We’ve all been there. We gear up to make a tasty meal or scrumptious desert, open the fridge, and – dang! realize we’re out of milk and close to it. Don’t you love when someone leaves a quarter of an inch of milk in the bottom of the carton?
Drives me nuts! Sometimes, i think they do it on purpose. Just to irritate me and watch me run around like an idiot when we’re out trying to find a milk substitute.
Well, they’re not going to get the best of me! I have a long list of milk substitutes I can use to foil their evil plans, and here they are.
Dry Milk
Dry milk is one of the best milk substitutes out there. Shocking, no? I always try to keep some dry milk on hand for when I realize that I’m out of milk, which is often. I don’t care much for the taste when it comes to drinking it, but you really can’t tell when you use it for cooking.
Water
Good old water is another one of my more common milk substitutes. You can usually substitute milk for water in a lot of dishes, but you may want to reduce the amount of water you use. Of course, if you substitute milk with water, a dish won’t come out as creamy, but it does work in a pinch.
Coffee Creamers
Coffee creamers are an absolute necessity in my house, and I’ve also learned that you can use both powdered and liquid coffee creamers as milk substitutes. Liquid coffee creamer is excellent in dishes like mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and any other dish you want to make extra creamy. Flavored liquid creamers also make awesome milk substitutes when you’re making icings and frosting. To use powdered coffee creamer in place of milk, you’ll need to mix a few scoops into hot water until it dissolves.
Evaporated Milk
Like liquid coffee creamer, evaporated milk is thicker than regular milk, so it’s great for creating extra creamy dishes. You can also reconstitute it and thin it out, though, by adding a little water.
Sour Cream
I use sour cream as a milk substitute when making mashed homemade mashed potatoes sometimes. In fact, sometimes I use it when I’m not even out of milk. I’m sure you could also substitute milk for sour cream in some other dishes as well. It gives the dishes a nice extra flavor. You can also use sour cream as a substitute for buttermilk.
