Sour cream substitutes

Sour cream substitutes — 5 options, ranked, with the exact amount

Also called soured cream, cultured sour cream, light sour cream, smetana, crema

Use thisBest of 5 options

Use Plain Greek yogurt (full-fat)

Same amount as the sour cream

Sour cream is thick, tangy and about 18-20% fat, and it is usually doing two jobs: adding acid and adding fat. Full-fat plain Greek yogurt is the swap for almost every use, spoon for spoon. The one place it is risky is a hot sauce, where yogurt's lower fat makes it curdle — there, use crème fraîche instead.

Verdict —: Tweak it
The tweak —: Stir it smooth before measuring; if it is going into a set filling like cheesecake, drain it in a sieve for an hour first.
Best for —: cold toppings and dips
Pantry —: Likely in your cupboard

Checked 22 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps

But first: what’s the sour cream doing?

Pick your case

Is it going in cold, or is it going to be heated?

Nothing is going to split, so choose on taste and thickness. Full-fat plain Greek yogurt is the closest and the easiest to find. Crème fraîche is milder and richer. Blended cottage cheese is the high-protein route and needs a blender to get smooth.
Notes on plain Greek yogurt (full-fat), crème fraîche or cottage cheese (blended) · Full guide: Tacos
Same amount
Fat is what stops the proteins clumping, so this is where yogurt gets you into trouble. Crème fraîche is the safe choice at about 30% fat and it can even boil. If you must use yogurt, take the pan off the heat, temper it with a ladle of the hot liquid first, and never let it boil.
Notes on crème fraîche or plain Greek yogurt (full-fat) · Full guide: Beef stroganoff
Same amount
The acid matters here because it may be firing the baking soda. Any cultured dairy of similar thickness works: Greek yogurt, crème fraîche, or buttermilk with a correction for how thin it is. Mayonnaise also works and nobody can taste it, because it is fat and acid and that is exactly the job.
Notes on plain Greek yogurt (full-fat), crème fraîche or mayonnaise · Full guide: Cake or Baking
Same amount
Match the thickness closely. Full-fat Greek yogurt works, but strain it in a sieve lined with a coffee filter for an hour first or the extra whey will leave a wetter, cracked filling. Do not use buttermilk or thin yogurt here at all.
Full guide: Cheesecake

Ask whether heat is involved. Cold — a dip, a topping, a dressing — and you can choose on taste alone, with full-fat Greek yogurt the easiest match. Hot — a sauce, a stroganoff, a soup — and fat is what keeps it from curdling, so use crème fraîche at about 30% fat, or take the pan off the heat and temper full-fat yogurt into it. In baking, keep the acid: sour cream may be what is firing the baking soda, so swap it for something cultured, not for plain cream.

Job by job4 jobs

Sour cream is cultured cream: bacteria have turned some of its lactose into lactic acid, which both sours it and thickens it to a scoopable paste at around pH 4.5. In baking that acid reacts with baking soda and tenderises the crumb, while its 18-20% fat keeps a cake moist. On a taco or a baked potato the same two things read simply as cool, rich and tangy.

Fat & richnessprimary

At 18-20% fat it stays smooth in a hot pan where yogurt splits, and it coats the tongue so a dip tastes rich rather than sharp.

Moisture & hydrationsecondary

It is about 70% water, held in a thick gel, so it adds liquid to a batter without thinning it the way milk would.

Acidprimary

At about pH 4.5 it reacts with baking soda to make gas, and it slows gluten development, which is why sour cream cakes come out unusually soft.

Aroma & flavor identitysecondary

The culture produces diacetyl, the buttery-smelling compound, which is the specific dairy tang you notice on a blini or in a stroganoff.

Every option, one card

Ranked · per 1 cup sour cream

Sour Cream substitutes compared
#	Substitute	Instead of 1 cup sour cream	Verdict
1	Plain Greek yogurt (full-fat)cold toppings and dips	1 cupTweak it	Tweak it
2	Crème fraîchehot sauces that would split with yogurt	1 cupWorks	Works
3	Cottage cheese (blended)dips and cold toppings, when you want a lighter option	1 cup full-fat cottage cheese blended with 1 tablespoon lemon juiceTweak it	Tweak it
4	Cream cheese + milkfrostings and cheesecake, where thickness matters most	¾ cup cream cheese beaten with ¼ cup milk and 1 teaspoon lemon juiceTweak it	Tweak it
5	Mayonnaisebaked cakes and cornbread, where you will not taste it	1 cupYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
Not a swap	Buttermilk	not a swap — buttermilk is a pourable liquid and sour cream is a paste; do not swap them by volume in either directionNot for this	Not for this

What changesWhat changes, option by option5 options

Plain Greek yogurt (full-fat)

brighter and sharper, with a yogurt tang rather than a buttery one

The default answer for nearly every use, and the only real caution is heat.

Covers: Moisture & hydration; Acid; Aroma & flavor identity

What these mean

Amount: 1 cup full-fat (about 5% or 10%) plain Greek yogurt for 1 cup sour cream
Then: stir it smooth before measuring; if it is going into a set filling like cheesecake, drain it in a sieve for an hour first
Best for: cold toppings and dips, cakes and muffins, when you want the same thickness with no mixing
Texture: nearly identical when cold; a little more elastic and less silky
Look: on a taco it sits up just as thickly and looks slightly whiter; in a hot sauce it can go grainy and speckled if it boils
Prep: Stir it smooth before measuring; if it is going into a set filling like cheesecake, drain it in a sieve for an hour first.
Pantry: Likely in your cupboard
Suits: vegetarian
Contains: dairy

Buy full-fat, not 0%. Non-fat Greek yogurt is sharper, and with almost no fat it splits the moment it meets a hot pan.
Stir it into a hot dish off the heat, and temper it first with a spoonful of the hot liquid so it warms gradually.
It is slightly tangier than sour cream. In a dip, a pinch of salt and ½ teaspoon of olive oil per half cup rounds it out.
For cheesecake or a set filling, drain it for an hour in a sieve lined with a coffee filter.

Regular unstrained yogurt is a different proposition: it is much thinner, so use 1 cup drained in a sieve for an hour, or accept a looser result and reduce another liquid in the recipe by 2 tablespoons.

Do not boil it. Above a bare simmer, even full-fat Greek yogurt will separate.

Crème fraîche

rounder and less sour, more nutty and buttery

Cultured cream like sour cream but richer, around 30% fat, which is why it is the one option that can be boiled.

Covers: Fat & richness; Moisture & hydration; Acid; Aroma & flavor identity

What these mean

Amount: 1 cup crème fraîche for 1 cup sour cream
Best for: hot sauces that would split with yogurt, stroganoff, pan sauces and soups, when nothing may curdle
Texture: silkier and richer, closer to a thick pouring cream than a paste
Look: a sauce made with it stays smooth and glossy where a yogurt version would look grainy
Prep: Use 1 cup crème fraîche.
Suits: vegetarian
Contains: dairy

Nothing to add. It is stable in heat and can go into a boiling sauce.
It is milder than sour cream, so if the dish depends on the tang add ½ teaspoon of lemon juice per half cup.
You can make it: stir 2 tablespoons of buttermilk into 1 cup of heavy cream, cover loosely and leave at warm room temperature for 12-24 hours until thick, then refrigerate.

This is the only cultured dairy on the page that takes a hard boil. The reason is simply fat: about 30% against sour cream's 18-20% and Greek yogurt's 5-10%.

Cottage cheese (blended)

milder and saltier, less tangy unless you add the lemon

Works genuinely well once blended smooth, and unblended it does not work at all.

Covers: Moisture & hydration; Acid
Misses: Aroma & flavor identity — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 1 cup full-fat cottage cheese blended with 1 tablespoon lemon juice for 1 cup sour cream
Then: blend for a full minute in a blender or with a stick blender until completely smooth; stopping early leaves a curdy texture that is obvious in a dip
Best for: dips and cold toppings, when you want a lighter option, baked dishes and casseroles, when it is what is in the fridge
Texture: smooth once blended, slightly less coating on the tongue because there is less fat
Look: matte white rather than glossy, and it will not hold a swirl as cleanly on a bowl of chilli
Prep: Blend for a full minute in a blender or with a stick blender until completely smooth; stopping early leaves a curdy texture that is obvious in a dip.
Pantry: Likely in your cupboard
Suits: vegetarian
Contains: dairy

Blend it properly. This is the whole technique, and a food processor or stick blender does it in about a minute.
Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice per cup — cottage cheese is only faintly tangy and needs help to read as sour cream.
It is saltier than sour cream, so taste before you add salt to the dish.
Use full-fat (4%) rather than non-fat, which blends to a thinner, chalkier paste.

The lower fat is the point for some people and the drawback for others. It is genuinely more protein and less fat per spoon; it is also less rich, and in a dip you notice.

Not in a hot sauce — with about 4% fat it splits even more readily than yogurt.

Cream cheese + milk

much milder and distinctly cheesy rather than sour

Rich and thick, but much less acidic than sour cream, so the lemon juice is not optional if the recipe uses baking soda.

Covers: Fat & richness; Moisture & hydration; Acid
Misses: Aroma & flavor identity — not covered

What these mean

Amount: ¾ cup cream cheese beaten with ¼ cup milk and 1 teaspoon lemon juice for 1 cup sour cream
Then: beat the cream cheese soft on its own first, then add the milk a little at a time; adding it all at once leaves lumps that will not smooth out
Best for: frostings and cheesecake, where thickness matters most, dips that want to be very rich, casseroles and baked dishes
Texture: denser and stickier, and it firms up hard when cold
Look: a dip looks thicker and glossier, and a cake made with it browns a little more deeply
Prep: Beat the cream cheese soft on its own first, then add the milk a little at a time; adding it all at once leaves lumps that will not smooth out.
Pantry: Likely in your cupboard
Suits: vegetarian
Contains: dairy

Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice per cup. Cream cheese sits near pH 4.6-4.8 but is much less sharp on the tongue, and in a soda-leavened cake you want the acid there.
Bring the cream cheese to room temperature before beating, or you will fight lumps.
It sets much firmer in the fridge than sour cream, so a dip made with it will need loosening with a splash of milk after chilling.

This is the best option if the recipe needs the mixture to hold a shape, and the worst if it needs the recipe to taste sour.

Wrong where the sour tang is the flavour of the dish, like a bowl of borscht or a plain baked potato.

Mayonnaise

eggy and vinegary rather than dairy-tangy

Odd on paper and reliable in practice, because mayonnaise is also fat plus acid — it is just built on oil and egg rather than cream.

Covers: Fat & richness; Moisture & hydration; Acid
Misses: Aroma & flavor identity — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 1 cup mayonnaise for 1 cup sour cream
Best for: baked cakes and cornbread, where you will not taste it, creamy salad dressings and coleslaw, when there is no dairy in the fridge at all
Taste: eggy and vinegary rather than dairy-tangy; undetectable in a chocolate cake, obvious on a baked potato
Texture: very close in thickness, slightly slicker and oilier
Look: a cake crumb comes out unusually moist and a shade more yellow
Prep: Use 1 cup mayonnaise.
Pantry: Likely in your cupboard
Suits: dairy-free, gluten-free
Contains: egg

Use it in baked and cooked dishes rather than as a cold topping — spooned onto a taco it tastes exactly like mayonnaise.
It is more acidic than sour cream and carries no dairy sweetness, so in a cake add 1 teaspoon of sugar per cup to balance it.
Half mayonnaise and half plain yogurt is better than either alone in a dip or a dressing.

It is worth knowing that this works, because it is often the only fat-plus-acid thing left in an otherwise empty fridge. Contains egg.

Cooked and baked uses only. Do not use it where the sour cream would have been eaten cold and plain.

Buttermilk

the tang is roughly right, and the richness is entirely gone

Listed because both are cultured dairy with a similar tang, which makes them look interchangeable. They are not: one is 1-2% fat and pours, the other is 18-20% fat and holds a peak.

Covers: Moisture & hydration; Acid; Aroma & flavor identity
Misses: Fat & richness — not covered

What these mean

Amount: Buttermilk is a pourable liquid and sour cream is a paste; do not swap them by volume in either directionper 1 cup sour cream
Best for: nothing that needs sour cream's body
Texture: thin and watery where the dish wanted a paste
Look: it runs off a baked potato and pools on the plate, and a batter made with it spreads flat instead of doming
Pantry: Likely in your cupboard
Contains: dairy

If buttermilk is all you have for a batter, use ¾ cup buttermilk in place of 1 cup sour cream and cut another liquid in the recipe by 2-3 tablespoons; expect a looser batter and a less tender crumb.
For a dip or a topping, thicken it instead: strain 1 cup of plain yogurt with 2 tablespoons of buttermilk stirred through it, or make crème fraîche with 1 cup heavy cream plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk left out overnight.
Never use it in a frosting, a cheesecake or anything that has to hold a shape.

The reverse is a useful trick though: thin sour cream with milk and you have a good buttermilk substitute. Our buttermilk page has that ratio.

There is no volume swap that works, because the difference is body, not flavour.

Don’t swap it here

4 cases

Stirring non-fat or low-fat yogurt into a simmering sauce — stroganoff, curry, soup.Use crème fraîche, which is about 30% fat and can even boil. If you only have yogurt, use full-fat, take the pan off the heat, stir a ladle of the hot liquid into the yogurt first to warm it, then stir that back in and do not let it return to a boil.
Cheesecake or any set filling, using thin unstrained yogurt or buttermilk.Use full-fat Greek yogurt strained for an hour in a sieve lined with a coffee filter, or crème fraîche, or the cream cheese and milk mix.
A cold topping — a baked potato, tacos, blini — using mayonnaise or unblended cottage cheese.Use full-fat Greek yogurt with a pinch of salt, or crème fraîche. If cottage cheese is the plan, blend it smooth with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice per cup first.
SafetyAny tested recipe for canning, pickling, fermenting or curing.Follow the tested recipe exactly with the acid it specifies. See the safety note below.

Safety

2 notes

Canning
Do not substitute sour cream, yogurt or any other cultured dairy for the acid in a tested recipe for canning, pickling, fermenting or curing. Measured acidity is what makes those recipes safe, and dairy also adds fat and protein that home-canning recipes are not designed around. Follow the tested recipe exactly.
Source — National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab)
Allergen
Sour cream, yogurt, crème fraîche, cottage cheese and cream cheese are all dairy. Mayonnaise is dairy-free but contains egg. For a swap that is free of both, see vegan sour cream.

If it went wrong

3 fixes

The sauce went grainy and looks curdled after you stirred in yogurt.Not enough fat to protect the proteins from the heat, so they clumped together.Take it off the heat and blitz it smooth with a stick blender — it will be slightly thinner but good. Adding 1 teaspoon of cornstarch slurried in cold water and warming gently also helps hold it together. Next time, temper the yogurt with a ladle of hot liquid before it goes in, or use crème fraîche.
The dip is runny and will not sit on a chip.The yogurt was unstrained, or the cottage cheese released water after blending.Strain it in a sieve lined with a coffee filter for 30-60 minutes and it will thicken considerably. A tablespoon of cream cheese beaten in also stiffens it immediately.
The cheesecake cracked and wept liquid at the edge of the slice.Too much water in the filling, usually from unstrained yogurt, plus a bake that went long chasing a set that was never going to arrive.You cannot un-crack it — chill it fully and cover the top with a thin layer of sour cream or fruit, which is what bakeries do. Next time strain the yogurt for an hour first and pull the cheesecake when the outer two inches are set and the centre still wobbles.

Measure it

6 measures

Sour cream fatabout 18-20% fatUS regulation sets a minimum of 18% milkfat for full-fat sour cream. Light sour cream is around 9-12% and reduced-fat versions split more readily in heat.
Sour cream acidityabout pH 4.5Acidic enough to react fully with baking soda in a batter.
1 cup sour creamabout 230 g = 8 ozA standard US tub is 8 oz (1 cup) or 16 oz (2 cups).
Fat, comparedcottage cheese ~4% - Greek yogurt 0-10% - sour cream 18-20% - crème fraîche ~30% - cream cheese ~33%This one list explains which swaps survive heat and which split: the higher the fat, the safer the pan.
Make crème fraîche1 cup heavy cream + 2 tbsp buttermilk, 12-24 hours at warm room temperatureCover loosely, leave until it thickens to a soft set, then chill. It will keep about a week in the fridge.
Straining yogurt1 hour in a sieve lined with a coffee filterRoughly 1 ¼ cups of Greek yogurt strains down to 1 cup at sour cream thickness.

Questions

6 questions

Can I use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream?

Yes, spoon for spoon, and it is the best everyday swap. Buy full-fat plain Greek yogurt rather than 0%: sour cream is 18-20% fat and that fat is what stops it curdling in a hot pan. It tastes a little sharper, which a pinch of salt and a few drops of olive oil will round out in a dip. For cheesecake or a set filling, strain it for an hour in a sieve lined with a coffee filter first.

What is the difference between sour cream and Greek yogurt?

Both are cultured dairy at a similar acidity, but sour cream is cultured cream at 18-20% fat while Greek yogurt is cultured milk that has been strained, usually 0-10% fat. That fat difference is the only thing that matters in practice: it makes sour cream richer on the tongue and much more stable in heat. Cold, the two are close enough that most people will not notice.

Can I use buttermilk instead of sour cream?

Not by volume. Buttermilk is 1-2% fat and pours like milk; sour cream is 18-20% fat and holds its shape. In a batter you can get away with ¾ cup buttermilk for 1 cup sour cream if you also cut another liquid by 2-3 tablespoons, and the crumb will be less tender. In a dip, a frosting or on a baked potato it simply runs off. Going the other way works well: sour cream thinned with milk makes a good buttermilk substitute.

What can I use in stroganoff so it does not curdle?

Crème fraîche, which is about 30% fat and can be stirred into a boiling sauce without splitting. If you are using sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt instead, take the pan off the heat, stir a ladle of the hot sauce into the dairy to warm it through, then stir that back into the pan and serve without boiling it again. Never use 0% yogurt in a hot sauce.

Is there a good dairy-free substitute for sour cream?

Cashew cream is the closest: soak 1 cup of raw cashews in hot water for 30 minutes, drain, and blend with ¼ cup water, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and ½ teaspoon salt until completely smooth. It is thick, tangy and stable in gentle heat. Store-bought vegan sour creams are usually coconut- or soy-based; check whether they are sweetened before using them in a savoury dish. Mayonnaise is dairy-free but contains egg.

Can I use sour cream that has separated or gone watery on top?

A little clear whey pooling on the surface is normal and stirs back in. What matters is smell and appearance: if it smells sharply off, tastes bitter, or has any mould, throw the whole tub out rather than scooping around it. Sour cream is acidic, which slows spoilage, but it does not prevent it.

Tips for substituting sour cream

8 tips

Full-fat plain Greek yogurt is the everyday answer, spoon for spoon. Use full-fat, not 0% — the fat is what stops it splitting.
In anything hot, take the pan off the heat first, stir a ladle of the hot liquid into the yogurt to warm it, then stir that mixture back in.
Crème fraîche is the only cultured dairy here that can actually boil, because it is about 30% fat.
Make crème fraîche yourself: 2 tablespoons buttermilk stirred into 1 cup heavy cream, left loosely covered at warm room temperature for 12-24 hours.
Blend cottage cheese for a full minute with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice per cup, or it stays curdy and tastes flat.
For cheesecake, strain the yogurt for an hour in a sieve lined with a coffee filter — unstrained yogurt is what makes fillings crack and weep.
Mayonnaise genuinely works in cakes and cornbread and genuinely does not work as a cold topping.
Buttermilk is not a swap: it is 1-2% fat and pours. Sour cream thinned with milk is a good buttermilk substitute, but not the other way round.

Sources — US FDA, Code of Federal Regulations 21 CFR 131.160 (sour cream) (opens in a new tab), National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab)

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