What can I use in place of cream?

Thank you for these ideas I am certainly interested in the oat and soya milks but I think in todays fish pie I am going to try the fish stock option. Using just cod and prawns today I sometimes put a bit of smoked cod or haddock in not salmon though I don't like it in fish pie a bit oily for my taste- we don't like egg in it either. Game casserole for Sunday this week.

I can't eat cream now which is horrid as I used to enjoy scones and clotted cream but in cooking I use yogurt which seems a good substitute.

I find that so many restaurants these days swathe their food in creamy sauces which severely limits menu choices. However I've just back from a Warner Leisure Break and I just happen to ask if there was cream in the soup and a 'procedure' swung into action. Each morning the restaurant manager popped round with the dinner menu and went through it and offered alternatives if I so wished! I was amazed at this excellent service although also a little embarrassed as well as I generally can manage. Now that is what I call service!

I've used Mascarpone in a ham and leek pie and in a mushroom quiche recently. Both worked very well but not sure of the dietary content. Is dietary a word or have I just made it up? Sounds odd

SW recipe for fish pie uses both fat free natural yoghurt and fat free fromage frais

If you have a friend who is a member of Slimming World all their recipes, where cream would be used, have an alternative. It is usually fromage frais, quark or fat free yoghurt.

I rarely make cream sauces to go with anything. I would probably use milk and cornflour to make a cheese sauce which is as calorific but tastes less sickly.

Oh..... I didn't know cornflour is gluten free.

(Not that I've ever really thought about it tbh...)

Cornflour does not contain gluten, but wheat flour does. Wheat flour has to be cooked through, but corn flour is just a thickener.

Well yes. I know that! I just wondered how the sauce powders...

Oh never mind!

Wheat and corn are completely different, jingle.

Good tip.

If you use yoghurt instead of cream, blend in a little cornflour first, before heating, and that will stop it curdling.

Haven't tried the sauce flour anno but I tried some of these Threw them out as they didn't dissolve.

I wonder if the sauce flour, being wheat flour (according to website), is any different to cornflour.

Stir in some Quark (low fat soft cheese), low in cholesterol and calories.

Cream makes me nauseous so I don't use it unless I absolutely have to. I've used Philly light instead of cream in a quiche and in a fish pie. I prefer to thicken sauces with flour rather than cornflour which I think feels a bit slimy. I once bought some sauce flour from Waitrose (inevitably) but didn't think it made any difference to my sauces. Has anyone else tried it?

I never use cream. Like Mishap says, oatly cream or Alpro soya cream.
Haven't eaten fish for nearly 40 years, but I am sure that Alpro will taste okay with it. I just pour it over pasta. It's thick enough to save making a sauce.
I sometimes mix with Tofutti which is like a cream cheese. It's always available from Holland and Barrett.
Alpro has a 5% fat version.

low fat cream cheese, or quark

Re the fish pie - I've cooked those a fair bit and have never used cream (I'm not a fan of the stuff at all) and tend to thicken the sauce with cornflour.

You could try a low fat/fat free Greek yoghurt, they are very creamy in texture and tastes lovely. Or a very low fat cream cheese (Philadelphia for example) - you can add parsley to both and they won't affect its flavour.

I cook with lots of cream in my sauces, and it's really difficult to do without.

Yoghurt will separate, and will probably not thicken the sauce, or taste nice. You can try it, but add it at the very last minute and don't boil again. Even then, it will not mix in homogenously, but will make little white spots all over everything.

A potato gratin can be made with cream or creme fraiche, but you can also use a thin stock. Looks like this is your best bet for the fish pie. It's not at all creamy, of course, and works with potatoes because they soak up the liquid, so including potatoes in the mix will bind the ingredients together more.

I should persevere with the roux, though. You can spice up your roux with some stock cube, or chopped anchovies, as we're talking fish here. If well seasoned, most flours -except wholemeal - should add an interesting taste and will hold the fish and vegetables together. Other alternatives for thickening sauces include gravy powder, or tomato paste. You can also thicken the mixture with boiled, mashed potatoes or a few spoons of instant mashed potatoes, but the instant kind may contain some dairy (dried milk), so check the ingredients.

Oat cream (Oatly) - yes really! - or soya cream. Both available in most supermarkets; tasty and satisfying, low in cholesterol and dairy free. I use them all the time.

My mum always made fish pie with eggs. I didn't like it and have never made it myself, but Mum, Dad, and sister all liked it - maybe worth a try?

Thank you all but coconut is very high in cholesterol and Dh is already very high even on treatment so I better not polish him off yet.

I was wondering if fromage frais or natural yogurt acts in the same way as cream in a sauce obviously the taste will be different but he can detect cream even if I out a smidgen in something its part the taste but part the terror of cholesterol I think.

Coconut cream is tasty.
I often use it in a chicken casserole, and it should also go well with fish.
Some kinds are thicker than others - coconut "milk" is more watery.
Or you could make your own from a block of creamed coconut.

I know the problem, suebailey1, I have to contend with totally dairy-free members of the family. In lots of recipes I use thickened stock as an alternative which works well. In fish pie for example, I make a roux (I am forced to use non-dairy instead of butter) then use fish stock as the liquid, with some herbs. Tastes great.