Sweetened Condensed Milk substitutes
The best substitute for sweetened condensed milk is reduced milk + sugar: Whisk 2 cups whole milk with 1 cup sugar, heat to dissolve, then simmer gently about 35 min until thick; cool. Makes roughly one 14 oz tin. The real thing from scratch. Keep the heat low and stir often, because it catches and scorches easily, and let it cool fully before using.
Why it matters. Milk reduced with a large amount of sugar until thick and pourable. It is simultaneously the sugar, the dairy and the setting agent in fudge, key lime pie and no-churn ice cream. Evaporated milk is not a swap, it has no sugar.
BestReduced milk + sugar
●●●●●Whisk 2 cups whole milk with 1 cup sugar, heat to dissolve, then simmer gently about 35 min until thick; cool. Makes roughly one 14 oz tin
Keeps the sweetener, liquid, fat and texture roles.
The real thing from scratch. Keep the heat low and stir often, because it catches and scorches easily, and let it cool fully before using.
Evaporated milk + sugar
●●●●○Heat 1 cup evaporated milk with 1 1/4 cups sugar until dissolved and slightly thickened
Keeps the sweetener, liquid, fat and texture roles.
Quicker than reducing fresh milk since the water is already gone. Slightly thinner than the tin, so chill it before using in a no-bake dessert. Plain evaporated milk on its own is not a substitute, it has no sugar.
Milk powder + sugar + butter
●●●●○Blend 1 cup dry milk powder, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/2 cup boiling water and 3 tbsp melted butter until completely smooth
Keeps the sweetener, liquid, fat and texture roles.
The fastest option, but you must blend it properly or it stays gritty, and it needs to cool and firm up before you use it.
Condensed coconut milk
●●●●○Simmer 1 tin full-fat coconut milk with 1/4 cup sugar for about 30 min, stirring, until thickened
Keeps the sweetener, liquid, fat and texture roles.
Behaves very like the dairy version in fudge and no-churn ice cream, but it tastes clearly of coconut.
Cream of coconut
●●●●○1:1
Keeps the sweetener, liquid, fat and texture roles.
Already sweetened and similarly thick. Strongly coconut-flavoured, and note that cream of coconut is not the same product as coconut cream, which is unsweetened.
Dulce de leche
●●○○○1:1, and cut the sugar in the recipe
Keeps the sweetener, liquid, fat and texture roles.
It is caramelised condensed milk, so the sugar and body are right, but it is much darker and deeply caramel, which will dominate anything delicate.
Other dairy substitutes
Measuring by weight instead? Use the kitchen converter.