Anyone else feel nostalgic when they see this:
That stuff takes me back. Unfortunately, it’s not just milk. It also has dipotassium phosphate and carrageenan in it. It’s not like those things’ll kill you with limited consumption, but they’re not known for being good for you, and why take the risk, when you can just make your own at home? And there are a lot of reports that carrageenan can have negative effects on people. HERE is a great unbiased article on whether carrageenan is good or bad.
Evaporated milk is basically just milk, with some of the water content removed by evaporation. Many holiday recipes call for evaporated milk, but if you’re dairy-free, you may have thought you just didn’t have an option! Not true, friends, not true! And if you’re looking for a dairy-free condensed milk alternative, you can get that HERE!
For this recipe, you can use your favorite dairy-free milk. I chose unsweetened almond milk. The plus side to using a dairy-free milk, is that it’s less likely to scald during the process. Just keep an eye on it, and whisk periodically to keep it from burning on the bottom. =)
Happy baking!
| Prep Time | 1 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
cups
|
- 4.5 cups unsweetened almond milk or unsweetened coconut milk
Ingredients
|
- Place the milk into a large, heavy-bottomed pot.
- Turn heat on medium-low, and simmer, whisking occasionally, until the amount of milk has been cut in half, about a half hour.
- Let cool, and then use in your favorite recipes!
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Jessy says
I make my own almond milk at home so if I just add less water would that be the same thing? Or should I make the full recipe and then cook it down?
Shanti Landon says
Hmm, I’m not sure, Jessy! I don’t think it would be quite the same, though. The cooking changes the consistency a bit…
Barb says
Do you think rice milk would work??
Thanks,
Barb
Shanti Landon says
Hmm. I’m not sure! I would think it would?
Eunice says
How long can you store the milk once processed? Thanks
Shanti Landon says
I would say a week refrigerated to be safe!
Jen says
Would cashew milk work?
Shanti Landon says
I think that would work!
Kayci says
Will this work for fudge?
Shanti Landon says
Hi, Kayci! So sorry it took me so long to respond! Yes, it should work just like “regular” evaporated milk!
Diane says
I cooked down rice milk for a chicken tetrazzini recipe in lieu of evaporated milk – worked great! It took about 1/2 hour but wanted to keep boilin giver so I needed to attend to quite often. Awesome substitution- thank you!!!
Shanti Landon says
Glad it turned out, Diane!
Christie says
How much evaporated milk does this make?
Shanti Landon says
Hi, Christie! About the same amount that you would buy at the store–around 12 oz.
Linda says
So I assume soy milk would work for this as well?
Shanti Landon says
I would think that would work fine!
hannah says
I think i’m doing it wrong?? It’s been an hour, and i’m only down to 4 cups from 4 and 1/2 🙁
Lauri says
Question- do you use the type of coconut milk from a carton (like you would drink) or the kind from a can (like that for cooking)?
Shanti Landon says
From the can!
Amie says
Would I use full fat coconut milk or just unsweetened coconut milk?
Shanti Landon says
Yes, full fat unsweetened coconut milk!
Diane k says
Okay, maybe this is a dumb question, but so you usually start at a higher heat to begin the simmering process? I started at medium low and I’m now up to medium (where it is actually simmering) and it’s been quite some time with very little evaporation. My calculations were off and I’ll need to make a little more to do my Christmas cooking, and I’m hoping next time will be a little faster 😉
brenda knight says
I wonder if you could simmer this in a crock pot. I am asking because it doesn’t seem like you would have to tend to a crock pot like you would a pan on the stove top.
Deb says
thanks for sharing the recipe, I’ve committed myself to make a vegan german chocolate cake and trying to stick to the original version as much as possible while making it vegan.
Hey! I had to read your “about” page as I thought I recognized that you’re in my area by the background of your video with the kiddies.
I’m in Sacramento and thought it looked like your yard and background looked like it was near the american river. I was close.
Shanti Landon says
Cool!!
Rosa R says
Can this be frozen?
Shanti Landon says
Hi, Rosa. I’m not sure on this–I haven’t tried freezing, and don’t know if it will separate if you do…
Cindy says
I’m guessing that Lactose free milk would work the same? I usually use 2% Lactaid brand milk in most cooking since I don’t have to worry about certain recipes not ‘setting’ etc when using the ‘nut’ milks.
Shanti Landon says
Hi, Cindy! I’m not sure on this–did you end up using Lactaid?
Carmen says
Thank you for this recipes. Unfortunately, it did not work for my flan recipe. It also took way too long to cook down. It also did not help keep my Xmas flan together. The kids stated it tasted great but it was a melted flan. LOL! I ended up going to Walmart and purchasing Carnation Lactose free evaportated milk for the flan for New Year’s eve as the kids wanted flan again. It came out great and no issues for our lactose intolerant tummies. 🙂
BarbaraR says
I tried this using unsweetened almond milk and then used it to make fantasy fudge. It worked. Couple of things I learned; start timing once there is a good simmer going, I used a knife to check the depth at the start so I could measure when the milk had reduced by half and the fudge took longer to set up (24 hours) but it did set up and turned out great.
Marie says
Can you use oats milk