Vegan Sunflower Seed Sour Cream

Cheaper than cashews, sunflower seeds blend up to make a thick, rich sour cream. Perfect allergy-friendly, nut-free, soy-free, dairy-free vegan sour cream or crema option instead of regular sour cream for topping nachos, tacos, chili, or potatoes.

The lower cost and allergy-friendliness of raw sunflower seeds make this a more affordable and accessible alternative in place of cashew sour cream. It gives that tangy, sour cream taste in a nut-free, dairy-free sauce.

🧄 Ingredient notes

A few notes on the main ingredients for this allergy-friendly, nut-free vegan sour cream recipe. If you're familiar with my cashew sour cream recipe, you'll notice this recipe has a few more ingredients, due to the stronger flavor of the sunflower seeds.

• Raw sunflower seed kernels - use raw, not roasted sunflower seeds. Because they have a strong flavor, they need a little more "help" to mask that raw sunflower seed flavor. The added spices and extra acid in the apple cider vinegar and lemon juice all help with this. I buy raw, unroasted, unsalted sunflower seed kernels (the husk has been removed) from Trader Joe's or HEB, a full-service grocery store here in Houston, Texas.
• Lemon juice and apple cider vinegar - adds acidity and brightness
• Cane sugar - unlike cashews, which have a natural sweetness to them, sunflower seed kernels are bitter, so they need some sweetener to balance that out
• Cayenne powder - you're not using enough to make this cream spicy, it's being used as a flavor enhancer
• Ground turmeric - used to counteract any natural grey color the sunflower seeds cause in the final product

📋 Substitutions and variations

Here are some suitable substitutes for the ingredients:

• Lemon juice - bottled lemon juice is fine (doesn't have to be fresh). You can use lime juice or sour orange instead, but it will slightly change the flavor profile of the sauce.
• Apple cider vinegar - substitute with distilled vinegar or white wine vinegar. Alternatively, use more lemon juice instead.
• Garlic clove - substitute with ¼ teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
• Cane sugar - maple syrup, coconut sugar, raw sugar or agave nectar
• Sea salt - if you choose to substitute with kosher salt, you may need to increase it, as kosher salt is about half as salty as sea salt.

Want to switch up the flavors? Try one of these tasty variations:

• Garlic Aioli: add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 extra garlic cloves when blending. Great with paella or as a mayo substitute!
• Chipotle Sour Cream: add 2 chipotles in adobo sauce when blending. Delicious on tacos, nachos, tostadas, burritos, or anything TexMex. Or, for more of a sauce consistency, try my Vegan Chipotle Sauce with Sunflower Seeds recipe.
• Taco Dip: mix in 1 package of taco seasoning to prepared vegan sour cream.
• Make it cheesy: add 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast (nooch) to turn it into a thick, creamy, cheesy dip
• Sunflower Salad Dressing: Use this as the base for a creamy, oil-free salad dressing. Add fresh or dried herbs, like parsley and dill for a ranch dressing. Or, dried Italian seasoning and some extra vinegar and water for a creamy Italian dressing.
• Cream Sauce Base: Skip the added seasonings and just blend up the raw sunflower seed kernels with water for a great base that you can add to savory recipes in place of cream.

🔪 Instructions

Step-by-step instructions for how to make sunflower seed sour cream in a powerful blender, like Blendtec or Vitamix.

🌻 How to soak sunflower seeds

Soaking sunflower seeds softens them, so that they blend easier and faster. But, in some cases you can skip the extra step.

Do I need to soak my sunflower seed kernels first?

You can skip soaking if:

• You are using a high-speed powerful blender, such as Blendtec, Vitamix or Ninja
• If that's what you're using, then just blend all the ingredients together until the cream is smooth

You should consider soaking your sunflower seed kernels if:

• You are using a standard blender (not a high-speed blender capable of blending very thick recipes)
• You are using a food processor to make this sour cream

To soak the sunflower seed kernels, put them in a heat-proof bowl or cup. Pour hot water over them to cover them. Leave them on the counter.

After they've soaked for 15-20 minutes, drain away the soaking water and rinse them. The soaked seeds are ready to use for your recipe.

If using cool water, soak for 2 hours on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator. Then, drain the soaking water, rinse the seeds and continue with the recipe.

🥡 Make ahead and storage tips

You can store sunflower seed sour cream in the refrigerator for up to one week.

You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. It will be a little thinner and smell stronger of the onion powder after defrosting it. If that is off-putting, then perhaps omit the onion powder or add it after defrosting.

Best homemade vegan sour cream substitute?

Which is better? Cashew sour cream? Sunflower seed sour cream? Tofu sour cream?

I make vegan sour cream out of cashews, silken tofu and sunflower seed kernels, depending on what I have in the pantry. All are dairy-free, vegan, oil-free, plant-based recipes.

We like all three but our favorite is cashew cream. The lightest option is the one made of silken tofu. Sunflower seed sour cream is best for those with nut or soy allergies, in addition to those avoiding dairy.

So, they all have their pros and cons, depending on your needs, what products you have available and your taste preferences.

❓ FAQ

💜 More recipes you'll love

If you like this sunflower seed sour cream, try one of my other vegan sauces or condiments recipes.

📖 Recipe