularly stylish, extremely tasty and very healthy.
For this delicacy, ambitious culinary artists take 150 grams of raw cashew nuts and soak them in water overnight for at least 5 hours. The kernels are not roasted beforehand so that the mild taste of the cashews is retained and the nutty aroma is not overly prominent.
After cooking, the soft cashew nuts are rinsed thoroughly in a sieve. Using a high-performance blender, puree 180 ml of water, a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, three teaspoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice until the mixture takes on a creamy and homogeneous consistency .
The homemade sour cream is now seasoned with spices and salt according to your personal preference.
This herbal product from your own kitchen is completely natural. It contains no thickeners and no artificial stabilizers. Therefore, over time, the nut components can sink to the bottom of the container.
Before further use, it is therefore recommended to simply stir the plant-based “ sour cream ” well. It is stored in a sealable jar in the refrigerator.
Tip : If you need something quicker, you can simply cook the cashews in boiling water, then they will soften much more quickly and be ready for further processing.
Plant-based sour cream alternatives - useful for your health
Why does it make sense to replace sour cream with purely plant-based alternatives ? An important reason is that plant foods do not contain animal fats. Animal fats with their high saturated fatty acid content are involved in the development of cardiovascular diseases.
Vegetable fats , on the other hand, have a much higher proportion of unsaturated fatty acids. These have a health-promoting effect on the organism.
Whether it's a vegan mozzarella alternative or a milk drink like Greenforce oat milk , if you prefer plant-based food , you can choose from a wealth of tasty and healthy foods.
An interesting side effect of the vegan diet is that plant-based milk alternatives do not contain lactose . If you are lactose intolerant, the vegan diet is much more tolerable.
Replacing sour cream - contributing to a climate-friendly lifestyle
Today, no one can ignore sustainability . Anyone who chooses vegan dairy products is choosing to contribute to a sustainable lifestyle. Since a third of global CO₂ consumption comes from animal food production , vegan food represents an important step towards greater climate protection .
This means you can replace sour cream with many alternatives such as soy or cashews . The plant-based diet tastes delicious and the sustainable lifestyle is also fun.
