Homemade Sour Cream

5 from 1 vote

Extra creamy, extra tangy!

Prep Time5

Resting Time1 4

Total Time1 4 5

Course: Condiments

Cuisine: American

Servings: cup

Calories: 51kcal

1 cup cream (not UHT) 12-18% milk fat (See Note 1)
2 Tsps lemon juice can substitute white vinegar or Kefir (buttermilk not recommended)

Add the acid to the cream and stir well. Cover with cheesecloth or a tea towel (anything that breathes) and allow mixture to sit at room temperature for 24 hours. (You can put it in an oven with the light on if you want the fastest reaction). Mixture should be almost as thick as commercial sour cream.
Drain off any whey that has separated. (See Note 2). Stir and refrigerate covered.
If you want thicker sour cream, line a sieve with cheesecloth and set it over a bowl in the fridge. Transfer the sour cream into the sieve and allow it to drain for a few hours. The longer it strains the thicker it will become.
Use it when it is the thickness you want.
Sour Cream will keep refrigerated and well covered in the fridge for a week.

Note 1:

For regular sour cream:

You can mix 35% cream with 10% cream ¼ cup 35% cream with ¾ cup 10% cream to get approximately 16% Milkfat.
You can mix ¼ cup 18% cream with ¾ cup 10% cream to get approximately 12% milkfat.

Note 2: If you are a baker you may want to save the whey runoff to use in your baking.