How to make heavy cream at home with only two ingredients

Heavy cream is an essential component of countless recipes — including desserts, creamy pasta dishes and cold foam-topped lattes. However, it’s rare to burn through an entire carton, which might lead you to remove this from your grocery list completely. If you’re caught without this key ingredient, though, is it possible to recreate it on the cheap without a run to the store?

Luckily, it is. This tried-and-true heavy cream recipe only uses two ingredients (both of which you likely already have on-hand).  Why not save the gas money and try whipping up a container of cream yourself?

Ingredients

Surprisingly, heavy cream is a breeze to make (and certainly cost-effective). All you need is whole milk, butter and a teeny bit of elbow grease.

Directions

To make 1 cup of heavy cream, blend 2/3 cup of whole milk with 1/3 cup melted butter. Really, it is that simple. As an alternative, if you don’t have milk on hand, you can also swap 1/6 cup butter and 7/8 cup half-and-half.

MORE: Turn cold butter into a soft spread with these must-have kitchen gadgets

Substitutes

There are also a number of other substitutes for heavy cream if whole dairy milk isn’t your thing.

Greek yogurt is a lighter option, but it tends to have a little more tang and thickness than regular heavy cream. Proceed with caution (and perhaps some consideration for however you’ll be using it).

You can also add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to 1 cup of skim milk. The cornstarch helps to thicken up the skim milk. And if you’re vegan or lactose-intolerant, you can even make your own homemade blend using tofu and soy milk. This substitute is low in fat and high in protein, and it won’t bother your tummy if you are sensitive to dairy.

Other no-prep options include cream cheese and evaporated milk. Whatever the substitute you choose, remember to experiment when you use them in recipes. Because they all have a different texture and consistency, be prepared for some variation in the end product.