Kaymak substitute

Best substitute

Clotted cream, salted

Use the same amount plus a good pinch of fine salt per 100g and a squeeze of lemon as the kaymak you are replacing

Best for spreading on bread

Close match

Clotted cream with a good pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon is the closest thing and swaps 1:1: the texture is already right and the salt is what turns it from a scone topping into a savoury spread. Mascarpone thinned with a little cream and salted is the easiest supermarket version. Whatever you use, salt it, because unsalted cream on cevapi tastes like a dessert has landed on your dinner.

Other kaymak substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Mascarpone thinned with cream and salted
Close match
3 parts mascarpone to 1 part heavy cream, salted, used 1:1
Beat together until smooth and spreadable.
What changes
It spreads exactly right and melts generously over hot grilled meat without splitting. Slightly sweeter and cleaner-tasting than an aged kajmak, so it reads as young kajmak rather than mature.
Best for
spreading on bread, cevapi and grilled meat, stuffed peppers, sauces
The most reliable supermarket build and the most stable in heat. Salt properly: mascarpone unsalted is unmistakably a dessert ingredient.
3Creme fraiche, drained and salted
Different texture
Use the same amount plus salt
The best of these on tang, since it has the gentle sourness that young kajmak has and the others lack.
What changes
It is looser, though, so it slumps into hot bread rather than sitting proudly on it. Draining it in a sieve for an hour thickens it noticeably.
Best for
spreading on bread, dolloping onto grilled vegetables, cold plates, stirring into sauces off the heat
Line a sieve with kitchen paper or a coffee filter, spoon it in and refrigerate for an hour or two; the whey drains and the body roughly doubles. Add off the heat in hot dishes.
4Cream cheese with heavy cream and sour cream
Different taste
2 parts cream cheese to 1 part heavy cream to 1 part sour cream, salted, used 1:1
Beat smooth.
What changes
Very close on body, and the most robust of these options on a hot grill plate, where it holds together rather than running to liquid. It tastes slightly more manufactured and less milky than real kajmak, a little tangier and a little firmer.
Best for
melting over hot grilled meat, spreading, baked dishes, sauces
Best choice if the cream has to sit on something very hot for a while. Beat the cream cheese soft before adding the liquids or it stays lumpy.
5Strained full-fat Greek yogurt with butter or cream
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount strained overnight, with 1 tbsp soft butter or cream beaten in per 200g
The cheapest route by a distance.
What changes
Tangier and much leaner than kajmak, so on bread it reads as a thick yogurt dip rather than a cream, pleasant but noticeably lighter. The butter or cream restores some of the richness.
Best for
spreading on bread, cold plates, dips, serving alongside grilled meat
Strain it overnight in a lined sieve or it will be far too loose. Less good melted, because yogurt can split under real heat, so keep it on the cold side of the plate.
6Whipped butter with a spoonful of sour cream
Taste and texture differ
3 parts soft butter to 1 part sour cream, whipped, used 1:1
The honest least-bad option.
What changes
On hot meat it delivers the right richness, but it is butter: it melts to clear oil rather than staying creamy and clinging, and none of the fermented dairy flavour is there. On bread it is simply salted butter.
Best for
emergencies, melting over hot grilled meat, grilled vegetables
Use only when nothing else is available. Whipping it with a little sour cream at least gives some tang and a lighter texture than a straight pat of butter.

What is Kaymak?

Kaymak is Kaymak, spelled kajmak across the Balkans, is a thick, lightly salted, faintly tangy clotted cream skimmed from slowly simmered milk and then matured, and it is spread on bread and melted over grilled meat rather than served with anything sweet.

Cooking tips

Salt it. This is the single thing people get wrong, because every western equivalent of kajmak is sold as a sweet-course product. Unsalted clotted cream or mascarpone on cevapi tastes wrong in a way that is hard to place until you realise the dish is missing its seasoning.
Young kajmak is mild, pale and spreadable; mature kajmak is much saltier and sharper, almost a soft cheese. Match the age to the use: young for bread, burek and fresh plates, mature stirred into hot dishes where you want it to season as well as enrich.
It is a finishing ingredient, not a cooking one. Spoon it onto hot pljeskavica, cevapi or grilled peppers off the heat and let it slump and melt from the residual warmth. Boiling any of these substitutes splits them into oil and curds.
To thicken a loose substitute, line a sieve with a coffee filter or a few sheets of kitchen paper, spoon the cream in and refrigerate for an hour or two. The whey drains out, the body roughly doubles, and a slumping creme fraiche becomes something that will sit on hot bread.
Do not reach for whipped cream or aerosol cream. Almost all of it is sweetened, and the air collapses as soon as it touches anything warm, leaving a thin sweet puddle instead of a rich savoury spread.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best substitute for kajmak?

Clotted cream with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon, used one for one, since clotted cream is made by essentially the same method and already has the right dense spreadable texture. If clotted cream is hard to find, beat three parts mascarpone with one part heavy cream and salt it well, which is the most reliable supermarket version.

Is kaymak the same as clotted cream?

They are made the same way, by skimming the thickened layer off slowly heated milk, but they are used completely differently. English clotted cream is a sweet-course ingredient served with scones and jam. Kajmak is salted, often matured until it is faintly cheesy, and served with grilled meat and bread. That is why salting clotted cream is the whole substitution.

Can I use sour cream instead of kajmak?

It is thinner and considerably tangier, so on bread it slides off and on hot meat it can split. It works better as one component than on its own: beat it with cream cheese and a little heavy cream, or fold a spoonful into mascarpone. If sour cream is genuinely all you have, strain it overnight in a lined sieve first so it thickens.

Can I leave the kajmak out?

You can serve cevapi or pljeskavica without it, but you lose the rich fat that balances the salt and char of the grilled meat, and the plate eats drier and harsher as a result. If you cannot make any of the substitutes, salted whipped butter is a rough stand-in, and it is a real improvement over serving nothing.

Where can I buy kaymak?

Balkan, Turkish and Middle Eastern grocers sometimes stock it, labelled kajmak or kaymak, occasionally near the feta and the yogurt. Genuine matured Serbian or Bosnian kajmak is effectively unavailable outside the region because it is a fresh product with a short life, which is why salted clotted cream or salted mascarpone has become the standard home answer.

Related substitutes

More dairy substitutes

Kaymak substitute

Other kaymak substitutes

2Mascarpone thinned with cream and salted

3Creme fraiche, drained and salted

4Cream cheese with heavy cream and sour cream

5Strained full-fat Greek yogurt with butter or cream

6Whipped butter with a spoonful of sour cream