Creamy, tangy and perfect vegan sour cream! An ideal replacement for ‘regular’ sour cream, perfect to use wherever a sour cream is needed.
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!).
How to make vegan sour cream
It’s a super easy 6-ingredient recipe that just involves throwing some raw cashews, water, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast and sea salt in the blender.
You blend it up until it’s very smooth and there you have it!
Soaking 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 boiling water is sufficient to soften the cashews enough to make them really easy to blend.
The result is a perfectly creamy, tangy cream with the ideal amount of sour!
Cashews provide the creamy base, and lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and nutritional yeast combine to create the tanginess.
A little sea salt for flavor balance and just enough water for the perfect thickness and you have a perfectly delicious vegan sour cream.
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 it’s something good)!
How long does Vegan Sour Cream Last in the Fridge?
It lasts about a week in the fridge in a sealed container.
Can you Freeze Vegan Sour Cream?
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.
You will love this vegan sour cream, it is:
- Creamy
- Tangy
- Rich
- An ideal replacement for ‘regular’ sour cream
- Raw and gluten-free
Keep it stored in the fridge and consume within a week.
More vegan recipes:
What do you think of this vegan sour cream recipe? Let us know in the comments and rate the recipe too as that is super helpful! Thanks so much!
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Vegan Sour Cream
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 1 cup
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
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!).
Ingredients
- 1 cup (150g) Raw Cashews
- 1/3 cup (80ml) Water
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice (Freshly Squeezed)
- 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to the blender and blend until very smooth.
- Enjoy wherever sour cream is needed. Great with chopped chives on top!
Notes
*You don’t have to soak the cashews first in this recipe. We didn’t soak them first. But if you know your blender is likely to have a hard time, then you can soak them in boiling water for 15 minutes just to soften them slightly so they’re easier to blend.
- Category: Raw, Gluten-Free, Dip
- Method: Blend
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of the recipe
- Calories: 212
- Sugar: 2.5g
- Sodium: 297mg
- Fat: 16.5g
- Saturated Fat: 2.9g
- Carbohydrates: 12.3g
- Fiber: 1.3g
- Protein: 7.1g
Keywords: vegan sour cream
Could this work with white beans instead of cashews?
Hmmm, I think it would be very different, but I guess it might work.
Lovely, my husband went mental for this on a baked potato with chives, thank you
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Awesome! Thanks for sharing Lou! š
This looks like a good recipe.
I’m unable to use vinegar of any sort.
Is there anything I can substitute to get a reasonable facsimile of your original recipe?
Hi Collene, I would use an extra tablespoon of lemon juice instead, and it will be equally delicious. š
This is a nice vegan dip alternative for me. I imagine I will try to change it into other flavors for expanded usage! I certainly learned that I need a stronger blender or food processor. š
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Wonderful! Thanks so much for the excellent rating! š
Would this freeze well?
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Hi Tara! Yes, this freezes very well! š
This sour cream is so much better then the one I make with tofu. Thanks for this excellent recipe! We served it with your vegan taco “meat.”
Awesome! Thanks April! š
Ok, I have to be honest, this tastes nothing like sour cream. A better name for it would be a cashew dip. Taste wise, I’d prefer to ditch the nutritional yeast next time as i’m not a huge fan of it and it gives it a weird flavour and colour. That being said, I love your website and recipes, of which i’ve made many including the lemon sponge cake, delicious!
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Hi Lisa! Thanks for sharing and the feedback! So glad you like the blog and recipes! Hope you can tweak this one more to your taste next time and enjoy it more. š
Continued: I used salted cashews duh I probably should have used unsalted.
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Oh! Haha, yes, raw cashews are key here. Thanks for updating, I’m sure it will be much more to your liking next time. š
It was easy to make but I substituted the lemon juice with lime and it taste weird. Maybe I have to get use to it I don’t know.
That could well be because of the lime. Lime has a much sweeter flavor than lemon so I don’t think it’s a good fit here.
Hi! Have you tried baking with this sour cream? I want to try this in a cake and wonder about any results you have had with it. Thank you so much!
Hi Anita, I haven’t used it in baking, but I have used it in cooking and it worked great! I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work well in baking too. All the best. š
Yummmmmy! This sauce is wonderful, and SO EASY to make. The times I’ve served this sauce by saying, “This is a vegan substitute for sour cream,” folks have replied something to the effect of, “It’s good, but tastes nothing like sour cream.” The times I’ve served it by saying, “This is a creamy cashew sauce,” my guests have only commented on how delicious it is. ?
★★★★★
So glad you like it! And that’s definitely the clever way to introduce it to your guests. š Thanks so much for posting and the awesome review!
This is not exactly recipe related, but I have found that using only 1 cup of cashews seems to be too small of amount for my Vitamix. Do you have this issue or any suggestions?
Hi Suzanne, it’s not an issue for our Vitamix, but there are different jug types, if yours is bigger that could cause the issue, in that case I would double the recipe! š
Hi! How long will this be good for. I know it said a few days, but is there a way to make it last longer?
Hi Nicole, you can push it to about 5 days really in the fridge. š
My husband is allergic to cashews. Do you know if there is something that is similar to giving it that creamy texture other than cashews?
Hi Jamie, you can also make it with tahini. Mix 1/4 cup tahini with 1/4 cup water, 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 tsp maple syrup and whisk together. That also gives you a very delicious vegan sour cream.
I’m a little freaked out that you don’t have to soak the cashews first… how do you get the sour cream so smooth? Should the cashews be soaked if you don’t have a super fancy blender?
Thanks!
Hi Caitlin, I think it comes down to you knowing your own blender best. If your blender usually doesn’t cope well with nuts at all, then maybe it would be best to soak them. You can literally just do a 15 minute soak in boiling water and they will be super soft. We found no need to soak them because there is a fair amount of liquid added to this as well, it isn’t crazy thick, so it was an easy blend, but we do have a Vitamix so that does factor in.
Hi, this recipe is soooo delicious – I made it to use on baked sweet potatoes but there was a bit left over so I added it to cold slaw & also spread some on a salad sandwich. Thanks for the awesome recipes!
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Hi Gill, so happy you like the recipe, I love the uses you found for the leftovers, sounds delish! Thanks so much for sharing. š
love this dip. I’m a vegetarian not yet vegan but I use your recipes a lot. They are usually easy, made with things I have or can readily buy, and flexible enough for me to successfully tweak. Thank you for a great website.
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Thanks so much Janet, you made my day! This is exactly what I aim for, so your comment is awesome to read. You’re so welcome, and thanks a million! š
Hi
Can I skip yeast?
Yes, sure, you’ll lose a little of the flavor, but it’ll still be great!
Thank you š
Super tasty, tangy recipe to use as a dip for anything!
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the best vegan recipe site on the web
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Thank you so much! ?