Instead of using store-bought vegan sour cream each time a recipe calls for sour cream, I want to share with you how to make the creamy, tangy and super delicious sour cream at home the vegan way. I make mine in batch and store in the refrigerator to use over the week. It can stay fresh in the fridge for up to a week.
Other than in recipes (cakes, cookies, and biscuits), the vegan sour cream is an excellent topping for nachos, tacos, baked potatoes with onions, pasta dishes, and fruit dressings. It makes the perfect dip for your morning vegan bread, and you can add this cream to your favorite salad dressing.
This is how I make mine.
The Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashew nuts, pre-soaked overnight (for a silky smooth effect)
- ½ cup water
- Two tablespoons lime juice
- Two teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- A pinch of kosher salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon spicy brown mustard
Method
Rinse your presoaked cashew nuts in water and drain well.
In a blender, add these cashew nuts, lime juice, kosher salt, water, mustard, and apple cider vinegar. Blend for 20 minutes or so until you get a smooth, creamy batter. Depending on the type of blender, sometimes the nuts tend to stick to the sides of the mixer. If that happens, use a spatula to scrape them off occasionally as you continue blending. You may also combine in bits if you find it difficult getting a smooth batter from one round.
Taste the mixture and add more lime juice and kosher salt if necessary as per your desired taste.
That’s it!
Use the vegan sour cream immediately. Otherwise, keep the cream chilled in the refrigerator for future use.
If you have any leftover mustard seeds or cashews, use them as a part of your garnish to add a crunchy texture to the vegan sour cream.
Nutritional Value
This very easy to make vegan sour cream is raw and gluten-free. The two ingredients: cashew nuts and mustard seeds are very nutritious.
Nuts are rich in heart-healthy fats, protein, and fiber. Contrary to public opinion, they don’t make you fat. In fact, according to research, Cashew nuts help to lower cholesterol. This keeps off blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases. Cashew nuts are also rich in minerals, particularly zinc and magnesium, and vitamin E.
Mustard seeds are great tasting herbs with several benefits. The black mustard plant seeds have medicinal uses. We grind the seeds into powder and mix them with water to form a paste that is directly applied on swollen parts of the skin to reduce inflammation and edema. The powder is also used to improve appetite and treat pneumonia.
Additionally, black mustard seeds can be processed to extract oil used to cure a common cold, arthritis, and painful joints and muscles (rheumatism). However, harvesting the brown mustard seed is easier than the black one, so most processed mustard condiments contain the brown type including Dijon mustard.
The freshly squeezed lime juice brings out the tanginess of the cream while the apple cider vinegar adds more tanginess and also acts as a preservative for our vegan sour cream.