Don’t let that milk go to waste! Save food and money with these recipes that use a lot of milk. Enjoy an easy breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert with these fresh milk recipes.
Remember you can always freeze leftover milk for later, but there are delicious ways to use a lot at once. Homemade Mac and Cheese is a great way to use up what’s left, as is making a batch of chocolate milk with our Homemade Chocolate Syrup. Milk is a great addition to this creamy soup you can make in the instant pot, Broccoli Cheese.
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It does a body good. It tastes great with a stack of Oreo cookies. And it’s a key ingredient in my favorite Chocolate Parfaits. Milk is a good thing and for good reason!
They say, “Don’t cry over spilled milk.” I say, “Don’t cry over milk close to its expiration date. Use it up!”
There can be times when you’ve got milk on hand that will expire before you can drink it or stir it into overnight oats. Perhaps you’re about to leave on a trip or your people have been under the weather and not up to their usual milk-drinking prowess. Or maybe you find a great deal at the store and want to snatch it up to reap savings.
Whatever the reason, know that your milk won’t go to waste when you’ve got these easy recipes that use a lot of milk.
Why It’s Important
Milk is one of the main ingredients in so many great recipes, from the classic favorite drinks of hot chocolate and pumpkin spice latte to the uber-trendy boba or bubble tea. It is used in homemade pudding, a big batch of pancakes, and even in fried chicken marinade.
Plenty of ways to enjoy milk, so little time!
Avoid food waste and save money when you make sure you use that gallon of milk. The best way is to keep track of your favorite things to make with it! Our list of recipes that use a lot of milk will get you started.
Whether it’s whole milk, nonfat, almond, or coconut milk, check out these great uses for extra milk and treat the whole family to some yummy new recipes.
How to Know Your Milk is Fresh
Believe it or not, the “expiration date” or “best by” is not always the sign that your milk has gone bad. Fresh milk has a fresh, sweet smell. Milk that has started to spoil will have an off odor, flavor, or texture. So, the general rule is that it’s okay to use if it smells good, looks good, and tastes good.
Tips to Keep Milk Fresh
- Be sure to keep milk fresh by storing it right away in the fridge, kept below 40 degrees F, in the coldest parts of the fridge. The fridge door is too warm for storing milk, so choose a space farther in.
- Try not to open the fridge very often so that it can keep its cool.
- Sealed cartons stay fresh longer than open ones. So, if you’re going to stock up, try to buy the smallest containers for your money.
- Don’t allow the milk carton to sit at room temperature. Return it to the fridge as quickly as possible.
- Don’t pour leftover milk back into the carton as this can cause cross-contamination.
Freeze Milk if You Can’t Use it Right Away
Remember you can freeze milk that you won’t be using right away. This is a great opportunity to build a freezer pantry so that you have basic ingredients on hand all the time.
- Simply remove about an inch’s worth from the container to allow for expansion once frozen.
- Secure the lid and place the container in the freezer. You can also pour the milk into ice cube trays so that you have smaller portions to add to soups or
- About a day before you want to use the milk, remove it from the freezer and place it on a tray in the refrigerator.
- Once thawed, shake the container well. The water and fat in milk separate so you want to mix them back together.
- Use the milk as you would normally to drink or in recipes.
Turn Milk into Something Else
Yep, milk is the raw ingredient for so many dairy products that you can make yourself at home. Consider how to culture or churn milk into other milk-based ingredients:
- Make sour milk for baking by adding a tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar to 1 cup milk for a buttermilk baking substitute.
- Culture real buttermilk from regular milk with a live culture.
- Make homemade sour cream with milk and heavy cream.
- Add cream and churn a batch of homemade ice cream.
- Make homemade ricotta cheese or cottage cheese.
- Make homemade mozzarella cheese.
Recipes that Use a Lot of Milk
There are so many sweet and savory milk recipes, you might not have enough milk to try all the yummy recipes here!
Tell us what you think!
We love to hear your experiences with Good Cheap Eats. Click the STARS on the recipe card or leave a STARRED comment to let us know what you think of the recipe.
This post was originally published on October 18, 2014. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Heather W
Rice pudding is a good way to use up milk or egg custard
Jessica Fisher
Yes!
Corina
I make crepes, or cook oatmeal in milk when it’s on its way out. Also biscuits and gravy.
Felicia
I’ve used it for making ricotta cheese to make stuffed shells. Then I save the whey for pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, and anything that calls for water or milk in my recipe.
Jessica Fisher
Great idea! Thanks for the suggestion.
Rose
I am so happy i found your site. I was looking for recipes to use milk, I have so much. Your recipes are easy to follow and delicious!! Cheap and simple are my way of life. Plus not too time consuming which is great for a busy mom. I wanted to know if you offer any sugar-free recipes?
Jessica Fisher
Hi Rose! Nice to meet you. I’m so glad the recipes have been helpful. I do have sugar free/naturally sweetened recipes, however, I don’t have them marked as such. If you check out the Whole 30 recipes, there will for sure be some there.
Miriam
There is a yummy Dutch cake that takes a litre of milk. I usually make that when I have milk needing to be finished.
Ingredients:
1kg brown sugar
1kg self-raising flour
4 tbsp golden syrup or honey
1L milk
Cinnamon
Mixed Spice
Mix all ingredients together with an electric mixer. Pour mixture into 4 loaf tins and bake in moderate oven until cooked (about 40min I think).
It’s such an easy recipe and it tastes great even if it’s not so healthy! 🙂
Jessica Fisher
Thanks for sharing!
vb
I’m having a little trouble converting kilograms to American cups. I’ve looked at a few converters but they don’t seem to convert properly. Can anyone help? Thank you!
Junco
Unfortunately kg are a weight measure and cups are a liquid measure. What I’ve done in the past is figure out how much one cup of the item weighs then go from there. If your scale doesn’t do “tare” then weigh the empty cup first and subtract that amount from the final number.
Rachel Bassett
Hi recipe looks good but what temperature does it cook at please?
Heather @ My Overflowing Cup
Like you, I use it as a good reason to make hot cocoa on the stove top, unless it is summer and then I make chocolate milk. Another great use is using it to stretch buttermilk (there is a post on my blog, if you are interested in how I do it). You are so right, one of the best ways to keep grocery spending down is not to let anything go to waste. Thanks for sharing the links. That Cheddar Cheese Soup needs to be my lunch soon.
the1chery
I live alone but have grandchildren that visit so I need to have a lot of milk sometimes and not so much at other times. I often have milk that I need to use up! I like to make strata or a quiche with it.
Janet
Potato pancakes (great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes) and bacon; grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup; and oldie from my Grandmother ‘s recipe box, tuna noodle casserole with peas.
ks grandma
I’m with Lee. I don’t usually have milk around, but when the grandkids come. . . Almost always there is some left after they go home. I freeze it in 1/2 C portions – in small containers. Once frozen, I pop them into a freezer bag so I have the use of my small containers for other bits.
Lee
I freeze it in 1 cup portions to use in baking. I don’t usually have extra milk, but my husband wasn’t feeling well last week, and left nearly 3/4 of a gallon. I cooked day of, and then got out all the jars I had laying around and started freezing. 🙂
Sandi
Milk that needs to go is usually turned into yogurt, occasionally used for pudding, and sometimes used to make french toast. Stale bread to use up at the same time is an extra bonus!