Out of Sour cream, one case
Can you substitute ricotta for sour cream?
4 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Ricotta (blended with lemon juice)
Per cup of sour cream
1 cup ricotta + 1 tbsp lemon juice
Yes, blended: puree 1 cup whole-milk ricotta with 1 tablespoon lemon juice until smooth for each cup of sour cream. Ricotta is thick enough but grainy, mild and slightly sweet, so the blending fixes the texture and the lemon supplies the tang. It works in cakes, dips and baked dishes. It does not work stirred into a hot sauce, where it stays grainy.
- Verdict —
- Tweak it
- The tweak —
- Blend in a food processor or with a stick blender for about a minute until no grain is left. If it is stiffer than sour cream, add milk 1 tbsp at a time.
- Best for —
- cakes, muffins and pancakes
- Pantry —
- Likely in your cupboard
One casethe full sour cream card
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 cup sour cream | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ricotta (blended with lemon juice)cakes, muffins and pancakes | 1 cup ricotta + 1 tbsp lemon juiceTweak it | Tweak it |
| 2 | Cottage cheese (blended)dips and cold toppings | 1 cup cottage cheese + 1 tbsp lemon juiceTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Plain Greek yogurt (full-fat)tacos, baked potatoes and other cold toppings | Same amountTweak it | Tweak it |
| 4 | Crème fraîchestroganoff, pan sauces and soups | Same amountWorks | Works |
| Not a swap | Ricotta straight from the tub | not a swapNot for this | Not for this |
Ricotta (blended with lemon juice)
milder and slightly sweet, less sour
Whole-milk ricotta has the body of sour cream and very little of its sourness. Blended smooth with lemon juice it is a mild, creamy stand-in.
- Best for
- cakes, muffins and pancakes, dips and spreads, casseroles and baked pasta
- Prep
- Blend in a food processor or with a stick blender for about a minute until no grain is left. If it is stiffer than sour cream, add milk 1 tbsp at a time.
- Suits
- vegetarian
- Contains
- dairy
- Where it fails
- Hot pan sauces and soups: ricotta does not melt smooth and reads as grainy. Part-skim ricotta blends chalkier than whole-milk.
Drain off any liquid sitting on top of the tub before measuring.
Cottage cheese (blended)
milder and saltier
Full-fat cottage cheese blended smooth with lemon juice makes a lighter, saltier stand-in with a clean tang.
- Best for
- dips and cold toppings, casseroles and baked dishes
- Prep
- Blend for a full minute until completely smooth.
- Suits
- vegetarian
- Contains
- dairy
- Where it fails
- Not for a hot sauce: with about 4% fat it splits readily. Unblended it is lumpy.
Plain Greek yogurt (full-fat)
a sharper, brighter tang
Sharper and smoother than ricotta with no blending. The better swap wherever the sour taste is the point.
- Best for
- tacos, baked potatoes and other cold toppings, dips that should taste sour, baking
- Prep
- Stir it smooth before measuring.
- Suits
- vegetarian
- Contains
- dairy
- Where it fails
- It curdles if it boils. Stir it into a hot dish off the heat.
Crème fraîche
milder and richer
The swap for anything hot, where ricotta turns grainy. It can boil without curdling.
- Best for
- stroganoff, pan sauces and soups, toppings
- Suits
- vegetarian
- Contains
- dairy
- Where it fails
- Less sour than sour cream; add ½ tsp lemon juice per ½ cup where the tang matters.
Ricotta straight from the tub
sweet and milky, not sour
Unblended ricotta is a mass of fine curds. Spoon for spoon it does not behave like sour cream.
- Best for
- nothing that should be smooth; blend it first
- Suits
- vegetarian
- Contains
- dairy
- Where it fails
- As a topping it is grainy and bland, in a sauce it stays in specks, and in a soda-leavened batter with no lemon juice the cake rises less.
Tips for substituting sour cream
5 tips- Blend first, measure after: 1 cup whole-milk ricotta and 1 tbsp lemon juice, about 1 minute in a food processor.
- Half-cup amount: ½ cup ricotta blended with 1 ½ tsp lemon juice replaces ½ cup sour cream.
- Baking: the cake is moist and slightly denser. Keep the lemon juice if the recipe uses baking soda, because ricotta is much less acidic than sour cream.
- Dips: add a pinch of salt along with the lemon. Ricotta is less salty and less sharp than sour cream, so an onion or herb dip tastes flat without it.
- Hot dishes: use ricotta in baked casseroles, where a little grain does not show. In a stovetop sauce, use crème fraîche.
Questions
4 questionsCan I substitute ricotta for sour cream in cake?
Yes. Blend 1 cup whole-milk ricotta with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice until smooth and use it in place of 1 cup of sour cream. The cake is moist, a little denser and less tangy. If the batter looks stiffer than the recipe describes, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk.
Do I have to blend the ricotta?
For a dip, a topping or a smooth batter, yes. Unblended ricotta leaves visible curds. In lasagna-style casseroles and baked pasta it can go in as it is, with the lemon juice stirred through.
Can I substitute sour cream for ricotta?
Only in some dishes. Sour cream is looser, fattier and sour, so it works in pancake and cake batters and in dips, cup for cup. It is a poor swap in lasagna, stuffed shells or cannoli filling, where ricotta holds its shape and sour cream runs. The ricotta substitute page covers that direction.
Does ricotta work in stroganoff or other hot sauces?
Not well. Ricotta does not melt, so the sauce looks grainy even if it tastes fine. Blending it first helps a little. Crème fraîche, or cream cheese thinned with milk, gives a smooth sauce.