easy vegan sour cream (nut free, sugar free, gluten free)
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Today it’s easier than ever to eat a plant-based diet. There are so many products on the market and new ways of approaching food (think aquafaba) that it’s possible to eat your way through life without really missing the animal-based version.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healthy plant-based diet.
Take sour cream, for instance. A quick glance at the common store-bought brands and you’ll find ingredients like: maltodextrin, mono- and diglycerides, oils, gums and added sugar (whyyyyyy???). It’s this last one that has me turning to my own kitchen for a solution because even the “better” vegan sour cream brands contain added sugars – something that I avoid as much as possible ever since I detoxed from it several years ago. So while these store-bought products might taste closer to the real thing, they aren’t something I want to put in my body.
Which is why I decided to try a homemade version instead.
Instead of using tofu or cashews which many vegan sour cream recipes include as the main ingredients, I choose sunflower seeds since they are less allergenic and is budget friendly. As an added bonus, sunflower seeds are high in selenium which is an antioxidant and beneficial for thyroid health. I was excited by how well they worked for this easy vegan sour cream!
While it doesn’t taste like the “real” sour cream (I’d be lying if I claimed that), this easy vegan sour cream does add that same tangy creaminess to a meal without the side effects that come with eating dairy or sketchy ingredients from a lab. The key to a smooth sour cream is soaking the sunflower seeds overnight and using a high speed blender. I find it also is better when eaten within a week.
As a side note: Isn’t that jar the cutest? It’s a Weck Tulip Jar and I found it while thrifting for food props at my favorite thrift store in our area. Since I’m chalking that up as a rare find, you can find a set of them here. Also, if you want to see what I’m up to on more of a daily basis, I love sharing to Instagram stories (you can find me on Instagram here). And I’m also on Pinterest where I love pinning vegan recipes that catch my eye along with other healthy living and blogging-related topics. Click here to connect with me on Pinterest.
Ready to make this easy vegan sour cream? Here’s the recipe:
An easy to prepare vegan sour cream that is nut-, added sugar- and gluten free and gives you a creamy tanginess to your favorite plant-based dishes.
- 1/2 cup unsalted shelled sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup unsweetened organic soy milk*
- 1/8 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp, scant salt
- 1/8 tsp apple cider vinegar (unfiltered is best)
Add the sunflower seeds to a glass bowl and cover completely with water (about 1.5-2 cups. Cover the bowl and let them soak overnight at room temperature.
Drain and rinse and add to a high speed blender along with the remaining ingredients. Blend on high for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is completely smooth and creamy, scrapping down the sides a few times.
Store in an air-tight jar in the fridge for up to one week.
RECIPE NOTES: *If you prefer not to use or are allergic to soy milk, you can replace it with an unsweetened nondairy milk of your choice but you might need to adjust the other ingredients since other nondairy milks tend to be naturally sweeter than soy.
2 Comments
Becky
Could I use pumpkin seeds? I have a sensitivity to sunflower seeds.
wbpadmin
You certainly could try it, but I’m not sure if the results are what you’d be looking for both in color and taste. Instead, cashews would be my recommended choice, possibly almonds. However, you’d also need to adjust the quantities of the other ingredients since each nut/seed is unique in its flavor profile. I would love to hear what you end up trying!