Why would anyone want a Dairy-Free Sour Cream?
Stroganoff, dips, sauces, I never knew how important sour cream was until I couldn’t have it!
Then it became a need not a luxury?
How can we possibly make sour cream without dairy, gluten, grain, soy, corn, cashew, almond or vinegar?
With Unicorn Farts, of course! Okay, maybe not.
But we can make a👩🏻🍳 Vegan Sour Cream👩🏻🍳 without: diary✨ gluten✨ soy, ✨corn, ✨almond, or ✨cashew, using simple ingredients and techniques.
Like many of my recipes, this recipe for dairy-free sour cream came as a happy accident!
“We don’t make mistakes, we have happy accidents”-Bob Ross
I was trying to make cream cheese…and I got sour cream instead! I have been loving it ever since. We’ve used our sour cream for pasta sauces, ranch dip, tacos. And in my recipe for Ranch Pasta!
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Welcome to Break A Recipe!
My name is Nina, I’m a food nerd who cooks and bakes without gluten, grain, dairy, egg, soy, corn, sesame, almond and cashew.
When people ask what I cook with, I say Unicorn Farts! After that, the thought of using non-traditional ingredients to prepare classic foods is a lot more believable!
If this is your first time visiting, thank you for stopping by! If you are a returning reader, newsletter subscriber, recipe tester, or Facebook group member, thank you for all your help! You keep me on my toes. You inspire me to Break New Recipes each week.
Life is better with foodie friends, and I’m thankful to call you mine!
It delights me to know that your families enjoy the recipes I create.
Everyone deserves to eat safely! Regardless of allergies or intollerneces everyone deserves to enjoy a delicious piece of cake on their birthday! (I have an old recipe for a sour cream coffee cake that I’m going to break!)
That’s kind of my thing, using alternative ingredients to create recipes which look and taste like the original version of your favorite comfort foods. As the name of my blog implies, I break things in the kitchen. I would love it if you would come behind the scenes with me every week and let me tell you more about it in my newsletter. You can subscribe on the right hand side on a desktop, after the recipe in the blog post, or after the blogpost on a mobile device. I’m a food nerd and I love having foodie friends!
Now Let’s Get Back To Our Sour Cream!
You don’t need to worry about knowing special techniques, fermentation, probiotics, or special equipment. This recipe is super easy to make! If you can boil water, you can make this recipe!
Let’s Talk Ingredients: We’re going to use a can of full fat coconut milk, some lemon juice, some xanthan gum (don’t worry I have a brand free of dairy, wheat, soy, and corn!) and some chickpea protein.
Chickpea protein? Before you say, “No!”—-hear me out—the magic of dairy can be replicated by adding protein to coconut milk and emulsifying the two together using xanthan gum. By doing this we add protein to the coconut milk, and stop the coconut cream from separating when it cools. Simple, but amazing!
This technique is what I used to created the whipped coconut milk in my berry parfaits. (The whipped coconut milk is lip smacking good).
How do we do it? We’ll use a whisk or sifter to make sure there are no clumps in the chickpea protein powder. We’ll mix the protein powder with coconut milk, boil, add xanthan gum and salt, boil, add lemon juice, and chill!
So simple…okay there’s a little more to it. But don’t worry, I’ll walk you through it and give you photos. Why make a recipe, when you can Break A Recipe?
In the berry parfait recipe, I used sunflower protein…and it helped me discover sunflower protein works well in cooking, but does not agree with me. I learned I have better luck with chickpea protein. If you cannot tolerate chickpea protein, sunflower protein will work in this recipe. I also tried using hemp protein–but it turns the cream mushroom brown…not the look we associate with sour cream. If pea protein is safe for you, you might also try that.
I promise I will break it all down in the recipe. But before we can Break The Recipe, let’s talk ingredients and equipment!
Are you ready to Break A Recipe? Let’s Go Shopping!
Ingredients
Equipment
- 2 quart Sauce Pan
- Dry Measuuring Cups
- Adjustable Measuring Spoons
- Silicone Scraper
- Flour Sifter
- Whisk
- Silicone container or mason jar with leak proof lid
- Juicer
These ingredients and equipment are what I use in my own kitchen. As an amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you purchase anything through an affiliate link, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for helping to “keep the lights on,” here at Break A Recipe.
Enough With the Words, Let’s Break A Recipe!
Dairy-Free Sour Cream (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Soy& Nightshade Free)
Equipment
- Sauce Pan
- Flour Sifter
- whisk
- Dry Measuring Cups
- Juicer
- Adjustable measuring spoons
- Silicone Container with storage lid or mason jar with leakproof lid.
Ingredients
- ¼ Cup Chickpea Protein
- 1 13.5 ounce can Full Fat Coconut Milk
- ¼ teaspoon Xanthan Gum
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Measure 1/4 cup chickpea protein. Using a flour sifter, sift protein into a sauce pan. If you do not have a flour sifter, you can use a stainless steel whisk to break apart any clumps.
- In a large sauce pan, whisk chickpea protein and coconut milk together on lowest heat.
- When protein is dissolved and any solid fat from the coconut milk has liquified, sprinkle xanthan gum and salt over the top of the coconut milk, whisk in.
- Continue whisking over medium heat as mixture comes to a boil. When milk comes to a boil it will thicken and resemble cream.
- Continue whisking until cream comes to a rolling boil, a boil that will not stop when stirred. Boil 1 minute.
- Turn off heat and whisk in lemon juice.
- As sour cream cools, clumps may form. Whisk occasionally to break up clumps. When cream cools to room temperature, transfer to glass or silicone container with lid. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
Notes
Let’s See It Happen!
Let’s Take a Closer Look At Our Ingredients
Coconut milk —
I like using the coconut milk in the carton when a recipe calls for “milk”. My favorite brand is So Delicious. Coconut is my duct tape, I can make almost anything with it. Any time a recipe calls for “milk” this is what I use. When a recipe calls for whole milk, I’ll use the full fat coconut milk in the can, and when a recipe calls for cream, I’ll go with canned coconut cream.
Xanthan Gum—
The closest I’ll ever get to baking with unicorn farts, xanthan gum makes the magic happen! It thickens, it emulsifies, it foams. In baking, it creates structure and allows the CO2 pockets created by the yeast, baking soda, or cream of tartar to remain after the baked good is removed from the oven.
In this recipe, the xanthan gum emulsifies the coconut milk, stopping it from separating when it chills!
The most frequently asked question about xanthan gum is—“Does it contain: dairy, soy, wheat, or corn?” These are the most common ingredients uses in creating xanthan gum. So people are right to ask. But I have found Authentic Foods Xanthan Gum, a brand that is free of all these allergens! It’s made from cabbage. I haven’t had anyone tell me they dislike it. It’s high quality and it gets the job done!
Chickpea Protein—
We add chickpea protein to this recipe to replicate the structure of dairy because while coconut milk is high in fat, it doesn’t have protein. We add nutrition and improve the texture of our sour cream with this ingredient.
Lemon Juice–
each time I turn around, I find a new use for lemon juice! I’ve used in marinades, salad dressings, and now to “sour” our cream. I love it so much because I can use it safely where a recipe calls for vinegar (most vinegar is made from grain, and then my whole body becomes one big hive, so I avoid it).
Using lemon juice sours our vegan sour cream without fermenting it—saving us some serious time! Best part—the combination of chickpea, coconut, and lemon has a beautiful flavor balance. You don’t taste any of the individual ingredients, you just taste a rich thick sour cream!!!
Salt—
As much as we want the yeast to grow, we want it to remain in control, salt controls the growth of yeast! Without it our yeast would grow too quickly and our bread might collapse during baking! Salt is also an essential nutrient we need in moderation. Take the salt shaker off the table, and salt your recipes in the kitchen.
Let’s Talk Technique
The key to any recipe is reading it carefully and understanding each step. Do you do this? I do and I don’t!
Let’s be honest, if I did this all the time, I wouldn’t have half the recipes I enjoy! I’m great at not following directions and breaking recipes —but the results are delicious!
Whisking-–
In this recipe, the most important technique is whisking, using a whisk to break apart any clumps of chickpea flour. Why? Because the clumps will not dissolve in the coconut milk.
Breaking apart any clumps of chickpea protein powder will allow your chickpea protein powder to mix into the coconut milk and become almost indistinguishable from cream! (If you sift the protein before you add it, you’ll be extra happy.)
If you have clumps, your cream will still taste delicious and make a marvelous dip base, but if you want a uniform texture that makes you forget you ever fell in love with dairy, I highly recommend taking the time to break apart any clumps of chickpea flour.
Heat the coconut milk on low heat until the chickpea protein is evenly mixed into the coconut milk.
The whisking keeps the ingredients from sticking and burning as they cook.
Sprinkling the xanthan gum and salt over the top of the coconut milk avoids clumping.
Hard Boil–
Why bring the cream to a hard boil? This makes sure the xanthan gum reaches maximum thickness. (Once you remove it from the heat, it will thicken a bit over night).
Chilling-–
During the time it takes for the recipe to chill the protein will continue to “bulk” up. You can use the cream immediately, but you’ll be happier with the texture if you allow it to chill for at least 4 hours. A thick creamy dip is quite the treasure at a party. I know I didn’t miss it until I couldn’t have it.
Can you believe that just a few delicious ingredients and some simple techniques create a delicious Vegan & Dairy-Free Sour Cream?
A few simple ingredients and techniques are all we need to to make a delicious Vegan & Dairy Free Sour Cream! Think of all the foods you can create with this wonderful recipe. What will you make first? Dips? Stroganoff? Tacos? Ranch Dressing?
Leave a comment telling me what you made.
Before You Go…
Thank you for reading, for trying this recipe, and for taking a chance on a recipe made with unique ingredients!
You’ll find it’s easy to make, and your body will feel much better after eating it. You will find your gluten-and grain loving friends going for seconds!
If you’re cooking this for someone with allergies, thank you again for supporting them. You’re an amazing friend. Pin this recipe so you can share it with those who need it, and find it later!
Please tell me how your recipe turned out when you make it. Click here to reach me directly. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest using the links below. I really enjoy your feedback and comments. I can’t wait to hear how your recipe turned out!
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Totally incredible! I have Celiac disease, Lymphocytic Colitis and Diverticulosis. I’m not sure I can tolerate chickpeas, not sure if the powder would affect me, where can I find sunflower seed protein? I love what you shared about xanthum gum, I’m going to look for that brand!
Good coconut milk and cream have been my challenge! I’ll check your link. Thank you again!
Hi Theresa! Thank you for checking out the recipe. I have good luck finding single ingredient sunflower seed protein on amazon. I try to put links to ingredients in the shopping list, so you can get the ingredients you need to make the recipe…but I’m not as good at it as I’d like to be. You can use the link here to go right to it.. I also get my xanthan gum on Amazon. It’s been a godsend for ingredients I can’t get at the local grocery store. Thanks again for checking out the recipe.
Wishing you safe and delicious foods!
❤️ Nina