This vegan sour cream is the perfect finishing touch for so many recipes. Drizzle it onto sweet potato tacos or swirl it into vegan caramelized onion dip, dollop it on nachos or baked potatoes, or thin it out with herbs and other seasonings for a salad dressing. It comes together simply in the blender. Cashews are the base here because they blend into something properly silky without any straining, unlike almond or coconut versions that can turn grainy and thin.
Soaking & Blending Cashews
- I use a high speed blender to make this. If you’re working with a similar blender, you only need to soak the raw cashews for 2 hours before draining, rinsing and blending.
- For high speed blender users, you can also take a little shortcut if you forgot to soak. Simply cover the cashews with boiling water for about 10-15 minutes. Then proceed with the recipe.
- For a regular blender, I would soak as long as you can–up to overnight.
- I don’t recommend a food processor for this recipe. The resulting sour cream will still have some grit, no matter how long you run the motor.
I like the combination of acidity from both apple cider vinegar and lemon juice in this vegan replacement for sour cream. The apple cider vinegar is mildly sweet and the lemon is bright. The two in balance work really well. If you know that you’re using this sour cream for a particular purpose, you can mix up the flavors a bit too. Adding fresh dill, or cilantro and lime, or going super classic with chives.
For a vegan sour cream without cashews, I recommend substituting a similarly rich nut like raw macadamias or pine nuts. Macadamias will need overnight soaking in order to blend up nice and smooth. Pine nuts can be soaked similarly to cashews.
I recommend using this sour cream as a condiment, sauce, or as a component of a dip. As one reader put it after making a batch: “This will definitely be my go to for vegan sour cream.” That’s precisely the goal, something to keep in regular rotation!
Tangy Vegan Sour Cream
Ingredients
- ¾ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours, drained and rinsed (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup water, plus extra
Equipment
- Blender
Notes
- This vegan sour cream keeps in the fridge for up to a week.
- I recommend using this sour cream as a condiment–dolloping on baked potatoes, nachos, and other savory foods. It will NOT function like dairy-based sour cream in baking recipes.
Instructions
- In an upright, high speed blender, combine the drained cashews, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, salt, and water. Blend on high. Pause to scrape down the sides of the blender if necessary. Add more water by the tablespoon if you need a little extra to get the blade moving. Once you have a silky smooth and creamy consistency, after about 1 minute of blending, you’re good to go.
- Transfer the vegan sour cream to a sealed container and store in the fridge for up to a week.
So easy and tasty! This will definitely be my go to for vegan sour cream – no need for store bought anymore :)