Is Sour Cream Keto Friendly?

There are a variety of dairy products that so happened to be keto-friendly.

Sour cream is a very versatile ingredient, but most associate slathering it on a burrito or as a topping on a baked potato, sour cream is often a staple many people want to know if it’s keto-friendly or not.

Is sour cream keto friendly? Sour cream is, in fact, keto friendly, with most brands only containing 1 gram of net carbs per serving.

In this article, I'll go more in-depth why sour cream is keto friendly, what sour cream is, the best uses for sour cream on a keto diet, and even some keto friendly sour cream base recipes

Is Sour Cream Keto?

First, you have to realize that no food is Keto. Keto or ketosis is a metabolic state achieved by significantly reducing or eliminating carbohydrates from the diet.

Therefore, food cannot be Keto, but it can be keto-friendly from the standpoint of containing very little to no carbohydrates, making it easy to fit within your diet and macros.

Thankfully, sour cream and certain other dairy products like kefir are, in fact, keto-friendly and may be enjoyed on a ketogenic diet without worrying too much about going over your net carbohydrates for the day.

What Is Sour Cream?

Sour cream or soured cream depending on the part of the world you're from is a dairy product made by fermenting regular cream, either on its own or by adding lactic acid bacteria similar to that of yogurt.

Sour cream is given its name due to the production of lactic acid fermentation, which is referred to as souring.

Sour cream is probably one of the most straightforward dairy products to make on your own at home, all that's required is some heavy cream and buttermilk.

An easy way to make your sour cream is to combine one cup of heavy cream with 1/4 cup of buttermilk and shake it together in a container.

You would then take the combined product and let it sit at room temperature for about 24 hours and allow the souring to occur. From there, you can serve it immediately or refrigerate and save it for later.

Sour Cream Nutrition Facts

Please keep in mind that while sour cream is keto friendly, it is also very calorically dense.

Per 2 tablespoon serving of sour cream yields:

~50 calories
4.5g fat
1g carbohydrate
0.6g protein

How many carbs are there in sour cream? Depending on the brand, most sour cream products will have one gram of net carbohydrates per 2 tbsp serving since there is no dietary fiber to subtract.

Make sure you also get sour cream that has minimal ingredients to prevent unnecessary carbohydrates and calories.

Also, sour cream has a wide variety of vitamins and minerals.

Vitamin A
B2
B5
B12
Choline
Vitamin E
B6
Folate
B1
B3
Vitamin K
Clacium
Selenium
Phosphorus
Potassium
Magnesium
Zinc
Copper
Manganese
Iron

As you can see, not only is sour cream delicious, but it also has an excellent nutritional profile with a wide variety of essential nutrients.

Health Benefits Of Sour Cream

Great for your digestive and immune system

Similar to sauerkraut and kimchi, sour cream is a fermented food, and fermented foods are rich in beneficial probiotics shown to be helpful not only to the digestive system but the immune system as well. 12

Contains many vitamins and minerals

Listed above, you'll see sour cream contains over 20 different vitamins and minerals and is primarily an excellent Source of calcium magnesium potassium and B vitamins.

May reduce the risk of obesity

In addition to the satiation effects of a ketogenic diet itself, there is reason to believe that consuming dairy products may also increase satiety.

As you may or may not know, one of the biggest problems with attempting to lose weight is dealing with hunger. By eating a ketogenic diet and including dairy, which includes sour cream, you increase your chance of staying full for much longer.

Also, a study that surveyed over 1000 men found that a high intake of dairy fat is associated with a lower risk of obesity.3

Now, note that I said associated with, and not a result of… a lot of people like to make blanket statements and use them as facts, but correlation doesn’t always equal causation.

May reduce cardiovascular disease in women

There was a study that found a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease in women who consumed more fermented dairy products.4

Sorry guys, there were no significant observations in men conducted in the study.

But that's not to say there aren't any.

How Much Sour Cream Can You Eat?

How much sour cream can you eat, and how much sour cream should you eat are two different questions. Realize that how much you can eat is entirely based on how many calories you allow yourself to eat per day and whether or not the amount of sour cream you want fits within that budget.

Sour cream is a great way to add flavor to different foods. Just remember that a little sour cream goes a long way with a 2tbsp serving being 50 calories and nearly 5 grams of fat.

As I stated, how much sour cream can you eat will depend on your total calories and how much you can fit within those numbers without going over.

Don't know how many calories or macros you should be eating?

Give my keto macro calculator a try to get a Baseline/ starting point of how much to eat depending on your stats and goals.

Best Uses For Sour Cream

While I don’t recommend eating sour cream straight up with a spoon, to each their own. LOL

That said, some ideas include:

Scrambled eggs

Believe it or not, sour cream and scrabbled eggs may sound like a weird combination, but it makes them much creamier fluffier.

If you’re familiar with adding milk or buttermilk to your scrambled eggs, it’s the same concept.

A good rule of thumb is to use about one tablespoon of sour cream per egg.

Deviled eggs

Another great way to use sour cream is to use them in deviled eggs. Deviled eggs are an easy and quick recipe you can use as a keto-friendly snack or even as an appetizer or side dish for parties.

Here’s one of my favorite deviled egg recipes from Raia’s Recipes with a little bit of heat.

Vegetable dip

Sour cream also lends itself very well to be used as an ingredient in vegetable dips. Many vegetable dip recipes are similar to that of the stuffing for deviled eggs, minus the egg, of course.

Check this simple three-ingredient dip using sour cream from unsophisticook perfect for parties and tailgating! (minus the chips of course)

Salad dressings

If you’re wondering what to put on top of your salads, you can make an easy keto friendly salad dressing with sour cream, apple cider vinegar, and a little bit of oil. Another option is a small drizzle of a keto friendly balsamic vinegar.

Here’s a great keto-friendly ranch dressing recipe from Savory Tooth.

Some Keto-Friendly Sour Cream Recipes

Here are a few of my favorite keto friendly recipes that include sour cream.

Low Carb Keto Biscuits

If you love red lobster’s cheddar Bay biscuits, give this recipe a try. If you haven’t tried them, have you been hiding under a rock?

Photo and recipe courtesy of Kirbies Cravings

The Greatest Keto Lemon Sour Cream Muffins

If you’re looking for something sweet and you’re a big fan of lemon meringue, give these a try.

Recipe courtesy of Healthy Food Recipe

Cheesy Sour Cream Chicken

Those of you looking for something more savory, this recipe from country girl cooking, is a big hit in my household.

Chicken recipe sour cream and keto friendly

Photo and recipe courtesy of Country Girl Cookin

The Takeaway

There you have it, folks, sour cream is indeed keto friendly and can be incorporated in many different ways.

Sour cream can be one of the most versatile ingredients in your keto arsenal when used appropriately.