Vegan Sour Cream

Vegan sour cream is the plant-based counterpart to sour cream, crème fraîche or sour cream , which are firm and fermented milk products made from cream with varying fat contents.

Use in the kitchen - vegan sour cream:

How do you use vegan sour cream and can you heat vegan sour cream? Vegan sour cream is versatile in the kitchen and can be heated. This sour cream substitute (vegan) is suitable as a sauce substitute and for enriching and thickening soups and sauces. The plant-based cream alternative offers a good basis for dips, salad dressings or pasta sauces and can be used to spread on tarte flambée, lasagne or pizza bianca (pizza without tomato sauce). Other uses for vegan sour cream: Vegan sour cream is also a popular ingredient for baking and desserts, e.g. in quiche, Striezel (pastries made from yeast dough = yeast cake or yeast dough), curd cake, muffins, cakes or tiramisu.

What is similar to vegan sour cream? A quick alternative to sour cream (vegan) is a drained vegan yogurt (e.g. soy yogurt or coconut yogurt ).

Vegan sour cream recipe for autumnal onion cake:

First, knead a dough from 300 g wholemeal flour , 20 g yeast , 1 tsp salt, 0.5 tsp sugar , 125-150 ml lukewarm water and 2 tbsp rapeseed oil . After letting it rest for 15 minutes, roll out the dough to fit a rectangular baking tray, form a rim and let it rise for a further 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix 300 g or 1.5 cups of vegan sour cream with 200 g finely diced smoked tofu and the rings of a medium-sized (red) onion and season the cream with herb salt, pepper, nutmeg and caraway . Cover the dough evenly with the sour cream, tofu and onion mixture and let it rest for a further 15 minutes. Bake the onion cake at 225 °C for about 30-40 minutes, then sprinkle it with chives and enjoy it best hot.

Vegan recipe for a raw food snack with herb sour cream dip:

Cut any vegetable (e.g. cucumber , kohlrabi , carrots , different colored peppers ) into bite-sized finger food and arrange in a muffin tin. Stir 0.5-1 teaspoon of finely ground psyllium husks into 1-2 cups (approx. 200-400 g) of vegan sour cream to thicken it. Season the cream with dried quark spices ( sweet clover , dill , chives , chervil , garlic , lovage , basil ), chopped chives and finely chopped parsley and season to taste with a little herb salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour the finished dip into three small glasses and place between the vegetables in the muffin tin.

Vegan recipes with vegan sour cream can be found under the note: " Recipes that have the most of this ingredient ".

Shopping - where to buy vegan sour cream?

In Europe, several companies offer fermented vegan sour cream in organic quality, mostly based on soy . Vegan sour cream is available in organic supermarkets such as Denns or Alnatura , in vegan supermarkets or vegan shops, in well-stocked health food stores or organic shops, and online.

Vegan sour cream is currently available in packaging units of 200-225 g (in cups).

Supermarket chains such as Coop , Migros , Denner , Volg , Spar , Aldi , Lidl , Rewe , Edeka , Hofer etc. generally do not stock sour cream or vegan sour cream (vegan) in their product range.

Homemade vegan sour cream substitute:

You can make your own vegan sour cream as a cream substitute. It is made using the same principle as vegan yoghurt. Instead of "plant milk", you use thick "plant cream" (plant cream) with a fat content of at least 10% for vegan sour cream.

The basis for vegan sour cream can be a high-fat, thick nut drink made from any type of nut, as well as coconut cream , soy cream , or oat cream . Nuts soaked overnight, nut butter , drained silken tofu, or natural tofu are also suitable. Flavoring additives such as salt ,pepper , garlic powder , and mustard are optional. Adding additional vegetable oil to naturally lower-fat starting products (such as nut drinks or tofu) creates a creamier result. Adding capsules or powder with probiotics starts the fermentation process.

Depending on the ingredients you choose, you can process them with a high-performance blender to form a creamy, homogenous mass, which you then fill into jars. This is then left to rest, slightly covered, for 12-24 hours at around 40 °C. The vegan sour cream should have risen a little during this time and have a creamy consistency and a slightly sour, fermented taste. To stop the fermentation, put the vegan sour cream in the fridge after it has matured. After a few hours, it should be firm.

A less complicated variant is non-fermented sour cream as a sour cream substitute. Instead of acid-producing bacteria, you add a little lemon juice and apple cider vinegar to the plant-based cream. Acetic acid and citric acid provide the typical taste.

Storage:

Vegan sour cream can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week. Freezing is one way to preserve the cream substitute for a longer period of time. It is a good idea to freeze small portions. An ice cube tray is ideal for this.

Ingredients - nutritional value - calories for sour cream substitute:

Since vegan sour cream can be made from any ingredients, the ingredients vary. The ingredients shown here can also vary greatly depending on the manufacturer and are only intended as a guideline for a commercial example product. For purchased products, the most important nutritional values and the calorific value are printed on the packaging. The healthiest composition is one made in-house from natural ingredients.

Is sour cream sour? Due to the fermentation process with probiotic lactic acid bacteria, vegan sour cream contains lactic acid, which is responsible for the typical sour taste. This is why lemon juice or vinegar is usually added to non-fermented vegan sour cream.

The complete ingredients of vegan sour cream, the coverage of the daily requirement and comparison values with other ingredients can be found in our nutrient tables. In the article Nutrients explained you will get a detailed insight into the topic.

Health aspects - effects: Vegan sour cream

How healthy is sour cream? In general, the consumption of fermented and non-heat-treated milk substitutes is recommended. By adding probiotic lactic acid bacteria to vegan raw materials, lactic acid fermented, vegan foods are created. Studies indicate that probiotics can shorten diarrhea, reduce cancer-promoting enzymes and have a positive effect on neurodermatitis. Probiotics are used to try to positively change the balance of the intestinal flora by supplying living germs. ^1,4

Since the turn of the century, yoghurt has been used to treat and prevent infectious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. ¹

Science has long known about the harmful effects of milk and dairy products on the human body. For more information, you can read our book review "Is milk better not" by Maria Rollinger or watch the video Milk healthy or not? A doctor reveals all .

Dangers - Intolerances - Side effects:

The basis of commercially produced vegan sour cream is usually soybeans or tofu. If you are intolerant to soy, you should avoid the legume, which is one of the 14 main allergens. People who are allergic to pollen can develop a cross-allergy to soy. ³

General information about sour cream substitute (vegan):

Classic sour cream is cream mixed with lactic acid bacteria. In addition to a subtle sour taste, it has a creamy to firm consistency.

Are sour cream, sour cream and crème fraîche the same thing? They are different products made from soured (vegetable) cream, which differ mainly in their fat content. The following variants are available in stores:

• Sour cream, sour cream with at least 10% fat.
• Sour cream with at least 18-20% fat.
• Crème légère is a lower-fat version of crème fraîche with a fat content of approx. 20%.
• Schmand is a fattier sour cream with a fat content of around 20-29%. The addition of binding agents is permitted.
• Crème fraîche contains at least 30% fat. Up to 15% sucrose can be added. After fermentation, no further heat treatment takes place. ²

There is currently only a limited supply of vegan sour cream products on the market. If this changes, the overview above from Wikipedia can give you an idea of the different names and fat contents.

It should be noted that names for milk and milk products are often protected, while plant-based substitutes are not legally defined terms in most countries.

Alternative names for vegan sour cream:

Sour cream (vegan) is also called cream substitute or sour cream substitute (vegan) or sour cream substitute (vegan), plant-based cream, plant-based cream, sour creme, crème légère, vegan sour cream, crème fraîche or vegan sour cream. The English name is vegan sour cream (sour cream, sour cream) or vegan or dairy-free heavy cream (vegan sour cream).

Literature - Sources for sour cream (vegan):