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Portions and preparation · USDA nutrition

Sour cream calories per cup: 178–499 across all 4 named USDA examples

Across all 4 named USDA examples, a cup contains 178–499 calories. Each included example lists 240 g for that measure. The same household label can carry a different gram weight elsewhere in USDA data.

Portion calculator

Estimate your portion

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Preparation and portion

Named measures come from this exact source record.

Estimated for 30 g

22calories

Sour cream, fat free

Protein
0.9 g
Carbs
4.7 g
Fat
0 g

These values scale the selected reference food by weight. Ingredients, preparation, and portion size can change your meal’s estimate.

FoodData Central Survey Foods (FNDDS) · FDC 2705616 Full nutrition profile →

Compare all 4 food records, nutrition tables and USDA sources

The 4 exact records in this guide report 22–62 calories in the records' own listed source servings and 74–208 calories per 100 grams. Those are observations from named database records—not a universal range or an estimate of an unseen plate.

Match my meal

Start with the description closest to what you ate

For Sour cream, begin by separating “Sour cream, fat free” from “Sour cream, regular.” Choosing a card filters this source set; it does not infer the portion or fill in ingredients the chosen description does not name.

Showing all 4 linked records.

Equal-weight view

How sour cream records compare at 100 grams

All 4 cited records are shown at the same 100-gram weight. The source servings may differ.

  1. Sour cream, fat free 74 kcal
    74 kcal
  2. Sour cream, light 136 kcal
    136 kcal
  3. Sour cream, regular 196 kcal
    196 kcal
  4. Sour cream, imitation 208 kcal
    208 kcal

Shared basis: 100 g · kilocalories

What this page compares

Named source records, not one universal meal

This guide keeps 4 named USDA records in view: 4 direct matches. All sit within “Cream cheese, sour cream, whipped cream.” The exact descriptions remain the unit of comparison; the familiar heading is only the doorway into the evidence.

Why these records appear together: The deterministic grouping rule “normalized first description segment” placed these 4 records together under the exact grouping key “sour cream.” That rule determines membership before any nutrition result is read.

For Sour cream, this page can compare 4 named records from FDC 2705616 through FDC 2705614. It cannot observe which preparation was eaten, recover unnamed additions, or supply the eaten grams.

Read the shared calculation, provenance, and uncertainty method →

Editor’s decision brief

The three facts to carry into the table

Carry the denominator, exact identity, and strongest observed contrast into every number below.

Portion

A shared 30 g comparison anchor

Equal source weights make the selected Sour cream serving totals easier to compare, but the eaten portion still has to be measured or estimated.

Composition

134 kcal separates the fixed-weight endpoints

The lower endpoint is “fat free”; the higher is “imitation.” This isolates density, not ingredient causation.

Discriminator

91 mg sodium gap per 100 g

Of protein, fiber, and sodium, the strongest normalized contrast is between “regular” (50 mg) and “fat free” (141 mg).

Observed source examples

Three landmarks inside this source set—not universal endpoints

These 4 records each use a 30 g serving. Their serving calories compare equal weights within this set. They do not define a calorie range for every sour cream; match the preparation and adjust to your portion.

Important: “Lower” begins with Sour cream, fat free; “higher” ends with Sour cream, imitation, using each record’s own source amount. Those labels order this selected set only—they are not endpoints for every sour cream meal.

Full comparison

Compare every selected FNDDS record

For Sour cream, serving columns preserve each record’s own listed amount, while calories per 100 g hold weight constant. A dash means the cited record does not supply that field; it does not mean the nutrient is absent.

On smaller screens, focus the table and scroll horizontally to read every column.

USDA records selected for the Sour cream nutrition guide
Exact source record Match Source amount Calories kcal / 100 g Protein Fiber Sodium USDA
Sour cream, fat free Direct name match 30 gUSDA reference amount 22 kcal 74 0.9 g 0 g 42 mg FDC 2705616 ↗
Sour cream, imitation Direct name match 30 gUSDA reference amount 62 kcal 208 0.7 g 0 g 31 mg FDC 2705617 ↗
Sour cream, light Direct name match 30 gUSDA reference amount 41 kcal 136 1.1 g 0 g 25 mg FDC 2705615 ↗
Sour cream, regular Direct name match 30 gUSDA reference amount 59 kcal 196 0.9 g 0 g 15 mg FDC 2705614 ↗

Portion analysis

Serving total and calorie density answer different questions

Every selected record uses a 30-gram source amount, so serving-weight differences do not explain the calorie spread inside this set. Their own source servings run from 22 calories for “fat free” to 62 for “imitation.” At a fixed 100 grams, “fat free” is 74 calories and “imitation” is 208—a fixed-weight separation of 134 calories. For Sour cream, the serving view answers “how much is in the database portion?”; the 100-gram view answers “how concentrated is the matched record?” Neither reveals how many grams were actually eaten.

The scaling rule: multiply a per-100-gram value by eaten grams ÷ 100. The arithmetic is exact; the result is only as defensible as the record match and portion estimate.

Preparation analysis

The long description carries the evidence

The published descriptions distinguish forms such as “fat free”, “imitation”, “light”, and “regular”. The source formulations contain 4 distinct ingredient codes; examples that appear in only part of the set include cream, sour, full fat, sour cream, fat free, sour cream, imitation, cultured, and sour cream, light. On this Sour cream page, those rows make the records inspectable, but they are not a controlled experiment: they cannot tell us that one named input, by itself, caused a nutrient difference.

Database precision is not meal certainty. Retain the exact description beside the number so later corrections remain possible.

What changes the comparison

Four drivers worth checking before choosing a record

The family label “Sour cream” cannot resolve the differences between Sour cream, fat free and Sour cream, regular. The four checks below identify the record wording, source weight, and formulation evidence that can.

  1. 01

    A shared source weight

    Every selected record uses 30 grams. Inside this set, serving-calorie differences therefore reflect the published composition rather than a change in source weight.

  2. 02

    The words that split the family

    Representative record-level distinctions include “fat free”, “imitation”, “light”, and “regular”. Those phrases are evidence for choosing a record, not decorative subtitle text.

  3. 03

    Formulation evidence, with limits

    4 source-input codes appear across the selected records. Their presence and listed weights describe USDA formulations, not finished plated proportions.

  4. 04

    The unresolved plate

    Even “Sour cream, fat free” leaves the eaten grams and unnamed oils, sauces, toppings, substitutions, or leftovers unresolved. Preserve those Sour cream unknowns for correction instead of converting them into false precision.

Record matching

Match identity first; scale quantity second

Read the source name as a sequence of decisions. First confirm that sour cream is the right meal family. Then resolve the phrases that actually separate this set—“fat free”, “imitation”, “light”, and “regular”—before comparing gram weight. If a package, menu, or known recipe provides a closer first-party description, prefer it and keep this USDA record as a transparent fallback.

A practical matching checklist

  1. Read the complete Sour cream source description, including preparation and additions.
  2. Compare the listed source weight with the amount actually eaten.
  3. Prefer a current package or restaurant source when a specific branded item is known.
  4. Record toppings, sauces, cooking fat, sides, and substitutions that the selected description does not name.

Decision support from the exact records on this page

Turn source data into a better next decision

These conclusions and reading paths are computed from 4 exact records behind Sour cream source-record guide. Links are chosen by record identity, controlled contrast, formulation input, nutrient spread, or serving context—not by loose keyword similarity.

Equal-weight result

Sour cream, imitation is higher in total fat per 100 g

Sour cream, imitation reports 19.5 g versus 0 g for Sour cream, fat free: a 19.5 g difference when both are normalized to 100 g.

Inspect the underlying evidence

These listed servings have equal weights

4 listed servings each weigh 30 g

The 4 records with a listed serving weight on this page each use 30 g. Their serving totals therefore compare equal weights, even if the household labels differ. Match the preparation and adjust the weight to the amount you eat.

Choose the record before reading the number

Sour cream, fat free and Sour cream, light are not interchangeable

The page keeps both records at the same 100 g denominator and makes Fat-level wording (nonfat or fat-free wording versus No matching controlled term in the source name) the explicit record-description contrast. It does not show that the wording difference caused a nutrient difference. Pick the description that matches the food in front of you rather than averaging away the distinction.

Inspect the underlying evidence

Contextual knowledge graph

Follow the relationship that matches your question

For Sour cream source-record guide, each path states why the destination belongs here, so you can distinguish a true evidentiary connection from a merely similar label.

Compare two records on this page Sour cream, fat free vs Sour cream, light

Both records appear in this page’s evidence set. The explicit record-description contrast is Fat-level wording: nonfat or fat-free wording versus No matching controlled term in the source name; it is a selection cue, not evidence of cause.

Follow this evidence path Compare two records on this page Sour cream, fat free vs Sour cream, regular

Both records appear in this page’s evidence set. The explicit record-description contrast is Fat-level wording: nonfat or fat-free wording versus No matching controlled term in the source name; it is a selection cue, not evidence of cause.

Follow this evidence path A formulation detail that separates records Cream, sour, full fat

USDA input 1056 appears in 1 of 4 context records; its summed listed input weight spans 100–100 g across those source formulations. These are source-formulation input weights, not plated or serving weights. Follow the code to inspect every represented occurrence.

Follow this evidence path Put the observed spread in corpus context Calcium: density and serving context

In this page’s records, calcium runs from 3 mg in Sour cream, imitation to 141 mg in Sour cream, light, all per 100 g.

Follow this evidence path Put the observed spread in corpus context Sodium: density and serving context

In this page’s records, sodium runs from 50 mg in Sour cream, regular to 141 mg in Sour cream, fat free, all per 100 g.

Follow this evidence path Inspect an exact record Sour cream, fat free

Open the full nutrient table, household measures, formulation inputs, and FoodData Central 2705616 citation for this exact record—not a name-level average.

Follow this evidence path Check another exact record Sour cream, imitation

Open the full nutrient table, household measures, formulation inputs, and FoodData Central 2705617 citation for this exact record—not a name-level average.

Follow this evidence path