Either way, dairy is not an essential nutrient, and there are lots of things you can have instead.
These include not just milk, but also yogurt, butter, parmesan, and even dessert and ice cream!
Dairy-free products are becoming more and more popular. Nowadays you can easily find them in the supermarket. But read your labels! Some contain way too much sugar, or other ingredients you may not want to eat or drink.
I’ve put together some simple recipes to make delicious dairy-free foods right in your kitchen.
Go ahead and try my dairy substitutes.
Delicious dairy-free milk
Dairy-free milk is so easy to make and flavour yourself. You can make milk out of just about any nut or seed. You can even make alternative milk out of grains like rice, oats, or quinoa. And you can flavour them too.
It just takes a high-powered blender, some water, and fine sieve to filter out any remaining bits.
For flavouring, you can add a pinch of cinnamon, cardamom, or vanilla extract. You can also sweeten your milk with soaked dates, maple syrup, or honey.
To make a super-simple dairy-free milk just soak a handful of almonds, coconut, or even flaxseed seeds for a few hours (overnight is best). Then drain the soaking water, rinse, and add to a blender with 500ml of fresh water. Blend on high until smooth (about 1 minute). Add your flavourings, if desired. Then strain through a fine sieve (I find a tea strainer works well).
If you want to make a dairy-free cream, just blend your nuts, seeds and/or grains with 200ml of water for a thicker, creamier, dairy-free milk.
Delicious dairy-free yogurt
Technically, with the right yogurt starter probiotic culture, you can make yogurt out of any dairy-free milk. The most common one to ferment into yogurt is coconut milk. But you can use almond milk or other nut or seed milk.
The trick here is with the fermentation. Follow the instructions on the label of the yogurt starter culture, and enjoy delicious dairy-free yogurt in a few days.
Delicious dairy-free butter alternatives
Nut and seed butter is a fabulous substitute for dairy butter. Plus, they have the bonus of fibre, protein, and other nutrients that real butter doesn’t have.
Have you tried coconut oil? It’s a great dairy-free substitute for butter. You can fry with it, or even bake with it. You can even use it to pop popping corn in a pot on your hob.
I love the mild flavour of coconut oil in anything I bake with bananas. It tastes better than butter anyway.
Delicious dairy-free parmesan
If you haven’t tried nutritional yeast, you will be pleasantly surprised at how much it tastes like grated parmesan. Plus, it contains some B vitamins as well.
It’s a salty, cheesy, flaky powder that you can use wherever you want to add a pop of savoury flavour to any dish.
TIP: After you’ve popped your popcorn, sprinkle it with a bit of nutritional yeast for a salty, cheesy flavour.
Delicious dairy-free desserts
Did you know you can make a delicious and thick chocolate pudding without dairy?
You can make a chocolate pudding with avocado. Take one whole avocado and blend it up with cocoa powder, dairy-free milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and honey or maple syrup to taste. Just add dairy-free milk to thin if desired.
Delicious dairy-free ice cream
You can make a delicious dessert with frozen bananas. I’ve included the recipe for this below.
Conclusion
Dairy-free is easy! Making delicious dairy-free yogurt, milk, butter, parmesan flavour, and even dessert and ice cream is simple.
Are you going to try any of these recipes? Do you have a great one to share as well?
Let me know in the comments below.
Recipe (dairy-free): Chocolate Banana Ice Cream
Serves 2
2 bananas, chopped and frozen
1 tbsp cocoa powder, unsweetened
2 tbsp almond butter, unsweetened
2tbsp dairy free milk
Instructions
1 – Add chopped frozen bananas to a food processor. Pulse or lightly blend until almost smooth.
2 – Add cocoa powder and nut butter. Pulse or lightly blend until mixed.
Serve immediately & enjoy!
Tip: Try different nut and/or seed butter. Or instead of cocoa powder and/or seed butter, use just the bananas with a handful of frozen berries. The recipe combinations are endless.
Thank you Julie, This is great! Always looking for ways to reduce dairy for ethical and health reasons. All of these ideas are things even the children would love!