The Milk Substitutes Alton Brown Suggests For Holiday Eggnog

Between all the cheesy sides, creamy pastries, and pies served à la mode, it can be hard for folks who are trying to avoid dairy to navigate the holidays. But leave it to Alton Brown to help think up a solution when it comes to at least one famously festive (and dairy-heavy) treat: eggnog! Tasting Table reached out to the chef and Food Network star to chat through all his best holiday hacks, and he had some great suggestions for taking a dairy-free approach to the sip.

Since eggnog depends on the fat and proteins from milk and eggs to achieve that rich, velveteen texture, Brown acknowledges that finding a suitable milk substitute to replace typical homemade eggnog ingredients can be a challenge. But if there's one thing he supports doing in the kitchen, it's experimenting. "Rice might be the way," Brown told us. "Might almost make a congee and blend it so that you're using rice starches to replace the protein."

Brown may be onto something. Congee, a rice porridge that's popular in many Asian countries, is made by boiling rice until it has a soft, creamy texture (you can find Tasting Table's classic congee recipe here). Blending it further will give the congee a thick, liquefied texture that can certainly be compared to eggnog. And to achieve that signature hint of sweetness you'd typically get from milk sugars, you can try adding white or brown sugar to the rice-based concoction.

Experimenting with a thick, congee-inspired rice base is a great place to start if you're hoping to nail a dairy-free eggnog, but it's not the only possibility. Alton Brown also suggested trying a blend of coconut and hemp milk. The two plant-based beverages are certainly thick and creamy on their own, so richness is all but assured when you combine them. Indeed, some dairy-free eggnog recipes call for doing just that.

While this recipe still uses egg yolks, a totally vegan approach can be taken with tofu. Brown himself also mused about the role tofu might play in a dairy-free nog, which plenty of vegan-friendly foodies seem to have already worked out. They tend to blend plant-based milk with silken tofu (along with the usual seasonal seasonings) to create a take on eggnog that's free of dairy and any animal products. While Brown admitted that he hasn't yet landed on the perfect approach to whipping up a dairy-free eggnog, his suggestions definitely give us a few routes to explore.