Homemade Evaporated Milk

a white bowl with a blue rim, filled with evaporated milk and a white spoon

Discover how you can make evaporated milk substitutes at home! Whether you’re facing an empty pantry or dietary constraints, we will uncover many alternatives for cooking and baking.

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Cook Time 30

Total Time 30

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings ounces

Calories 24 kcal

Equipment

Small saucepan

Ingredients

2 cups milk see notes below

Instructions

Place the milk in a heavy-bottom saucepan. Bring it to a low boil over medium-high heat. Keep a close eye on it and stir it often so it doesn't stick or boil over.
Reduce the heat to low and cook down for 30-90 minutes until it is reduced by 60%, stirring often. Timing will depend on the type of milk used and the burner's heat.
Let the milk cool to room temperature.

Notes

Direct Substitutions

Half-and-half: Half-and-half is the best substitute for evaporated milk. It has a slightly higher fat content but will produce almost identical results. Substitute it at a one-to-one ratio. In other words, use 12 ounces of half-and-half to substitute for a 12-ounce can of evaporated milk.
Coconut milk: Coconut milk will have the whitest color and creamiest texture if you’d like to use it for something white, like coconut cream pie. This is one of our favorites to make. Substitute it for evaporated milk at a one-to-one ratio.
Heavy cream: Heavy cream is smooth and creamy, like evaporated milk, but it has a bit more fat. To directly substitute a 12-ounce can of evaporated milk, mix 1¼ cups of heavy cream with ⅓ cup of whole milk.
Dry milk or powdered milk: Dry milk is readily available at grocery stores and lasts a very long time. It is a great product to keep on your pantry shelf to assist in times like this when you run out of milk. It is usually made with skim milk, so it will not have the fat content evaporated milk has. Add about ½ cup minus one tablespoon of water with ¼ cup of powdered milk to make your substitute.

Substitutes that Require Cooking

Whole Dairy Milk: Whole milk will make the thickest, creamiest evaporated milk.
Skim, 2%, or 1% Dairy Milk: These will make a suitable product, but they aren’t as thick as whole milk.
Nut milk: Almond and cashew milk are good choices. They make delicious-tasting milk but will be a bit on the brown side, colorwise. Cashew milk is the least favorite because the flavor is very strong.

Soy, oat, quinoa, rice milk: These will make a mild flavored milk substitute.

Nutrition

Keyword milk