What can I substitute instead of heavy cream?
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M$4 Answers
If you are trying to cut out some of the calories, you could go for half and half, but it may not work out great depending on what you are doing. Full fat half and half would be a slightly better bet, but then you aren’t quite cutting the calories as much. When it comes to making a “light” version of a recipe, there are certain things that I really don’t try to substitute and cream is one. I would say, just eat a little less if you are trying to be healthier.
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M$
If it's that you can't tolerate dairy, then I'd suggest using unsweetened coconut milk. I don't think you can whip it, but if you just need to make a creamy soup, it works nicely. Unless I'm making a traditional dish like a coconut curry, I use the kind that is meant to be used as a milk replacement. So Delicious makes creamer, and even "cream" for use in cooking. That would likely be the best bet. It doesn't taste as "coconutty" as the kind that comes in a can.
If it's the latter, it's a non-concern. The recent metastudy on the connection between saturated fats, heart disease and high blood pressure has confirmed what many critics of the modern media health pundits have been saying for years: there is no correlation. Saturated fat in the diet has never been shown to contribute to heart disease in any properly-conducted, thorough study. See http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/ajcn.2009.27725v1 for the metastudy that found, in part;
"Conclusions: A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHDHeart Disease or CVDVascular Disease. More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat.
So if you're wanting to substitute heavy cream because of concern for your heart and arteries, you can substitute this knowledge and continue to enjoy your cream!
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M$
If you need, like whipped cream, then Cool Whip is a good substitute but, like the commercial says, it's made from vegetable oil.
In short, you need something high is FAT, that's the main purpose of heavy cream: To add richness.
Your other choice is vegetable fat (crisco) or oil, in some form.
If the intent is to cut calories, then I'd rather just have smaller portions that food made with "Real" Cream.
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M$
If you are making ice cream the drop in fat content will result in a bit more ice crystallization when it really freezes solid.
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M$
@mrcal is correct... it really depends on the recipe. I was able to substitute heavy cream for yogurt. It changed the taste somewhat, but again... it would depend on what type of recipe.