Sour cream's tang and thickness can be matched a few different ways depending on whether you're baking, cooking, or topping a dish. Enter the amount your recipe calls for.
Sour cream is cultured cream, typically 18–20% fat, thickened and tangy from fermentation. Plain full-fat or Greek yogurt is cultured the same way and has a similar tang and thickness, making it the closest all-purpose match, especially in baking where sour cream adds moisture and structure. A milk-and-lemon-juice mixture mimics the tang and slight thickening through curdling, which works in dressings and cooked sauces. Mayonnaise (itself an emulsion of oil and egg) can stand in for sour cream in savory dips and dressings, though it lacks sour cream's tang and isn't suited to baking.
Source: Substitution guidance follows commonly published dairy-substitution charts from U.S. baking and cooking references.
Greek yogurt is thicker and closer in texture to sour cream because much of its whey has been strained out; regular yogurt is thinner and may need draining first for the same effect.
It's not recommended — mayonnaise lacks sour cream's tang and moisture profile in baking, and can make baked goods taste off. Save mayonnaise swaps for savory dips and dressings.
Yes, slightly — that light curdling is the acid thickening the milk, which is normal and fine to use in cooked or blended applications.
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