Chipotle Sour Cream

By: Jenifer Chrisman

Sour cream and I used to be really good friends. But taste buds change and now I have a hard time even opening the container. This recipe was a great compromise. It covers whatever taste I no longer like in sour cream while allowing me to use it with dishes that really needs it as a topping or dip.

Bon Appetit!

Total Estimated Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 12

Total Estimated Calories per Serving: 47

Ingredients

 1 c Sour Cream

2 tbs Heavy Cream

Salt (to taste)

1 1/2-2 tsp (a) ground Chipotle (I used McCormick Chipotle Pepper Marinade Mix)

2 tsp dry Minced Onion

1/2 tsp dry Minced Garlic

2 tsp Lime Juice (I used ReaLime)

Directions

1. In an appropriate-sized bowl or container, whisk together all ingredients until fully incorporated.

2. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to use (b).

Cook’s Notes:

 The first time I made chipotle sour cream was for a sheet pan pierogi and caramelized onion recipe I had been wanting to try for a while. Pierogis and sour cream go hand in hand. But, as noted above, sour cream and I are no longer friends. So, I needed to come up with a solution.

The pierogi recipe itself came with a recipe for chipotle sour cream. But I know from experience using real chipotles in adobo sauce can have a bite, sometimes a really big bite, and I didn’t want the pierogis overwhelmed. After doing a bit of research, I came up with what I hoped would be an acceptable compromise (I made only a few minor changes to the newly discovered recipe).

Overall the pierogi dish turned out really well. My only complaint, and my husband’s as well, was there was hardly any filling in the frozen pierogis (c). It was far more wrapper than filling. I know this brand used to have a lot more filling, but it has been a while since I have made them and, obviously, the brand cut back (likely to reduce costs).

My husband liked the sour cream so much, as of this writing, I am preparing it again as a dip to go with the baked, breaded green beans that will be part of tonight’s dinner.

Normally I don’t make dips with easy-to-fix, weekday meals, but this recipe is so simple to prepare I actually had to try to stretch it to the five minutes. While I love preparing and cooking long, complex meals, sometimes it’s nice to just to make something quick and easy. Especially when it is so good.

Even better, it offers a lot of crossover. If sour cream with a chipotle flavor can work with whatever is being made, this is a perfect accoutrement. From adding it to soups or potato salads to using it as a dip for chips or veggies, there are a wide range of opportunities.

On a side note…as time permits I am going to start researching other sour cream flavors. Like any experimentation with new recipes, at least one or two are sure to be less than pleasing. But as sour cream is easily quantity controlled, there will be far less wastage than making an entire meal that is a resounding flop.

So, my best advice, never be afraid to try new recipes. If it sounds good, it probably will be. If it doesn’t turn out exactly how you thought it would, make mental notes of what to change and try again another time. I will definitely be making the pierogi recipe again, although next time I will make my own pierogis (no matter how much effort they require). I just need to find bigger, preferably round, wrappers to speed up the process, because this chipotle sour cream was perfect for that dish.

Original Source:

·       Chipotle Sour Cream (Chipotle Lime Cream Sauce) - Key To My Lime

Ingredient & Direction Notes:

a.         Depending on how flavored you want the sour cream, you can use more than the two teaspoons listed. Or less than the teaspoon and a half. This is purely flavor preference and can be adjusted to suit each person’s specific palate.

b.         I prefer to let the flavors marry, so I make it at least a few hours ahead of time and refrigerate until I am ready to use it.

c.         I have made pierogis from scratch, but it is A LOT of work.