Graddfil substitute

Best substitute

Sour cream thinned with milk

Use 1 cup graddfil for every ¾ cup sour cream + 2 tablespoons milk

Best for sauces for meatballs and salmon

Close match

The closest match and easy to get right. American sour cream carries about twice as much fat, so undiluted it makes a Swedish sauce or dip heavy and claggy, and it sits on top of a potato dish instead of running through it. Thinned, the tang and the body both land where they should.

Other graddfil substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Creme fraiche thinned with milk
Different taste
Use 1 cup graddfil for every ¾ cup creme fraiche + 2-3 tablespoons milk
Higher in fat and gentler in acidity, so a sauce made with it tastes rounder and nuttier and less sharply sour - closer to Swedish graddfil's mildness than US sour cream actually is, but noticeably richer.
What changes
Its real advantage is that it can simmer without breaking, which no yogurt-based option can do.
Best for
hot sauces and gravies that need to reduce, baked casseroles, salmon and fish sauces, mushroom sauces
If it tastes too mild against a dill or mustard sauce, add a teaspoon of lemon juice per cup to bring the acidity up to graddfil level.
3Plain full-fat yogurt
Different taste
Use the same amount
Right thickness, wrong sourness.
What changes
Yogurt is distinctly sharper and cleaner-tasting than graddfil, so a dill dip made with it tastes bright and acidic where the original is soft and creamy. It also has far less fat, which means it curdles the moment a sauce comes near a boil.
Best for
cold dips and dressings, cucumber and dill sauces, spooning over soups off the heat, marinades
Never boil it. Take the pan off the heat, temper the yogurt with a ladle of the hot liquid, then stir it back in and serve immediately.
4Half sour cream, half plain yogurt
Close match
Use 1 cup for every ½ cup sour cream + ½ cup plain yogurt
A good practical compromise if you have both.
What changes
The sour cream supplies the fat that keeps the texture creamy and gives some heat protection, and the yogurt loosens the consistency without any added liquid, so the mixture pours the way graddfil should.
Best for
dips and cold sauces, dressings for potato salad, stirring into warm sauces off the heat
Still not safe to boil - the yogurt fraction will separate. Add at the very end of cooking.
5Mexican crema
Different taste
Use the same amount
Straight from the bottle it is already pourable and mildly tangy, which is exactly graddfil's profile, and it needs no thinning at all.
What changes
It is usually a little sweeter and less sour, so a savory Swedish sauce made with it can taste slightly soft-edged; a squeeze of lemon fixes that.
Best for
drizzling sauces, cold sauces and dips, potato dishes
Check the label for added sugar, which some brands include and which is noticeable in a plain dill sauce.
6Buttermilk (thin uses only)
Different texture
Use the same amount in pourable dressings and dips
The honest limited option.
What changes
Cultured buttermilk has the right tang and is even thinner than graddfil, so it works in a pourable dressing or a marinade and fails completely anywhere the graddfil is supposed to give a sauce body - it will leave a mushroom sauce watery and grey.
Best for
salad dressings, cold soups, marinades, pancake batters
To use it in a sauce, whisk 1 teaspoon of cornstarch into each cup before heating so it has some thickening power of its own.

What is Graddfil?

Graddfil is Graddfil, written gräddfil in Swedish, is Swedish cultured sour cream of around 12 percent fat, thinner and milder than American sour cream and pourable rather than scoopable.

Cooking tips

The whole reason a Swedish recipe specifies graddfil rather than sour cream is fat percentage. At around 12 percent it is roughly half the fat of American sour cream, which is why it pours off a spoon and why substituting undiluted sour cream makes Swedish sauces and dips noticeably heavier than they should be.
Its job in a dish is gentle acidity plus just enough creamy body to carry dill, mustard, chives or horseradish. It is a background ingredient, so if your substitute is either too sour or too rich the whole plate tips out of balance rather than just one element.
Graddfil can take a brief simmer without breaking, but a yogurt substitute cannot. If the recipe reduces the sauce, use thinned creme fraiche instead of yogurt, or add the yogurt at the very end off the heat.
Thin with milk rather than water. Water dilutes the flavor as well as the texture and leaves the sauce tasting washed out, while milk keeps the dairy body intact.
Filmjolk is a different Swedish product and not interchangeable. It is a drinkable cultured milk of around 3 percent fat - much thinner and more sour - so a recipe calling for graddfil will end up runny if you reach for filmjolk instead.

Frequently asked questions

What is graddfil?

Graddfil, written gräddfil in Swedish, is cultured sour cream at about 12 percent fat, sold in tubs across Scandinavia and used in sauces, dips, potato dishes and on pancakes. It is milder and considerably thinner than American sour cream, closer to a thick pourable cream than a scoopable one.

Is graddfil the same as sour cream?

It is the same idea with a different fat level. American sour cream is roughly twice as fatty and much stiffer, so used straight it makes Swedish recipes dense. Whisk 2 tablespoons of milk into 3/4 cup of sour cream and you have a very good graddfil for any recipe.

Can I use Greek yogurt instead of graddfil?

In cold applications, yes, though you should thin it with a spoon of milk and expect a sharper, more acidic flavor - graddfil is mild. In anything that gets heated, Greek yogurt is a poor choice because its low fat content means it curdles as the sauce approaches a boil. Use thinned creme fraiche for hot sauces instead.

Can I leave graddfil out of a recipe?

Not usually. In a Swedish sauce or dip it is the base, providing both the liquid and the acidity, so removing it leaves you with seasoning and nothing to carry it. If you have no cultured dairy at all, whisk 1 cup of cream with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and let it stand ten minutes - the result is richer and less complex but will hold a sauce together.

Why did my graddfil sauce curdle?

Almost always heat. Real graddfil tolerates a short simmer, but any lower-fat substitute - yogurt, buttermilk, thinned light sour cream - will separate near boiling point. Add it off the heat, temper it with a spoonful of the hot liquid first, and do not let the sauce bubble again after it goes in.

Related substitutes

More dairy substitutes

Graddfil substitute

Other graddfil substitutes

2Creme fraiche thinned with milk

3Plain full-fat yogurt

4Half sour cream, half plain yogurt

5Mexican crema

6Buttermilk (thin uses only)