Chef John's Crème Fraîche

This is a marvelous recipe! I could put it on almost any food in my fridge! I found the correct cream at Trader Joe's, an organic one, and my buttermilk was by Knudsen. I was just going to make a half a batch but went for the whole thing. Am I ever glad! This is better than sour cream! Creme Fraiche doesn't have the same holding power of sour cream as far as consistency goes, and it's not quite as sour. But delicious it is! I highly recommend that you try this! Thank you, Chef John!

Ultra-pasteurized heavy whipping cream works just fine. I use it exclusively and it has never failed to make great Creme Fraiche. Don't waste your time looking for pasteurized. I use Ball canning jars to make this great sour cream in and will never buy another plastic tub of it.

The crème fraiche was made exactly as written, and used in conjunction with Chef John's Classic Beef Stroganoff recipe. We used pasteurized cream, and found it at Whole Foods. One cautionary note . . . pasteurized cream has a fairly short shelf life so the crème fraiche will not last long in the fridge IF any is leftover. This added a special finishing touch to the beef stroganoff and so easy to make. Thank you, Chef John.

I let it sit on the top of my espresso machine or the top of my refrigerator. It is always warmer in those areas and it just works better than leaving it on the counter top. Maybe I just keep the house a little too cool? LOL

This recipe is so easy and delicious. I used my yogurt maker and it was done in 8 hours. So easy and didn't have to wait 2 days. I poured everything in the maker and went to bed, when I got up this morning it was perfect!

If you haven't used sweetened whipped creme fraiche in place of whipped cream, you're missing the best dessert topping of your life! I lost my source of creme fraiche (TJ's) when we moved to Tampa. Thanks, Chef John, for showing me how to make it at home.

I've been making creme fraiche using this method for almost 20 years. Easy peasy and SO tasty. It's also good made with Brown Cow yogurt instead of buttermilk (the live cultures are important). This does work with ultra pasteurized cream, I've done it more than once when ultra pasteurized was all I could find. You may need more buttermilk/yogurt or a little more time for it to culture.

We really loved this! It has become something we just do any time the heavy cream has been sitting a few days and needs to be put to use. It is so delicious and family have been taking it home with them whenever there is extra.

This is terrific! I used ultra-pasteurized cream as that is all I could find, and it worked just fine. This was pretty cool to make, and who knew it was so easy?! I used it to make Creme Caramel and BLT Pasta, both also Chef John's recipes, and both are truly amazing. Thank you, Chef John- you continue to make me look like a culinary genius :)

I used 1 1/2 cup Whipping Cream (jar was too small for all of the whipping cream) and 2 tablespoons Seco Cultured Buttermilk powder. I used the Seco powder as it is Cultured and I did not want to have wasted buttermilk in my fridge. In my local store the heavy cream was ultra pasteurized but the whipping cream was regular pasteurized so I used the regular cream. I started the culture around 5 pm and tasted it the next morning around 7 am. It tasted like sweet whipping cream so I left it alone. When I tasted it at 2 pm - ZING big difference and it tasted as described but it was still thin. I put the lid on the jar and put it in the fridge and let it thicken. Bottom line - use the powder and you won't have to deal with a quart of liquid leftover buttermilk. Try this and see. Your results may vary..........

This recipe is the absolute BEST. So easy, and so delicious! Never going to the store for sour cream again. I used ultra-pasteurized heavy whipping cream, since I could not find "pasteurized." Work just fine. Thank you Chef John for this delightful recipe.

This is a good recipe although I make mine with equal parts sour cream and heavy (whipping) cream. Mix it well and place in an air tight container and leave on your counter top for 24 hrs then refrigerate. Amazing flavor and texture!!

this was great, love this because it is super easy, and you can simmer/reduce sauces with this unlike sour cream. and it tastes soooo much better! annnnnddddd waaaaayyyy cheaper than creme freiche that you can buy at the fancy dancy grocery stores (if you can find it at all). i used this to make chefs stroganoff and chicken and dumplings, very very rich and delicious. just be sure to be patient and let it set up properly for 48 hours. well worth the wait! tangy goodness! thanks chef!

I went to 4 stores trying to find heavy cream with no luck and ended up with ultra-pasteurized whipping cream. I doubled the batch since I had a big glass jar. I didn't have a coffee filter or cheese cloth and used a paper towel which I doubled. Followed the directions for culturing and tried it 2 days later. It tasted like whipping cream with buttermilk. Wasn't impressed. However, the longer it cultures, the better it tasted. I've used it for Chef's John's BLT Pasta and his beef stroganoff along with the simple scones, and key lime pie IV recipe on this site. I'm not sure how long this would last in the fridge. I'm still in search of heavy cream and see what the taste difference between them.

I made this to go along with Chef John's Beef Stroganoff and it was so easy to make. I have never had creme fraiche before so I didn't know what it was going to taste like. It was thick, creamy, and delicious. I will never buy sour cream again! Thank you Chef John!

I've made this four times and two worked out and the other didn't get thick. Same whipping creme brand and same buttermilk...what did I do wrong. I'll rate this 4 stars because it's amazing..so it has to be something I did...

stephen i leave my oven light on and it stays nice and toasty.rest of b' milk' any cats around?

This is wonderful....had to rest it on the fireplace mantel to get it to thicken. We live upstate NY and the house is never 70-75*!!! It was worth the wait. Thanks Chef John!

Thank you, Chef Jon for yet another wonderful recipe. I had never made Creme fraiche before, and was a little skeptical about the mixture actually thickening. I followed your instructions exactly, using the recommended ingredients. The consistency and taste were amazing!

Won't be buying sour cream in the future... this is better. BTW Creme Fraiche IS just basic sour cream, don't be fooled by the name.

I have made this several times with low fat cultured buttermilk and ultra pasteurized heavy cream and it always turns out fine. I like 4 T of B'milk to 2 cups of cream. HOWEVER, I made it yesterday with 1 cup of LIGHT Cream and 2 T of b'milk just to see if it worked and it is great! Used the oven with the light on.

made twice, would not thicken. I used Bavarian Buttermilk which has 9gms of fat. Thought this buttermilk would do a better job. Would not thicken, very runny. Thought it would be easy. Followed directions, sterilized, still no results. Perhaps because I am not a Chef, it did not turn out.

Quite delicious! I made this using RAW heavy cream and cultured buttermilk. I followed the directions exactly. This is as thick as cream cheese and has a wonderful full texture. I put a dollop of it on top of my hot soup. I've used it on toast as a light spread. I've used it with jam. I've put it on top of my hot food -- whatever it may be., It lends an incredibly rich flavor to everything I've put it on.

This stuff is stellar! Super easy and super yuumy.

Excellent recipe. But not sure what others are talking about in terms of pasteurized dairy having a shorter shelf life. I have a degree in microbiology and pasteurized lasts much longer than unpasteurized as the pasteurization process kills the microbes that contribute to spoiling. Maybe that’s what you meant to say?

Fantastic! Sad most people don't know how easy this is. I use my own buttermilk from making my own butter (also easy, just look up a recipe!). A few tips for people: 1) It doesn't get as thick as store bought. Even after refrigerating. But the beauty of that is that it's all natural. No added thickeners and/or preservatives. Once you eat it this way a few times, you'll never go back. 2) DO NOT let it sit on the counter much more than the recommended 24 hours!!! I left mine out for 36 hours to try to get it thicker and it exploded out of the jar, all over the counter. Unusable. Lesson learned. 3) From the finished creme fraiche you can make an amazing Mexican crema. Just add lime, a dash of salt and some ancho chili powder. So much you can do with this!

Awesome!! Well worth the time.

I've made this several times. Banana bread pudding, grilled fruit with a raspberry sauce, grilled bananas with rum, cinnamon, honey sauce. Baked potatoes with dill. Its good. Not for a diet, but seriously good,

I love it! So easy. The the recipe calls for sour cream I use Creme Fraiche!

I will give this all the stars although I haven't tried it yet, based on other reviews and that it is a Chef John recipe. I would like to try this recipe but I live in Hawaii and the temperature rarely gets down to 70-75 degrees except during the winter months. I actually could make it today but don't have any of the ingredients/supplies needed and work calls. I will try it while it's cooler but what can be done when the weather is too warm?

We make this on a regular basis. I have found that different brands of buttermilk work better then others. Thanks Chef John.

I followed the recipe to the letter, using pasteurized (not ultra pasteurized) heavy cream and whole buttermilk (both found at Whole Foods), and have just been rewarded with 2 Ball jars of exquisite creme fraiche, for a fraction of what I've been paying for the one from Vermont Butter and Cheese! I am over the moon, and will serving it with potato pancakes, caviar and smoked salmon on Christmas Day!

Super easy. Make with BLT pasta salad, stroganoff, and mashed potatoes.

Mine was runny the first time I made it, cut back on the heavy cream by just a bit and it was perfect the second time, so delicious! How long will this last?

Outstanding and never fails! Easiest thing to make ever.

Totally works! I use it for all or my sourcream recipes. Milder and more delicious.

Fantastic! My first time making Creme Fraiche. Used a coffee filter and some duct tape to save a trip to the store, then transferred to a glass pyrex bowl with tight lid. Can't wait to share this with my family. Used it on Sweet Potato Burritos today, and going to use it to make Chef John's BLT Pasta Salad on Sunday!

I loved this! I used 1 tablespoon buttermilk and 1 cup ultra-pasteurized whipping cream. I shook them together in a mason jar, then left out on the counter for 30 hours (I just screwed on the lid and didn't use cheesecloth). It cultured perfectly into a thick, smooth cream like soft sour cream. After chilling the jar overnight in the refrigerator it had the exact consistency of sour cream and was so delicious!

Perfect.

It's not every recipe you try where the results turn out exactly like the video... This is certainly one of them! This was surprisingly so easy to make and I'm so glad I did. My kitchen was a bit warmer than room temperature, 79 degrees according to the portable thermostat. What can I say, summer in The South. I highly recommend everyone to try this. Any skill lever is able to achieve homemade crème fraiche. My one recommendation, use CULTURED buttermilk.

This was was my first time making or tasting creme fraiche. It is absolutely wonderful. This recipe is super easy and taste just like what i would have expected.

Thank you Chef John for this recipe. Started this on Saturday morning and had your beef stroganoff Sunday evening. All I could find was ultra pasterized cream but, it worked just fine. I live in Southeast Texas where it is a little warmer so the Creme Fraiche set up in a little less than 24 hours. Delish!

This is hard for me to rate because this recipe is my introduction to creme fraiche, so I have nothing to compare it to. I didn't even know what it was. I poured the ingredients into a mason jar and covered with a clean dish towel and tied with kitchen twine. I was hesitant to leave heavy cream with buttermilk on the counter all night, thinking I would have a spoiled mess in the morning. But no, the ingredients didn't turn. I gave it a stir and screwed on the lid and put it in the refrigerator for 2 days. I used it to coat pasta in a pasta salad. Such an easy recipe.

This is a little kitchen magic in a jar! So easy. Used standard grocery store heavy cream and buttermilk. Put it on top of the fridge for warmth and it was a thing of beauty the very next day! Really good onverything.

Easy to make, and so delicious.

Excellent! Works great on all food but I have found it to be very tasty in Scrambled Eggs. DH loves eggs, I don't, but have to confess I loved Scrambled Eggs this morning with milk and Creme Fraiche blended in. Yummm.

Great flavor and simple to make. I put the sterilized jar in a card board box with an LED light bulb for 24 hours and the temperature was between 73 - 75 degrees. I also used Cacique Mexican brand Cream. It was the only Pasteurized cream I could find at my local store. Good stuff and just in time for Super Bowl street taco's!!

Made this with ultra fresh whipping cream and buttermilk and it came out perfect. I will never buy sour cream again.

Absolutley wonderful recipe!! I cant wait to use this in the Beef Stroganoff recipe on wednesday!

FOLLOWED THE DIRECTIONS EXACTLY. WOW! OH MY GOSH IS THIS GOOD. No more store bought for me! I keep eating it straight out of the jar. Thank you very much. You have put money back in my budget. Creme Fresh here is $7.99 for 6 ounces. The cost of the buttermilk and cream is half that and it yielded 32+ounces.

Super easy and delicious. Going to try a Smokey salmon sauce with this batch. Thanks John!

Very good and super easy. Now I need to figure out what to make with all of the leftover buttermilk!!! My wife accidentally bought low fat cultured buttermilk, so I am not quite sure what it did to the taste, but I thought it tasted great anyway.

I made this and it is great. However, I froze the buttermilk left over so I could make it again, but when I thawed the buttermilk to use in the next batch of creme frachais, it did not thicken. Can anyone tell me why. Thanks

Turned out perfectly! I used it as a substitute for sour cream in an instant pot beef stroganoff recipe and WOW!! Definitely will make again.

Delicious!

Love this recipe. It is delicious and creamy.

Like all of Chef John's recipes, this turned out perfectly. I wasn't sure what "heavy cream" meant so I used whipping cream. The texture came out something like mascarpone (in fact, this would be amazing in a tiramisu). Next time I will try it out with table cream and see what that does to the texture. I used a rubbermaid container because my glass container cracked when I sterilized it. It all worked. I am super pleased with this recipe. My family thinks sour cream is a food group, so at least now I can control what goes into it and them.

Is it salvageable? I used cultured buttermilk and heavy cream per specified proportions but after i check on it after the cooling period it was still liquid. :( Should I leave it out more or just keep it in the fridge or start over?

Too late I realized I had purchased ultra-pasteurized cream but started the process anyway. As Chef John suggested, I put the cream jar with 3T buttermilk in the oven to warm. Then my husband decided to make a frozen pizza and heated the oven to 450*. I got the jar out asap and thought that was the end. Stashing it in the refrigerator, I figured I might at least be able bake a cake with it and started a new jar with organic pasteurized cream. This morning the pizza heated jar held really good creme fraiche, which I added to my morning coffee. The second batch is looking good and about to go into the refrigerator for its second 24-hour rest. I am happy to have so much homemade creme fraiche for Christmas Eve to dollop on sugar plum cake, apple cranberry pie, and pecan pie. Thank you, Chef John, for a great recipe.

Made this last night to go with the BLT Pasta. I wasn't sure about leaving it out overnight, but it worked. I put it in a glass mason jar with a paper towel on top and put the outside cap on the jar to hold the towel on tight. Tasted great with the BLT Pasta. I'm going to use it with tacos next. Thanks, Chef John!

This turned out perfectly. At first I didn't think it was going to work. I thought the buttermilk cultures must have been dead. I used run of the mill 36% whipping cream and 3.25% buttermilk, both from a large commercial dairy. At 12 hrs it looked like no thickening. At 16 hrs it was a little thicker. At 20 hrs it was almost there. At 24 hrs it had a nice thick consistency. I gave the stir spoon a lick and the flavour was beautiful. Thanks for the recipe.

Did as directed and turned out sublime.

I made it twice and couldn't get it to thicken.

Super easy, with great results. I would definitely make this again!

This stuff is great and so easy to make. Plan a day ahead and use this for the pork and polenta recipe. Better than what is available at the store, costs less too

I used to make this at Pazzo's downtown portland 10th and stark. I thought it was heavy cream and a bit of buttermilk left out 24 hours but wasn't sure. I made it then and then just made it again thanks to you. Looking forward to try the chipotle next. Great Job!

Loved the flavor, used it to make beef stroganoff , and later used on tacos my hubby loved it on the tacos.

well, I made it with ultra pasteurize Borden's heavy cream, I did not see the note about ultra pasteurize cream till after I bought it,, so, I tried it anyway, eureka the Borden's worked it tastes great I can't wait to use it,

This is great and so easy. No more store bought sour cream for me!

Thank you so much for making this video, you save a dinner

I made this and it turned out perfect. I put it on homemade carrot cake. Everyone was asking for the recipe. Said it tasted like cheesecake on top of the carrot cake.

My husband is still raving about the flavor and we have finished this over Thanksgiving. Chef John you are amazing!

Perfect exactly how he makes it. I always make it with the Chef John beef stroganoff recipe. I have only ever gotten compliments.

Works like a charm. The only downside is buying a quart of buttermilk for the 3 Tablespoons you need.

Love this recipe, tastes better than store bought and use it on everything.

Super easy and incredibly delicious!

This is very easy to make and actually fun to watch the transformation. The texture is wonderful.

did it with yogurt instead, all i had, tasted ok to pretty good with my sandwich one time and shrimp baguette ..

So happy to have found this recipe! My local grocery store doesn't carry creme fraiche, but they always have whipping creme. I made this to go with Chef John's white gazpacho.

Very good! I made it to put in Chef John's Beef Stroganoff. It worked just like it was supposed to.

Excellent. Creamy . No lump. Very nice. Good recipe

This is so easy to make and tastes so much better than store bought sour cream.

I used a low fat buttermilk (picked up in error) and had my doubts it would work but this AM it was nice and thick. Ready to add grated citrus rind and use as topping for a cake. Thank you Chef John!

Easy and excellent. I used this in Chef John's BLT pasta, and I plan to use more in Chef John's Beef Stroganoff.

Absolutely the best! Thank you Chef John!

nice. Slightly tart, not sour like sour cream. Holds together in sauces when reheated. Winner!

Chef John, you've done it again! Would give it ten stars if I could.

So easy and came out perfect. It was great on scones. Someone suggested using a yogurt maker and I am going to try that next time.

Used heavy cream and buttermilk. The house is pretty cool in the winter, and because gas costs, I don’t keep the house at 70°F at night, so I put my ingredient filled Ball mason jar in the warmest area of the house, the boiler room! Came out perfect! Thank you for this recipe! I’ll never buy store bought again.

Best sour cream you'll ever eat. Super simple to make. we always keep some handy in the refrigerator.

FANTASTIC! Chef John was right, I'll never buy sour cream again.

The first time I made this it worked perfectly, since then (am on my third try) I have not gotten it to thicken.

Love this, delish! The heavy cream was from Costco, not the best quality but it's what I had on hand, it still worked and was really good. Next time I'm getting grass fed organic cream to see the difference. I will probably use this as much as possible instead of sour cream, maybe even instead of yogurt in some cases. It was so easy.

No, it is great as is. Just hard to find where I am at.

So easy and SOOOO delicious!

So easy to make and, in my opinion, a better flavor than sour cream.

Tastes better than the real sour cream and so easy to make. Pleasantly surprised

Mine turns out thick and creamy even using ultra-pasteurized cream. Definitely an upgrade to standard sour cream!

Killer recipe, I love it! This is THE best, most powerful, epic, sour cream EVER! Its kinda like the new and improved Iron man armour version of sour cream. Simply cant be beat!