What Is Light cream (half&half) and How Can I Use It?

Wondering what to do with light cream (half&half)? This guide covers how to pick it, cook it, store it, and swap it, plus 758 recipes to put it to work.

What is light cream (half&half)?

Light cream, sold in the US as half-and-half, is a blend of milk and cream with a butterfat content of roughly 10 to 18 percent. As the name suggests, it is about one part milk to one part cream, which puts it near the bottom of the cream ladder.

That low fat is the point. It pours rich into coffee and rounds out a sauce, but it carries far less fat than heavy cream, so it behaves very differently in the pan.

What It Does

The everyday job is coffee. Half-and-half adds body and softens bitterness without the heavy mouthfeel of pouring cream, and it is the standard diner creamer for exactly that reason.

In cooking it enriches. A splash loosens mashed potatoes, smooths a soup, or carries flavor through a gentle sauce like the one in Pork Tenderloin in Thyme White Wine Cream Sauce. It also goes into quiche and custard fillings where you want richness without a dense set.

It turns up in plenty of savory dishes here, from Secret Jagerschnitzel to Chicken Florentine Casserole, anywhere a recipe wants creaminess but not the weight of heavy cream.

What It Will Not Do

Two limits matter. First, half-and-half will not whip. At 10 to 18 percent fat it cannot trap enough air to build a foam, so no amount of beating gives you peaks. For whipped cream you need at least 30 percent fat.

It also curdles more easily than heavy cream. Boil it hard, or add it to wine or lemon, and the proteins seize into specks. Keep the heat gentle and stir it in off a hard boil. Tempering it first, warmed with a little of the hot liquid, helps too.

Substitutes

Swaps are easy. To make your own, mix about 3 parts whole milk with 1 part heavy cream, which lands close to the right fat.

Going the other way, thin heavy cream with an equal splash of milk. Whole milk alone works in a pinch for coffee or a sauce, just with less body. Evaporated milk is another stand-in for cooking, richer-tasting and stable against curdling.

Buying and Storage

Find it near the milk, in cartons and in shelf-stable single-serve cups that need no refrigeration until opened. Fat-free half-and-half exists too, thickened with corn syrup and other additives to fake the body of the real thing.

Keep opened half-and-half cold at the back of the fridge and use it within about a week. It sours faster than heavy cream because of its higher water content, so give it a sniff before pouring into hot coffee, where a sour carton will curdle on contact.

Nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find light cream (half&half): Light cream (half&half) is usually found in the dairy section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Light cream (half&half) is a member of the Dairy and Egg Products US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese

淡奶油（半

British (UK) term

half cream

en français

crème légère

en español

crema ligera

How much does light cream (half&half) weigh?

Related

Dairy and Egg Products

Recipes using light cream (half&half)

There are 758 recipes that contain this ingredient.

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Hearty & Silky Broccoli Soup

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Jean's Bourbon Ice Cream

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A creamy chilled broccoli soup blended silky smooth with milk, half-and-half, and a hint of nutmeg. Ready in 30 minutes with just a blender, a saucepan, and a handful of ingredients.

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Chocolate Raspberry Toasted Hazelnut Ice Cream recipe

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Halloween pumpkin pie with a from-scratch pastry crust, silky spiced custard, and fresh grated ginger for a livelier kick than the usual canned pie. The kind of pumpkin pie that earns its place on the autumn table.

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Easy cream of tomato soup simmers fresh tomato juice with half-and-half and a generous handful of fresh basil. Smooth, creamy, and on the table in about 25 minutes. The homemade answer to the can.

Frosted Fudge Brownies

Frosted fudge brownies built with unsweetened chocolate, butter, and toasted walnuts, then crowned with a stovetop boiled fudge frosting. Dense, fudgy, and unapologetically rich.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

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Frozen Vanilla Custard Ice Cream

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My Mother's Sugar Cookies

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Yummy Bacon-Topped Cheese Soup

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Roll-and-cut decorative sugar cookies brushed with colored egg-white wash before baking. Almond-scented dough cut into shapes for holidays, birthdays and party platters.

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Chocolate-Chip Cookie Muffins

Chocolate chip cookie muffins with melted unsweetened chocolate, brown sugar, semi-sweet chips, and pecans. Bakery-style chocolate muffins between a cookie and a cake.

Chocolate-Chip Cookie Muffins

Chocolate chip cookie muffins with melted unsweetened chocolate, brown sugar, semi-sweet chips, and pecans. Bakery-style chocolate muffins between a cookie and a cake.

Mom's Cream of Broccoli Soup

Cream of broccoli soup with butter-sauteed onion and celery, simmered broccoli, and a finishing pour of half-and-half. Smooth pureed soup ready in 40 minutes.

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Red garlic mashed potatoes keep the skins on for rustic texture and layer in garlic three ways, boiled in the water, crushed, and as powder. A creamy, savory side with a hit of steak seasoning.

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Homemade peach ice cream with fresh chopped peaches folded into a microwave-thickened custard base of milk, half-and-half, sugar and egg. Smooth, scoopable and a Southern summer ritual.

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Pumpkin Scones with Two Glaze

Copycat pumpkin scones with two glazes: tender, spiced pumpkin scones finished with a plain sugar glaze and a drizzle of spiced pumpkin glaze. The fall coffee-shop favorite at home.

Pumpkin Scones with Two Glaze

Copycat pumpkin scones with two glazes: tender, spiced pumpkin scones finished with a plain sugar glaze and a drizzle of spiced pumpkin glaze. The fall coffee-shop favorite at home.

Pumpkin Scones with Two Glaze

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Cream of broccoli and pea soup with puréed fresh broccoli, sweet peas, and silky half-and-half. A classic homemade soup smoother than canned and far brighter in color.

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A delicious creamy ice cream with ripe strawberries and graham cracker pieces. A delightful summertime treat!

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Creamy potato soup at its richest, built on a trio of heavy cream, half-and-half and milk over tender potatoes and sweet sauteed onion. Leave it chunky or puree silky-smooth, then top with croutons.

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All 758 recipes