Half-And-Half Vs. Heavy Cream: What's The Difference

Although often used in conjunction in recipes (and stocked right next to each other in most grocery stores), half-and-half and heavy cream are not quite the same thing. You might use them interchangeably in your mashed potatoes, but there are times when the key difference between the two dairy products can really affect the outcome of a recipe.

We’ll explain what sets half-and-half and heavy cream apart, and when it's best to use each.

Half-and-Half Vs. Heavy Cream

The biggest difference between half-and-half and heavy cream is the amount of fat. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires half-and-half contain more than 10.5 percent milkfat but less than 18 percent, while heavy cream has to contain at least 36 percent milkfat. (Whipping cream is not the same as heavy cream, as it can contain as little as 30 percent milkfat; and light cream only contains between 18 and 30 percent milkfat.) 

That means, at minimum, heavy cream contains double the fat content of the fattiest half-and-half on the market. Seeing as half-and-half is a blend of milk and cream, it makes sense that it contains less fat.

Another key difference between the two is viscosity, as heavy cream is naturally thicker. 

Heavy cream also doesn’t have to be tempered when added to hot sauces and soups. You might be thinking: But I don’t temper half-and-half into my morning coffee. That's because half-and-half is homogenized. However, for silky smooth sauces without broken or curdled half-and-half, it’s best to warm up the straight-from-the-fridge dairy product with a few splashes of the hot sauce in a small bowl before adding that mixture back to the hot pan.

Can You Use Half-and-Half and Heavy Cream Interchangeably?

The answer is highly recipe dependent—although there are some hard and fast rules.

In coffee or mashed potatoes, feel free to use whichever you have on hand. In other instances, it’s important not to swap one for the other, as consistency and fat content differences can really affect the end result. Learn more on how to use each below.

How To Use Half-and-Half and Heavy Cream

You’ll often see half-and-half used in the custard base of quiche recipes, like our Broccoli-Cheddar Quiche, or other eggy dishes like our Hash Brown Frittata. It’s often heated and used in mashed potatoes or used to create creamy pasta sauces or soups. 

Many of the uses above are also things heavy cream can do. But if there's one technique where half-and-half is not a suitable swap, it’s in whipped cream. It will never whip up to stiff peaks like heavy cream, so half-and-half shouldn't be used as a replacement for heavy cream in recipes that require fluffy whipped cream, like in our No-Bake Cheesecake.

Substitutions

Here’s how to substitute heavy cream for half-and-half (and vice versa) when applicable.

How To Make Half-and-Half With Heavy Cream

Since half-and-half is a mixture of cream and milk (half of each), you can mix equal parts cream and whole milk to make an easy swap. Be warned: Because this substitute isn’t homogenized, it might separate in your morning coffee.

How To Make Heavy Cream with Half-and-Half

This is slightly trickier than making half-and-half from heavy cream, but nothing too complicated. You’ll need to use melted butter to up the fat content of the half-and-half to match that of cream. In this case, three parts half-and-half to one part melted unsalted butter. Mix the two together and allow the mixture to cool. This will work in place of heavy cream in most uses, just not whipped cream.