Skip to Content

Does Sour Cream Go Bad? How Long Does It Stay Good?

We all might know to some extent Cream is a product that doesn’t last for a long time. Sour cream lasts longer than other creams but be careful. You had some visitors last weekend and want to know if the cream that’s left is still good to make that salad dressing or great filling. Does sour cream go bad?

Of course, it does, be thoughtful about it and store it in the right way.

We will cover all you need to know in this blog post about its shelf life, how to store it and how to detect signs of spoilage or going bad!

Enjoy the read!

How Long Can Sour Cream Last

As we’ve already mentioned in the intro of our article, not long. How long? We’ve made a quick table for your convenience:

Sour CreamPantryRefrigerator
Unopened/Date + up to 10 days
Opened/Up to 14 days (2 weeks)
Indicative timetable for sour cream before it goes bad. Always check for signs of spoilage!

You’ll see that we’ve divided sour cream into 2 types: unopened sour cream and opened sour cream. Sour cream is bought in the store as a dairy product. We all know that dairy products are very perishable so be aware of this.

Unopened Sour Cream

Unopened sour cream will last up to 10 days past the printed date on the package. As we’ve said before, be cautious as this is a dairy-based product and might go bad sooner.

Try to finish it as soon as you can because you’ll want quality and don’t risk food poisoning.

Finishing it means opening the sour cream pack.

Opened Sour Cream

Opening the pack of sour cream will make it more vulnerable to external threats out there like sunlight, heat, air, odors, and so on.

Try to make a plan with your sour cream, how are you going to use everything up? You can use it in a lot of dishes, so that’ll help.

From the moment you’ve opened the sour cream, it will be good for about 2 weeks. We all know that’s a limit or end period. Because sour cream is dairy-based, try to finish this within the week if you can.

Sour cream can last for some time, if you have other cream-based products, try to finish them sooner as sour cream will retain its quality a bit longer, but not that much longer.

Never, ever doubt whether to store it in the fridge or not, it must be stored in the fridge.

How To Store Sour Cream

As we’ve concluded the last chapter: always store it in the fridge.

We’ll follow the same sequence: unopened vs opened.

Store Unopened Sour Cream

You store it best in the container you’ve bought but if it’s not in a container, put it in one of your own airtight containers and make sure it’s sealed tight.

All dairy products are stored best in the fridge, thus refrigerated!

Try not to store in the door your refrigerator as it is the closest spot to the dangerous heat outside. Store it closer to the back of your fridge.

People underestimate the impact that transferring dairy-based products from the store to your fridge at home can have on a hot summer day. If it doesn’t get in there soon, it might go bad a lot sooner than you’ve foreseen.

Now, if you’ve some left after you’ve opened the package.

Store Opened Sour Cream

Make sure it is stored in something that can be sealed tight. This might, in most cases, mean that you’ll have to pour everything over in another airtight container. If you do this right, it should be fine for a few days but you never know how the sour cream was when it got there in the store.

You don’t want external threats like air, heat, other odors, other bacteria, and so on, to be able to spoil your sour cream.

When pouring the cream over into an airtight container, try to use a clean spoon as dirty spoons can transfer bacteria to your dairy-based sour cream, letting it go bad a lot sooner. We want to avoid this as much as possible.

Of course, if you’re sure you won’t consume or need all of your sour creams within the first days, you can also try to freeze the sour cream.

Can You Freeze Sour Cream

Yes, of course, just like you can freeze any type of food but should you?

We on GoodOrGoneBad say you shouldn’t freeze it. A lot of producers will mention on the pack that freezing is not good. Freezing also means thawing. It is known that when thawing dairy-based products, they will separate. You won’t be able to have the same result as it was before when it comes to consistency, thickness, and quality.

If you’re going to freeze sour cream, try to use it (after thawing!) in other recipes when you’re cooking or baking the sour cream.

When you’re freezing the sour cream: try to do the following:

  1. Pour the sour cream into a separate airtight container or jar.
  2. Don’t fill the container or jar at its maximum. Freezing also means it will expand.
  3. Label the sour cream with the correct date and time of freezing.

Just make sure you’ll use it within a respectable amount of time if you do freeze it. Try to consume it within 2 weeks.

If you’re unsure if your sour cream is still fit for consumption, look for obvious signs of spoilage.

How Can You Tell If Sour Cream Has Gone Bad

Luckily, there are some simple guidelines we can use to check on our sour cream if it is still fit for consumption.

The important thing is to be able to trust in your senses and trust them and your intuition. We on GoodOrGoneBad always say that you need to discard it when you’re in doubt.

Guidelines to check on spoilage signs of sour cream:

  1. Does the sour cream have another color? If you see some off-color, toss it just like that. Don’t try to separate it because it is liquid, which means it’s more delicate.
  2. Are there any black spots? This can be a sign of mold. You should stop doubting now, toss everything!
  3. Does the sour cream have a funny or unpleasant smell? Toss it all away!
  4. How is the taste? This is the last step and sometimes the most unpleasant one. Does it taste odd? Get rid of it if it tastes too sour.

As we’ve said before in the article, sour cream can separate. Just like yogurt or other dairy-based products, you can stir it and recover the consistency. Don’t see this as a spoilage sign, always check with the other recommendations, if you don’t see other colors, don’t smell anything, or taste anything off, it might still be good for consumption.

Still unsure? Use it for baking or cooking, otherwise toss it. We on GoodOrGoneBad always say it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Enjoy your sour cream!