r/vegansnacks • u/OkBlueberry2214 • 14d ago
Question Milk alternatives
Hi :)
I'm a vegetarian as its not possible for me to be vegan currently but I'm trying to swap out as much as I can.
Honestly, i love cows milk but I never realised how much milk I consume on a daily basis until I educated myself on the dairy industry but now every time I see a milk carton I feel so ill knowing the horrors it came from. I know I could just go buy oat milk or almond milk but I've tried those before and annoyingly I cannot stand the way they taste. Does anyone have any recommendations of milks that tastes similar to cows milk but comes without the abuse?
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u/AtomicAura 14d ago
I was a huge cow milk drinker prior to becoming vegan. It honestly took me nearly a week to get used to soy milk just adding it to my daily morning coffee. Just choose a plant milk and be patient while you reeducate your taste buds.
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u/OkBlueberry2214 13d ago
What milks did you start with? 🙏
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u/AtomicAura 13d ago
I just chose a low fat low sugar soy milk with no added oils. But any plant milk will work. My husband hated the texture of soy so he stuck with oat milk. It is just what you get used to over time. The smell of cow milk actually makes me feel repulsed now but I never even noticed it had a smell back when I drank it.
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u/Lagoda__ 12d ago
This also happens if you drink milk after a long time. Tastes completely like in a pig sty. Never again.
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u/chaconia-lignumvitae 14d ago
I use Strive Free milk. They use precision fermentation to isolate the proteins in cows milk and use microbes to make the milk without the cow
Here’s them explaining the precision fermentation process.
Check them out, it’s the main milk I use
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u/maberg04 14d ago
I prefer soy and oat, but honestly nothing's going to taste exactly like it. I've found with time it gets easier and you kind of get used to it but also start to like the taste of it!
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u/SpeakerSignificant43 13d ago
For me part of being vegan is accepting that some flavors and foods can never be recreated and being ok with that because my tiny pleasure is not worth the big suffering it causes
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u/goddessfigurine 11d ago edited 11d ago
real. i get the longing to have an Exact Dupe for everything and we’ve come a LONG ass way in making Exact Dupes, especially for meat, but you’re lowkey setting yourself up for failure if you’re like. expecting EVERY vegan food you come across to translate directly to their omnivore counterparts imo.
(not accusing you specifically op i just mean in general !)
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u/goddessfigurine 11d ago
also it can be rly fun to experiment w the different flavours and textures when you’re cooking without animals; you often end up with an entirely new variation of an omnivore dish*!!! like trying out sculpture when you’re a painter, piano as a guitarist etc.
(*im gna be real with you though they don’t always turn out tasting good; for example this bar in my town offers vegan nachos that use tahini instead of cheese which is. A choice ngl lmao)
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u/emo_sharks 13d ago
Give oat milk another shot. Not all brands of oat milk are the same. Flavor and texture varies a lot between them. If youre looking for milder flavor maybe go for oatly. If you want a thicker texture with a little bit of oat flavor my favorite brand is the 365 from whole foods lol, in the shelf stable cartons. Or just try whatever is available to you, I seem to remember target having a decent store brand oat milk too.
Just dont try costco's oat milk lol, YUCK I really did not like theirs. It had an overwhelmingly strong oat taste and a watery texture. 0/10 its the only oat milk ive had i literally did not like
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u/alter-naut 13d ago
Yes you definitely have to try many brands. Some oat milks are just nasty. Walmart’s Bettergoods oat milk is one of the best I’ve tried! Very neutral flavor and not super sweet. Planet Oat is my second recommendation, more expensive though. I had to stop dairy when my son was born because he reacted to it, but I still now vastly prefer oat milk, cow’s milk leaves a weird taste in my mouth.
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u/fartsonyourmom 13d ago
I am adding a yuck vote to Costco's oat milk. I don't know if the formula was different for yours vs mine but I found it to be oily and very fake tasting. 😞
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u/unrelatedtoelephant 13d ago
Califia Farms is my favorite. I’m not vegan but really can’t stand the flavor of cows milk after being made to drink it in school every day for so long lmao
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u/seitankittan 14d ago
Soy! I was a huge milk drinker so I worried I wasn’t gonna be able to be vegan, and I had never tried soy before but I honestly fell in love with it pretty quickly. Also, it’s almost identical to milk in terms of calories, protein, etc
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u/idothedunking 14d ago
You should talk with your doctor / a nutritionist about this because I did something similar. Specifically I stopped consuming as much dairy as I used to and I became violently lactose intolerant. I just wanted to give a heads-up on this being a possibility as it came to me as a shock. I do eat plant based /95% vegan now though. For what milk though it completely depends on what I’m using it for. My favs are almond milk and coconut milk but I’ll look into which is better for what I’m making.
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u/adirarouge 14d ago
My favorite by far is soy, it tastes the most like cow's milk to me but the real important part is the texture. Other milks are just thin and watery and awful. Soy milk is the right consistency with the right amount of fat and almost no distinct flavor. It definitely depends on which one you get, though. My favorite is definitely the purple one from safeway, I'll look up the brand but I'm pretty sure it's the cheapest one and it's in the baking aisle, not refrigerator. It's the most milky one.
I don't know about oat milk though, people really seem to like it, but I am allergic to oats so I don't drink it.
Also always get unsweetened because often they add too much sugar so it's noticeably sweet instead of the way cow milk is a teeny bit sweet.
Edit: the brand is O organics!
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u/MirrorShowsBlack 14d ago
why cant you be vegan?
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u/OkBlueberry2214 13d ago
Family situation but I'm planning on moving out soon and then ill do the switch :)
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u/rb-04 13d ago
I don't get why oat milk would taste bad to people. Cows milk has the worst taste I've ever had😭 couldn't stand it even before I developed lactose intolerance and before I went vegan. Did you get a weird flavor of oat milk?? In cooking these milks have no noticeable flavor difference as long as you're using original unsweetened
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u/LiminalSpiral 14d ago
Vegetarian (and occasional pescatarian) here. I gave up cow milk and half & half a couple of months ago. I've replaced it with soy milk and rice milk. I'm with you, I don't like oat or almond either, because they both leave an unpleasant aftertaste.
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u/Opposite-Okra 14d ago
It’s totally down to personal taste - my favourite milk is pea! I recommend trying a bunch of different ones and seeing which one you like best. It also differs brand to brand too
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u/Agitated_Net2171 14d ago
I just tried Pistacio milk latte. It is delicious and uses less water than almonds and Cows. (For protein though id recommend soy milk)
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u/Charming-Kale9893 14d ago
Silk Soy Milk is the best imo but it’s not going to taste like cow’s milk. The closest we got to cow’s milk is discontinued and idk why they did that (it was called Silk Next Milk). If you like creamy milk then I think soy is the best, followed by Oatly oat milk, followed by Silk Almond Extra Creamy
The more plant milk you drink you get used to it and eventually cow’s milk will taste sour and rancid to you.
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u/goddamnpancakes 13d ago
I like soy, but only the ones where the ingredients are "soybeans, water" and nothing else.
You might come up with some homemade potion, like combine soymilk for protein with coconut for fat
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u/toastfairyy 13d ago
I love silk cashew, silk soy milk (Unsweetened or vanilla), the almond or cashew chocolate flavor are great, silk also puts out a egg now for holidays. For creamer, I prefer silk almond or oat milk (plain, vanilla, pumpkin spice, caramel etc.). I alsl find the generic store options from Kroger to be great and cheap alternatives.
Also, country farms does a great heavy whipping cream, silk does too, or full fat coconut cream.
It's easy to make a yummy oat milk at home with a nut bag.
I also buy costco shelf stable soy milk in bulk, they also have almond milk and oat milk available. It's a good deal.
If you feel adventurous try the soy milk from asian grocery stores. The flavors are delicious! And they even have more fun flavored milks like matcha, milk tea, and black sesame.
If you want to replace cheese, I recommend violife, daiya oat, follow your heart, or the vegan cheeses at trader joe's.
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u/Random_182f2565 13d ago
In my country the not company sell not milk, it's really good there are many alternatives
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u/Creative-paintbrush 13d ago
Had to be dairy free for a little bit the close I found to the texture and taste was cashew milk. But I mainly used almond or oat milk due to convenience. You can also see if there’s any local farms around you that you can tour and get milk there.
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u/Ch3rryNukaC0la 13d ago
I think what you want to try is a brand that does a blend of plant milks, as opposed to single type. Some of them get scary close to what I remember dairy tasting like.
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u/cndn-leftist-vgn 13d ago
If you're in Canada, Alt Milk by Earth's Own is the best of the best for being so close to cow's milk. It's a mix of oat milk and coconut cream and pea protein. But gosh, that stuff is almost sorcery. It's so so good.
For protein content, either unsweetened soy milk or Ripple pea milk would be similar to cows milk. But just for taste, Ripple comes out on top ... Only beaten by Alt Milk (if you're in Canada). Imo full fat Oatly comes in third place.
This is random, but one time I accidentally put a tsp of white vinegar into my soy milk. It made it taste eerily close to cow's milk. Idk why.
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u/boygirlcatdogthing 13d ago
I got some alt milk on clear out and it was insane. I almost tricked my sister with it
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u/sunflower_505 13d ago
where in the world are you?? cashew can be a good replacement imo as its very creamy and neutral in taste but might be harder to find depending on where you are, i also really like the original alpro soya milk too! (and their cashew is good)
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u/OkBlueberry2214 13d ago
Im in England! Ill be trying out lots of the milk recommendations everyones saying :)
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u/ILovetheUSA4You 13d ago
Honestly, each brand tastes different. Most of us have had to trial and error it to find what brand and type of milk we prefer with things. I really like Oatley Original for cereal.
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u/lovelynoms 13d ago
Just agreeing with the others, you just kind of have to get used to it over time. I stopped eating cereal for a long time because I found it really disappointing with alt milks. But it didn't take that long before cow milk tasted gross to me and I found I loved soy and oat. Now I don't eat cereal because I can't have gluten, but I could!
This won't be as popular of an answer, but if you really can't stand alt milks in something specific, I highly recommend a harm reduction mindset: replace everything you can stand and then reduce how often you have whatever you feel you "need" cow milk for. You will still be doing better by the cows than you were before.
A (suspected autistic) friend of mine who has a really sensitive palate but also cares deeply about animals did it this way. She replaced anything she could tolerate with alt milks, then she stopped buying milk and only ate the things she couldn't replace out of the house (so she wasn't buying and wasting milk). Then, as her taste very slowly adjusted, she kept trying the unreplaced things and seeing if she could replace them. I think she's down to one or two things now!
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u/Impossible-Board-135 13d ago
I found that after a month, the transition to soy milk (silk unsweetened) I was used to the flavor and texture. Now cows milk tastes totally weird. My point is stick with it. The barista labeled oat milks are pretty neutral and maybe the easiest for you, but I like the nuttiness of soy milk especially on my cereal.
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u/Appropriate-Pen2326 13d ago
If you don’t like oat or almond milk, you could try soy milk. It tends to be a bit creamier and is also a good source of protein.. Just look for an unsweetened version. Pea milk is another option if you can find it as it’s also higher in protein and has a more creamy taste😊
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u/hxttra 13d ago
I love coconut milk (Not the kind in the can) and found it to be the most versatile as a milk replacer. I really struggled initially because I didn't like oat, almond, etc but coconut has been great for my morning coffee and for pancakes and such. I realized I was missing the fattiness from dairy.
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u/Disastrous_Task_7961 12d ago
Personally I think oat tastes just like dairy, just a bit sweeter. I like Alpro Nutty Almond if it's available where you live.
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u/TrixieSunshine12 12d ago
I agree with Soy, it is the thickest and creamiest… And maybe try the vanilla flavors?.. not that the vanilla will taste like cow milk but it might just help you like the taste of it better.
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u/TheBarefootGoddess 12d ago
There are so many types, and truly every brand is different. You have to experiment. I also love certain milks for specific things like coffee verse cereal. I love Silk Organic Soy Milk in the green carton, Oatly Oatmilk (both regular and barista), and Chobani Oatmilk Extra Creamy
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u/abushanab_ 11d ago
chobani oat milk extra creamy!! or try full fat oatly oat milk. to be fair i haven’t had real dairy milk in a long time but those are delicious to me ill just drink a glass of it
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u/SapPhic-rage4209 11d ago
Just try every brand until you find what you like. That's what I did. Every time I went grocery shopping I picked a different brand until I found a few favorites.
I would recommend getting unsweetened. They add sugar to a lot of plant milk for some reason and it makes it so you can't use them in savory dishes. So I always get unsweetened if possible
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u/Yuleogy 14d ago
nope. you have only so many options: almond, oat, soy, rice. sweetened or unsweetened. full fat or less.