How To Make Sour Cream

Overhead shot of a wooden bowl with sour cream in it that's topped with chives and is surrounded by potato chips.

4 from 10 votes

If you've run out of sour cream and don't want to run to the store for more—you can make it at home with just two ingredients: heavy cream and vinegar!

Prep Time5

Resting Time12

Total Time12 5

Course: condiment

Total Cost: $1.42 recipe

Servings: cup

Calories: 812kcal

Author: Monti Carlo

Ingredients

1 cup heavy cream $1.40
1 Tbsp vinegar $0.02

Instructions

Add the cream to a mason jar or other airtight container.
Add the vinegar to the cream. (Or whatever acid you decide to work with.)
Close the container and shake it for a minute or two, until the cream thickens.
Use the cream right away or leave the jar on your counter overnight to ferment and thicken.*

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Video

Notes

*Leave it out on your counter overnight if you want tangier, thicker sour cream. I usually shake it and pop it in the fridge, where it will thicken in a few hours.

Nutrition

How To Make Sour Cream https://metabolic-life.news/how-to-make-sour-cream/%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-69548":{"type":"food","name":"How To Make Sour Cream","slug":"wprm-how-to-make-sour-cream","image_url":"https:\/\/www.budgetbytes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Sour-Cream-chips-above.jpg","rating":{"count":10,"total":40,"average":4,"type":{"comment":10,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"uid":0,"amount":"1","unit":"cup","name":"heavy cream","notes":"$1.40","unit_id":11945,"id":1344,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"cup","timestamp":1774467354000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":1,"amount":"1","unit":"Tbsp","name":"vinegar","notes":"$0.02","unit_id":11943,"id":11119,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"Tbsp","timestamp":1774467354000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"Tbsp","unitParsed":"Tbsp"}}}],"originalServings":"1","originalServingsParsed":1,"currentServings":"1","currentServingsParsed":1,"currentServingsFormatted":"1","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"unitSystems":[1],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"collection":{"type":"recipe","recipeId":69548,"name":"How To Make Sour Cream","image":"https:\/\/www.budgetbytes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Sour-Cream-chips-above-380x380.jpg","servings":1,"servingsUnit":"cup","parent_id":"69530","parent_url":"https:\/\/www.budgetbytes.com\/how-to-make-sour-cream\/","cachedAt":1774467354,"modifiedAt":1741615061}}}