7 Best Dairy-Free Substitutes for Heavy Cream (2024)

FAQs

7 Best Dairy-Free Substitutes for Heavy Cream? ›

Milk and Butter

Similarly to half-and-half, milk makes a good heavy cream substitute when it's combined with melted butter. Combine 3/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup melted butter for every cup of heavy cream.

Milk and Butter

Similarly to half-and-half, milk makes a good heavy cream substitute when it's combined with melted butter. Combine 3/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup melted butter for every cup of heavy cream.

What is a substitute for heavy cream if you follow a special diet? Coconut milk is a perfect vegan heavy cream alternative, but it's also perfect for people who adhere to paleo, gluten-free, or keto diets. Coconut milk has the same thick consistency of heavy cream, but without the dairy.

Cashews are the perfect replacement for heavy cream or even heavy whipping cream in recipes. They're very neutral in flavor, taste amazing, and create the creamiest texture and consistency when you blend them. Cashew cream is perfect for desserts, baked goods, or making that special sauce for your favorite pasta dish.

Coconut cream makes a good swap for half-and-half when you blend it with half soy milk. Another option: Create your own light cream by mixing 3/4 cup of a plain milk substitute with 1/4 cup of canola oil. Coconut milk can replace evaporated milk or heavy cream in soups and stews.

Oat milk is perhaps the creamiest of all the plant milks. Its thick creamy texture means it's one of the closest plant-based milks to resemble dairy milk. Oat milk is quickly becoming a favorite non-dairy alternative to milk with popular brands like Oatly disrupting the traditional milk industry.

Similarly, a nondairy milk (such as soy or almond) and a neutral oil (like vegetable or canola) can replicate heavy cream in certain recipes—namely, sauces and soups, but also some baked goods.

For best results, substitute heavy cream with an equal amount of evaporated milk. If you're making a dessert, you can also add a few drops of vanilla extract to sweeten it. Evaporated milk can be used as a substitute in recipes in which heavy cream is used as a liquid ingredient, such as in baked goods.

The most readily available sauce-thickener is flour. For a too-thin sauce, try adding a slurry (equal parts flour and water, whisked together) or beurre manie (equal parts softened butter and flour, kneaded together to form a paste)—both are ideal thickeners for rich and creamy sauces, such as steak sauce recipes.

Traditional cream, reimagined! Created with faba beans to offer you an alternative ingredient profile that's entirely dairy-free. Made With Plants Dairy-Free Thickened Cream can be enjoyed any way you'd use traditional thickened cream. Pour it, whip it, and savour it in your favourite sweet or savoury recipes.

Is there such a thing as lactose free heavy cream? ›

Indulge in our Natrel Lactose Free 35% Whipping Cream. Get reacquainted with the delicious taste of whipping cream on your favourite desserts or in your recipes and savour that smooth, creamy texture once again.

Does Cool Whip Have Dairy? After looking through the ingredient list, we can see that it is not dairy-free, as it contains skim milk, light cream, and sodium caseinate.

What Do Vegans Use Instead of Heavy Cream? Fortunately, nearly any plant-based milk can be made into a heavy cream substitute. Nut milks, including hemp milk, oat milk, coconut milk and soy milk can all be used as the base for a heavy cream substitute with the addition of the right fats.

Short answer: Yes. Recommended substitutes: Coconut cream. Caveats: While you can't swap out heavy cream for a lower-fat dairy, like half-and-half or milk (it won't whip up), you can turn to a dairy alternative: coconut cream.

Coconut cream is a versatile, dairy-free, and low carb ingredient that can enhance the taste and texture of many recipes. For example, use it as a delicious addition to soups, smoothies, sauces, and desserts. Because it's high in calories and saturated fat, enjoy it in moderation as part of a healthy diet.

There are a handful of non-dairy half and half options at the grocery store made with plant-based ingredients like almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, soy milk, and even pea protein. I recommend Califia Farms Unsweetened Better Half.

To make a half and half substitute without heavy cream, combine butter (salted or unsalted is fine) and scant 1 cup of milk. Add melted butter to a 1-cup measuring cup and fill it the rest of the way with milk. If using whole milk, this will put you at about 13% milk fat.

Much like heavy cream, half-and-half is a dairy product. It's made by combining equal parts cream and whole milk, resulting in a product that's thinner and lower in fat than heavy cream.

Soy milk typically has a mild and creamy flavour, but this can vary between brands. It's typically sweeter than other milk alternatives. If you want dairy free milk that tastes like milk, this is probably your best option.

Soy Milk. Soy milk is the OG of dairy-free milks. It's made by soaking soybeans, which have been hulled and ground, in water. Soy beans contain essential amino acids, high levels of protein, and iron, and soy milk has lower fat and cholesterol levels than regular milk, which obviously has its perks.

What is the most popular dairy milk alternative? ›

1. Soy milk. Soy milk is made from soybeans and is probably one of the most popular plant-based milk alternatives, as it's very versatile and can be used in pretty much all recipes and drinks in place of cow's milk. Environmentally, the debate continues as to whether soy milk is better than cow's milk.

The best way to control the viscosity is to reserve some of the almond milk in its unthickened state, heat and thicken the other part, then combine them together for the perfect consistency of whole milk. To do this, reserve about half of the thin almond milk in a pitcher and add the other half to a large saucepan.

Vegan heavy cream is a nut-based product made primarily out of cashews with a touch of dairy-free butter. This substitute emulates the smooth texture and creamy taste of dairy.

Oat milk is an excellent non-dairy substitute for heavy cream because it has a natural, creamy consistency and is not too sweet but it is high in calories. If this is not an issue for you, oat milk is a brilliant choice. One cup of oat milk contains 160 calories, five grams of protein, and three grams of fiber.

In some ways, the two are comparable. For example, heavy cream contains 340 calories in half a cup, while coconut cream contains slightly less, 330 calories. Heavy cream contributes 3.2 grams of protein to a diet, and coconut cream contributes 3.6 grams, slightly more.

Heavy cream: For 1 cup heavy cream, substitute 3/4 cup milk plus 1/4 cup melted butter (for richness), or simply thicken 1 cup milk with 1 to 2 tablespoons cornstarch or even flour. (Whisk the milk into the dried ingredient little by little.)

Alt milk + oil

In general you'll want to use ⅔ cup of milk and ⅓ cup of oil for each cup of heavy cream, and you can use this substitute in both cooking and baking recipes.

Cornstarch or arrowroot

You'll need about 1 tablespoon for every cup of liquid in the recipe. Mix the cornstarch with equal parts water to create a slurry and pour it into the pot. Whisk continuously over high heat until the cornstarch is well incorporated and the sauce starts to thicken.

The two best substitutes for heavy cream in alfredo sauce are: Milk + Flour + Butter: Whisk together 1 cup of whole milk (make sure it's COLD), 2 tablespoons of flour, and 2-3 tablespoons of melted butter (cooled). Whisk until smooth. Once you heat this mixture it will begin to thicken like heavy cream.

What foods are completely dairy free? ›

Article Talk. A non-dairy creamer, commonly also called tea whitener or coffee whitener or else just creamer, is a liquid or granular product intended to substitute for milk or cream as an additive to coffee, tea, hot chocolate or other beverages.

Dream Whip is not vegan because it contains sodium caseinate, a milk derivative made from casein. Casein is a protein found in milk. It also contains palm kernel oil which is an issue for many vegans.

If you're lactose intolerant, you might wonder: Does Greek yogurt have dairy? Made from cow's milk, it does. However, Greek yogurt has less than 1 gram of lactose per ounce—less lactose than milk and about half the lactose of some other yogurts.

Filtered Water, Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil, Faba Bean Protein, Guar Gum, Sunflower Lecithin, Natural Flavors.

As you can see from the list of ingredients above, there are no eggs, milk or animal products in Jell-O instant pudding mix or in their cook and serve pudding mix.

Sherbet is made with fruit and a dairy, like milk or cream, so it's definitely not vegan or lactose intolerant friendly, which may come as a surprise to many!

This is a classic dessert that is sweet, light, and fluffy. Angel food cake is also naturally dairy-free.

Our Country Crock® Plant Cream, a dairy free, heavy whipping cream alternative, will add a touch of creamy goodness to any dish you can cook, bake or whip up. Use it just like dairy heavy whipping cream to make dairy free whipped cream, flaky biscuits, delicious soups, and creamy pasta dishes.

Which vegan cream is best for whipping? ›

Coconut cream – canned coconut cream is the best for making vegan whipped cream, better than coconut milk. Coconut cream has a lower water content, so basically you'll get more bang for your buck. Full fat canned coconut milk can also work but the best results are generally going to come from using coconut cream.

Evaporated milk works well as a heavy cream substitute in sauces or soups calling for whole milk. In the making of evaporated milk, regular cow's milk is pressure-cooked until it sheds about half of its water content, making it thicker in consistency. For a healthy substitute, try evaporated skim milk.

Let's Do Organic Non-Dairy Heavy Coconut Cream

A delicious indulgence, Heavy Coconut Cream is excellent in coffee, soups, sauces, desserts and more. Without guar or other additives, separation of Heavy Coconut Cream is normal.

Coconut cream is equivalent to heavy whipping cream, with a thicker consistency, and is great substitute in most recipes that call for heavy cream. If you use coconut cream instead of heavy cream, you will notice a milk coconut flavor in your dish. You can purchase coconut cream in cans and cartons.

Summary. Coconut milk is a plant-based alternative fortified with vitamins and calcium but is a source of saturated fat. Unsweetened coconut milk is a low-calorie beverage. Because it lacks protein, coconut milk should not replace cow's milk in the diets of children.

Almond Cream is the New Whipped Cream (Dairy-Free Recipe)

Indulge in our Natrel Lactose Free 35% Whipping Cream. Get reacquainted with the delicious taste of whipping cream on your favourite desserts or in your recipes and savour that smooth, creamy texture once again.

Traditional cream, reimagined! Created with faba beans to offer you an alternative ingredient profile that's entirely dairy-free. Made With Plants Dairy-Free Thickened Cream can be enjoyed any way you'd use traditional thickened cream. Pour it, whip it, and savour it in your favourite sweet or savoury recipes.

Half and half is half cream and half milk combined, which is where it gets its name from. This gives a nice creamy consistency for coffee. However, since it is dairy, if you're dairy free, it's not much of an option for your morning brew.

Cool Whip is available in an aerosol can using nitrous oxide as a propellant. From its introduction, Cool Whip was labeled and advertised as non-dairy, but as of 2018 it contains skimmed milk and sodium caseinate, a milk derivative.

Is Dream Whip dairy-free? ›

Dream Whip is not vegan because it contains sodium caseinate, a milk derivative made from casein. Casein is a protein found in milk. It also contains palm kernel oil which is an issue for many vegans.

Is Cool Whip Lactose-free? Cool Whip contains skim milk, light cream, and sodium caseinate, making this product not safe for a lactose-free diet.

Pureed silken tofu will provide a texture like cream cheese, and it can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. Nut cream cheeses: These vegan options are made from cashews or almonds. They are versatile, but almond cream cheese usually works better in sweet dishes, and cashew butter is better in savory dishes.

Blend 1 cup of cashews with ¾ cup of water in a high-speed blender until super smooth, and voilà: You're left with a versatile heavy cream substitute that complements countless dishes.

Vegan heavy cream is a nut-based product made primarily out of cashews with a touch of dairy-free butter. This substitute emulates the smooth texture and creamy taste of dairy.

It's best to go with the full-fat version of half and half to avoid additives and added sugar. Half and half contains less than a gram of sugar and 20 calories per tablespoon. It has flavor but is not overly sweet. The full-fat variety of half and half has 1.7 grams of fat per tablespoon.

Hard cheeses such as cheddar, colby, Swiss, mozzarella and Monterey Jack “are virtually lactose-free,” Cifelli explains. Additionally aged cheeses such as Parmigiano Reggiano are virtually lactose free. At less than 1 mg lactose per 100 grams even the Italian Ministry of Health allows it to be labeled as such.

Nutpods Creamer Unsweetened Original

Unlike soy creamers, this almond and coconut-based creamer doesn't separate once you are done stirring. Nut Pods is the most comparable to half and half in the whole list of creamers! Nutpods are the closest you'll get to the real thing!