As a condiment girlie, it brings me off-the-charts joy to tell you that you are never more than 5 minutes (and a few assertive food processor blitzes) away from this positively dreamy avocado crema.
Listen, you’ll never hear me say a bad word about guacamole, and there’s definitely ingredient overlap between this recipe and classic guac (avocados, lime, garlic, cilantro, jalapeño)–but this crema scratches a different itch.
It’s a little dollop of luxury. It’s fresh, vibrant indulgence in a spoonable sauce. It’s impossibly easy and magnificently flavorful.
It’s begging to be put on your Mexican-inspired faves–and it is NOT going to disappoint.
Table of Contents:
1. Ingredient notes
2. Step-by-step instructions
3. Tips for making this recipe
4. Ideas for serving Avocado Crema
5. Frequently Asked Questions
6. Recipe card with notes
My back-pocket condiment
I make this avocado crema whenever I’m craving anything Mexican-inspired or Tex-Mex (burrito bowls, any of these incredible tacos, breakfast burritos, nachos, etc.).
I can throw this together in 5ish minutes and end up with a creamy, fresh, vibrant condiment that will zhuzh up whatever I’m about to eat. It honestly feels like I’m cheating at cooking–it’s too easy to be this good.
The cooling herbiness means it pairs particularly well with spicy fare, but it’s delicious enough to stand on its own as a dip, so if throwing things in a blender is truly all you have the energy for, scoop it up with crudités and tortilla chips and call it dinner.
Ingredient notes
Avocados
Naturally! We want ripe avocados but timing your avocado’s ripeness isn’t alway easy.
Avocados ripe before you’re ready to use them? Refrigerate as soon as they’re ripe and they’ll stay good for a couple days.
Want avocados to ripen more quickly? Store avocados in a paper bag with a banana (or apple). The ethylene gas in the banana will trigger the ripening process in the nearby avocado. Place the bag in a warm spot to speed up the ripening process.
Vegan sour cream
This is the ingredient that distinguishes this as a crema, rather than something closer to a guacamole–we’re looking for the vegan sour cream to add, well, creaminess, and also a hit of tang!
RPL preferred brands:
Sour cream: VioLife is our favorite. It’s thick and creamy and has a nice tang, just like regular sour cream. Since it is thick, you may need to add a bit more lime juice or a splash of water to thin the crema to your desired consistency.
We also like sour creams from Follow Your Heart, Tofutti, and Kite Hill Foods.
Yogurt: If you don’t have access to vegan sour cream, use a creamy and tangy coconut yogurt–nothing with sweet undertones. We like Culina, CocoJune, GT’s Cocoyo, and Pillars.
Jalapeño & garlic
We’re going for crema-with-a-kick, and these two do the trick (#imapoet).
And spice-skeptics need not fear, because (1) the richness from the sour cream and avocados naturally balances heat, and (2) the heat level is totally customizable (see the Tips section).
Lime
…and a LOT of it! We’re not talking about the cute little squeeze of lime you’d use for finishing a dish–the lime here is essential for a bright lift in flavor, and its acidity allows the final product to be lusciously creamy without heaviness.
Cilantro
If I’ve got avocados, limes, and jalapeños out on my counter, you can bet there’s also a bunch of cilantro at the ready. It’s the quintessential herb accompaniment of this trio, and I’d argue that the combo of avo-lime-jalapeño + cilantro is right up there with tomato + basil in the Herb Companion Hall of Fame.
However, I know it’s not for everyone–so if you’re in the “cilantro tastes like soap” club, you can leave it out.
Step-by-step instructions
Add the avocado flesh, sour cream, jalapeño, garlic, lime juice, cumin, cilantro, kosher salt, and several cracks of pepper to a food processor or small blender.
Blend until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides and adjusting seasoning to taste. That’s it!
Store leftover avocado crema in a container with an avocado pit on top to reduce browning.
Tips for making this recipe
Use a good-quality sour cream or yogurt
My rule is you should like the way it tastes out of the package–you don’t want to rely on the crema to mask a subpar flavor coming from one of its core ingredients.
And if you’re using yogurt, be sure it doesn’t have any sweet undertones–opt for something creamy and tangy. See our specific brand recommendations here.
Tailor the heat
Tune the heat to your liking!
- Baby mouths: Remove the membranes and seeds of the jalapeño. And use ½ of the pepper.
- Heat-curious: Keep all the membranes and seeds, but tart slowly with the jalapeño–you can always add more!
- Serious spice-seekers: Try a serrano pepper 🔥
Tailor the texture
Since there is textural variability across vegan sour creams, give yourself permission to adjust the texture post-blitz. If your sour cream is on the thicker side, you may need to add a spoon of water.
Conversely, if you’ve got thinner sour cream, feel free to add some extra avocado to thicken things!
Seek out juicy limes
This recipe needs a fair amount of lime juice, so try to get your hands on the juicest limes you can! Primo limes:
- Tend to have thin, smooth, undimpled skin
- Feel heavy for their size
- Are slightly soft and squishy when you squeeze them
If your limes are feeling dry, roll them back and forth on the cutting board with the back of your palm to release more juice before cutting into them.
Also, I swear by using a citrus juicer like this–it makes it much easier to get the maximum juice for your squeeze (especially with limes which are small and can be a pain to squeeze by hand).
Don’t toss the avocado pits!
Adding an avocado pit on top of any leftover crema before storing it significantly slows the browning process. This way, it’ll stay fresh and minimally-discolored in the fridge for up to five days!
Ideas for serving Avocado Crema
This luscious condiment is an ideal companion for all Mexican-inspired fare, but if you’re looking for specific suggestions, let’s see (*rubs hands together excitedly*)…
- Burrito bowls!
- Breakfast burritos!
- Nachos!
- Sofritas!
- Tacos of all sorts, like my Ultimate Vegan Tacos, Tempeh Tacos, or Meaty Lentil Tacos
- As a dressing for taco salad!
- As a sandwich/wrap spread (try subbing it for the pesto in this Crispy Tofu Sandwich)
Frequently Asked Questions
Love this DIY energy–the answer is sure, but you’ll need to use some arm power 💪🏽
First mash the avocado as well as you can with a fork or using a pestle. Finely chop the jalapeño, garlic, and cilantro. Fold those into the avocado along with the sour cream, lime juice, cumin, and salt and pepper to taste.
The texture will be more rustic than velvety, but it’ll still be delicious.
Absolutely–while cilantro is a classic pairing for jalapeño, lime, and avocados, if you can’t stand it, leave it out!
Yes! The avocado crema will stay good in the fridge for 5 days. BUT before you seal the container, plop an avocado pit in there with the crema–it dramatically slows the browning process!
So happy you asked–yes! I have a recipe for a more “authentic” avocado crema, as well as a recipe for a chipotle crema in my cookbook, Big Vegan Flavor (p. 204-205).
Is this your new go-to condiment for Mexican-inspired meals? Let me know by leaving a rating and review–I love to read them! 💚
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
Avocado Crema
Ingredients
- 3 small or 2 med-large ripe avocados (don’t discard pits!)
- 3 oz / 85g (¼ cup + 2 tablespoons) vegan sour cream (see Note 1)
- ½ to 1 small jalapeño, roughly chopped (see Note 2)
- 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 4 to 5 tablespoons (60 to 75 mL) freshly squeezed lime juice (see Note 3)
- ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 heaping cup (18) cilantro leaves and tender stems
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- In a food processor (or a small-capacity blender), add the avocado flesh, sour cream, jalapeño, garlic, 4 tablespoons (60 mL) lime juice, cumin, cilantro, several cracks of pepper, and ¾ teaspoon kosher salt (see Note 4).
- Blend until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides. Taste, adding more lime juice or salt to taste.
- Store leftovers in a jar or container with an avocado pit on top (this slows down browning). Refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Notes
- In the RPL kitchen, our favorite vegan sour cream is from Violife. We also have had decent results with Follow Your Heart, Kite Hill Foods, and Tofutti sour cream. If you don’t have access to vegan sour cream, use a creamy and tangy coconut yogurt. Brands we like: Culina, CocoJune, GT’s Cocoyo, and Pillars. For a non-coconut base that’s still thick, try Kite Hill’s Greek-style yogurt.
- For mild heat, remove the seeds and membranes first and use ½ of the pepper.
- You will need 2 to 3 medium limes.
- I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt (unless otherwise stated in my recipes). If using sea salt or table salt, use less salt, starting with about half the amount.
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