greek yogurt vs sour cream?

misscaligreen
misscaligreen Posts: 819 Member
edited November 11 in Food and Nutrition
Hello.. I see so many posts about using plain yogurt (greek or traditional) for dips and dressings instead of sour cream, mayo, buttermilk etc. Why not use fat free or low fat sour cream? what are the advantages of using yogurt? Just wondering if I am missing something? I use sour cream because it is cheaper than yogurt. Thanks in advance :)

Replies

  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    i use it like sour cream because i use yogurt for other stuff as well (ie in smoothies, with honey and fruit for a sweet treat, with nutella and strawberries for another sweet treat and also for hair and skin treatments) and it's not cost effective for me to buy sour cream that i can only use one way
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    One reason I do it is because my husband can't eat most dairy, and sour cream is one of the dairy items he can't have. He doesn't have a problem with yogurt though, so that works for us. Also, just comparing a brand of sour cream vs greek yogurt - Trader Joes full fat plain Greek yogurt has 65 cals and 5g of fat in 1/4 cup. Daisy sour cream has 120 calories and 10 g of fat for the same amount. (this is according to the MFP database, I don't have either item in front of me at the moment to double check those numbers!)
  • sweet110
    sweet110 Posts: 332 Member
    I only eat full-fat dairy (because I don't like what they add to make it fat-free). So, for me, full fat greek yogurt has WAY fewer calories and MUCH less fat than sour cream. The difference is astounding. And it tastes so good! For me, its important that its an "actual food" made thick by straining rather than by adding fillers to non-fat milk powder.

    I also second the "one product/many uses" idea as well. With yogurt, I can use it as yogurt, as sour cream, as savory and as sweet. Sour cream isn't quite as flexible.

    Which is to say, its all about personal choice. If the things that matter to me don't matter to you, then, do what makes the most sense to you. We all make compromises (I suspect that splenda is poisoning me. But...sometimes I eat it anyway.). You get to decide what's important to you, and what's not.
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    i buy the big things of fage 2% greek yogurt at costco, and use it for many things.. its just easier than buying it and sour cream, and dip, and whatever else i end up using it for. its great as a sour cream sub, and i use it in smoothies, or mix it with fruit and nuts, or just eat it plain. sometimes ill sub it for mayo in pasta salads too.. though i do keep mayo in the house.
    i eat full fat whenever possible (dont like all the filler stuff in low/fat free) - fat free tastes weird to me, and low fat isnt really worth it to me *shrug*
  • jfarmer1118
    jfarmer1118 Posts: 18
    Fat free Greek Yogurt beats out fat free sour cream in almost every category, including: calories, cholesterol, protein, fiber, etc.

    The only thing that sour cream gets better numbers in is carbs.

    But the other benefits of Greek Yogurt far outweigh that. Greek Yogurt also has probiotics, which is good for digestion.

    If you're only worried about flavor, consider that sour cream is used in many deserts (sour cream pound cakes, for instance). Both have a very nice tang.

    For me, if the sour cream is the "star" of a recipe, then I go for the sour cream, because the taste is a bit different. However, if it's playing second fiddle to other flavors (like in dips, tacos, etc), then I use the greek yogurt. I very seldom use sour cream anymore. :)
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
    The yogurt has more protein.
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