Homemade Sour Cream

Here’s how to make sour cream at home! All you need is 2 ingredients and 24 hours to wait for the cream to thicken. It’s kitchen magic!

Did you know you can make DIY sour cream at home with just 2 ingredients? Experience the magic of fermentation right in your own kitchen! It’s a bit of a kitchen experiment that results in extremely delicious sour cream: much tastier than store bought. Whether you’re out of sour cream or just want to try a fun experiment with your kids, it’s 100% worth making it at home! It’s also a great way to use up leftover heavy cream or buttermilk. Here’s how to do it.

How to make sour cream

It’s like magic to watch sour cream thicken right before your eyes! Of course, you won’t need to watch it for the entire time. All you need is 24 hours and a warm place, and you can make your own. Here’s what to do with that leftover buttermilk or heavy cream in your refrigerator! What you’ll need to make sour cream:

• 1 cup heavy cream (with 18-20% fat content)
• ¼ cup buttermilk
• Clean container with a cover (preferably glass)

All you need to do is stir the two ingredients together. Then cover the container and place it in a warm place. When you open it after 24 hours, you’ll see the cream has thickened. Take one spoonful and voila! Tastes just like sour cream.

How does it work? Fermentation.

How does it all work? Here’s the basic scientific breakdown on what happens when you make sour cream:

• Buttermilk contains lactic acid bacteria.
• When you mix it with the heavy cream at room temperature, it ferments the cream! This causes it to thicken without spoiling it.

More fermented foods? Go to Top Fermented Foods to Try Now.

Can you make sour cream with milk?

Some sources claim that you can make homemade sour cream with milk mixed with lemon juice, instead of buttermilk. Milk mixed with lemon juice is a common substitute for buttermilk in recipes. But when we tested this method, it didn’t work! The milk didn’t thicken the cream at all. Buttermilk is important because it has the bacteria you need and it works every time!

Ways to use sour cream

There are many ways to use it once you’ve made it! Here are a few of our favorite sour cream recipes and ways to use this tasty cream:

• Chili: Use it to dollop Best Vegan Chili, Vegetarian Chili, 3-Bean Healthy Chili, or Instant Pot Chili.
• Baked Potatoes: Try our Baked Sweet Potatoes or Mexican Sweet Potatoes
• Salads: Make Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream.
• Soup: Dollop soup recipes like Best Damn Lentil Soup, Tortilla Soup, or Loaded Potato Soup.
• Pancakes: Yes, try these Sour Cream Pancakes!
• Dips: It’s great in Dill Pickle Dip.
• Sheet Pan Dinner: Throw a creamy dollop onto Easy Sheet Pan Dinner.
• Tacos: Add to our Loaded Quinoa Tacos or Healthy Instant Pot Tacos.
• Casserole: It makes the creamy filling in our Wild Rice Casserole.

A similar process to sour cream? Creme fraiche.

Want a similar experiment? Make our Creme Fraiche! Creme fraiche is a French version of sour cream, but it’s even richer and thicker. This velvety cultured cream is used in many ways: as a creamy dip for veggies, for dolloping soups, or even a spoonful over fruit or a dessert. It doesn’t separate or curdle when heated, ideal for making creamy sauces. 

To make creme fraiche, you’ll do almost the same thing: stir together heavy cream and a culture and wait 24 hours. But you won’t use buttermilk…it’s something a little different! Head over to our Homemade Creme Fraiche to learn more.

This homemade sour cream recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free.

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More kitchen DIYs!

Love making things yourself in the kitchen? Here are some more fun kitchen experiments:

• Easy Homemade Bread Make your own bread: our easiest bread recipe!
• Sourdough Bread Ferment your own sourdough starter and use it to make the best bread.
• Homemade Nut Butter Make nut butter using any kind of nuts.
• Quick Refrigerator Dill Pickles Make your own pickles!
• How to Make Sauerkraut Here’s how to ferment your own sauerkraut!