Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie Recipe (+ VIDEO) (2024)

FAQs

Can I substitute milk for evaporated milk in pumpkin pie? ›

While many recipes call for it, you can absolutely make an outstanding pumpkin pie without evaporated milk. If your recipe calls for one can of evaporated milk (as most do), you can substitute 1 ½ cups of cream or half and half, or a combination of the two. You can also use milk (any kind from whole to skim).

As the name suggests, sweetened condensed milk makes the pie sweeter and gives it a denser, creamier texture. Evaporated milk, on the other hand, yields a lighter, airier result. Evaporated milk isn't sweetened either, which is why you can't simply swap one thickener for the other.

Pies with too much evaporated milk formed blisters on top.

Though the interior of the filling had a great, creamy texture. The flavor was ever-so-slightly muted and had a hint of milkiness to it.

I think if you added regular milk to pumpkin, you would not achieve the desired texture. My guess it that it wouldn't 'set' properly, giving it the firm texture you'd expect. Evaporated milk will be much thicker than regular milk, providing that rich, creamy texture without the unwanted water.

Soy milk can be heated, and the water content reduced to use it like evaporated milk. The taste is slightly different, but in most recipes you won't notice. It can be used in sweet and savory dishes alike.

Dairy alternatives to evaporated milk include whole milk, cream, and half-and-half, while nondairy options include soy milk, nut milk, and quinoa milk. When choosing an alternative to evaporated milk, a person may wish to consider the taste and consistency of the product.

For the most part, if you find yourself without condensed milk on hand, you can substitute an equal amount of evaporated milk. The consistency will be the same, but since evaporated milk is unsweetened, you'll need to add sweetener to match the recipe's intended flavor profile or to suit your personal preference.

These items are essentially the same with one big difference: no sugar is added to evaporated milk. Sweetened condensed milk also has 60% of the water removed, but contains 40% sugar. Due to the big flavor difference, they cannot be substituted for each other.

Pies that use evaporated milk also add sugar in some form to the recipe and using sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated will make the pie overly sweet. This recipe used both.

The benefit of evaporated milk is shelf-life: canned milk can remain stable for up to two years for peak flavor, and maybe longer. If you open a can of evaporated milk and it is dark yellow or brown, don't use it. Same goes for milk that smells bad or is curdled.

Should pumpkin pie crust be prebaked? ›

But if you sigh in disappointment when your first bite reveals a bottom crust that's pale and pasty rather than golden brown, try this: Prebake your crust before adding the pumpkin pie filling. Contrary to what you might think, baking the crust again once you've added its filling won't cause it to burn or toughen up.

Why this happens: The pie was underbaked, or the oven temperature wasn't high enough. This is another problem that can occur when you haven't baked a pumpkin pie long enough, or if the oven temperature wasn't high enough.

While the canned pumpkin puree is just canned pumpkin, the Libby "Canned Pumpkin Pie Filling" also has sugar syrup, natural flavoring, salt and spices.

Milk + Butter

Butter is a whopping 80% fat, so combined with whole milk, it works as a heavy cream substitute. Just melt 1/4 cup butter, then whisk in 3/4 cup whole milk until smooth. You can use it in place of 1 cup heavy cream.

Half-and-half + butter

Because heavy cream is so high in fat, you can often create a substitute with other high-fat ingredients. In terms of taste and consistency, a combination of half-and-half and butter is one of the best substitutes for heavy whipping cream—it tastes just like the real thing.

Yes, you can substitute regular milk for evaporated milk in an Instant Pot recipe, but keep in mind that the texture and flavor may be slightly different. Evaporated milk is thicker and has a slightly caramelized taste due to the heating process, so your dish may be a bit thinner and less rich if you use regular milk.

The beauty of evaporated milk is that it is a long-lasting alternative to one of our most coveted perishable food items–milk–and its richer cousins, cream and half and half. If you dilute it with water, it is a great straight-up milk substitute or you can pour it straight out of the can and use it as half-and-half.

If this has happened to you, and you've suddenly find yourself with a can or evaporated milk when your pumpkin pie recipe calls for condensed—or vice versa—do not panic, my friend: You can make pumpkin pie with either one. Either milk can be used to add rich, creamy body to your pie.

So for example, if a recipe calls for one cup of evaporated milk, you'd need to use about 1⅔ cups of regular whole, 2 percent, or skim milk.