Making the Vegan Sour Cream Substitute of my Dreams
Illustration by Lauren Cunningham
When I was growing up, if you were lactose-intolerant or dairy free you were often SOL or had to tolerate half-assed substitutes. When our elementary school had pizza parties, I remember my best friend scraping the cheese off his pizza and giving it to me to finish (being the human garbage disposal that I am). He grew to hate chocolate because of how often milk was snuck into it, and how dairy was ubiquitous in items that contained chocolate. I always felt terrible for him, hoping I would always be able to go through life enjoying my mac and cheese and candy without a care for breaking down those bovine enzymes.
Then I hit my mid-twenties. At first I was in denial (“I’m sure this heartburn and stomach ache have nothing to do with the boatload of ice cream I just ate!”) and later depression (“Is everything related to my body going to fall apart now that I’m past 25?”) and finally acceptance. I am about as privileged as you can get with lactose-intolerance. Only certain items bother me: ice cream, most butters, and fresh milk itself. Dairy-free substitutes are in a Renaissance and I was lucky enough to enter this stage of my life in the midst of that. Vegan ice cream has skyrocketed in popularity, and I actually far prefer the vegan offerings of companies like Van Leeuwen to their dairy counterparts. And don’t worry, I’m not going to go on an evangelical rant about the wondrous offerings of Oat Milk in today's society. I’m sure you’ve heard more than enough of those. But I could. I won’t, but I could.
Sour cream has been a bit more challenging, being a staple in many different cuisines and baked goods, but not anywhere near as much of a necessity as the earlier dairy products mentioned. But to me, sour cream is a staple of my repertoire and I need a good vegan option often.
For those who want to save some time and effort, I was recently given some Lactaid brand Sour Cream by a friend and it was excellent. Seems to be sold out at a lot of places online due to it’s recent addition to the lineup and popularity, but you may have luck at your local grocer.
But for those who want to make something really special—I have a terrific recipe for you. Cashew crema is nothing new, but it is always missing the tang and umami I look for with sour cream. The key to making the perfect sour cream substitute is lacto-fermentation (don’t confuse lactic acid for lactose! Worlds apart. No lactose at all here). The magic pill I was looking for came in the rare form of an actual pill in this situation: Probiotic pills. These capsules are made by brands like Renew Life and can be found at GNC, Whole Foods, or online, and I find that anywhere from 30 billion - 50 billion cultures works best. These capsules can be a bit pricey, but I do think they are worth it if you are dairy-free or do a lot of fermenting. The capsules last over two years in the fridge, so your purchase will go a long way. That being said, I understand this can be a barrier for some people, so my recipe contains a version that omits this ingredient for a substitute that is fine for dishes where the crema isn’t directly in the spotlight, like nachos.
But for baked potatoes, tacos, or rice dishes, I highly recommend giving my technique a try. After trying many different brands and recipes, this is the ultimate version.
GET THE RECIPE: Vegan Cashew Crema
A large batch of my Ultimate Cashew Crema!