Sour cream is one of those things that goes well in dips, baking and a variety of other recipes. This easy homemade sour cream is awesome and is a great substitute.
Believe it or now there are some countries that don’t have easy access to sour cream as we do here in the United States. But there is a way to make a great sour cream at home.
This recipe for homemade sour cream is really easy to make. It will taste a bit different than the kind you buy at the store and it won’t be quite as thick, but it is still pretty amazing! Especially if you don’t have access to it. If I can do it, you can do it, let’s get started!
Step 1: Gather the tools and ingredients
This easy homemade sour cream recipe uses only three ingredients. Chances are you might already have these ingredients in your home. You will need the following:
Sour Cream Ingredients
- Heavy whipping cream – This provides the base for the sour cream
- Milk – preferably whole milk but other milk like 2% and 1% will work
- White Vinegar – You may also use lemon juice as well. This is what causes the scientific reaction with your cream and milk which produces the sour flavor and thickens it up.
- Buttermilk – Optional, for another way to make it.
Tools
For the tools you will need the following:
- Mason jar – or you can use any other kind of jar or container with a lid.
- Clean cloth – a tea cloth or dishcloth works well
- Rubber band – the rubber band will be used to hold the cloth in place on top of our container. You can use any kind of substitute for the rubber band if you like.
Step 2: Add ingredients to a jar
First let’s take a clean jar and add our whipped cream, milk, and vinegar (or lemon juice).
Step 3: Cover and shake
Next, let’s cover the jar with a lid and shake it up a bit to make sure it is all incorporated. Don’t shake it up too much! We don’t want it turning into butter. haha
Step 4: Leave cream alone so it can sour
Now take the lid off and cover the top with a thin towel or a paper towel (kitchen towel). Use a rubber band or some string to keep it in place.
Next just let the jar sit out at room temperature for about 24 hours until it thickens up and the chemical reaction has done its thing.
Step 5: Stir, Pour, and Use that Homemade Sour Cream
After it has rested for about 24 hours, you will notice that the top is thick, and at the bottom, it will look watery, which is normal for that separation to occur. Just take a spoon and stir it all together.
Then pour it into a bowl to be used, or keep it in the jar you used. Now your easy homemade sour cream is ready to go. Use this on baked potatoes, tacos, in baking, however, you would normally use sour cream. Enjoy!
*When covered it will last about a week in the fridge.
How to make sour cream with buttermilk
You may also make sour cream with buttermilk. Instead of using milk and lemon juice or vinegar, use 1/4 cup of buttermilk with your 1 cup of heavy cream.
Then just proceed with steps 3 through 5.
For more side dishes make sure to go here.
Video Tutorial
Watch this short video tutorial to see those steps in action. 🙂
Easy Homemade Sour Cream Recipe
Equipment
- Jar (mason jar works great)
- Thin towel or paper towel
- Rubber band or twine
- spoon
Ingredients
- 1 cup of heavy whipping cream (240 ml)
- 1/4 cup of milk, whole milk preferably, or use buttermilk (60 ml)
- 2 tsp. of white vinegar or lemon juice (don't use if using buttermilk) (10 ml)
Instructions
- First let's take a clean jar and add our whipped cream, milk, and vinegar (or lemon juice).
- Or if you are using buttermilk, just add the buttermilk and heavy whipping cream to the clean jar.
- Next let's cover the jar with a lid and shake it up a bit to make sure it is all incorporated. Don't shake it up too much! We don't want it turning into butter. haha
- Next we take the lid off and cover the top with a thin towel or a paper towel (kitchen towel). Use a rubber bad or some string to keep it in place. Now just let the jar sit out at room temperature for about 24 hours until it thickens up.
- After it has rested for about 24 hours, you will notice that the top is thick, and at the bottom it will look watery, that is normal for that separation to occur. Just take a spoon and stir it all together. Then pour it into a bowl to be used, or keep it in the jar you used. Use this on baked potatoes, in baking, however you would normally use sour cream. Enjoy!***When covered it will last about a week in the fridge.
Notes
Nutrition
Do you like the recipe? Please give it a rating and comment down below, I really appreciate it. 🙂 If you make it tag me on Instagram @inthekitchenwithmatt. Also, sign up for the newsletter so you won’t miss out on any of my new posts and recipes.
Here are a few other recipes you may like:
Fall Off The Bone Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs
As always Matt. Your recipes are easy to follow. Thank you. You are a great teacher.
Thank you so much, Andrea!! 🙂 You are welcome!
heavy whipping cream
You can try adding more buttermilk or use lemon juice, or vinegar.
Mine did not thicken after 24 hours, can I put in more buttermilk to fix it?
What kind of cream did you use?
Hello! Can’t wait to try this! Could you use buttermilk powder (mixed with water) instead of liquid buttermilk?
Hi Stephanie, I haven’t tried that, but I think it would work, to sour the cream.
You recommend unpasteurized milk, how about heavy cream? Raw as well?
Hi Vicki, are you referring to a different recipe perhaps? The main ingredient in homemade sour cream is heavy cream. I actually didn’t make a recommendation for unpasteurized milk. I mentioned “preferably whole milk, but other milk like 2% and 1% will work” or of course, you can use buttermilk instead of the vinegar and normal milk. So just buttermilk and heavy cream will work.
I was wondering if I could use the buttermilk left over from making homemade butter?
Hi Elizabeth! You can certainly give it a try, I haven’t ever tried to do it with that. It may work. 🙂
Hi! Currently, our family lives in Cameroon and we have been really missing sour cream. Thanks for the recipe – can’t wait to try!
Hello! You are very welcome! 🙂
Hi, I’ve made this several times but then this time, it somehow didn’t separate after 24hours. Does it mean it hasn’t fermented?
did it get thick? If it got thick, it doesn’t matter if it separated or not. 🙂 And did it get sour?
Oh wow! I never thought of making my own. This is genius and so easy!
Thanks, Myrah! 🙂
I have never even thought of making my own sour cream. I love this idea
Thanks! 🙂
I’m totally using this recipe one day. Why buy sour cream when you can make it?
Awesome! 🙂
Wow, i did not realise it was this easy to make sour cream at home. Thanks for sharing the recipe
You are very welcome! 🙂
I never thought about making sour cream at home. This looks simple, will try it out.
Yes! It is so simple to make and a great substitute for the storebought kind. 🙂
Hhhhmmm….that easy? It’s unfortunate that I am lactose-intolerant! I would have loved to try it out on my fish fingers, probably.
Sorry, you are lactose intolerant!
Thanks for sharing this. I must give this a try. I love sour cream.
You are welcome, Natalie! 🙂
If you make it with cultured buttermilk and heavy cream, lactose intolerant people should be able to eat it without any issues. I suggest making a small batch to see for yourself.
that’s not totally true since not enough lactose is being broken down in 24 hours by the buttermilk culture to make it safe enough to eat it without a lactaid pill or liquid lactase enzyme. all I can find near me is cultured buttermilk and my brother still needs to take a lactaid tablet in order to consume yogurt sour cream buttermilk etc. I wouldn’t waste the money buying the cream and buttermilk to make this if I didn’t have those two items as leftovers from another recipe in the first place let alone if I shouldn’t really be eating it if I’m lactose intolerant.
I have never even thought of making sour cream, I really want to try 🙂
You should give it a try sometime. 🙂
I must say that I never thought about making my own sour cream. I’ve made butter and yogurt. I’ll have to try this.
Definitely give it a try and let me know what you think. 🙂
I’ve made yogurt before, but I never knew making sour cream would be so easy!
I know right? It is super easy. 🙂 And a perfect substitute for the storebought kind.
This looks so simple and easy! I can’t wait to make this!
It is super simple! 🙂
I need to make sour cream more! It’s easy & better than store bought! I love sour cream on so many things, so time to stock up on ingredients!
Awesome, Natalie! 🙂
This is so much better than the stuff I get at the store and the directions were super easy to follow. Thanks!
You are very welcome, Stephanie! 🙂
You’re right, we really do use sour cream for so many things. I think this would be fun to make with my boys this weekend.
Thanks! Yes it would be fun to make with the kids. 🙂