Creamy, tangy, and rich, this vegan sour cream is delicious on baked potatoes, nachos, chili, and more. You won't miss the real thing one bit!
This vegan sour cream recipe is a staple in my kitchen. Just like the real thing, it’s creamy, tangy, and rich, a perfect topping for baked potatoes, nachos, chili, enchiladas…I could go on and on. It’s super easy to whizz together, and it’s made with simple, plant-based ingredients. If you’re dairy-free or vegan (or even if you’re not!), you’ll make this recipe time and time again.
Vegan Sour Cream Recipe Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this vegan sour cream recipe:
- Raw cashews – They make this vegan sour cream thick and creamy. Tip: make sure your cashews are raw, not roasted. Otherwise, they’ll give the sour cream a nutty flavor.
- Water – To get the blender moving.
- Extra-virgin olive oil – For richness.
- Lemon juice and white wine vinegar – They make the vegan sour cream tangy and bright.
- Onion powder and garlic – For sharp, savory depth of flavor.
- Dijon mustard – For extra tang.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Add the ingredients to a high-speed blender, and blend until completely smooth and creamy. If you don’t have a high-speed blender, I recommend soaking your cashews for 6 hours, or overnight, before making this recipe. That way, they’ll be easier to blend.
Season to taste, and chill the mixture for at least 4 hours before serving. It’ll be slightly runny just after blending, but it’ll thicken in the fridge. Enjoy!
How to Use Vegan Sour Cream
Creamy, tangy, and rich, this dairy-free sour cream is a versatile, delicious condiment to keep on hand in the fridge. Here are a few of my favorite ways to use it:
- On a baked potato. Dollop it onto your next baked potato with smoky plant-based bacon bits and a sprinkle of chives.
- On a bowl of soup. Scoop some onto a bowl of Black Bean Soup, Creamy Potato Soup, or my Easy Vegetarian Chili.
- On nachos, enchiladas, or tacos, like these Sheet Pan Nachos, these Black Bean Enchiladas, or any of these Vegetarian Taco Recipes. It’s a great addition to a taco toppings bar, too!
- On a bowl or salad. Add some to a burrito bowl or this Healthy Taco Salad. I also like to thin this vegan sour cream with a little water and drizzle it over my Vegan Potato Salad.
- Or on stuffed peppers. We love it with these stuffed poblanos and these bell peppers.
How do you like to use vegan sour cream? Let me know in the comments!
More Plant-Based Basics
If you love this recipe, try one of these basic vegan recipes next:
- Vegan Cheese
- How to Make Almond Milk
- Vegan Mayo
- How to Make Oat Milk
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese
- How to Cook Tofu
- How to Cook Lentils
- Or any of these 31 Easy Plant-Based Recipes!
Vegan Sour Cream
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups raw cashews
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 garlic clove
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- In a high-speed blender, place the cashews, water, olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, mustard, salt, and onion powder and blend until completely smooth and creamy.
- Chill for at least 4 hours. The consistency will thicken up in the fridge.
This is my go to sour cream recipe. I use it as a guideline and don’t always add all the ingredients, and the recipe is forgiving. I don’t have any white wine vinegar so today I used acv. It’s a good sour cream replacement but since it’s pretty close to other cashew cream recipes sometimes I use it for other applications like on an everything bagel. Thank you for the recipe!
This is the second time I have made this it is delicious… I have a friend who’s watching her saturated fat so I made this sour cream alternative for her, neither one of us are vegan, but sometimes it’s nice to have a different flavor profile, but it is very close to sour cream And yummy to boot!… I put way too much homemade hot, hot Sriracha on my egg whites and this cooled it down very easily, even better than sour cream would have. I for one do not soak the cashews because I haven’t needed to and I just have a ninja that takes care of the consistency beautifully, I do probably blend it for three minutes. The texture is awesome… Thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad this has worked so well for you!
I made this last night and the taste and CONSISTENCY is amazing!!!! I am not vegan but sometimes I get in these moods to reduce dairy…
Hi Nicole, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Can you use other nuts to make this?
Hi Sandra, I would stick with the raw cashews because they have a neutral taste and they get really creamy.
Wow!!! This is excellent. I just made it and was inclined to use my fingers to get every last bit out of my blender. It came out perfect, nice and creamy. My family and I enjoy your recipes. Your site is always my first go too. Thank you!!
I’m so glad everyone loved it!
How long will this last in the refrigerator?
Hi Melinda, about 1 week.
On soaking the cashews overnight – do you use the volume of water from the recipe, or do you soak them in a few cups of water and then drain before blending (and reduce the amount of water added to the blender)? Would the extra water absorbed by the cashews make the sour cream runnier?
Hi Kim, if you soak the cashews, drain them well and then continue with the recipe. You can start with a touch less water if your blender will still blend. It shouldn’t seem runny, but keep in mind that it’ll also thicken in the fridge.
With a powerful blender, I skip soaking altogether.