The Easy Method To Substitute Milk In Homemade Ice Cream, According To An Expert

There are many surprisingly simple methods to making homemade ice cream out there and almost all of them call for some sort of combination of fat, sugar, water, and protein. And for a lot of us, the intense inspiration for home-churned ice cream hits the hardest when we're out of milk (or hoarding it for that life-giving cup of coffee in the morning). We spoke to Tyler Malek, the co-founder and head ice cream maker of popular Pacific Northwest creamery Salt & Straw to get his expert advice on how to replace milk when making ice cream at home.

According to Malek, it's all about striking that perfect balance. "The best thing to do is calculate the ideal ratios of fat, sugar, water, and protein and mimic it with whatever aggregate of dairy products you choose to use," he said. "My favorite substitutions are to replace milk with yogurt, cream with sour cream, milk solids with cream cheese, or sweetened condensed milk." The Salt & Straw co-founder has years of experience successfully experimenting with ideal ratios, so to catch up with him — or at least try your best to — we recommend utilizing your favorite ice cream recipe and going from there.

If you're looking to make an ice cream base reminiscent of the masters, Tyler Malek recommends "A 50:50 mix of heavy cream [and] whole milk and then a spoonful of dry milk powder to help add additional protein and milk solids." You can find more of Malek's homemade ice cream tips in the "Salt & Straw Ice Cream Cookbook."  

Protein is crucial for an ice cream base because it helps give it that lovely, scoopable structure. it's important to note that most kitchens probably don't have milk powder lying around, so you can substitute that spoonful with cream cheese or sweetened condensed milk as Malek recommends. Dry milk powder is just dehydrated milk, so it's also okay to simply up your liquid dairy to get those proteins and flavors into the ice cream.

For first-time milk-replacement experimenters, we recommend trying out this super simple and incredibly satisfying peanut butter ice cream recipe. The recipe calls for 3 ½ cups whole milk, which you can easily substitute with yogurt to give your ice cream a lighter, healthier edge.