Catching up?
– Vegan How To: Introduction (Why this series?)
– Part 1: How To Make The Transition
Part 2: Replacing Dairy Milk
Today I’d like to talk about one of the first changes that I made in my own personal journey – switching from cow’s milk to non-dairy milk. It was also one of the easiest changes I made thanks to a huge selection of non-dairy milks on the market. I’m always amazed when I see the mammoth wall of non-dairy milk in my grocery store. It’s taking over! There’s really something for everyone from almond milk to flax milk and everything in between.
And, boy, I’ve tried a lot. Here is a list of the non-dairy milks I’ve given a go:
- Soy milk
- Almond milk
- Hemp milk
- Oat milk
- Coconut milk
- Rice milk
- Almond-coconut milk
- Quinoa Milk
- Flax milk
I’ll admit, I’m not head over heels for all of them, but I have a few favourites that keep me more than happy.
My personal favourite non-dairy milks:
1. Almond Milk (Whole Foods 365 Organic)
2. Soy Milk (Edensoy Organic) – for the protein
Soy milk was the first milk I tried back in 2008/2009 and while I didn’t fall head over heels initially, it eventually grew on my taste buds with time. (Actually, it wasn’t the first time I had soy milk; I was allergic to cow’s milk formula when I was a baby and my mom had to put me on soy milk instead). Soy milk is also the only non-dairy milk (to my knowledge) that has a similar nutritional profile to cow’s milk. My go-to brand of soy milk, Edensoy Organic, has a whopping 12 grams of protein per 1 cup serving making it the soy milk with the highest protein content. The ingredient list is also impressive: just organic soybeans and purified water! It’s great for smoothies when you don’t want to add protein powder, but still want a kick of protein. To be honest, the flavour of it unsweetened isn’t my favourite, but when I mix it into other foods I don’t notice it as much. They also have sweetened varieties of course. No matter the brand you buy, look for organic, GMO-free soy milk whenever possible.
Here is a side-by-side comparison of Edensoy soy milk vs. 2% cow’s milk:
| Nutrition Facts (per 8 fl oz serving) |
Unsweetened Soy Milk (Edensoy) | 2% Cow’s milk |
| Calories | 120 cals | 122 cals |
| Total fat | 6 grams | 5 grams |
| Saturated fat | 1 gram | 3 grams |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 20 mg |
| Sodium | 5 mg | 100 mg |
| Potassium | 460 mg | 366 mg |
| Total carbohydrate | 5 grams | 11.5 grams |
| Dietary fibre | 0 gram | 0 gram |
| Sugars | 2 grams | 12 grams |
| Protein | 12 grams | 8 grams |
Almond milk. I obviously have a lot of love for this non-dairy milk and it seems to be taking over the world. Almond milk is creamy, deliciously nutty, and blends well into just about anything. My brand of choice is Whole Foods 365 as it is carrageenan free. Almond milk is very low in protein, so be sure to pair it with protein rich vegan foods like hemp seed, chia seed, beans/legumes, protein powder, etc.
Note: Please see my post, Carrageenan in Our Foods for a list of dairy and non-dairy products that contain this potentially harmful ingredient.
What about calcium?
A balanced vegan diet can actually be quite high in calcium even without a lick of dairy. My favourite example – 1 ounce of chia seeds (about 2.5 tbsp) has reportedly 300 mg of calcium. Other non-dairy foods high in calcium include: collard greens (357mg calcium), fortified soymilk (368 mg), black eyed peas (211 mg), firm tofu (204mg), calcium fortified OJ (200mg), blackstrap molasses (172mg), baked beans (154mg), kale (94mg), almonds (70mg) [per serving, source] Be sure to pair calcium rich foods with vitamin C and D rich foods for the best absorption. As extra insurance, I take calcium and vitamin D supplements daily. There are also fortified non-dairy milks on the market (I think these tend to be the refrigerated kind?), so that is an option too. Be sure to read your labels!
Sweetened or unsweetened?
When I started experimenting with non-dairy milk, I always bought the lightly sweetened option. I think this really helped with my transition. Once I got used to the change, I switched to unsweetened varieties. As I’ve said many times in the past, its amazing what the taste buds can get used to with time. If you are starting out, you might want to check out the lightly sweetened varieties to help with your transition. Another option is to make the transition gradual. Having cereal? Why not try subbing half the cow’s milk with non-dairy milk? Or try using creamy almond milk or coconut milk in a cup of tea. There are plenty of ways to gradually ease into the taste.
When I’m doing any savoury cooking, I always use unflavoured and unsweetened almond milk. Keep the vanilla flavoured milk for your sweet recipes and smoothies.
Ok, now I’ll pass it over to you guys!
Have you made the switch from cow’s milk to non-dairy? Was it difficult?
If you drink non-dairy milk, which varieties do you like the best?
Do you prefer sweetened or unsweetened?
Coming up, a homemade nut milk bonanza!
Thank you so much for this post. I have known I need to replace dairy for some time now. The only thing I eat is Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and this chemical laden stuff I LOVE by Hood called Calorie Countdown (it makes teh creamiest protein shakes!). All of the milk replacments have more fat than I “allow” so I have been afraid. (More like petrified…I need help adding fats, but I am so scared.) Sigh. Anyway, I am going to pour over this information.
I love Silk’s unsweetened Almond Milk in my smoothies and protein drinks. I’ll have to check fo rthat ingredient now. I’ve made homemade once, but wow is it kinda a pain! But was soooooo good
Do you know if the EdenSoy Soy milk is prepared from Non-GMO soybeans?
Yes it is, you can read about it here: http://www.edenfoods.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=24_43&products_id=100080
from their site: “EDENSOY is the first soymilk in North America verified to Non-GMO Project Standards.”
We regularly make Almond milk, Sesame seed milk at our home and it is well liked by everyone.
Coconut milk is great for making cakes when the recipes call for milk or half n half or cream. It is moist, has a high fat content (the good kind!) and doesn´t leave a coconut flavor.
My husband was told by his dentist that almond milk is hard on e teeth & was wondering what your thoughts are. Thanks
I was wondering thought about the link of soy with cancers. My homeopath has forbiden soy because of the problem with cancer.She also said t can really affect a womens thyroid and hormones. Can you let me know how avoiding soy would affect a vegan diet?
I LOVE this series, as I am trying to cut most animal products out of my diet and just occasionally splurge.
My one hang-up is that I am a HUGE coffee addict… and I really like my half & half in the morning. My problem with soy milk and almond milk is that it never has the right color in my coffee and doesn’t have the creamiest taste. … is it just me, or am I the only one who’s OCD about the color?
I love making lattes at home and have found that almond milk is an awesome substitute for milk, so I’ve made a great change there!
Has anyone tried soy-based or non-dairy creamers, and are any available that are comparable to the creaminess of half & half, but aren’t filled with a bunch of unnatural additives and GMOs?
Any suggestions are super welcome! :)
What works best in a cup of tea? I tried almond milk once but it went all funny – separated and curdled-looking. I don’t mind soy in coffee but not really in tea.
Hi Angela, I made the switch to vegetarianism about 7 years ago now. Over the last two years, I have slowly I started cutting out dairy from my diet as well. The only dairy I consume on a daily basis now is Costco-brand Kirkland 0% Greek yogurt.
I drink Aureeva unsweetened soy milk. I actually love the taste of soy milk completely natural and unsweetened and I highly recommend this brand. Best part is, it is made and packaged in Ottawa with 100% non-GMO, organic CANADIAN soy beans. What’s not to love?
Do you think it has to be steel-cut oats? I want to go try this right now, but I don’t have any steel-cut oats. Just regular oats.
I keep wanting to go vegan, but my husband is a serious meat eater. He grew up on a ranch so he is very much one of those “you can’t have a meal without meat” type of people. If you (or anyone else!) has any experience with going vegan with a carnivorous significant other, I’d be super interested in hearing about how it went!
Whoops, posted on the wrong post. I mean to post it on your oat milk recipe post. I guess it still applies, even here.
I tried it with rolled oats and it turned out fine :) A bit more watery but still ok. Let me know how it goes!
I never liked milk and made the switch to non dairy milk awhile ago even though I wasn’t vegan just vegetarian. I started first with soy milk. I bought trader joes brand, first their vanilla and then their unsweetened. Then they started to carry an almond milk kind and I was hooked. I do enjoy coconut milk every once in awhile, but my go to milk is almond. I like Whole Foods and Trader Joes’ brands.
One last thing thank for this how to go guide. I decided to go vegan for 2013. So far so good. I have always enjoyed your recipes. Our “meatless monday” was more like vegan mondays since we are already vegetarians. This guide is awesome and has helped me so much.
My fav is not made anymore…its English Bay POTATO milk! So good!!! Closest i’ve tastedto the real thing. I used to get it at Fortinos in Brampton. first came across it at the Toronto Vegetarian Festival.
Milk was the hardest thing for me to give up when I went vegan. I used to drink at least one litre of cow’s milk a day just because I liked the taste of it so much. Now my standard milk to drink and use is oat milk, and occasionally soy milk. Very recently almond milk started showing up around here, too. I instantly fell in love with it; it is the first non-dairy milk I’ve tried that I actually think tastes as good as the dairy one.
I have been vegetarian for a few years now. Almost vegan… I indulge in organic cheese and cream in my coffee every now and then. I’ve always loved almond milk and coconut milk. I prefer the unsweetened… But sometimes I get the chocolate coconut milk for a treat…Mmm. I’ve alway avoided soy for a few reasons… 1. It’s usually highly processed 2. It’s usually GMO and 3. There is too much talk about estrogen-mimicking or competing compounds. Does any of this stuff ever make you nervous???
This may be a very dumb question…but does coconut milk have a strong coconut taste? Currently I drink Almond Dream Enriched but over the past few months I’ve started not liking the after taste…I’m looking to try a new brand of almond milk next time but since the coconut milk has been getting great reviews I’m contemplating trying that….I’m just not a huge fan of coconut skin taste.
I cut out cows milk back in 2005 due to an allergy. Similar to you I started with sweetened or vanilla varieties and now only drink (or use) unsweetened. I used to drink strictly soy milk (back before there were so many options – I grew up in a small town) but I started to worry about all the estrogen so now have a combo of soy and almond milk.
I found changing my milk form easy (also yogurt, icecream etc), I’ve never looked back. What I still struggle with is cheese…..any advice? What do you use as a substitue?
i had no problem switching to nondairy milk for drinking, cereal/oatmeal and baking. but i have never found a nondairy milk that i like in cooking. i can always really taste it and don’t enjoy it. :( so i still use regular milk for those times. my favourite is silk soy unsweetened plain, and i alternate that with silk unsweetened plain almond milk.
Hi I know you said you take calcium and Vitamin D supplements how many mg?? And I wanted to know what strength (mg) do you take vit b12 do you take it with cyanocobalamin or methycobalamin?? do you take any other supplements too…iron…etc
Thanks a million
I’ve honestly never really loved milk. I never drank it alone with a meal. My uses for milk were pretty much for cereal, to dunk oreos, or to have with a sweet dessert like a gooey brownie. But I find that I can easily swap milk out with any of those. With ONE exception – my coffee!!!
I love half and half in my coffee. Although when we moved to Guatemala, we couldn’t find half and half. But since I like milk and sugar, I switched to sweetened condensed milk in my coffee. (It reminds me of the cuban cafe con leches that I would drink in Miami).
Honestly, my coffee is the one time every day that I have both dairy milk and processed sugar. But I can’t get away from it! I’ve tried coconut milk, almond milk. soy milk, rice milk, etc. And honey and agave for sweeteners. Nothing works for me!!! :(