Hemp Milk substitute

Best substitute

Oat Milk

Use the same amount as the hemp milk you are replacing

Best for baking

Different taste

Use any unsweetened plant milk cup for cup. Oat milk is the closest for body, soy milk is the closest if the recipe needs protein, and flax milk or rice milk are the best swaps if you picked hemp milk because it is nut-free and soy-free. If you have hemp hearts, blend 3 tablespoons with 1 cup of cold water and skip the store entirely.

Other hemp milk substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Soy Milk
Different taste
Use the same amount
The only common plant milk with dairy-level protein, so it behaves best in anything that has to set or brown.
What changes
Best for
puddings, custards, bechamel, baking, lattes
Soy has roughly seven grams of protein per cup against hemp milk's two to three, so a pudding actually sets instead of staying soupy and a white sauce gets real body. The trade is a distinct beany note that shows in vanilla or plain dishes and disappears in chocolate or coffee. Obviously not an option if the recipe specified hemp milk to avoid soy.
3Flax Milk
Close match
Use the same amount
The best swap when the whole point of hemp milk was the allergen profile.
What changes
Best for
allergy-friendly baking, cereal, school-safe recipes, smoothies
Flax milk, sometimes labeled flaxseed milk or linseed milk, is also nut-free, soy-free and gluten-free, and it is a very close texture match: thin, faintly nutty, low in protein. It is a shade milder than hemp, which some people prefer. Do not boil it hard, because flax oil turns unpleasant with high heat.
4Rice Milk
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
Nut-free and soy-free, but the thinnest and sweetest option on this list.
What changes
Best for
cereal, muffins, quick breads, smoothies
Rice milk is watery and noticeably sweet from the enzyme-converted rice starch. A sauce made with it will taste sugary and thin, so cut the recipe's sugar by a teaspoon or two per cup and expect to thicken with cornstarch if you wanted body. It is the safest choice for multiple allergies.
5Carton Coconut Beverage
Different taste
Use the same amount
Similar thin body, with an unmistakable coconut aroma layered on top.
What changes
Best for
smoothies, curries, oatmeal, chocolate baking
Use the drinking coconut milk from a refrigerated carton, not the thick canned kind, which is four to five times the fat and will make a batter greasy. The coconut smell is obvious in anything pale and mild like a vanilla cake, and completely invisible in chocolate, coffee or a curry.
6Homemade Hemp Milk
Close match
3 tablespoons hulled hemp seeds plus 1 cup water makes 1 cup
The exact ingredient, made in a blender in about ninety seconds.
What changes
Best for
any recipe calling for hemp milk, cereal, coffee, baking
Blend hulled hemp seeds, sometimes sold as hemp hearts, with cold water for a full minute, plus a pinch of salt and a date or teaspoon of maple syrup if you want it to taste like the carton. Unlike almonds, hemp hearts break down completely, so you do not need a nut milk bag or any straining. It keeps three days in the fridge and separates, which is normal.

What is Hemp Milk?

Hemp Milk is Hemp milk, also sold as hempmilk or hemp seed milk, is a thin plant milk made by blending hulled hemp seeds with water, and it is naturally free of nuts, soy and gluten.

Cooking tips

Hemp milk is mostly just the liquid in a recipe. It carries a little fat and almost no protein, so in muffins, pancakes and quick breads you can swap in essentially any liquid, but in a pudding, custard or bechamel it was never doing much structural work in the first place and you should add a tablespoon of cornstarch per cup no matter which milk you use.
Shake the carton hard every time. Hemp milk separates faster than almond or oat because there is very little added gum holding it together, and the fat sits at the top.
Keep the heat moderate. Hemp milk can look slightly curdled or grainy if you bring it to a rolling boil, especially with anything acidic in the pan. Warm it gently and add lemon or tomato off the heat.
Check whether your carton is unsweetened or original before you cook with it. Original styles carry roughly eight to ten grams of added sugar per cup, which is enough to make a savory soup taste odd and enough to brown a pancake much faster.
If the reason for hemp milk was an allergy, read the label rather than assuming. Some hemp milk blends add oat or pea protein, which matters if you were avoiding gluten or legumes.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave the hemp milk out?

Not if it is the main liquid, because you would be removing most of the moisture from the recipe. What you can do is replace it with plain water plus a teaspoon of neutral oil per cup. In muffins, pancakes, quick breads and most cake batters that works genuinely well and nobody will notice. In a creamy soup or a sauce it will taste thin, so use another milk there.

Is almond milk a good substitute for hemp milk?

In terms of cooking behavior, yes, they are both thin and low in protein and swap one for one. The problem is that hemp milk is frequently chosen precisely because it is nut-free, so almond milk defeats the point in a school-safe or allergy-friendly recipe. If allergies are not the issue, almond milk is a fine, slightly more astringent stand-in.

Does hemp milk taste like cannabis?

No. It is made from the seeds of industrial hemp, which contain no meaningful THC, and the flavor is mild and faintly nutty, closer to sunflower seeds than anything else. Most people find it a little grassier than almond milk and less sweet than oat milk.

Can I use hemp milk in coffee, or does it split?

It works but it is not a barista milk. The low protein means it foams poorly and it can flocculate in very hot, very acidic coffee. Pour the coffee into the milk rather than the other way around, and keep the milk from boiling. Oat milk foams far better if latte texture is what you are after.

Will hemp milk work as a buttermilk substitute?

Roughly. Stir a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar into a cup of hemp milk and let it sit five minutes. It will not visibly thicken the way dairy milk does because there is not enough protein to curdle, but the acid is what actually activates baking soda, so pancakes and biscuits will still rise properly.

Related substitutes

More dairy alternatives substitutes

Hemp Milk substitute

Other hemp milk substitutes

2Soy Milk

3Flax Milk

4Rice Milk

5Carton Coconut Beverage

6Homemade Hemp Milk