There are some vegan sour cream choices available such as Tofutti brand (of which I’ve used their cream cheese with success in frosting recipes), but I am kind of all about the homemade everything lately so I’ve been dying to find something I can make to replace sour cream in recipes.
As a brief aside about Tofutti products, I did some research again on their site and noticed that they are extra careful about stating that they don’t claim their products are gluten-free because of potential trace elements of gluten in grain alcohol. This is a tad worrisome, isn’t it? Are they just being extra careful, to avoid a potential issue later on? I’m curious now.
Anyhow, moving along …
There are quite a few recipes for vegan sour cream that use soft or silken tofu. I am all for using tofu in recipes. I actually quite enjoy eating it. Sometimes though, I get sick of the idea of using soy. (In fact, there are some real reasons why I need to consume less soy in my diet.)
I wanted to find a recipe that used minimal soy or even none.
Then I found my dream recipe. A vegan sour cream using … cashews. You might remember how much I enjoy using cashews and macadamia nuts as creams and cheeses. So, of course, this recipe appealed to me right away.
I whipped up a batch of this right away and decided I really want a Vita-Mix. My blender is okay but I bet a Vita-Mix would have whipped this up into an even creamier state of smooth creamtasticness.
I am blown away by how similar to sour cream this tastes, smells and feels! I’m serious it’s just shocking how closely this resembles real dairy sour cream. Highly impressed.
| Homemade Vegan Sour Cream |
- 1 cup raw cashews (not roasted or salted)
- Water, to cover
- 1/4 cup fresh water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1-2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 lemon, juiced
- In a small bowl, cover cashews with water. Let sit for a few hours or overnight. (I suggest overnight if you can wait that long.)
- Pour off water and place cashews in blender with fresh water, salt, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice.
- Puree until very smooth and creamy.
Use in any recipe that requires sour cream. I’m using it in my pierogi dough and in an old coffee cake recipe my mom passed down to me. Wish me luck!
Levi has already taken some and used it with salsa and nachos and was raving over it too. It’s that good!
Wow.
I was pretty skeptical of the vinegar, and the initial taste is different from the real stuff. The aftertaste is spot on, though.
Awesome to hear Mike. It’s one of those ‘weird’ things that kind of works right? Thanks for stopping by and telling me what you thought of it.
I’ve been using the Tofutti, but am ready to try making my own. This recipe looks easy enough for even me to tackle. Thanks for the post!
It’s dead easy Allison. You’ll have great success with it, I’m sure of it.
Let me know how it goes.