What can I make with heavy cream?
Heavy Cream is what makes a sauce feel finished, as long as it does not split. Recipes using heavy cream are below, followed by the temperature rules that keep it smooth.
12 recipes with heavy cream
Street Corn (Elote)
Grilled corn slathered in creamy chile-lime sauce and cotija.
Mexican15m4
Fish Tacos
Crispy or grilled fish in warm tortillas with cabbage slaw and crema.
Mexican-American20m4
Creamy Hummus
Smooth chickpea dip with tahini, lemon, and garlic.
Middle Eastern20m6
Loaded Nachos
Tortilla chips baked with cheese, beans, and every topping.
Tex-Mex20m4
Chicken Tacos
Weeknight tacos with seasoned chicken and lime crema.
Mexican25m3
Palak Paneer
Cubes of paneer in a creamy spinach curry.
Indian35m4Vanilla Cupcakes
Moist and delicious vanilla cupcakes topped with creamy buttercream frosting
American38m12
Chicken Tikka Masala
Tender yogurt-marinated chicken in a creamy spiced tomato sauce.
Indian45m4
New England Clam Chowder
Creamy potato and clam soup studded with bacon.
American45m6Chicken Quesadillas
A delicious and easy-to-make Mexican dish filled with chicken, cheese, and vegetables, served with salsa and sour cream.
Mexican45m4
Butter Chicken
Mild, creamy North Indian curry with rich tomato sauce.
Indian45m4Sticky Toffee Pudding
A moist date cake topped with a layer of sticky toffee sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
British50m6
Cooking with heavy cream without splitting or clumping
- 1Bring heavy cream closer to room temperature before it meets heat; cold dairy in a hot pan is what curdles.
- 2Add it off the heat or on the lowest setting, stirring constantly.
- 3A teaspoon of flour or cornstarch stabilises a sauce and keeps it glossy.
- 4Salt and acid go in at the end - both encourage splitting when added early.
What goes well with heavy cream
Heavy Cream is at its best with garlic, herbs, lemon, flour, black pepper and nutmeg. Any two or three of those, plus heavy cream, is already a dinner rather than an ingredient list.
Storing heavy cream
Keep heavy cream in the main body of the fridge, not the door, where the temperature swings most. Wrap cheese in paper rather than plastic so it can breathe. Hard cheeses freeze acceptably for cooking; fresh dairy does not freeze well.
Substituting heavy cream
If you are out of heavy cream, look for something that behaves the same way in the pan rather than something that tastes the same. Match the moisture level, the cooking time, and the richness, and adjust the liquid slightly if your substitute releases more water. When in doubt, describe what you actually have in the chat and Mr. Chef will rewrite the recipe around it.
Heavy Cream recipes: common questions
- What can I make with heavy cream and not much else?
- Plenty. With heavy cream plus an onion, garlic, oil, and salt you already have the base of a skillet dinner, a soup, or a simple sauce. Add a starch - rice, pasta, bread, or potatoes - and it becomes a full meal. The recipes above are ordered so the ones needing the fewest extra items come first.
- What is the quickest heavy cream recipe?
- Look for the entries above marked 20 minutes or less. As a rule, anything cut small and cooked in a hot pan beats anything roasted whole, and one-pan recipes save more time in cleanup than in cooking.
- Can I substitute heavy cream?
- In most recipes yes, as long as the replacement plays a similar role - similar moisture, similar cooking time, similar richness. Swapping across roles (a watery vegetable for a starchy one, for instance) usually needs a change in liquid or cooking time too.
- How do I use up leftover heavy cream?
- Fried rice, a frittata, a grain bowl, a soup, or a quesadilla will absorb almost any leftover heavy cream without a recipe. If you want something specific, tell Mr. Chef exactly what is in the fridge and it will build a recipe around it.