What to Substitute for Milk in Mac n Cheese

You might not think that it’s possible to make a creamy and delicious pot of macaroni and cheese without milk, but in reality, it’s surprisingly easy to do. But what exactly can you substitute for milk in mac n cheese?

As it turns out, there are quite a few ingredients that you can use in place of milk when you’re making this tasty dish. In this post, we’ll highlight several of the best options that you can use as a substitute for milk in mac and cheese — without sacrificing the taste or texture of this classic comfort food.

Sour cream

Thanks to its rich and creamy taste, sour cream serves as a good substitute for milk in mac and cheese. When you use sour cream instead of milk, your dish will taste tangier and creamier — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, some mac and cheese recipes even call for sour cream in addition to milk.

However, if you’re watching your health, you might not want to use sour cream as your substitute for milk in mac and cheese. It’s high in fat and calories, which isn’t ideal if you’re trying to lose weight.

Heavy or whipping cream

If you’ve got a spare carton of heavy cream in your refrigerator, you can easily add it to your mac and cheese without noticing much of a difference in the final result. You’ll end up with a dish that’s super-rich and creamy but not as thick as mac and cheese with sour cream.

But like sour cream, these other types of cream are also packed with calories. Adding heavy or whipping cream to your mac and cheese will quickly up the caloric value of your meal, so keep that in mind before turning to this milk substitute.

Butter

When you’re making Kraft macaroni and cheese out of the box, you’ll notice that the recipe requires you to add both milk and butter. But if you’re out of milk, you can skip that step and simply double up on the amount of butter (and a bit of water) to make up for the difference.

Again, like the other options on this list, butter isn’t the most nutritionally friendly food. But when you’re making mac and cheese, you really need a creamy element to make the dish as tasty as possible.

Non-dairy milk substitutes

If you’re lactose intolerant or vegan, you might be interested in using a non-dairy milk substitute in place of milk. Soy milk, cashew milk, and oat milk are all viable options in this situation. Of course, if you’re trying to make a vegan mac and cheese, you should also make sure that the cheese you’re using is dairy-free as well.

With one of these simple alternatives, you can easily find a substitute for milk in mac n cheese. Although the end product might taste or look a bit different, these swaps can get you through in a pinch.

For more recipe ideas and substitute suggestions, check out the Tastessence blog.