Cashew milk substitutes

The closest match in body and mouthfeel of anything on the shelf, and the easiest to buy anywhere.

Best for

coffee and tea, creamy soups and sauces, baking of every kind, smoothies and cereal, mashed potatoes

Similarly creamy, but oat milk carries its own sugar from the enzyme process, so it is distinctly sweeter and a little grainier, which is welcome in coffee and cake and can read oddly in a bechamel or a leek soup. Buy the unsweetened kind for savoury use. It also thickens slightly when heated because of residual oat starch, which is helpful in a soup and turns gluey if you reduce it hard. Foams far better than cashew milk for coffee.

The obvious cousin, made from the same kind of nut and stocked everywhere, but a much thinner liquid than cashew milk.

Best for

cereal, smoothies and drinking, cakes, muffins and pancakes, light sauces, iced coffee

More assertively nutty and considerably more watery, because almonds leave a lot of pulp behind when strained where cashews do not. Used straight in a dairy-free alfredo or a chowder the result tastes thin and hollow in a way people describe as watery rather than as almondy. The cornstarch or nut butter fixes that almost entirely. In hot espresso it separates into visible flecks more readily than cashew milk does.

The protein-rich plant milk, and the one to choose when the recipe needs to do something more than taste creamy.

Best for

baking that needs structure, custards, puddings and anything that sets, browning in pancakes and French toast, bechamel and lasagne, coffee, using a barista blend

Beanier and less silky than cashew milk, and less sweet, but it has roughly seven times the protein, which is why a baked custard or a vegan flan made with soy sets properly and one made with cashew milk stays loose. Buy unsweetened for savoury use. In hot acidic coffee it can curdle unless it is a barista version, so warm it gently first and pour the coffee into the milk.

The carton drink rather than the tin, which is comparably rich to cashew milk and is nut free in the tree-nut sense that matters to most allergy sufferers.

Best for

curries and Southeast Asian dishes, smoothies, tropical baking, nut-free, soy-free and gluten-free households

Similar creaminess with an unmistakable coconut flavour, which is either right or wrong depending entirely on the dish. Fine in a curry, a chocolate cake or a mango smoothie; noticeably out of place in a mushroom soup or a cup of tea. Do not use tinned coconut milk undiluted in place of cashew milk, because it is several times richer and will make the dish heavy and greasy. Diluted, it is one of the best options for multiple allergies.

Cashew milk is one ingredient and ninety seconds in a blender, and adjusting the water gives you either a milk or a heavy cream stand-in.

Best for

dairy-free cream sauces, creamy soups, vegan alfredo, vodka sauce and tikka masala, coffee creamer, any recipe promising real creaminess

Homemade is dramatically richer than the boxed kind, which is often only two or three per cent cashews with the rest water and gums. If a recipe leans on cashew milk for creaminess and the carton is disappointing you, this is why. Soak raw cashews four hours in cold water or fifteen minutes in boiling water unless your blender is powerful, use raw rather than roasted, and blend a full minute. It keeps three or four days in the fridge and separates, so shake it.

The routes to take when the reason for the substitution is that cashews are off the table entirely.

Best for

nut-free cooking and baking, smoothies and cereal, school and allergy-safe recipes, soups, with a thickener added

Hemp milk is the closest in richness of the three, with a distinctly grassy, seedy flavour that disappears in a smoothie or a spiced dish and stands out in a plain sauce. Sunflower seed milk is thinner and faintly bitter. Rice milk is the thinnest and sweetest and contributes almost nothing but liquid, so a sauce made with it needs extra thickening. Oat milk is usually the best nut-free option overall, as long as gluten is not also a concern. Worth knowing that people allergic to pistachios often react to cashews too, since the two are closely related.