Sour Cream
intro
Thick, tangy, velvety homemade sour cream free of additives, perfect for topping baked potatoes, tacos, dips, and mixing into baked goods.
Ingredients
Steps
Sterilize storage jar
Wash a 500ml (2-cup) glass mason jar and its lid in hot, soapy water, then submerge in boiling water for 2 minutes to kill any competing bacteria that could ruin the culture. Dry completely with a clean paper towel before use.
Warm heavy cream
Pour 480ml (2 cups) of non-ultra-pasteurized heavy whipping cream into a small saucepan, and heat over the lowest stovetop setting until it reaches 22°C (72°F), measured with a food thermometer. Do not heat above 26°C (79°F), as high heat will kill the beneficial cultures added later.
Mix in starter culture
Remove the warmed cream from heat, pour it into the sterilized mason jar, then stir in 45ml (3 tablespoons) of full-fat, live-cultured buttermilk until fully combined with a clean, dry metal spoon. Seal the jar tightly with its lid.
Incubate cream mixture
Wrap the sealed jar in a clean kitchen towel to insulate it, and place it in a consistently warm spot (21–24°C / 70–75°F, such as inside a turned-off oven with the interior light on) for 18–24 hours, completely undisturbed. Do not shake or jostle the jar during this time, as this can prevent proper thickening.
Check fermentation set
After 18 hours of incubation, gently tilt the jar (do not shake) to check consistency: the sour cream is ready to chill if it is thick enough to coat the sides of the jar and has a subtle, fresh tangy aroma, with no watery separated liquid pooling on the surface. If still thin and runny, re-seal and let it incubate for up to 6 additional hours.
Chill to finish
Once properly set, place the sealed jar in the refrigerator for 6 hours to chill fully; this cooling step will thicken the sour cream to a rich, spreadable, velvety consistency. Stir gently once chilled before serving or using in recipes.
Tips
2.If your home is cooler than 21°C (70°F) during incubation, set the wrapped jar on a seedling heating pad set to the lowest setting to maintain a consistent, culture-friendly temperature.
3.Stored in a tightly sealed, sterilized jar in the coldest part of your refrigerator, homemade sour cream will stay fresh for up to 2 weeks, with its tangy flavor becoming more pronounced the longer it is stored.
OMG this is such a game changer! I used to just grab the store brand sour cream for our weekly taco nights and never thought homemade could be this easy? It’s so much creamier and tangier, no weird additives at all. My kids even asked if I put extra cheese on their tacos because the sour cream tasted that rich! 10/10 will never go back.
Super easy to throw together on Sunday for meal prep! I love that it lasts a full week in the fridge so I can dollop it on breakfast bowls, baked potatoes, and chili all week. Only knock is I wish the recipe noted how warm the cream needs to be before adding the culture—my first batch was a little runny because I think my cream was too cold? Tasted great though!
I was so intimidated to try fermented/cultured stuff at home because I thought I’d mess it up and get sick or something? But this was foolproof! I followed the directions exactly, used a plain whole milk yogurt as my starter since I didn’t have the powdered culture, and it turned out perfect. So thick, so tangy, perfect for topping my key lime pie bars I brought to a neighborhood potluck.
Made this for our annual loaded baked potato bar for my son’s high school football team dinner and it was a HIT. The boys were piling it on like crazy, and a bunch of the parents asked for the recipe. So much better than the giant tubs I usually buy from the warehouse store, and it didn’t even take that much extra work. Win win!
Taste was great, but I think I messed up the culturing time? I left it out for almost 30 hours because I got busy with school drop offs and pickups and it got way too tangy, almost like cream cheese? I ended up mixing it with a little extra fresh cream to mellow it out and it worked okay, but I was hoping for that classic mild sour cream tang. Any tips?
Y’all. I made this into French onion dip for our annual tailgate and people were literally scraping the bowl clean. No one believed it was homemade sour cream! It’s so rich and smooth, it makes store bought dip taste like plastic. The 10 minutes of active work is so worth it for how impressive it is. I’m never buying pre-made dip again.
Wait this is so much cheaper than buying the fancy organic sour cream at the grocery store? A quart of heavy cream is way less expensive than the small tub of the good cultured sour cream, and I get way more product. Perfect for a broke college student trying to eat less processed food without breaking the bank.
SO good and perfect for keto! No weird hidden fillers or added sugars like so many of the store bought sour creams have. I love that I know exactly what’s going into it—just cream and culture, no weird gums or preservatives. I’ve already put it on everything from taco salad to scrambled eggs to celery with salt. Obsessed.
Quick question—can I use half and half instead of heavy cream to make this lower fat? I’m trying to cut back a little on full fat dairy but don’t want to give up my sour cream for taco night. The texture was perfect when I made it with heavy cream, just curious if anyone has tried a lighter version!
Served this alongside a big spread of blintzes and latkes for my family’s Hanukkah brunch and everyone was raving. It’s so much fresher tasting than the stuff from the store, it cut through the richness of the fried latkes perfectly. My bubbe even asked for the recipe, which is the highest possible compliment I can get.
Made a batch to top my smoked brisket and loaded baked beans this weekend and it was chef’s kiss. The tang cuts right through the smoky, salty meat so perfectly. I stirred in a little smoked paprika and lime juice to the finished sour cream and it was the best topping I’ve ever had for brisket. My buddies at the cookout were begging for the recipe.
I was fully convinced homemade sour cream would be a giant waste of time, but my partner talked me into trying it. Flavor is 10/10, but I left it on the counter too close to my space heater and it separated a little? There was a layer of yellowish whey on top when I checked it, I poured that off and gave it a stir and it was fine, but it freaked me out for a second! I thought I’d grown mold or something.
I dropped off a batch of this along with a pan of enchiladas for my neighbor who just had a baby, and she texted me three times saying it was the best sour cream she’s ever had. It’s such a nice personal touch to add to a meal train drop off, way more thoughtful than just grabbing a tub from the store. I’m going to keep this in my regular rotation for meal trains from now on.
Whipped a batch of this up to make a ranch dip for my kid’s after school soccer snack, served with carrot sticks, cucumber slices, and bell pepper strips. The kids devoured it! I didn’t even tell them it was homemade, they just kept asking for more dip. It’s such a win to get them to eat veggies without a fight, I’ll be making this every week now.
Wait how is this so easy? I’ve paid $8 a tub for fancy cultured sour cream from the gourmet shop for years and I can make this at home for a fraction of the cost with literally two ingredients? I feel like I’ve been scammed this whole time. I used a little leftover sour cream from my last store bought tub as the starter and it worked flawlessly. Game. Changer.
Added a big dollop of this to my award winning chili for the county cookoff last weekend and the judges kept commenting on how bright and balanced the flavor was. I swear this sour cream is what pushed me to first place! It’s the little homemade touches that make all the difference in competition cooking. Already planning a double batch for next year.