Greek Yogurt Substitute For Sour Cream

How to susbstitute greek yogurt for sour cream?

If you wonder how to make greek yogurt taste like sour cream or if you are trying to make a simple, easy substitute for sour cream using greek yogurt, read this post!

In fact, greek yogurt is one of the best substitutes for sour cream in baking & cooking.

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Greek Yogurt As Substitute For Sour Cream In Baking, Dips, Sauces & More

Greek yogurt tops the list of sour cream substitutes, if you want to use sour cream in any recipes and looking for a substitute.

This is because, the texture of greek yogurt is perfect to work well as a natural substitute for sour cream, as they are both very creamy and very similar in texture and taste (almost).

Even thick plain yogurt is a good substitute for sour cream, just like cream cheese, mayonnaise etc which works well as substitutes for sour cream.

Greek Yogurt As A Substitute For Sour Cream In Baking

In case of baking, you may easily substitute sour cream with plain greek yogurt since it works very well.

For example, you can simply substitute sour cream with greek yogurt (or even thick regular yogurt) for baking banana bread, cakes etc if you do not have sour cream at home but want to use it in a recipe for banana bread that calls for it.

You can just substitute sour cream with same amount of greek yogurt in many recipes, especially for baking, where the mild taste difference doesn’t make a difference.

For example, for recipes like banana bread, you may just replace the sour cream with greek yogurt unless it is a specific recipe where substitutes doesn’t work in terms of flavor.

In general, you can substitute 1 cup of sour cream with 1 cup of greek yogurt.

However, when it comes to taste, each one of these substitutes have their own unique taste and so you may find that the resulting baked goods have a slightly altered taste when sour cream is susbstituted.

In case of greek yogurt, this difference in taste is minimal since the taste & texture of greek yogurt is quite similar and the resulting baked goods won’t taste much different usually.

Greek Yogurt As A Substitute For Sour Cream Sauces, Dips, Pasta, Salad Dressings & More

If you want to substitute sour cream with greek yogurt in something like sauces, creamy salad dressings or a dip recipe, the flavor difference can be quite obvious.

It is a good idea to make the greek yogurt taste more like sour cream, before using it as a substitute if you are going to make a salad dressing, dip or a sauce or if you are going to use it in dishes like pasta, soups etc.

For example, I use sour cream in this pumpkin mac and cheese recipe, which is an important ingredient in it, and if you just use greek yogurt instead of sour cream, it may not have the expected taste & flavor.

So how do you make greek yogurt taste like sour cream, if you want to use greek yogurt as a substitute in a dip or sauce recipe or pasta or similar recipes where taste is easily recognized?

Greek yogurt is creamy in texture just like sour cream and has the sour taste as well.

Sour cream is more creamier and richer in taste than greek yogurt, as it’s basically made with cream.

So, in some recipes the taste difference matter and so it might be important to make the greek yogurt taste like sour cream before using as a substitute.

How To Make Greek Yogurt Taste Like Sour Cream

To make greek yogurt taste like sour cream, the best thing you can do is to add heavy cream to balance the creamy texture and use lemon juice or lime juice to balance the sour taste as you prefer.

In a bowl, add one cup of greek yogurt with ¼ cup of heavy cream and mix well to combine.

Then add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice & stir in well to combine with the prepared yogurt cream mixture to make it taste more like sour cream.

You may also adjust the amount of lemon juice or heavy cream based on your taste preferences.

If you are not sure, add just half the amounts first and then add more, only if you want.

In fact, greek yogurt mixed with lemon juice (or lime juice) can work as a good substitute for sour cream even without using heavy cream if you want to keep it low fat.

You can serve this as a sauce or dip for nachos, vegetables, fries or topping for baked potatoes, salad dressings etc.

If you are not serving this right away, make sure to keep it refrigerated until ready to use.

You can use this greek yogurt substitute for sour cream in this creamy cucumber salad or similar salads & salad dressings or you may also use this greek yogurt substitute for sour cream in this pumpkin mac and cheese recipe or other similar pasta dishes.

Notes: If you are using greek yogurt to substitute sour cream in cooking like hot soups or anything that involves hot liquids, keep in mind that any yogurt can curdle and so it will be a good idea to just mix in the yogurt substitute once the dish is made and it’s cooled to room temperature or slightly warm so the mixture won’t curdle.

If it’s added early on, you run the risk of yogurt curdling unless you whisk the yogurt very well to combine with the dish so it has less chance to curdle while cooking.

How to store sour cream substitute made with greek yogurt?

If you just replace sour cream with plain greek yogurt (without any additional ingredients), you can easily store it in the refrigerator just like you store yogurt, sour cream etc where it will keep fresh.

Just make sure to check the best before use date in the yogurt box to see how long the yogurt that you want to use will stay fresh in the refrigerator.

If you follow this recipe which uses heavy cream, it is best to use it immediately or keep it refrigerated if using later.

Since we use heavy cream, you also need to check the expiry date on the heavy cream package that you used, to make a decision on how long to store the substitute in the refrigerator.

If the heavy cream that you used is fresh & good quality, it can stay fresh for longer.

I usually prefer storing this for about 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator, if the heavy cream package is opened recently and the best before use date is not close.

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Below you can get the recipe to use greek yogurt as a substitute for sour cream in detail.