Sour Cream Substitutes

Use it at a straight 1:1 ratio: 1 cup of plain full-fat Greek yogurt replaces 1 cup of sour cream. The flavor is tangy in the same way, and the thick texture matches closely enough that most people can't tell the difference in dips, dressings, and dolloped toppings. It also bakes well, adding moisture and protein to muffins, coffee cake, and quick breads.

What it's good for: nearly everything sour cream does, including dips, dressings, baking, and cold toppings. What it's not good for: high-heat sauces, where even full-fat yogurt can curdle if boiled. In hot dishes, stir it in off the heat at the end. Stick to plain, unflavored yogurt; vanilla or sweetened yogurt will wreck a savory dish.

Whisk 3/4 cup buttermilk with 1/4 cup melted butter (cooled slightly) to replace 1 cup of sour cream. The combination mimics sour cream's fat and acidity: the buttermilk supplies the tang and the butter supplies the richness. It comes out thinner than sour cream, closer to a pourable sauce.

What it's good for: baking, where the acid reacts with leaveners to make tender cakes and biscuits, and marinades. What it's not good for: anything where thickness matters. It is too thin for dips, won't hold a dollop on a taco, and will water down a dressing. If buttermilk is all you have, it still beats skipping the sour cream in a batter.

Beat 3/4 cup of softened cream cheese with 3 tablespoons of milk until completely smooth to make about 1 cup. Full-fat block cream cheese works best; the tub-style spreadable kind is softer but has stabilizers that make it gummy in heat. Add the milk a spoonful at a time so you don't overshoot and end up with a sauce.

What it's good for: dips, frostings, cheesecakes, and dolloping. Its mild tang and rich body are the closest match for cold applications, and it melts smoothly into warm dips. What it's not good for: low-fat cooking, obviously, and it can make baked goods denser than sour cream would, so use it in baking only when you don't mind a richer crumb.

Use plain kefir 1:1 in place of sour cream. Kefir is a drinkable fermented milk with a similar tang to sour cream but a much thinner body, roughly the consistency of a thin yogurt. Choose plain, unsweetened kefir; the flavored kinds are sweetened and will taste wrong in savory food.

What it's good for: dressings, cold sauces, smoothies, and anywhere you want tang without thickness. What it's not good for: heat of any kind. Kefir separates and curdles faster than almost any other dairy when it gets hot, so keep it to cold dishes. It also won't hold its shape as a topping, so it's a poor dollop for chili or baked potatoes.

Stir 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into 1 cup of mayonnaise to make about 1 cup of substitute. The lemon adds the tang that plain mayo lacks, and the result has the rich, creamy body that works well in cold applications. Use a neutral-flavored mayo; olive-oil or strongly flavored varieties will show through.

What it's good for: cold dips, potato salad, dressings, and dolloping on tacos or burgers. What it's not good for: baking, where its high oil content and egg base behave very differently from cultured dairy, and anyone avoiding eggs. It's also richer and less tangy than the real thing, so taste and add a little more lemon if the dish can take it.

Blend 1 cup of cottage cheese until completely smooth, then stir in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to replace 1 cup of sour cream. The blender is non-negotiable: unblended cottage cheese stays lumpy and no one will mistake it for sour cream. A food processor works too, but a high-speed blender gives the silkiest result. Add the lemon juice after blending and pulse once to combine.

What it's good for: dips, dressings, and baking, with the bonus of much higher protein than sour cream. It also handles gentle heat reasonably well. What it's not good for: anyone who dislikes the mild, milky flavor of cottage cheese, which the lemon only partly masks. Small-curd cottage cheese blends smoother than large-curd.

Match the swap to the dish. For dips and spreads, Greek yogurt or the cream cheese mixture are the closest in thickness and tang. For baking, Greek yogurt or the buttermilk-and-butter combination; the acid in both reacts with baking soda the way sour cream does. For dolloping on tacos, chili, or baked potatoes, Greek yogurt or the mayonnaise mixture hold their shape best.

For dressings and cold sauces, kefir or Greek yogurt thinned with a spoonful of milk work well. If you need to stir it into a hot soup or sauce, cream cheese is the safest choice because its high fat content resists curdling; otherwise add any substitute off the heat at the very end. No dairy at all? Blend 1 cup of soaked cashews with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1/4 cup of water until silky, or buy a plain vegan sour cream, which is designed as a 1:1 swap.