Acidophilus Milk substitute

Best substitute

Plain milk (whole, reduced-fat or skim)

Use the same amount by volume, matched for fat level as the acidophilus milk you are replacing

Best for drinking

Close match

For any recipe, plain milk substitutes 1:1, and that is not a compromise: sweet acidophilus milk is plain milk. The important thing to know is that it is not sour and not acidic despite the name, so it will not react with baking soda and it is not a buttermilk substitute. If what you actually want is a cultured milk with live bacteria in it, use plain kefir or plain yogurt thinned with milk instead. If your recipe genuinely calls for a fermented, sour acidophilus milk, use cultured buttermilk 1:1.

Other acidophilus milk substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Lactose-free milk
Close match
Use the same amount by volume
Regular milk treated with the lactase enzyme so the lactose is already broken down.
What changes
Best for
anyone who was drinking acidophilus milk because plain milk disagreed with them, drinking and cereal, baking, with a small caveat
This is often the substitute people are really looking for, since acidophilus milk was widely stocked as an option for those who found plain milk hard going. It tastes very slightly sweeter than regular milk, because the lactose has been split into glucose and galactose, which the tongue reads as sweeter. In baking that extra free sugar browns a touch faster, so a custard or a milk bread can colour a shade darker. Otherwise identical.
3Plain kefir
Different taste
Use the same amount for drinking; 1:1 in baking, but reduce or remove added acid
Fermented milk drink made with a mixed culture of bacteria and yeasts, thin and pourable but genuinely sour.
What changes
Best for
anyone who wants a cultured milk drink, smoothies, marinades, baking that uses baking soda
The right choice if the live culture was the reason you bought acidophilus milk. Be clear that this is a different drink: kefir is properly sour with a faint yeasty aroma and a slight fizz, where sweet acidophilus milk tastes like nothing but milk. That also makes kefir acidic, so it is not interchangeable with acidophilus milk in a delicate custard or a cream sauce, where the acid can make the proteins grainy.
4Plain yogurt thinned with milk
Taste and texture differ
Use ½ cup plain yogurt whisked with ½ cup milk for every cup of acidophilus milk
A cultured milk brought back to drinking consistency, for when a recipe or a preference is really about the cultures.
What changes
Best for
drinking, smoothies, marinades, cold soups and dressings
Thicker, tangier and more mouth-coating than acidophilus milk even after thinning, so it is a poor stand-in for milk on cereal or in coffee, where it will taste sour and may curdle in hot liquid. It comes into its own if you were treating acidophilus milk as a mild cultured drink. Whisk thoroughly; yogurt does not disperse in milk with gentle stirring.
5Cultured buttermilk
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by volume
Deliberately soured cultured milk, the substitute for the older fermented style of acidophilus milk rather than the sweet kind.
What changes
Best for
recipes calling for a sour acidophilus milk, biscuits, cornbread and pancakes, marinades, salad dressings
Use this only when the recipe clearly expects something sour and thickened, which is the traditional fermented acidophilus milk rather than the sweet supermarket product. In that case buttermilk is an excellent match on both acidity and body. Put it in a recipe that wanted sweet acidophilus milk and you will get an unpleasant sour note, plus over-leavening if there is baking soda present.
6Unsweetened plain soy or oat milk
Different taste
Use the same amount by volume
A dairy-free stand-in for the plain-milk role, for anyone avoiding dairy altogether.
What changes
Best for
baking, cereal, smoothies, savoury sauces
Soy is the closer of the two in baking because its protein content is nearest to milk, so cakes and breads set and brown similarly. Oat milk is sweeter and starchier and thickens sauces slightly more than milk does. Both taste of themselves, so a plain glass of it is clearly not milk, and both must be the unsweetened, unflavoured versions or your savoury dish will end up sweet.

What is Acidophilus Milk?

Acidophilus Milk is Acidophilus milk is ordinary pasteurised milk with the bacterium Lactobacillus acidophilus added to it, and the version most people have met, labelled sweet acidophilus milk, is kept cold so the culture stays dormant and the milk tastes and behaves exactly like plain milk.

Cooking tips

The single most useful thing to know is that sweet acidophilus milk is not an acid. The name misleads people into treating it like buttermilk, but it has a near-neutral pH, so it will not activate baking soda. If a recipe pairs it with baking soda, there is another acid in there doing that job, or the recipe means the older fermented style.
Because it is unfermented, acidophilus milk behaves like plain milk under heat and can be simmered, scalded and baked freely. Its substitutes kefir, yogurt and buttermilk cannot, since acid plus heat curdles them, so switch to plain milk rather than a cultured one whenever the recipe involves boiling a sauce or a custard.
The culture in sweet acidophilus milk is added after pasteurisation and stays dormant only while cold, and heating the milk kills it. So if the live bacteria are the reason you want it, there is no point putting it in a hot dish at all, and no reason to hunt for it when cooking.
If you cannot find it because your store stopped carrying it, that is what happened generally: it largely disappeared from American dairy cases as yogurt and kefir took over the same shelf space. Kefir is the nearest replacement on the shelf for a cultured drinking milk.
Match fat level when you swap in plain milk. Acidophilus milk was commonly sold as low-fat or skim, so reaching for whole milk will make a custard or a baked good richer and softer than the recipe intended; check the carton the recipe assumed if you can.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use regular milk instead of acidophilus milk?

Yes, 1:1, and for cooking or baking there is no downside at all. Sweet acidophilus milk is regular pasteurised milk with a dormant culture added, so it tastes the same, pours the same and bakes the same. Match the fat percentage and use it exactly as written.

Is acidophilus milk the same as buttermilk?

No, and the confusion causes real recipe failures. Buttermilk is fermented, so it is thick and sour and will react with baking soda. Sweet acidophilus milk is unfermented and tastes like plain milk, so it does not. The one exception is the older, genuinely cultured acidophilus milk, which is sour and thickened; that one behaves much more like buttermilk.

Can I just leave the acidophilus milk out?

Only if you replace the liquid. In a batter, a sauce or a custard it is the milk, so omitting it leaves the recipe dry or broken. Since plain milk is a perfect one-for-one swap and is in nearly every kitchen, there is no situation where leaving it out is the sensible move.

Why can I not find acidophilus milk any more?

It was a mid-to-late twentieth century dairy-case product that has largely been discontinued in most markets, squeezed out as kefir, drinkable yogurts and lactose-free milk took over the same space. Some regional dairies still make it. For recipes, plain milk is the answer; for a cultured drink, kefir is the closest thing now widely stocked.

If I bought it for the live cultures, what should I use instead?

Plain kefir or plain live-culture yogurt both contain live bacteria, including Lactobacillus species, and both are far easier to find. This page is about cooking substitutions and makes no claims about health effects; if you were using acidophilus milk for a specific reason related to your health or diet, that is a question for a doctor or dietitian rather than a recipe site.

Related substitutes

More dairy substitutes

Acidophilus Milk substitute

Other acidophilus milk substitutes

2Lactose-free milk

3Plain kefir

4Plain yogurt thinned with milk

5Cultured buttermilk

6Unsweetened plain soy or oat milk