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    Home » Sides

    Vegan Sour Cream

    Published: Jul 26, 2021 Updated: Jul 26, 2021 by Alison Andrews This post may contain affiliate links

    Jump to Recipe
    Vegan Sour Cream

    Creamy, tangy and perfect vegan sour cream! An ideal replacement for ‘regular’ sour cream, perfect to use in recipes or wherever a sour cream is needed.

    Vegan sour cream in a glass jar on a white plate with sliced lemon and cashews.

    This vegan sour cream is everything you want a sour cream to be, creamy, tangy and rich!

    It’s the best accompaniment to a baked potato out there.

    In fact, I may or may not have made roughly 10 baked potatoes on the same day I made this batch of vegan sour cream (oh I did!).

    It’s amazing as a topping for Mexican dishes like vegan nachos or vegan tacos, as a dip or spread, on top of soups, on a big bowl of vegan chili, as a salad dressing, stirred into your vegan mushroom stroganoff and of course, as mentioned, on top of your baked potatoes (with chives, always with chives!).

    So if you have been wanting a dairy free alternative to regular sour cream then you are going to super pleased because this stuff is the bees knees (whatever the bees knees means, but definitely something good).

    What You Need To Make This Recipe:

    Photo of the ingredients needed to make vegan sour cream

    Ingredient Notes

    • Raw cashews – these provide the creamy base for your sour cream. If you don’t eat cashews then slivered almonds or blanched almonds could work as a substitute.
    • Apple cider vinegar – this provides the tang. You could also use distilled white vinegar.
    • Nutritional yeast – gives a slightly cheesy tang, making it more closely match a tangy sour cream, however, you can omit this if you prefer.
    Vegan sour cream in a glass jar standing on a white plate with sliced lemon and cashews.

    How To Make Vegan Sour Cream

    You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.

    • Step 1: Add raw cashews, water, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast and sea salt to the blender jug.
    Ingredients for vegan sour cream in the blender jug ready to blend.
    • Step 2: Blend until smooth and creamy.
    Vegan sour cream freshly blended in the blender jug.
    • Step 3: Use wherever a sour cream is needed!
    A spoon dipping into a jar full of vegan sour cream.

    Chef’s Tips

    The cashews: You don’t need to soak your cashews first unless your blender is a weak model. If you know your blender is likely to have a hard time with this, then soaking them for 15 minutes in hot water is sufficient to soften the cashews enough to make them really easy to blend. Just add the cashews to a bowl, pour over boiling hot water from the kettle and leave them to soak for 15 minutes. Then drain and rinse the cashews and they’re ready to use.

    The consistency: The consistency of this vegan sour cream is fairly thick as you can see. It also tends to thicken up more in the fridge. If you’d like a thinner consistency just whisk in a little more water.

    The quantity: This recipe makes around 1 cup of sour cream. You can easily double the recipe if you need to. If you are using a blender with a wide base then you may need to double the recipe so that there is enough volume for the blades to gain traction.

    A spoon dipping into a glass jar full of vegan sour cream.

    Recipe FAQ

    How long does it keep?

    It lasts about a week in the fridge in a sealed container. 

    Can you freeze it?

    Yes it is freezer friendly! So if you think you’ll take longer than a week to eat it all, then definitely freeze some of it. Just place it into a freezer safe container and freeze. 

    A large dollop of sour cream being placed onto a baked potato.

    More Delicious Cashew Recipes

    1. Cashew Cheese Sauce
    2. Cashew Cream
    3. Sliceable Cashew Cheese
    4. Cashew Dressing
    5. Vegan Heavy Cream Substitute
    6. Cashew Ice Cream
    Baked potato topped with sour cream and chives.

    Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!

    Vegan sour cream in a glass jar with a spoon.

    Vegan Sour Cream

    Creamy, tangy and perfect vegan sour cream! An ideal replacement for 'regular' sour cream, perfect for use wherever a sour cream is needed. Great in Mexican dishes and delicious on top of a baked potato (with chopped chives, of course).
    4.96 from 43 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dip, Sauce, Side
    Cuisine: Vegan
    Diet: Vegan
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Total Time: 10 minutes
    Servings: 8
    Calories: 93kcal
    Author: Alison Andrews

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup Raw Cashews (150g)
    • ⅓ cup Water (80ml)
    • 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice Freshly Squeezed
    • 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
    • 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
    • ½ tsp Sea Salt
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Add all ingredients to the blender and blend until very smooth.
    • Enjoy wherever sour cream is needed.

    Video

    Notes

    1. Cashews: You don’t have to soak the cashews first in this recipe if you have a strong blender. But if you know your blender is likely to have a hard time, then you can soak them in hot water for 15 minutes just to soften them slightly so they’re easier to blend. Place them in a bowl, pour over boiling hot water from the kettle and leave them to soak for 15 minutes. Then drain, rinse and continue with the recipe. 
    2. Substitute for cashews: If you need a substitute for cashews then you could try slivered or blanched almonds. If you’re using slivered or blanched almonds then definitely soak them first and in this case, soaking overnight would be the best option so you can get the texture as smooth as possible.
    3. Consistency: The consistency of this sour cream is fairly thick. It also tends to thicken up more in the fridge. If you’d like a thinner consistency then blend in more water. If it’s thickened up in the fridge then add a dash of water and whisk it in. Be careful not to add too much and make it runny.
    4. Quantity: This recipe makes around 1 cup of sour cream. You can easily double the recipe if you need to. If you are using a blender with a wide base then it would be best to double the recipe so that there is enough volume for the blades to gain traction.
    5. Storing and Freezing: It lasts about a week in the fridge in a sealed container. It is also freezer friendly so if you think you’ll take longer than a week to eat it all, then definitely freeze some of it. Just place it into a freezer safe container and freeze.
    6. This recipe was first published in May 2018. It has been updated with extra tips but the recipe itself is unchanged. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 2Tablespoons | Calories: 93kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 148mg | Potassium: 129mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 1mg
    DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @lovingitvegan on Instagram and hashtag #lovingitvegan
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    About the Author

    Hi I'm Alison Andrews, I'm the voice and cook behind Loving It Vegan. I love making delicious vegan food and creating vegan versions of all your old favorites, so that you’ll never feel like you’re missing out. Find out more about me here.

    Loving It Vegan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This site may contain some of these links to Amazon.com. If you make a purchase through one of those links, Loving It Vegan will receive a small commission from the purchase at no additional cost to you.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Kendra says

      October 30, 2022 at 6:16 am

      Can you use a food processor on the cashews, instead of a blender?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 01, 2022 at 12:55 pm

        You can, but it tends to not make it quite as smooth.

        Reply
      • Joe says

        December 03, 2022 at 4:00 am

        You’ll need to be patient. Also, it’s a good idea to rest your food processor every once in a while and give it a chance to cool down.5 stars

        Reply
    2. Laura says

      August 29, 2022 at 9:13 pm

      This is so good!! But I can never get it smooth. Any tips? I have a vitamix. Thanks!5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        August 30, 2022 at 2:39 pm

        Hi Laura, so glad you like it! We use the stick attachment (tamper) a lot! It helps in making it very smooth. You can also try soaking the cashews in boiling hot water for 15 minutes before you start.

        Reply
      • Joe says

        December 03, 2022 at 4:22 am

        Usually I boil my cashews for 15-20 minutes but for some reason I didn’t this time. I’m actually about half way through the blending process and giving my Vitamix and I a break. I’ve been slowly adding water so the blender won’t bog down. I must have added almost a cup total (!). My idea is to slowly add as much water as needed to get the sour cream super smooth, then use the blender’s heat to evaporate to the perfect consistency.

        [Edit] Finally done! The trick is to start blending at the lowest speed, blend for 10 seconds, crank up the speed one level, and keep going. When the blender bogged down I took a 5 min. break, added about 1/8 cup water, and began again from the lowest speed. It’s a glorious thing indeed when you can finally blend the cashews at the highest level for a full minute and get that silky smooth texture.5 stars

        Reply
    3. Carla says

      April 25, 2022 at 4:34 pm

      You almost want to eat it like a yogurt!5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        April 26, 2022 at 9:56 am

        Totally agree Carla! 🙂

        Reply
    4. Larissa says

      March 06, 2022 at 10:05 pm

      Hands down, best vegan sour cream recipe!5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        March 07, 2022 at 10:02 am

        Thanks so much Larissa!

        Reply
    5. Sandy says

      February 07, 2022 at 2:24 am

      Hi – I would really like to try this for using in a no bake cheesecake recipe. Can I leave out the nutritional yeast in that case ?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        February 07, 2022 at 9:23 am

        Hi Sandy, yes sure you can leave it out. All the best!

        Reply
    6. Nori says

      January 22, 2022 at 3:28 am

      My favorite vegan sour cream recipe! Thank you 😊5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        January 24, 2022 at 9:51 am

        Thanks so much Nori!

        Reply
    7. MARYELLEN GLORIE says

      October 09, 2021 at 8:00 pm

      I didn’t think it was possible for me to like a vegan sour cream, but this one is the bomb. I like it better than dairy sour cream and now I would never go back to that stuff. This sour cream has just the right amount of tang and is so fast and simple to make. Thank you!5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        October 10, 2021 at 10:17 am

        Fantastic! Thank you so much for the wonderful review!

        Reply
    8. Allison says

      September 15, 2021 at 7:48 pm

      Hello! I love your website. One of my daughters is allergic to tree nuts. Is it possible to make this (and for it to taste good) without tree nuts? If so, how? Thanks!

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        September 16, 2021 at 12:07 pm

        Hi Allison, if she can have tahini then our tahini sauce (made a little thicker then in our recipe) makes a great tahini sour cream!

        Reply
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