How to Make Sour Cream with Only 2 Ingredients

You will be surprised how ridiculously easy it is to make sour cream at home! You only need 2 ingredients!

So many people have been asking me how to make sour cream at home.

After I posted my recipe on how to make cream cheese with only one ingredient, I received so many requests for a homemade sour cream recipe.

Before I ever post any recipe, I test it and want to make sure it is both delicious and easy. I am so thrilled to tell you that this recipe is both!

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Why you’ll love this recipe

You are probably here because you like to make food from scratch. That way you know that there are no sketchy ingredients in it.

It is also very economical to make your own!

Sometimes, we have run out of something or can’t get it at the store.

Therefore, I always find it so useful to know how to make food at home.

This sour cream with only 2 ingredients is so simple to make. In fact, you might never want to go back to storebought!

Especially since the flavor of this homemade fermented dairy is just right on and delicious!

sour cream with spoon in mason jar

What are the 2 ingredients

All you need is

  • cream: I love using the cream that I get from the top of our raw milk. You can use pasteurized cream as well. I have not tried using ultra-pasteurized cream but try to avoid that in general.
  • buttermilk: both homemade or store-bought buttermilk works well in this recipe.

Yep, it’s that simple!

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Useful tools and equipment

There isn’t a whole lot you will need to make this recipe.

  • As always, I love using 16 oz wide-mouth mason jars. They hold the perfect quantity of any homemade dairy. Since I pretty much only have wide-mouth mason jars in different sizes, I can switch out the lids very easily. Pouring ingredients into and out of them is also a snap.
  • A spoon. Any old spoon will do. It can be a stainless spoon or a wooden spoon. Your choice.

How to make the sour cream

I almost think it’s not worth an entire blog post to teach you how to make this recipe but here it goes:

  1. Start with the best quality cream you can afford. Also, the fresher the better, and raw cream gives you great results. Pour this into your mason jar or another container. Leave some room at the top.
  2. To this add about 2 tablespoons of cultured buttermilk. And yes, it has to be cultured. It cannot be the buttermilk you get from adding an acid (lemon juice or vinegar) to milk. Homemade buttermilk is all I use.
  3. Stir well to combine the two ingredients.
  4. Let this sit at room temperature for about 24 hours or until set and solid.
  5. If after 24 hours, your ‘sour cream’ is still liquid, leave it for another 12 or 24 hours. Eventually, it will set.
  6. When set, place it in the refrigerator where it will even set some more.

And that’s all!

sour cream in mason jar with spoon

Sour cream substitutions and variations

Now you might be wondering if you could use some other ingredients.

  • Cream: you can really use any cream in this recipe. If you’re buying from the store you can use heavy cream OR whipping cream. You can use raw cream or pasteurized cream. I have not played with plant-based creams but imagine that they might work as well.
  • Buttermilk: As I mentioned above, to make this sour cream you have to use cultured buttermilk. Again, it doesn’t matter whether you make your own or use store-bought. However, you can yogurt and kefir for making sour cream. In the end, I like the taste best when I use buttermilk.

How to use it

You can use this sour cream in all your favorite recipes just like you would use store-bought. Because of its nice, complex flavor, I use it much more often than regular, sweet cream in most of my recipes.

A dollop of sour cream takes recipes like these to the next level: creamy celery soup, Hungarian beef goulash, German onion pie, and quiche.

If you like, you can add herbs or spices to your sour cream and use it as a dip.

But you can also use this sour cream to make your own cream cheese. And you can make delicious cultured butter.

homemade sour cream on a spoon over a mason jar

How long does homemade sour cream last?

You can easily keep your homemade sour cream in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. On rare occasions, we have kept it longer and it was fine. As always, use your best judgment. If you detect an off-smell or mold on your sour cream it’s best to throw it out.

homemade sour cream in a glass jar with spoon
Print Recipe
5 from 2 votes

Homemade Sour Cream

You will be surprised how ridiculously easy it is to make sour cream at home! You only need 2 ingredients!
Prep Time2 minutes
fermenting time2 days
Total Time2 days 2 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 1 jar
Calories: 350kcal
Cost: $3

Ingredients

  • 15 oz cream
  • 1-2 TBSP buttermilk make sure it has live active cultures

Instructions

  • Pour the cream in a jar that can hold at least 16 oz.
  • Add the buttermilk and stir. Cover loosely.
  • Leave sitting at room temperature for 24-48 hours until it has soured and visibly thickened.
  • Use immediately or keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Notes

  • I prefer using raw milk cream but any cream will work, however I try to avoid ultra-high pasteurized cream
  • You can also use yogurt or kefir but the result may be a lot more sour

Nutrition

Calories: 350kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @ourgabledhome or tag #ourgabledhome!

Other recipes you might like

How to make Cream Cheese

How to make Buttermilk

How to make German Quark

Homemade Yogurt

Shop this post:

“The Art of Natural Cheesemaking” by David Asher

16 oz mason jars

Buttermilk starter

Let me know if you have any questions or comments!

Pin For Later:

How to Make Sour Cream with Only 2 Ingredients

16 Comments

  1. Thank you for this recipe. Some how the recipe card lists instructions for quark and not the sour cream. The post itself has great instructions. Thanks for this!

  2. Hi Anja,
    I think you posted the wrong recipe with this post. It looks like the German Quark. It sounds great. I will be trying it out.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Pam

    1. OMG, yes, you are right! I will fix that right away and thank you for bringing that to my attention ~ Anja

  3. Love this Anja, now I just need to find some raw milk over here in Hawai’i hah! Thank you for this saving for later!

  4. 5 stars
    This sour cream looks delicious and easy to make! I’m saving this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing!!!

  5. Fantastic! I always only need a little bit of sour cream and waste so much store bought. I could make a fraction of this recipe and I am sure it would taste better!

  6. What a great simple recipe that I will absolutely use all the time! We use so much sour cream at our house, it’ll be so nice to have homemade!

  7. Wow! So simple! I had no idea and love things that you can swap store bought and make your own. This will be one I’ll be trying soon! Thank you!

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