Vegan Sour Cream Easy Dairy Free

Ready for our latest plant based trick? This one’s for all you trying to eat more plant based meals who say: “Man, this would be good with sour cream!” Enter: vegan sour cream. It’s rich, creamy, and made with only 5 whole food plant based (WFPB) ingredients. And the texture and flavor? Weirdly similar the real thing. It’s the perfect dairy-free dollop for chili or baked potatoes. Really, what isn’t better with a little sour cream? Here are all our secrets.

What’s in vegan sour cream?

How is it possible to make something that looks and tastes like real sour cream but has no dairy? You bet. Alex and I created this vegan sour cream to dollop our latest chili recipe, and it was the perfect topping. Here are the ingredients you’ll need

Cashews: Just like our cashew cream, this recipe uses cashews for creamy richnessTofu: This one also uses blended tofu! It adds no flavor, just the thick body of a real sour cream. (Is it healthy? See the section below.)Lemon juice & vinegar: Both acids provide tangy flavor; we’ve used two so there’s not any recognizable flavorSalt: Brings out the flavor of them all!

Blend them together and it comes together into a creamy substance that really looks like sour cream. The tofu provides just the right texture so that it holds up on the spoon in the way the real thing would.

Guess what? You don’t have to soak cashews.

Have you made lots of plant based or vegan recipes? Then you know that cashews are often used bring creamy body that is almost spot-on reminiscent of dairy. You also know this: these recipes require you to soak the cashews for hours. This softens the cashews so they’re easy to blend. But sometimes, you just don’t have hours! Guess what? We wanted this vegan sour cream recipe to be easier than all the others you’ll find. So: you don’t have to soak the cashews! Instead, you’ll boil them on the stovetop for about 10 minutes (if you have a high speed blender) or 15 minutes (if you have a standard blender). Then blend it right up!

But you can if you want!

You can use the soak method if that’s easier for you! Just soak the cashews for at least 1 hour, more if you have time. For example, set them out to soak before going to work in the morning! Or, place them in water and throw the bowl in the refrigerator overnight. This does side-step the need to boil for 15 minutes, and you could blend it up in an instant in the evening!

Ways to use vegan sour cream

Once you’ve blended up that dairy-free vegan sour cream, it’s perfect for dolloping on all sorts of recipes! Here are a few we’d recommend:

Chili: Use it to dollop some of our best plant based chili recipes: Ultimate Vegan Chili, Quinoa Chili, Sweet Potato Chili, 3-Bean Healthy Chili, or Instant Pot ChiliBaked Potatoes: Try our Quick Baked Sweet Potato or Mexican Sweet PotatoesSoup: Some of our Vegan Soup Recipes like Best Damn Lentil Soup or Tortilla Soup.Tacos: Throw it on our Best Jackfruit Tacos or Loaded Quinoa Tacos (make a spicy version by stirring in some Cholula!)

Is tofu healthy?

Yes! Tofu is part of a healthy diet. According to the Harvard TH Chan School of Nutrition, soy is a nutrient-dense source of protein that can safely be consumed several times a week. It’s likely to provide health benefits—especially when eaten as an alternative to red and processed meat. Also, the tofu amount you eat when you add a dollop of this sauce is very minimal. For more details, go to Straight Talk About Soy.

Don’t want to use tofu? Go to Cashew Cream.

Guess what: our cashew cream recipe is very similar! It has a very similar texture and flavor to this recipe. So if you prefer not using cashews, make Cashew Cream instead. You can use it for dolloping all the same tasty recipes. To add a tangy flavor like the vegan sour cream, add half of the lemon juice and white vinegar quantities in the recipe below (1 tablespoon lemon and 1 teaspoon vinegar).