Unfortunately, evaporated milk without carrageenan is somewhat hard to come by. You’ve probably had trouble finding it at your local supermarket.
The only evaporated milk without carrageenan I’ve been able to find:
Simple Truth Organic (Kroger)
Meyenberg Evaporated Goat Milk ← I’ve never tried this before, but I have had goat milk, and it definitely has a different taste than cow milk. It is much more tart and tangy, so keep that in mind.
Evaporated Milk Substitutes
If you don’t live near a Whole Foods or Kroger, and don’t want the taste of goat milk, then here are a few other options:
- Sweetened condensed milk, which is just the sweetened version of evaporated milk. You may have to adjust the sweetness accordingly of whatever you’re using it in, but it can substitute evaporated milk. I’ve found that sweetened condensed milk across brands reliably does not have any additives— just sugar and milk.
- Another option is milk powder. Add 60 percent of the amount of water the label calls for to reconstitute the milk powder into regular milk. This will be very close to evaporated milk as evaporated milk is just milk that is more concentrated, with less water content.
- There is non-dairy evaporated milk, made from coconut milk, though it does have some other additives. It might be available at your supermarket or local health food store.
- You can always take regular milk and reduce it down on the stove. Use about 60 percent more milk than evaporated milk required in the recipe. Bring the milk to a boil, and lower heat to gently reduce it. Let the milk cool before using in the recipe.
What is the difference between evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk?
The main difference is that sweetened condensed milk has sugar added, while evaporated milk does not. In this way, you can think of evaporated milk as unsweetened condensed milk.
Can I use sweetened condensed milk in place of evaporated milk?
They can be used interchangeably, but the sweetness of condensed milk may greatly alter the recipe. A better substitute would be milk powder reconstituted to be thicker, heavy cream, half & half, or simply reducing milk yourself.