Kumis substitutes
Kumis substitutes — 5 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Milk kefir
Same amount by volume as the kumis
Plain unsweetened milk kefir is the substitute, used 1:1, and it is a genuinely good one: kefir is the only common Western dairy product fermented by both bacteria and yeast, so it shares kumis's thin body, sour bite, faint yeasty aroma and gentle fizz. If you cannot get kefir, thin plain yogurt with cold water to a drinkable consistency and add a squeeze of lemon, which gets you the sourness but none of the sparkle. Airan or ayran, salted diluted yogurt, is the closest thing culturally and is what many Central Asian households drink when kumis is out of season.
- Verdict —
- Works
- Best for —
- drinking chilled
Updated 19 Aug 2026 · no sponsored swaps
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of kumis | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milk kefirdrinking chilled | Same amount by volumeWorks | Works |
| 2 | Ayran or airan (salted yogurt drink)drinking with grilled meat or plov | Same amount by volumeTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Plain yogurt thinned with water or milkmarinades | ½ cup yogurt whisked with ½ cup cold water per cup of kumisTweak it | Tweak it |
| 4 | Shubat or camel-milk kefirdrinking | Same amount by volumeWorks | Works |
| 5 | Buttermilkbaking | Same amount by volumeTweak it | Tweak it |
Milk kefir
similar taste and texture
Fermented milk made with kefir grains, which contain yeasts as well as lactic bacteria and so ferment much the same way kumis does.
- Best for
- drinking chilled, recipes calling for kumis as a liquid, marinades for lamb, beef and horse meat, cold soups
The right answer by a wide margin. Both are thin enough to drink from a bowl, both are properly sour rather than mildly tangy, both smell faintly of bread dough, and both carry a light natural carbonation if the bottle has been left to mature. Kefir is a little creamier because cow's milk has more casein and fat than mare's milk, so it coats the mouth slightly more, and it is less aggressively sour than a well-aged kumis. A kefir left on the counter for six to eight hours before chilling gets fizzier and closer.
Ayran or airan (salted yogurt drink)
different taste, similar texture
Yogurt whisked with cold water and a pinch of salt until pourable, drunk across Turkey and Central Asia.
- Best for
- drinking with grilled meat or plov, cooling a chile-heavy meal, serving to guests who avoid alcohol
The everyday stand-in in the region kumis comes from, so it fits the meal even though it is not the same drink. Flavor-wise it is cleanly sour and salted rather than wild and yeasty, and it is completely flat with no fizz, so it tastes tamer and more refreshing where kumis tastes challenging. The salt matters: without it the drink reads as watery yogurt. Start with a quarter teaspoon per cup.
Plain yogurt thinned with water or milk
different taste, similar texture
The pantry version, giving you sour cultured dairy at drinking consistency.
- Best for
- marinades, batters and doughs, chilled soups, drinking in a pinch
Serviceable when kumis is an ingredient rather than the point. It brings the same acidity, which is what a marinade or a batter actually wants. As a drink it is noticeably duller: no carbonation, no yeasty note, and a rounder, milkier flavor. A squeeze of lemon juice sharpens it and a splash of sparkling water adds a little life.
Shubat or camel-milk kefir
similar taste and texture
Fermented camel's milk, made and drunk across the same regions as kumis.
- Best for
- drinking, serving as part of a Central Asian meal, any use where kumis is the star
If you can find it, this is the closest match to kumis in spirit and almost as close in flavor: thin, tangy, slightly salty and faintly gamey in a way cow's milk products never are. It is less fizzy and less alcoholic than kumis, since it is usually fermented primarily by bacteria. Availability is the catch outside Central Asia and the Gulf.
Buttermilk
different taste, similar texture
Cultured pourable milk, sour and thin but completely still.
- Best for
- baking, marinades, cold soups, batters
Right thickness, right acidity, wrong personality. Buttermilk tastes cleanly and simply sour with a slightly salty finish, where kumis tastes wild and half alive. Use it happily anywhere the kumis was providing acid and liquid; do not serve it in a bowl and call it kumis. It also has no alcohol at all, which makes it the sensible choice if that matters.
Questions
5 questionsDoes kumis contain alcohol, and do the substitutes?
Yes, kumis is mildly alcoholic, generally somewhere under about two percent, because yeasts ferment mare's milk alongside the bacteria. Kefir also contains a trace of alcohol, usually well under one percent and often much less. Yogurt, ayran and buttermilk contain essentially none, so choose one of those if you are avoiding alcohol entirely.
Can I make kumis with cow's milk?
Not really kumis, no. Cow's milk has far more casein, so it clots into curds instead of staying thin and drinkable, and it has less lactose for the yeasts to work on, so it ferments less vigorously. What you get is kefir, which is a fine drink in its own right and the reason kefir is the recommended substitute. Genuine kumis needs mare's milk.
Can I just leave kumis out?
If a recipe uses it as the liquid in a batter, a soup or a marinade, you cannot simply omit it, but any sour cultured milk fills the gap, and even plain milk plus a tablespoon of lemon juice per cup will do for the acidity. If kumis is being served as a drink, there is nothing to leave out; pour kefir instead and say so.
What does kumis actually taste like, so I know what I am aiming for?
Sharply sour, thin, slightly fizzy, a little yeasty and bready, with a faint sweetness underneath from the high lactose and sometimes a whisper of alcohol on the finish. It is closer to a sour beer than to a milkshake. People expecting a creamy yogurt drink are usually startled the first time.
Where can I buy kumis?
Outside Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and parts of Russia it is very hard to find, because mare's milk is produced in small quantities and the drink does not keep or travel well. Occasional bottled versions appear in Central Asian and Russian specialty shops. For everything else, kefir is the practical substitute.
Tips for substituting kumis
5 tips- Kumis is almost always a drink rather than a cooking ingredient, so match it on how it feels in the mouth: thin, cold, sour and slightly effervescent. Anything you can pour and gulp is on the right track; anything you eat with a spoon is not.
- Mare's milk has more lactose and much less casein than cow's milk, which is why kumis stays thin and never sets into a curd. That is also why straight yogurt looks wrong as a substitute until you thin it, and why kefir, which stays pourable, looks right.
- If you want fizz from a substitute, leave sealed bottled kefir at room temperature for six to eight hours before refrigerating, then open it carefully over the sink. The yeasts keep working and build gentle carbonation, exactly as they do in kumis.
- Serve any of these cold and unsweetened. Sweetening a kumis substitute pushes it toward a lassi or a smoothie and away from the savory, salty, sour profile the drink actually has alongside plov, laghman or grilled meat.
- Used as a meat marinade, all of these work through acid and enzymes and will tenderize the surface of lamb or beef in two to four hours. Longer soaking turns the outside chalky and mealy, so do not leave it overnight.