The Ultimate Guide to Dairy-Free Cooking and Baking
Discover the benefits and essentials of dairy-free cooking and baking in this article, designed to guide beginners through the process.
You may be cutting out dairy for many reasons, such as an allergy, intolerance, or health reasons. Adapting to a different way of cooking can be a minefield.
This guide is not just informative, but also practical and straightforward. I'll walk you through all the dairy-free substitutes for baking and cooking, offer healthier options, recipes, and even suggest places to shop. By the end, you'll feel more confident about cooking dairy-free.
Understanding the hidden places where dairy can lurk is crucial. You might be surprised at some of these! I'll also point out the sneaky names that dairy can hide behind, ensuring you're fully informed. So you can easily follow a dairy-free diet.
Download my ultimate dairy-free avoidance list. Going Dairy-Free Doesn't Have to Be Complicated When You Have This Guide. Click here to download.
In this article, I will cover:
How should I go about a dairy-free diet?
Hidden sources of dairy
Dairy-free milk substitutes, with recipes, tips & best brands for cooking
Best dairy-free yoghurt brands with recipes, tips, and where to buy them.
Best Dairy-free cheese, the tastiest brands, plus where to buy
Best dairy-free butter & spreads for baking and cooking, with recipes and tips, plus where to buy.
Dairy-free Ice-cream, best brands and where to buy
Dairy-free and vegan chocolate best brands and where to buy
Best Dairy-free cream best brands and where to buy, plus tips on cooking and baking
FAQ,s your most popular questions answered
More resources and links to help you go dairy-free
How should I go about a dairy-free diet?
Going Dairy-free means you no longer consume milk or anything made from milk, including ice cream, yoghurt, heavy cream, butter, cheese and chocolate.
Audit your cupboards and food stores and replace products containing dairy or dairy derivatives with suitable alternatives.
Download my FREE dairy and gluten-free cheat sheet to find the best dairy alternatives on the market and where to buy them here.
Some tips to help you:
Get into the habit of reading labels and knowing other names dairy can hide behind. My guide will tell you all the sneaky names dairy goes by and how to easily identify them. Download it here.
Create a 'safe' list of the foods you enjoy and eat most often.
Be dairy savvy if a product is labelled 'dairy-free' note that this only applies to cow's milk, not other animal milk.
If you cook for someone who avoids dairy products, you should speak to them about their allergy or intolerance because symptoms range from mild to severe. Sometimes, a dangerous allergic reaction can occur after contact with tiny amounts of dairy products, whereas other people can consume moderate amounts without experiencing side effects.
It is worth noting that all allergens must be identified on food labels by law, except for alcoholic drinks, where they only have to be labelled if they are over certain levels. If the allergy is severe, be cautious and check with the manufacturer because milk proteins are used in the refining process of many alcoholic drinks.
Also, watch out for 'natural flavours' on products, as this seems to be the loophole for food companies to add all sorts of crap and not disclose them unless it's over a specific amount of -20 ppm ( parts per million). It also can be expressed as milligrams per litre (mg/L). This measurement is the mass of a chemical or contaminant per unit volume of water.
Dairy is in the overwhelming majority of foods you can buy at the grocery store, so look out for foods you may not think contain dairy. ( See the picture below, please note this is NOT an exhaustive list.)
You can download my practical guide of over 100 foods containing dairy and the sneaky industry names for dairy you may not know about. It will make reading food labels and eating for your allergy or intolerance much easier. Download it here.
Now for the fun part! Here is a list of great dairy-free swaps, recipes, and where to buy all your favourites!
Milk
There's milk made from almonds, rice, oats, hemp, cashews, macadamia, peas ( I know who knew), coconut, hazelnuts and more! Each has its unique taste and works for different uses.
Barista-style versions are more resilient to heat and creamier in texture, so they are great in hot drinks and brilliant for cooking. I find that Barista type milk is the same consistency and creaminess as cow's milk. I only use barista milk in all my recipes.
Many kinds of milk on the market are really watery, make an awful cup of tea, and tend to split or curdle, too, which is why barista milk is way better.
Soya milk
It is widely available and comes in sweetened and flavoured varieties. Most are a good substitute for cows' milk in cooking but occasionally curdle when added to hot drinks. Remember that children with a cow's milk protein allergy are more likely to be allergic to soya (particularly those under six months of age). Try to source organic soy milk, as most of the world’s soy is now heavily genetically modified. Read all about this here.
Coconut milk
It is available tinned and in cartons and is an excellent alternative to cows' milk for most cooked dishes. It is particularly good in curries, such as Thai green curry. Some tinned coconut milk, when chilled overnight, will separate into a watery liquid and a thick solid that can be whipped to make a delicious alternative to whipped cream. Avoid tinned coconut milk with additives, thickener and gums, as it can cause IBS-type symptoms.
Oat Milk
Oat milk contains a lot of starch and not as much protein as cow's milk, so using it to bake may affect your baked goods slightly. Choose oat milk when you only need a little milk in a recipe or for something like porridge. For example, a splash of oat milk in cookie dough will be just fine. Any other milk is acceptable to use in cooking.
Tips
If you use milk to make custard or sauces, you should avoid using milk with added chemicals like carrageenan gum. It is used as an emulsifier and a thickener. And also linked to cancer, so avoid it. The sauce WILL NOT thicken even if you add cornflour. The result looks like scrambled eggs. It took me a few attempts to realise this.
Try Hazelnut, almond or coconut in milk in porridge for a more exciting breakfast. Plenish or rude health do great hazelnut milk.
To make a lovely dessert. Heat 1 pint of hazelnut milk, add 1 tsp of cocoa and 1 tsp or two of cornflour mix to a paste with some water or milk. Whisk into the hot milk adding a little sugar or honey to sweeten. You can serve this as a sauce or set it in the fridge and add some whipped cream.
Recipes
Try making your own milk. Try my almond milk here.
Top product recommendations
PLENISH milk - Take a look here
RUDE health milk - Take a look here
Minor figures oat milk - Take a look here
Tinned coconut milk with zero additives - Take a look here
Where to buy
Most of these milks can be found in supermarkets or online. I shop at well easy. They make shopping for healthy foods and for people with allergies and intolerances well easy! They have over 50 filters, meaning shopping for your dietary requirements is much easier. Take a look here to peek at my specially curated shopping list of all the recommended ingredients I use all the time. Plus, if you use my code KAM10 you get £10 off your first order ( minimum order of £50).
Homemade Almond milk - Click on the photo to go to the recipe.
Yoghurt
The next most common dairy alternative is probably yoghurt. Often made with soy, almonds or coconuts, you can opt for unsweetened, plain varieties or go for vanilla, berries or many other flavours. The key here is to go for the yoghurt with as few ingredients as possible, as many of these yoghurts contain questionable ingredients, which can cause inflammation and IBS symptoms.
If you have an allergy, avoid anything that says natural flavours. Ironically, they are far from natural and could cause issues as companies don't have to state the allergy-containing ingredients unless its above 20 ppm. The guidelines differ between the USA and the UK, so just be aware. Read more about this here.
Tips
Use any of these yoghurts in the same way in recipes.
They can also double up as really great icing for a cake. Please look at my recipe here, where I used yoghurt as the icing, vegan berries cake. See below.
Recipes
Homemade yoghurt recipe - Take a look here
Top product recommendations
Coconut collaborative - Take a look here
Nush - Take a look here
The collective dairy free - Take a look here
Cocos organic coconut milk yoghurt - Take a look here
Plants By Deliciously Ella Coconut Yoghurt - Take a look here
Where to buy
All supermarkets, Sainsbury's/Waitrose/Morrisons/Tesco
Dairy-free cake made with a yoghurt icing. Click on the photo to go to the recipe.
Cheese
Vegan cheeses are 100 percent animal-free and made using vegetable proteins. Usually, they're made from soy; nuts, such as cashews and macadamias; and vegetable oils, such as coconut oil. You can also find cheeses that derive from agar, tapioca, peas and arrowroot.
I hate to break this to you, but store-bought dairy-free cheese can be a hit or miss. Don't go out expecting to find something that exactly replicates cow's milk cheese, but rather look for something that tastes nice and can be used similarly.
I have tried and wasted money on many different brands, and the best I have tasted is from a company called vegusto. It's artisan cheese, so it's a little more expensive, but it doesn't taste like vomit, so that's a huge bonus.
Most of the commercial cheese on the market is filled with synthetic chemicals and gums, which are linked to cancer and cause IBS-type symptoms, so I will not recommend any of those brands as I think my readers deserve better food. Food that is nourishing rather than inflammatory.
Nutritional yeast
Is a deactivated yeast, often a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, sold commercially as a food product. It is sold as yellow flakes, granules, or powder. It's used in 'cheese' sauces. Some say it tastes cheesy, but it doesn't, really. It looks like fish food. It does have a nutty flavour and is added to sauces for additional flavour. Do not use it if you have a yeast allergy or intolerance.
Tips
If you want to replace cream cheese on bread, you can try other sandwich toppings, such as avocado toast (yummy!) or hummus. Try my hummus recipe or my cannellini bean dip. Click on the pictures below for recipes.
Try adding some dairy-free cream cheese ( see recommendations below) with pasta. Just add to warm pasta and melt, adding a splash of dairy-free cream and veggies for a yummy quick meal.
For cheesecake recipes, just follow the recipe and swap for dairy-free cream cheese instead.
To make cream cheese icing, add a couple of tbsp of icing sugar to plain cream cheese and add a little whipped cream and mix together.
Recipes
You can make your own cheese at home by blending cashews with nutritional yeast or make a deliciously creamy cheese sauce from either nuts, beans or even veggies!
Homemade cheese - Take a look here
Cheese sauce recipe - Take a look here
More cheese sauce recipes - Take a look here
Try my white sauce recipe - Take a look here
Top product recommendations
Boursin cream cheese garlic & herb - Take a look here
Nush cream cheese - Take a look here
Philadelphia cream cheese - Take a look here
Vegusto artisan cheese - Take a look here
Nutritional yeast - Take a look here
Where to buy
You can buy cream cheese at the supermarkets quite easily. Buy the nutritional yeast flakes in Holland and Baratt, Health food stores or online.
I shop at well easy. They made shopping for healthy foods and for people with allergies and intolerances well easy! They have over 50 filters, meaning shopping for your dietary requirements is much easier. Take a look here to take a peek at my specially curated shopping list of all my recommended ingredients that use all the time. Plus, if you use my code KAM10 you get £10 off your first order ( minimum order of £50)
Dairy-Free Butter
Vegan butter has come a long way. Not only do they resemble the taste of dairy-based butter, but they have also gotten a lot healthier! Free from unhealthy trans fats, dairy-free butter is really worth a try! These spreads and butters can be used in precisely the same way in cooking, unlike gluten-free cooking, which is a little more challenging. If a recipe calls for butter, swap it for the brands I have recommended. It's so simple.
Cocoa Butter
It is made from the cacao bean. Cocoa butter has many of the same health benefits as eating a nice bite of dark chocolate. It will also give your dish just a hint of a chocolate flavour. Because of this, cocoa butter is often used as a substitute for regular butter in dessert dishes to add an extra sweet kick.
Nut butters
Almond or peanut butter wouldn't be suitable for making cakes or pastries, but they are fantastic to spread on toast as a healthy alternative to vegan spread. Nut butters are often used in cooking recipes in flapjacks, bliss balls, and raw food products as an additional flavour but are never used as a margarine or butter replacement in cooking or baking.
Coconut oil
It is an excellent alternative to butter for baking, as the coconut flavour is less pronounced. It can also be used as a spread. It has a similar texture as butter and shortening, solid when cold and melts when heated. Coconut oil will get light and fluffy when beaten with sugar- just like butter! Coconut oil does have a mild coconut taste, so be sure this will taste good in your recipe. You can replace butter with coconut oil using a 1:1 ratio- the amount does not change!
Tips
For baking pastry
Please do not use a spread or soft margarine, as they contain too much water and will make your pastry soft rather than short. ( short meaning crumbly). Use hard-block margarine. I use half lard and half vegan butter or trex if you are vegan, which is vegetable shortening instead of lard. You can use vegan ‘butter’ and not add any shortening, but I recommend experimenting and seeing what you prefer.
For baking cakes
Use choc spread for icing if you don't want to make a ganache.
For cakes, try oil-based recipes, including chocolate or carrot cakes, and use a mild oil such as rapeseed or a flavoured oil such as coconut.
Use a soft margarine but not a block. In my 25 years of baking, I've always found that margarine or spreads yield a much softer cake than butter ever did. In fact, I had never used butter in cakes, even before I discovered I'm intolerant to dairy. Always check on the label that it is suitable for baking.
Top product recommendations
Stork soft margarine - Take a look here
Pure soft margarine - Take a look here
Flora block margarine - Take a look here
Stork block margarine - Take a look here
Natruli organic block margarine - Take a look here
Biona olive oil spread - Take a look here ( great for spreading on toast but not for baking or cooking.)
Alternative spreads - Take a look here
Trex shortening - Take a look here
Chocolate spread - Take a look here
Where to buy
All these kinds of butter and margarine can be found in all major supermarkets or health food shops. Well, easy stock lots of alternative spreads, which are so delicious. Take a look here. I find shopping here much cheaper plus I now don’t have to shop in multiple places for all my products. It is well easy, ha ha!! Remember to check out my curated shopping list here, and use my code KAM10 to receive £10 off your first order ( minimum order £50.)
Ice Cream
No need to add dairy to any ice cream! Find super creamy, tasty ice cream made with coconut, almond, soy, or other plant-based foods. Another easy and healthy way to have dairy-free ice cream is simple to make it at home. You can just blend your favourite frozen fruit into a sorbet or combine it with coconut cream, cocoa powder and all the delicious add-ins you can think of!
Tips
Most sorbets are already vegan and dairy-free!
Just enjoy tasting all the different varieties; there is so much on the market now, and they taste so good! You would find it hard to believe that they do not contain dairy. This is my joy ice cream! Have fun, and go experiment!
Try nice cream its frozen bananas whizzed up, super healthy, and you could even eat it for breakfast! There is a god!
Recipes
Vegan ice cream ideas - Take a look here
Banana nice cream ideas - Take a look here
More ice cream recipes - Take a look here
Top product recommendations
Booja Booja ice cream - Take a look here
Ben & Jerrys - Take a look here
Magum ice cream - Take a look here
Pana Organic frozen desserts - Take a look here
Swedish glace ice cream - Take a look here
Where to buy
All of these ice cream brands you can buy at various supermarkets.
Chocolate
Luckily many varieties are Dairy-free AND taste good. Many on the market just taste like cheap waxy plastic, though. But lucky for you, I have taste tested many of the chocolate brands.
Dark chocolate
Dark chocolate in its purest form should only contain cacao beans and sugar. However, most dark chocolate you'll find—except for small-batch, independent chocolatiers—contains a stabiliser and often a flavouring. Soy lecithin and vanilla are two of the most common stabilisers and flavourings; both are entirely dairy-free.
You may also find cocoa butter in your favourite bar; despite its name, it does not contain dairy. Most chocolate bars—particularly the dark varieties—will note a percentage on the wrapper. This percentage indicates the ratio of cacao beans to sugar. The higher the percentage, the more cacao and the stronger the chocolate taste; higher percentages are less sweet because they contain less sugar.
Raw chocolate
It's a healthier version. Think of it like chocolate without the junk, and it tastes amazing. It also only contains four ingredients and takes minutes to make. It's called raw because the cacao beans haven't been heat processed above 114 degrees like it's roasted to death cousin cocoa. It's simply a great product which is natural and undergoes minimal processing.
Raw chocolate manufacturers consider their product a health food, so they aim only to use the healthiest ingredients. With that in mind, you'll probably see the use of coconut sugar and agave syrup for sweeteners, natural fruit, not flavourings and a range of other organic goodies. This really is guilt-free indulgence! It's my excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast, as it's super healthy! Yes, there is a god!
White chocolate
White chocolate is made by blending cocoa butter with milk powder and sugar. Vanilla is often added as well. It comes out smooth and with the same properties as dark chocolate but with a different flavour and colour. Legally white chocolate has to contain 3.5% milk fat and 14% milk solids. Anything that doesn't contain cow's milk cannot legally be called white chocolate. Dairy-free white chocolate uses cocoa butter, coconut or rice milk powder, sugar and vanilla.
Tips
Cooking with dairy-free chocolate is a little bit more difficult, be sure to melt the chocolate slowly, either in a bain marie or in the microwave, so it doesn’t catch and burn.
Recipes
Raw chocolate is so easy to make and only needs 3 or 4 ingredients. Click on the pictures to go to the full recipe on my website.
White chocolate recipe - Take a look here
Top product recommendations
Raw chocolate by the raw chocolate co - Take a look here
Booja booja chocolate - Take a look here
Rhythm 108 chocolate - Take a look here
Hotel chocolat - Take a look here
Ombar chocolate - Take a look here ( This brand also contains live cultures in some of their range, so the chocolate is also good for your gut too!)
More chocolate brands - Take a look here
Where to buy
Some of these chocolates you can buy from Waitrose or other leading supermarkets. Or you can buy most from well easy, in health food shops and online directly from the brands’ websites. Be sure to use my code KAM10 – code for £10 off a £50 order if you buy from well easy.
Cream
There are so many on the market now, which is fantastic. Dairy-free cream can be made with soy, oats, and coconuts and taste really great. You can hardly tell the difference in some cases. Here’s the low down.
Single cream
You could use tinned coconut milk as a delicious swap or try emlea cream. This cream doubles up as a single cream, or you can whip it. It is not really a pipeable whip, though, as its soft peaks and doesn't hold its shape. But great to use in scones or as a dollop on the side of a crumble or dessert. If you whip this and leave it in the fridge, it does collapse, so it will need re-whipping for the next time you use it.
Whipping cream
You could use a really great ( and healthy) coconut cream. It's not pipeable but excellent as a soft cream to serve alongside scones desserts or to use in puddings. My fave brand to use is coconut collab for pipeable whipping cream. See below.
Double cream
Coconut cream would be great to use as a substitute. You can buy this in tins or cartons. See my recommendations below for biona coconut cream. Not to be confused with solid creamed coconut block that is mainly used to thicken Thai sauces.
Tips
If you use any milk or creams with additives, gums, or thickeners for a sauce or cooking, it's likely to split, curdle and resemble scrambled eggs if you try to thicken it with cornflour or arrowroot. Always use products that contain none of these chemicals to ensure problem-free cooking! I always use two-ingredient coconut milk for all my sauces. See below for my recommendations.
Top product recommendations
Elmlea cream use to whip to soft peaks but is not great to pipe. It can be used as a single cream - Take a look here.
Biona organic coconut cream can be whipped but not piped - Look here.
Biona coconut cream is excellent for sauces and dessert making as a replacement for double/ heavy cream - Take a look here.
Coconut collab cream is excellent for pouring, and whipping is perfect for piping also - Take a look here.
Where to buy
Buy Elmlea or coconut collab cream in supermarkets. Buy the biona brands online. Take a look here.
I shop at well easy. They made shopping for healthy foods and for people with allergies and intolerances well easy! You can find everything you need under one roof. So no more shopping at multiple places to get all your groceries. They have over 50 filters, meaning shopping for your dietary requirements is much easier. Please take a look here to peek at my specially curated shopping list of all the recommended ingredients I always use. Plus, if you use my code KAM10 you get £10 off your first order ( minimum order of £50.)
Dairy free winter greek yoghurt breakfast bowl
FAQ’S
What a great swap for buttermilk?
You can easily make a non-dairy version if your recipe calls for buttermilk. Measure out the amount of non-dairy milk you will be using, and then add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to every 1 cup of milk. Stir and let the mix sit for at least a minute. Depending on your dairy-free milk, the mix may get chunky and look curdled, but that is okay! Use it just as you would have used regular buttermilk in your baking.
What a great swap for heavy cream?
Non-Dairy Yogurt - This is an excellent substitution for recipes that call for whole milk or heavy cream. Non-dairy yoghurt is nice and thick and will add great texture to your baking. Be sure to use unsweetened, unflavored yoghurt and replace every 1 cup of milk with ¾ cup of non-dairy yoghurt.
Canned coconut milk is another fantastic substitute for whole milk or heavy cream, thanks to its high-fat content. Ensure you purchase unsweetened coconut milk and shake the can well before opening. Then, use the same amount of canned coconut milk as cow's milk in your recipe. Use a brand with no additives. It won't thicken if you use it in sauces/custard.
What an excellent swap for sour cream?
Try one of these recipes here, or use this one here. You could also try mixing the juice of ½ lemon with 100g Greek yoghurt. When we used to run out of sour cream in the kitchens, chefs would just do this cowboy trick, and no one would know the difference!
Take a look at some more popular dairy-free recipes, just click on the picture, and it will take you straight to the recipe.
Further Support and freebies
All the recipes on my website are, in fact, dairy free. I also have dedicated Pinterest boards for vegan and dairy-free recipes. Take a look.
Don’t forget to download my cheat sheet of fab dairy and gluten-free swaps, as I haven’t been able to mention everything in this article. Download your free copy here.
If you have any further questions about dairy-free cooking, please email me and pop DF cooking 101 in the subject title, and I will get back to you with support. Click here to send me an email.
Download my ultimate dairy-free avoidance list. Going Dairy-Free Doesn't Have to Be Complicated When You Have This Guide. Click here to download.
This blog contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using the links. I have personally vetted and used all the products that I recommend.
Take a look at my recipe Ebooks & the dairy-free avoidance list as mentioned in this article. Click to download.
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