It is a 5-minute, homemade dairy-free sour cream recipe for when you need something nut-free and soy-free. 4-ingredients plus a high powered blender and you have yourself a creamy, tangy vegan sour cream.
Finding a good non-dairy sour cream substitute can be challenging as dairy sour cream has such a unique texture and taste. And we love it as it makes savory dishes over-the-top creamy. Sometimes you don’t need a spoon full of sugar, rather a spoon full of sour cream. For us, sour cream is a must-have topping on our Vegan Chili. We add it to our Vegan Cabbage Soup, to our Vegan Scalloped Potatoes, and to our Baked Potatoes. How different would your taco or burrito or enchilada taste without it?
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Non-dairy sour cream alternatives
There are numerous versions to make dairy-free sour cream. If you go with store-bought sour cream, they usually contain a lot of ingredients to make cultured sour cream from coconut cream (Follow Your Heart / Earth Island) or from soybeans (Tofutti).
However, you can make sour cream at home with fewer ingredients. I guess that’s why you are reading this recipe anyway. What all recipes have in common is that you need to use lemon juice and/or apple cider vinegar to get your sour cream base sour and tangy enough.
The base for homemade sour cream
You need something creamy and smooth not to mention white(-ish). And the following options are perfect to get that result:
- blended soaked cashews
- dairy-free yogurt
- soy milk or other non-dairy milk
- coconut cream
- blended sunflower seeds (allergy-free version)
Ingredients of our homemade dairy-free sour cream
It is really simple and quick. You need 4 ingredients and 5 minutes tops.
- sunflower seeds,
- fresh lemon juice,
- apple cider vinegar, and
- salt
We also like to add a dollop of mustard or nutritional yeast for a more tangy result.
Why sunflower seed sour cream?
It is the only allergy-free homemade sour cream alternative, so nut-free and soy-free. Another important aspect to consider: it is also budget-friendly. Compared to the price of cashews, sunflower seeds are usually a bargain.
How to make dairy-free sour cream quickly?
First, you need to soak the sunflower seeds. Well, not really soak, rather soften them. Pour boiling water on them and let them rest for approx. 5 minutes.
Take a high powered blender (like Vitamix or Blendtec) and add all ingredients in it (softened seeds, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and salt). Blend for 5 minutes tops until your sunflower sour cream is so-so creamy and so-so white. Unbelievable, right?
Top tips to make perfect vegan sour cream
- By using a high powered blender, your sour cream will be warm when ready. It is better to make it the day before and let it cool in the fridge before using.
- You can blend sunflower seeds without soaking if you have a high powdered blender.
- You can use a food processor or other blender, but you may need to compromise on creaminess a bit.
Uses for Dairy-free Sour Cream
- We prefer to use them to top chilis, soups, or baked potatoes.
- We often add it to make salad dressings.
- We don’t really use them in baking recipes like sour cream pancakes or donuts.
Let us know in the comments where do you use your vegan sour cream!
This Sunflower Sour Cream recipe is dairy-free and egg-free. It is suitable for vegan, vegetarian, nut-free and gluten-free diets. It also works in the whole foods plant-based and paleo diet.
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More vegan condiment recipes
You can browse through our Vegan Condiment Recipes or check out
Dairy-free Sour Cream (Nut-free, Soy-free)
Ingredients
- 1 + ½ cup Sunflower seed (raw, unsalted)
- 1 + ½ cup Water
- 5 Tbsp Lemon juice
- 2 + ½ Tbsp Apple cider vinegar
- 3 tsp Salt
Optional
- 1 Tbsp Nutritional yeast or
- 1 Tbsp Mustard
Instructions
- First, you need to soak the sunflower seeds. Well, not really soak, rather soften them. Pour boiling water on them and let them rest for approx. 20 minutes. If you're short in time but has a high powered blender, you can skip this step. Discard soaking water.
- Take a high powered blender (like Vitamix) and add all ingredients in it (softened seeds, water, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and salt). Blend for 5 minutes tops until your sunflower sour cream is so-so creamy.
Mary Helen Sell
I didn’t want to go to the store just for vegan sour cream, so I searched and found your recipe which doesn’t use cashews (didn’t have any on hand). When I discovered I only had roasted sunflowers, I decided to try the recipe with raw pumpkin seeds. They worked just fine in your great recipe. My husband loves it. The only drawback is It has a light green tint to it. I’m going to try subbing rolled oats next and will let you know the results. Vitamix is the bomb. We’ve used ours at least once a day for 20 years. Have only had to replace the pitcher.
Lisa
Hi, I have all the ingredients but my sunflower seeds are roasted and unsalted. Can I sub those instead of raw?
My Pure Plants
Absolutely. I tested this recipe with roasted unsalted as well. You are good to go.
Kat - the other 1
Is the 1 1/2 cups water the soaking water only?
Is that water not added to the recipe?
I thought that amount was supposed to be added to the mixer? & the soaking water was separate and strained / not used?
I’m a little confused.
My Pure Plants
Hi Kat,
We are sorry for the confusion. Yes, the 1 + 1/2 cup water has to be added to the blender. The soaking water can be discarded.
Emese
Tammy
I would like to know can this recipe be used in baking. I make a gluten free cheesecake and now making diary free gluten free cheesecake so i need diary free sour cream. Will your recipe work. It is mostly for flavor as it is only 1/4 cup i use in my recipe
My Pure Plants
I haven’t tried it in a cheesecake yet. 1/4 cup is indeed a small amount. Let me know if you try it.
JodyW
Question: Have you used the product for baking dishes that call for sour cream mixed in as an ingredient, like in a casserole, not just on top of the food? How did it work?
My Pure Plants
Hi Jody, we use the sour cream for toppings. We haven’t tried it with a casserole recipe. Let me know if you do.
Rizzy
Do you strain the soaked seeds?
My Pure Plants
Yes. You only need the seeds and discard the water.
LWG
This is amazing, but according to nutritional calculators… in 1.5 cups of sunflowers seeds there is over 1200 calories! You put 26 calories on this… am I missing something? Is there lesser calorie version of vegan sour cream that anyone knows of? The cashew version is also super high in calories and fats!
Thanks!
My Pure Plants
Hi, we are so glad you like the recipe. And yes, you are correct that sunflower seeds are high in calories. The 26 calories displayed in the nutritional info is for 1 Tbsp only though. This recipe amounts approx. 3 cups (total calories of which is 1271 – double-checked with Cronometer), that is approx. 45-50 Tbsp.
Clarese Joyce
I don’t know it meant 2.5 I thought it was either 2 or 5. Maybe you should put that in an asterisk on the recipe. Fingers crossed how it turns out. ?
My Pure Plants
Hi, sorry. I made it clearer now. I hope you went with 2 🙂 Let me know how it goes.
Bec
Hey, made this and it’s super yummy with hashbrowns! How long will it keep whilst refrigerated?
My Pure Plants
It should be good for 4-5 days for sure.
Katie
How long is it good for in the fridge
Katie
Also how many tbsp of ACV? It says 2,5
My Pure Plants
It is 2 Tbsp and a half Tbsp. Start with 2 and add more after you taste it.
My Pure Plants
The longest we had them is one week.
Jah-Leah
Hi haven’t tried it yet, but I trust it. I’m not vegan- def love chicken, but my gf pretty much is and I try not to do too much dairy as an athlete and as I’m getting older. I’m quarantined in the UK and nuts are so much more expensive here than nyc. I tried a recipe with cashews and it was really good! But we know it’s caloric and again $$ especially now is tight. Thanks for this.
My Pure Plants
Indeed, cashew can be quite pricey. If you try the recipe, let us know how do you like it.
Matt
What can I say? How can I thank you enough? My wife has severe allergies to dairy egg and nuts and gluten. She’s been desperately missing sour cream for years now and I was determined to find an option for her. This is it. She is over-the-moon happy. A few important things to keep in mind. I had to hunt around for strictly allergen-free sunflower seeds that were not roasted or salted, and were produced in a facility that was strictly allergen-free. The seeds that I found are made by Terrasoul. They seem to be widely available on the internet. I also took your advice and bought a very powerful high speed blender. I can imagine that was a key investment. It really does pulverize and liquify the seeds more than I would imagine a conventional blender would. And yes, your advice is correct. After sampling the first batch, I thought it was perfect. But she asked that I adjust the lemon juice and salt down a little bit. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I wish I could give you a hug.
My Pure Plants
You just made my day. You will love the high-speed blender, it is like rediscovering old recipes as if they were new. Making cashew milk without straining or making hummus without peeling the chickpeas and so on. The most used kitchen equipment in our kitchen for sure.
Stephen
I use my Vitamix more than any other kitchen tool. It was an expensive investment, but worth every penny. I just did my grocery shopping (my last one for a while) and forgot sour cream. We’re having nachos for dinner (vegan) so I’m going to try this recipe.
My Pure Plants
It wasn’t a quick decision to buy it for sure, but in retrospect, it was totally worth it. I hope you’ll like the recipe. Let us know how it turned out.