Pistachio Milk substitute

Best substitute

Pistachio butter or pistachio paste blended with water

Use 2 tbsp pistachio butter for every 1 cup water

Best for pistachio lattes

Close match

Homemade pistachio milk, using ground pistachios instead of whole soaked ones.

Other pistachio milk substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Cashew milk
Different taste
Use the same amount
The creamiest of the common nut milks, mild and naturally thick.
What changes
Best for
lattes and coffee, ice cream bases, creamy sauces, baking, smoothies
The best texture match by a clear margin: cashew milk is round, fatty and slightly sweet, so a latte or a panna cotta made with it has the same mouthfeel as one made with pistachio milk. What it does not have is any pistachio character, so the drink tastes like a plain nut latte and the dessert loses its identity. If the recipe names pistachio milk for flavour, stir in a teaspoon or two of pistachio paste per cup to close the gap, which works surprisingly well. Use unsweetened, since cashew milk is already the sweetest-tasting nut milk.
3Almond milk
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
The most widely available nut milk, thinner than pistachio milk and mildly nutty.
What changes
Best for
baking, smoothies, cereal and porridge, iced drinks
The easy option, and adequate whenever the milk is just liquid in the recipe. It is thinner and less fatty than pistachio milk, so a custard set with it is looser and a latte comes out watery by comparison; if the recipe is a dessert, add a tablespoon of neutral oil or a spoonful of nut butter per cup to compensate. Flavour-wise it is mildly almondy rather than green and grassy, so pistachio-forward recipes taste generically nutty. Do not add almond extract to try to fake pistachio; it tastes like marzipan and pulls the dish further away.
4Raw shelled pistachios blended with water
Close match
Use ¼ cup raw pistachios for every 1 cup water
Pistachio milk made from scratch, which takes about five minutes with a blender.
What changes
Best for
pistachio lattes, desserts where the flavour is the point, when no pistachio product is available but the nuts are
Genuinely worth doing and better than most cartons. Soak the pistachios in hot water for half an hour first if you can, blend with fresh water and a pinch of salt for a minute, then strain through a fine sieve or a nut-milk bag. Use raw unsalted nuts, since roasted salted pistachios give a savoury, toasty milk that fights a sweet recipe. The colour will be beige-green rather than the bright green of a cafe drink, which is usually food colouring or matcha rather than pistachio. Keeps three days and separates, so shake it.
5Whole dairy milk with pistachio paste
Close match
1 cup whole milk plus 2 tsp pistachio paste
The non-vegan route, which gets the flavour and improves the richness.
What changes
Best for
pistachio lattes, ice cream and kulfi, pastry cream and puddings, cakes
If dairy is allowed, this is often the best-tasting version of the recipe, not a compromise. Whole milk is richer than pistachio milk and sets custards more reliably, and the paste puts the pistachio flavour back exactly where it belongs. Whisk the paste into a little of the milk first so it disperses instead of clumping. The colour turns creamy pale green rather than beige. Not an option in a vegan recipe, and not the answer if the recipe chose pistachio milk specifically to be dairy-free.
6Oat milk
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
Nut-free, sweet, and the best plant milk for steaming and foaming.
What changes
Best for
lattes and cappuccinos, iced coffee, baking, nut-free kitchens
The practical pick for coffee, because barista oat milk foams far better than pistachio milk and holds its texture in a hot drink. It is distinctly sweet and cereal-flavoured, which reads pleasantly in a latte and slightly oddly in a delicate pistachio dessert, and it is thicker than pistachio milk so sauces come out heavier. Also the answer for a nut-free kitchen, where any pistachio product is off the table; in that case accept that the pistachio flavour is gone rather than trying to imitate it.

What is Pistachio Milk?

Pistachio Milk is Pistachio milk, sometimes labelled pistachio nut milk and sold by brands such as Tache, is a plant milk made by blending pistachios with water, giving a creamy, slightly sweet liquid with a distinct green-nut flavour and a pale beige-green colour.

Cooking tips

Decide first whether the recipe wants pistachio milk for flavour or just for liquid. In a pistachio latte, pistachio ice cream or pistachio cake, the flavour is the entire dish and only a pistachio product will do. In a bowl of granola or a generic muffin, any unsweetened nut milk is a straight swap and nobody will notice.
Real pistachio milk is beige with a greenish tint, not vivid green. If you are chasing the colour of a cafe pistachio latte, that shade almost always comes from added colouring or a splash of matcha rather than from the nuts, so do not judge your homemade version as a failure because it looks dull.
Buy unsalted raw pistachios for any homemade version. Roasted salted nuts make a milk that tastes toasty and savoury, which is interesting in a savoury sauce and wrong in a sweet drink, and the salt is impossible to take back out once it is blended.
Pistachio milk and its nut-milk substitutes do not foam well; there is not enough protein for stable microfoam. For a latte, either use barista oat or soy milk for the steaming and add pistachio paste for flavour, or accept a flat, creamy drink rather than a capped one.
Do not try to fake pistachio with almond extract. It reads as marzipan and takes the dish in the wrong direction. If you have no pistachio product at all, a small amount of tahini or cashew butter with a little sugar gets closer to the green-nut character than any extract will.

Frequently asked questions

What is the closest substitute for pistachio milk?

Two tablespoons of pistachio butter or unsweetened pistachio paste blended into a cup of water, because that is functionally what pistachio milk is. It comes out richer and more strongly flavoured than the carton, so it improves most recipes rather than compromising them. If you have no pistachio product, cashew milk is the closest in creaminess and almond milk is the easiest to find, but both give you a plain nut milk with none of the pistachio flavour.

Can I use almond milk instead of pistachio milk?

Yes, one for one, as long as the pistachio flavour is not the point of the recipe. Almond milk is thinner and less fatty, so a custard or latte will feel lighter and less rich, and in a dessert it helps to add a tablespoon of neutral oil or nut butter per cup to make up the difference. In a pistachio latte, pistachio cake or pistachio ice cream the swap is very noticeable, since you end up with something generically nutty; a couple of teaspoons of pistachio paste per cup fixes it.

Can I make pistachio milk at home?

Easily. Soak a quarter cup of raw shelled unsalted pistachios in hot water for thirty minutes, drain, then blend with one cup of fresh water and a pinch of salt for a full minute and strain through a fine sieve or nut-milk bag. Add a teaspoon of maple syrup if you want it closer to the shop-bought sweetened version. It keeps about three days in the fridge and separates as it sits, so shake it before using. Homemade tastes considerably more of pistachio than any carton.

Can I just leave the pistachio milk out?

Only if something else is providing the liquid. In most recipes pistachio milk is the main liquid and the main source of richness, so leaving it out means the recipe no longer works. If the recipe is a pistachio-flavoured one, omitting the milk also removes the flavour that gives the dish its name, and you would be better off using any nut milk plus a spoonful of pistachio paste than leaving it out and hoping.

Is pistachio milk sweet, and does that matter when I substitute?

Most cartons are lightly sweetened, usually with a little cane sugar or dates, so they taste noticeably sweeter than unsweetened almond or cashew milk. If you swap to an unsweetened milk, a sweet recipe can end up tasting slightly bare; add a teaspoon of sugar or maple syrup per cup to match. In the other direction, if you swap sweetened pistachio milk into a savoury sauce, pull back nothing and add a little extra salt, because the sweetness will show.

Related substitutes

More dairy alternatives substitutes

Pistachio Milk substitute

Other pistachio milk substitutes

2Cashew milk

3Almond milk

4Raw shelled pistachios blended with water

5Whole dairy milk with pistachio paste

6Oat milk