An Easy Instant Pot Sour Cream Recipe Using Just Real Cream and Starter
Homemade sour cream is really very easy to make. By making it ourselves, we know exactly what is in it, since it’s just high quality cream cultured with a real starter culture.
This recipe reflects a commitment to sustainability and organic sourcing. The cream comes from organic dairies focused on long-term land stewardship, sustainability and regenerative organic practices. This is especially important because dairy farming can contribute greatly to climate change unless these practices are followed.
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Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Table of contents
What it is
Sour cream is dairy product made from cream and a specific bacteria culture that causes the cream to have a tangy flavor and acts as a preservative.
Ingredients
The quality of the ingredients you start with is very important, especially when there are only two ingredients in the item you are making. Brands differ, so we mention the brands and explain why we choose them. Sour cream that you can buy in the grocery store is often half milk. We prefer to make the sour cream entirely of cream, but you could make it with half Horizon milk as well.
Cream
We use Horizon Organics cream. It is high quality, organic, and produced sustainably using regenerative agriculture methods. You can taste the difference.
Culture
The culture is a real sour cream starter culture from Cultures for Health. The starter culture comes in powdered form in tiny packets and conveniently stores for months in the refrigerator.
No Affiliates Statement
We call this our “no affiliates” statement because we accept no advertising, have no affiliates and accept no payment. We are not paid to mention brands – we just love buying the best, sharing that information and saving the planet at the same time. The effort put into writing and photographing the blog is solely based on our dedication to the cause.
Sustainability
Sustainability isn’t just a philosophy—it’s grounded in science. With formal training in agriculture, including organic farming, irrigation, and integrated pest management, I approach ingredients with a deeper understanding of how they’re produced and how they impact the environment.
In this recipe, the cream and starter have been selected with those principles in mind. In the section on ingredients, I mention the agricultural and environmental considerations behind the choices, so you can see how better choices lead to better outcomes—both in flavor and in sustainability.
Method
This recipe uses an easy, foolproof method that requires only a few minutes of active time. Check out Cultured Dairy at Home for a more detailed explanation on how this works.
- Bring the cream to a temperature that will kill bacteria and cause the protein to thicken the product
- Allow to cool to the correct temperature
- Mix in the sour cream starter culture
- Keep at the correct temperature required for the particular starter, and for the required amount of time
- Chill
This recipe uses our method for making Cultured Dairy at Home. An easy, foolproof method.
Making Sour Cream in an Instant Pot
We use an Instant Pot because it holds the temperature just where you need it for hours, making culturing very easy. Sour cream is made from a mesophilic culture, which translates to “medium-loving”, indicating that it thrives at medium temperatures and is destroyed at a higher temperature. The culture thrives at temperatures between 74 and 77 degrees F, and is destroyed at 113 degrees F. The Instant Pot Ultra has a yogurt setting that can be adjusted to low, where it will maintain a constant temperature of 90 degrees. This makes culturing sour cream very easy.
Because this is a cultured product, it is important that everything is clean. Start with fresh cream that is not near its expiration date. Remove the sealing ring on the Instant Pot lid. Thoroughly wash the inner pot, the lid and the sealing ring with very hot water.
The cream is first heated to 145 degrees F. This causes the proteins to tighten and will produce a thicker sour cream. The temperature is then allowed to drop to 77 degrees F before the starter culture is added. Then the mixture is kept at 90 degrees F for 16 hours while it thickens.
It is possible to make successive batches from a few tablespoons of a previous batch, but we always start with fresh starter culture to make sure it is strong and the cream is kept clean. The starter culture comes in powdered form in tiny packets and conveniently stores for months in the refrigerator. It also comes with instructions that we don’t exactly follow.
Equipment
- thermometer
CHOOSING BRANDS:
For certain products, the choice of brand will make a big difference in the outcome of the recipe and in your carbon footprint. So, for those products, we have listed the brand. We are not paid to mention a brand and have no affiliates.
Ingredients
- 1 quarts Horizon cream up to 4 quarts
- 1 package sour cream starter culture from Cultures for Health
Instructions
- Remove the sealing ring and thoroughly wash the inner pot and the lid with very hot water. Leave the sealing ring off. This is a cultured product so it is important that everything is clean.
- Add 1-4 quarts of cream to the inner pot of the Instant Pot. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and lock. The valve can be in either the sealed or unsealed position. Select the "yogurt" setting and change the time to 45 minutes and the temperature to 145 degrees F. This step will result in a thicker sour cream.
- After 45 minures at 145 degrees F, remove the inner pot and allow the temperature to drop.
- When the temperature of the cream has dropped to 77 degrees F, add the starter culture and whisk it in for a few seconds.
- Return the inner pot to the Instant Pot. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and lock. The valve can be in either the sealed or unsealed position. Select the "yogurt" setting and adjust it to "low". It will show a temperature of 90 degrees F. Adjust the time to 16 hours and start.
- After 16 hours the sour cream should be fairly thick. Transfer it to a glass container and store it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for 2-3 weeks.
Nutrition
WHY THIS RECIPE IS A GAME CHANGER:
This recipe is a total game-changer — crafted with the finest [brand name] ingredients, simplified using a master recipe with pro-tested techniques from top chefs and bakers, and designed for deliciously sustainable cooking made easy.”
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These recipes use our method for making Cultured Dairy at Home. An easy, foolproof method.
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Photos by Tony Fitzgerald Photography
Recipes created by Lisa LeCoump — Food Photographer, Agricultural Expert, and Home Baker. Sharing master recipes, chef secrets, and sustainable baking for every kitchen.