Got an Empty Carton? Try These 7 Milk Substitutes
Recipes Milk Substitutes

Got an Empty Carton? Try These 7 Milk Substitutes

From vegan nacho cheese to plant-friendly cream cheese, finding milk substitutes for snacks and daily dishes can be easy.

October 23, 2024 at 5:37 AM PST
Recipes Milk Substitutes

Got an Empty Carton? Try These 7 Milk Substitutes

From vegan nacho cheese to plant-friendly cream cheese, finding milk substitutes for snacks and daily dishes can be easy.

October 23, 2024 at 5:37 AM PST

Trying to live a vegan lifestyle can be complicated, especially for people who grew up in omnivore households. First, you have to get past the judgmental glances from family members.

Second, you have to constantly respond to the “Where do you get your protein?” queries, as if these 19 fruits, vegetables and snacks don’t exist.

Third, there’s the ultimate challenge. This is the one where you realize milk and sugar are in so many food products you never even thought they made sense in, ranging from salt n’ vinegar chips to ketchup. Crackers, salad dressing and even some cocktails have to be pushed to the side. 

Although it may be a disappointment to those who are lactose intolerant, they have a head start on staying away from dairy foods. According to Boston Children’s Hospital, while 30 to 50 million Americans are lactose intolerant, a whopping 80% of all African-Americans and Native Americans are lactose intolerant. That full carton of milk in the fridge could lead to embarrassing stomach grumbling, nausea, vomiting, bloating, belly pains, diarrhea and general misery.

Got an empty carton? Try these seven milk substitutes that will be a relief to plant-friendly eaters and anti-dairy consumers alike.

Cashew Cheese for Nachos

Most of the ingredients to make this vegan cheese mix are probably already in your cabinets or spice rack.

  • 1-1/2 cups raw cashews
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 jalapeno, chopped (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper

The longest part of preparing this vegan cheese, which can be used on anything you already prefer melted cheese on (ex. nachos, taco bowl, pasta) is waiting 45 minutes for the cashews to soak. If you’re not in a hurry, pour the cashews in a bowl of water and let them naturally soften for a few hours. If you don’t have almond milk on hand, using water doesn’t taste too different (mainly because unsweetened almond milk is nowhere near as sweet as flavored almond milk).

Nutritional yeast can be on the pricy side, but the great thing about it is it comes in handy for other snacks. (We’ll touch on that later.) Once your cashews are soaked, mix all the ingredients and blend. Besides testing for spiciness, do not try to immediately serve. This tastes much better after being refrigerated, so the ingredients can properly hold together and thicken.

If you want to add black or pinto beans and a meat substitute to your tortilla chips and vegan cashew cheese, you’ll have a scrumptious plate of loaded nachos to devour. Serve as you wish. Share if you can keep your hands out of the plate.

Glass bowl of popcorn
Georgia Vagim

Nutritional Yeast for Popcorn

If you enjoy cheese popcorn but the results of eating it ruin the rest of your movie night, skip the dairy toppings and sprinkle nutritional yeast on your air-popped popcorn instead. It costs less than buying vegan popcorn in prepared bags and gives you another place to use that vegan melted cheese ingredient. Even if you’re a popcorn lover, it’ll take a while to get through the average size (5 ounces) of a nutritional yeast bag. Meant to be used as a seasoning, nutritional yeast can be used the same way you would use grated Parmesan cheese on pizza or as a salad dressing ingredient.

Cream Cheese for Bagels

Your chances of finding dairy-free bagels are slim to none unless you go to Whole Foods Market or a health food store like it. (Retailers such as Walmart and Target have started catching up with the vegan and vegetarian food craze, although most of their plant-friendly options are frozen or already prepared.) Ingredients for vegan cream cheese are easier to find though.

  • 1-1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened non-dairy yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons chopped chives (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder (optional)
Similar to vegan cashew cheese, the soaked raw cashews are the star attraction here. (Unsalted cashews are highly recommended, considering the high blood pressure rates of many African-Americans.) Soak them for a minimum of 45 minutes or (ideally) a few hours. Then, mix the ingredients above and refrigerate to enjoy on your bagels.

Vegan Butter

While vegan butter is easily found in popular grocery retailers, the price of a 15-ounce bucket may be the same price as a 45-ounce dairy version. Look at the labels carefully though. Unlike butter, which has plenty of dairy milk fat, margarine is often dairy-free and vegan. Some brands may include animal derivatives such as casein, lactose, milk and whey. But other margarines use pea protein and soybeans.

Read the ingredients before you buy the first thing that says “vegan.” You may find you can save more money from checking out the nutrition label on a popular brand that’s improved over the years versus a new brand you don’t know much about.

Cashews, almonds and soy beans next to glasses of milk
Cottonbro Studio

Almond Milk, Cashew Milk or Soy Milk

These three milk substitutes are easy to purchase in pretty much any grocery store. They’re even found in dollar-value stores. If you’re in the mood, you can even make your own nut milk from home with Yeung Man Cooking’s easy-to-make recipe
 
For almond milk:
  • 6 cups filtered water
  • 1-1/2 cups raw almonds
  • Pinch of salt
For cashew milk:
  • 1/4 cup raw cashews
  • 2 cups filtered water

For soy milk:

  • 6 ounces dried soybeans (non-GMO or organic preferred)
  • 6 cups water, filtered or spring preferred (not including water for soaking)
The preparation instructions involve soaking your preferred nut (or blending them if you have a high-quality blender), mixing and refrigeration. You will, however, need a nut milk bag to properly squeeze out the liquid into a large bowl. Making homemade soy milk is similar in nature to almond milk and cashew milk. 
 
From these seven easy-to-make (or buy) nondairy milk substitutes above, this proves it’s not all that hard to avoid bubble guts. While you should test a few brands or do some trial-and-error food preparation to find a plant-friendly recipe that suits your taste, you can have a protein-rich, milk substitute food regimen in no time.
 



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