You'll need to grab a stick of butter and melt it by heating it in the microwave. Once you've melted the butter, add ¼ cup of it to a mixing bowl. Add ¾ cups of the whole milk into the bowl with the butter and mix the ingredients until blended. If you don't have whole milk and you're planning on using low-fat or fat-free milk, you'll need to add a pinch of flour to thicken the consistency before you use it.

You'll add a ½ cup of cottage cheese into a large mixing bowl and then add a ½ cup of whole milk into the bowl with the cheese. You're going to need to whisk it well enough for several minutes to get rid of any lumps. It should take about three minutes to mix it well enough to get the mixture as smooth as possible.

When your recipe calls for a cup of heavy cream, add ⅞ of a cup of half-and-half to a bowl and then melt your butter and add ⅛ cup of it to the bowl with the half-and-half. Mix well, and you'll have the perfect substitute for heavy cream that will work great in both savory and sweet recipes.

You can buy it at the store or prepare it at home using full-fat coconut cream. You'd place a can of coconut cream in the fridge, allow it to sit there for a minimum of 12 hours, and then use it in your recipe. It's that simple. The coconut cream can easily enhance the texture and flavor of some of your favorite desserts.

The measurements are the same, meaning a ½ cup of evaporated milk is equivalent to a ½ cup of heavy cream. While the ingredient doesn't whip nearly as good as heavy cream, making it less than a perfect choice for preparing whipped cream, it has the same thicker consistency. The thick consistency will come in handy when you're preparing different types of cakes, pies, and baked goods.

Substitute the heavy cream with a combination of Greek yogurt and whole or low-fat milk. If you're going to use this combo, you can add equal parts of each ingredient into a bowl before mixing them and adding them to your recipe. It won't work well for any recipes you'd need to whip, so don't use this if you're trying to make a homemade whipped topping for ice cream or cake.