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uses for Creme Fraiche

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I am planning on making my very first batch of homemade creme fraiche next week and using it to make homemade beef stroganoff. Has anybody here ever used it in place of sour cream in beef stroganoff? if so, what were your results? in what other recipes have to used it as a substitute?

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  1. HA. For me, sour cream is 'the substitute' for crème fraîche.

    You can use it in all warm sauces, as it won't curdle like yogurt or even sour cream. And you can make lovely cold sauces as well - with mustard, or horseradish, or dill, or lemon zest, etc. etc.

    Great on top of a latke with some smoked salmon or caviar.

    It's great eaten straight up. I sometimes use it in salad dressings along with Greek yogurt to give it that insanely creamy, tangy flavor.

    1 Reply
    1. re: linguafood

      I too prefer creme fraiche to sour cream.
      Stirred into baby peas, lovely with fish.

      Dolloped into whipped cream before adding the berries for a pavlova

      A spoonful to finish off pan sauces for pork chops

      Mixed with lemon curd for pavlova

    2. I make quenelles of crème fraiche to top off lamb tartar.

      1. Added to mashed garlic potatoes or topped on a baked potato skin.

        2 Replies
        1. re: HillJ

          Also with sweet potatoes; the tang and sweet is so nice together.

          1. re: cayjohan

            so true....I think the sweet pot. are even better.

        2. Flammkuchen! It's basically an Alsatian flatbread pizza with creme fraiche, bacon, raw onion, and cheese. You bake it so quickly, you really get to taste each ingredient.


          1. It is great by itself, but it is not as sour as sour cream, so if that tart element is something you are looking for in your stroganoff, use sour cream and save the creme fraiche for most anything else.