Sour cream substitute
Use the same amount of plain yogurt, cup for cup, in baking, dips and toppings. For hot sauces, plain yogurt can curdle, so use heavy cream instead.
Out of sour cream mid-recipe?
Tell Sous Chef what you are missing. It swaps the ingredient and rewrites the steps that use it, and keeps your original recipe.
What are you making?
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Plain yogurt
Great fit1 cup plain yogurt
For this dish: It works cup for cup in cakes and muffins, with a slightly less tender crumb.
How: Use it cup for cup. Whole milk yogurt gives the best result. Bake a few minutes longer if needed and check for doneness.
What changes: Baked goods come out a little less tender and lighter, with a tangier, less buttery flavor.
Contains milk.
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Whole milk Greek yogurt + butter + water
Great fit¾ cup plus 1 tbsp whole milk Greek yogurt, 3 tbsp butter, melted and 2 tsp water
For this dish: It matches the fat of sour cream, which keeps the crumb tender.
How: Whisk the melted butter and water into the yogurt. This replaces 1 cup of sour cream in a recipe.
What changes: The butter matches the fat of sour cream, so baked goods stay closer to the original. Brands vary.
Contains milk.
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Plain Greek yogurt
Works1 cup plain Greek yogurt
For this dish: It works, but with less fat the crumb is lighter and less tender.
How: Use it cup for cup. Full-fat gives the closest result.
What changes: Thicker and tangier. In one baker's cupcake test, Greek yogurt gave a lighter crumb and less even doming than plain yogurt.
Contains milk.
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Heavy cream
Avoid1 cup heavy cream
For this dish: It lacks the acid that sour cream adds, so cakes may not be as tender.
How: Use it in hot or acidic dishes such as stroganoff, stirred in near the end of cooking.
What changes: It is rich and smooth but has no tang.
Contains milk.
What sour cream does in a recipe
Sour cream brings fat, acid and thickness. In baking the fat keeps cakes and muffins tender, and the acid softens gluten. In dips it adds tang and body. In hot dishes, its higher fat helps it stay smooth when warmed.
Swap it in your recipe with Sous Chef
A substitution is more than one ingredient line. The steps that use it change too. Sous Chef edits both on a working copy of your recipe, so the original is always one tap away.
You ask Sous Chef
"I don't have sour cream."
Sous Chef edits the recipe
1 cup plain yogurt
Use it cup for cup. Whole milk yogurt gives the best result. Bake a few minutes longer if needed and check for doneness.
When not to substitute
If a recipe is a hot sauce that relies on sour cream's body, do not drop yogurt into the simmering pan. Cool the sauce slightly and temper the yogurt first, or use heavy cream.
Common questions
Can I use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream?
Yes, cup for cup. It is thicker and tangier. Full-fat is closest. Baked goods may be a little lighter.
Why did my yogurt curdle in the sauce?
Yogurt is acidic and low in fat, so heat makes it separate. Temper it with a little warm sauce in a separate bowl and stir it in off the heat.
Related
- Buttermilk substitutes
- Heavy cream substitutes
- Ricotta substitutes
- Mascarpone substitutes
- Sour cream cups to grams
- All ingredient substitutes
- How to substitute an ingredient
Sources
- Greek yogurt as a substitute for sour cream (Brod & Taylor)
- Can you use yogurt instead of sour cream? (Cupcake Project)
- Ingredient substitutions (Colorado State University Extension)
Cook with what you have.
Import any recipe into Sous Chef and ask for the swap. It rewrites the ingredient list and the steps, and never loses the original. Free on iPhone.