17 Recipes That Use Up the Heavy Cream in Your Fridge (2024)

Got a quart of heavy cream in your fridge? These recipes will help you use up any leftover cream in an easy and fun way. You can also substitute cream for half-and-half depending on what you have on hand. Whether it's used in soups, sauces or baked goods, recipes like Creamy Lemon Chicken Parmesan and Brown Sugar Glazed Apple Cake are delicious and a great way to use up leftover ingredients.

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Slow-Cooker Mushroom Soup with Sherry

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This comforting and creamy slow-cooker soup is loaded with earthy, umami flavor from the mushrooms and soy sauce. Puréeing only some of the slow-cooker mushroom soup gives the dish complex texture and eye appeal. Garnish with additional black pepper and chopped fresh thyme, if desired.

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Creamy Lemon Chicken Parmesan

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This riff on classic chicken Parmesan replaces the usual marinara with a luscious lemony cream sauce. We've lightened it up by using half-and-half instead of cream, with just-as-delicious results. Serve this lemony chicken dinner with whole-wheat pasta or brown rice.

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Linguine with Creamy White Clam Sauce

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Ripe tomato and fresh basil give this quick recipe tons of flavor. Serve this healthy pasta dinner with crusty garlic bread and steamed green beans.

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Cream of Broccoli Soup

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Brown Sugar Glazed Apple Cake

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This healthier apple cake recipe relies on yogurt and canola oil instead of butter to make it moist. Grated apple and warm spices give it the flavor of fall. To finish off the cake, drizzle on a quick brown sugar glaze before serving.

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Chicken Cutlets with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

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Though a chicken cutlet may be a chicken breast cut in half, this recipe shows how to make chicken cutlets with double the deliciousness. A jar of sun-dried tomatoes does double duty for this healthy dinner recipe. The flavorful oil they're packed in is used to sauté the chicken, and the tomatoes go into the cream sauce.

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New England Clam Chowder

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Chopped clams, aromatic vegetables and creamy potatoes blended with low-fat milk and just a half cup of cream gives this chunky New England-style clam chowder plenty of rich body. Serve with oyster crackers and a tossed salad to make it a meal.

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Carrot Cake with Orange-Saffron Cream

Homemade carrot cake is always a treat. In this recipe, a topping made of whipped mascarpone cream flavored with orange, saffron and white chocolate elevates the super-moist carrot cake. To make the cake healthier, we've used half whole-wheat flour instead of all white flour--you won't notice the difference in this delicious cake.

Cod with Tomato Cream Sauce for Two

This silky tomato sauce with a touch of cream makes mild-flavored cod sing. Serve with: Farro or rice and a salad of mixed greens.

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Strawberry Shortcake Cake

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Sweet strawberries are nestled between layers of sponge cake and a cream filling in this easy cake. We add nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt to whipped cream to lighten up the filling and give it a little tang.

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20-Minute Chicken Cutlets with Creamy Pesto Sauce

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Serve these quick chicken cutlets with creamy pesto sauce over your favorite pasta or zucchini noodles. This easy dinner recipe is sure to become a new family favorite.

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Chicken with Creamy Braised Leeks

A touch of heavy cream, a few garlic cloves and thyme sprigs round out the flavor of tender braised leeks with chicken in this recipe. The rich, silky sauce is wonderful over whole-wheat egg noodles or mashed potatoes. Leeks grown in the garden and those that you find at the store can be vastly different in size. Garden leeks tend to be smaller, so if you're using leeks from the garden, make sure you pick enough to fill up the pan.

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Apricot Bavarian Cream Cake

A silky-smooth Bavarian-style apricot cream envelops the golden sponge cake in this truly spectacular healthy cake recipe. The cream is set with gelatin to make it firm enough to hold its shape when unmolded, but the texture is more like a delicate mousse.

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Chicken Florentine

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Classic chicken Florentine--creamy spinach served atop sautéed chicken cutlets--is a fast and easy meal. To keep calories lower, this recipe uses cornstarch to thicken the cream instead of cheese. This chicken recipe is simple enough for weekdays but also elegant enough for a dinner party.

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Lobster & Corn Chowder

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The trick to making this healthy lobster chowder recipe have tons of rich flavor is to start with great fish stock. (The best is often in the freezer case at the supermarket.) Then cook the lobsters in the stock to intensify its flavor. There is no flour added in this healthy soup, so it's lighter than a typical creamy chowder--plus it's gluten-free.

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Strawberry Meringue Cake

This light, flourless cake recipe features crispy, chewy rounds of almond meringue layered with strawberries and whipped cream. For the best results, avoid making the meringue layers on an overly humid or rainy day. The moisture prevents proper crisping.

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Bourbon Whipped Cream

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This easy vanilla-bourbon homemade whipped cream recipe makes a sophisticated topping for any pie, crisp or crumble, or dollop in after-dinner coffee for an elegant treat.