Picture of raw horseradish root. — Horseradish that you can buy and grate or zest. Photo by PattyCooks

Diet
[x] Flexitarian + Omnivore
[x] Vegetarian (ovo-lacto) + Flexitarian
[x] Vegan + Vegetarian: use dairy free vegan sour cream
[x] Gluten free
[x] Weight Maint (portion control)
[x] Allergies: MILK

Creamy Horseradish Sauce

How to make your own creamy horseradish sauce.

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Course: Sauces

Cuisine: American

Keyword: creamy horseradish sauce, horseradish, Horseradish sauce

Servings: T

Calories: 30kcal

Author: Patty

Equipment

Veggie peeler
Food Processor (you can use a zester if you want)
Measuring cups
Bowl

Ingredients

1 C sour cream
1 T lemon juice and zest
1 t kosher salt
1 T Freshly ground white pepper
2 T zested horseradish

Instructions

Making the Sauce

Combine in a bowl the lemon (zest and juice) and sour cream. Season to taste.

Preparing Horseradish

Bring home a small horseradish root and wash.
It needs to be peeled, and as horseradish can vary wildly in pungency, you need to be careful for the fumes can be extremely strong. I have considered peeling it outdoors, but minimally you need windows open and fume hoods working. (Think "mustard gas" type fumes.) So peel as much as you need from the root.
If zesting: use a zester if you need just a little amount, say 1T or 2T.
If making a larger batch: dice the root into smaller cubes and blend in e a food processor until it reaches the consistency you want.
Whichever way you choose the next step is to mix the sauce and horseradish.
All this peeling and zesting will break cell walls and release isothiocyanates, resulting in the need to move fast. (The longer you wait on adding acidic ingredients, the stronger the root will taste.) So quickly add the horseradish to the bowl of sauce and mix.

Serving

Then bottle it up in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. It will be potent for a few weeks if kept in the fridge. It can also be frozen.
Let the mixture sit in the fridge for at least ~30min to let the flavors combine before you use; better would be let it sit overnight. If it is still too pungent, add more acid.

Notes

If you do not have real horseradish root available, use 2T of dried horseradish. This is a less volatile version of the ingredient.

Because I zest a horseradish root, the heat can vary. It is important to taste the sauce; often I will add a bit more horseradish to the dish so it has the heat level I want. You can add other herbs to this cream such as dill or garlic chives to change its flavor to suit your food.

You can add some Dijon mustard if you want to change the flavor and color. Overtime I have found that the horseradish can turn a little gray. I tossed it then and figured I needed to add more acid or more of the sour cream.

Like handling peppers, do not touch your eyes or other parts of your body until you rinse off your hands well. It burns! The peeled root is strong, at least at first.

Nutrition