Coconut milk is a popular substitute for dairy, offering a plant-based, lactose and milk protein-free alternative. It's also a quintessential ingredient for beverages, baked goods, desserts and more.
If you have run out of coconut milk while making your favorite coconut curry or ceviche, check your pantry and fridge to find out if you have any one of the five food items below that you can use instead.
What Is Coconut Milk?
Coconut milk is the creamy white liquid extracted from pressing, squeezing or grating coconut meat. With 21 percent fat, this versatile ingredient offers sweetness, creaminess, and an extra layer of flavor when combined with other foods.
Coconut milk is commonly used in Southeast Asian, Polynesian and Latin American cuisines. Savory foods like coconut rice, curries and stews use coconut milk, but so do desserts — mango sticky rice, puddings and cakes, to name a few. If you ever run out of canned coconut milk for your favorite recipe, the good news is there are food items that offer similar attributes.
What Is Cream of Coconut?
Best Coconut Milk Substitutes
Coconut cream
Coconut cream has slightly more fat and similar amounts of protein and sugar as coconut milk. The main difference between the two is their water content; coconut cream has slightly less water than coconut milk, making it an excellent replacement in most, if not all, recipes calling for coconut milk.
Because of coconut cream's lower water content, it has a thicker consistency and offers a sweeter flavor than coconut milk. You can dilute it with water to the desired thickness and sweetness level. While there are no set rules, you can use ½ cup of water to dilute every 1 cup of coconut cream for the a consistency similar to coconut milk.
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Get the recipe: Maja Blanca (Coconut Pudding)
Nut Butters
If your recipe calls for both coconut milk and nut butter, such as peanut or almond butter, you can replace all of the coconut milk in the recipe with the nut butter. Because they're low in water and have more than double the amount of fat of coconut milk, you would need to dilute the nut butter with water to achieve a similar consistency.
To replace the one can (14 fluid ounces) of coconut milk, like in our Tofu Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce recipe, you will need 3.5 ounces of peanut butter (smooth or chunky) and 1¼ cups of water. Use a blender or food processor to combine the peanut butter with some water to break the butter and gradually add more water to create a fluid consistency.
Cream
If dairy isn't a concern, heavy cream and half and half would also be a good replacement for coconut milk at a 1:1 ratio. Since coconut milk's fat content is between heavy cream and half and half, the consistency of your dish may be slightly thicker or thinner, depending on the replacement used.
Despite their high-fat content, dairy products tend to curdle with heat. To avoid this, add the heavy cream or half and half closer to finishing cooking or use low heat.
Decadent Desserts Made With Coconut Milk
If you are a vegan, then using heavy cream and half and half isn't an option as they are dairy, animal-based products. These two dairy products are also out of consideration if you are lactose intolerant—you could experience cramps and diarrhea from consuming dairy products that aren't lactose-free.
Yogurt
Like heavy cream and half and half, higher fat plain yogurts of all types could also substitute coconut milk for the color and a similarly smooth and creamy texture. Because yogurt has a lower fat content than coconut milk, the consistency could be slightly thinner with the 1:1 substitution ratio.
Similarly to the fuller fat cream products, yogurt can also curdle with heat, so it is best when added at the end of the cooking or under low, simmering heat.
Non-Dairy Milks: Which Are Best for Baking?
Plant-based Beverages
In recipes where the fat content doesn't compromise texture, you plant-based beverages, such as coconut milk beverage, almond, cashew, macadamia, oat, soy or hemp, to substitute for traditional coconut milk.
These plant-based beverage options would be best for smoothies, coffees and specialty drinks. Note that these plant-based alternatives have distinctive flavors, and some are low or lacking in fat—using them to replace coconut milk in cooking or baking for flavor and texture may not be ideal.
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