Potato Milk substitute

Best substitute

Oat milk

Use the same amount as the potato milk you are replacing

Best for coffee and lattes

Different taste

Oat milk is the closest swap at 1:1, since both are neutral, mildly sweet and slightly starchy, and it foams in coffee the same way. If potato milk was chosen because of allergies, rice milk is the only common plant milk that is also free of nuts, soy, gluten and dairy, though it is thinner and sweeter, so add a tablespoon of oil per cup in baking. Potato milk's job in a recipe is simply creamy neutral liquid, so it is one of the easier things to replace once you know which allergens you have to avoid.

Other potato milk substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Rice milk
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount plus 1 tbsp neutral oil per cup in baking
The most allergen-light plant milk, free of nuts, soy, gluten and dairy.
What changes
Best for
very restricted allergy diets, cereal and porridge, cakes and muffins, smoothies
The right choice when potato milk was picked for its allergen profile rather than its taste, since it is the only widely sold plant milk that clears the same list. It is much thinner than potato milk and distinctly sweet, so a cup of coffee turns watery and a white sauce refuses to thicken and tastes sugary. It also lacks the small amount of oil that gives potato milk its creaminess, which is why a tablespoon of neutral oil per cup makes such a difference in baking. Check the label, since some rice milks are made on shared lines with nut milks.
3Soy milk
Different taste
Use the same amount
High-protein plant milk and the most capable performer in cooking.
What changes
Best for
coffee and lattes, custards and puddings, bechamel and white sauces, baking, vegan buttermilk
Functionally a step up if soy is not a problem: the protein lets it foam properly, set custards and curdle cleanly with lemon juice for vegan buttermilk, none of which potato milk does especially well. The trade is flavour, since soy milk is beany and assertive where potato milk is almost neutral, and that shows in tea, plain porridge and delicate cakes. It is naturally gluten-free and nut-free, so for a gluten-free but soy-tolerant kitchen it is often the best of these options.
4Homemade potato milk
Different texture
1 small boiled potato, 2 cups water, 1 tsp neutral oil, pinch of salt
The original made from scratch, which is realistic because the ingredient list is so short.
What changes
Best for
baking, soups and sauces, porridge, when the carton is unavailable
Worth trying, with one rule: use cooked potato and blend briefly. Raw potato tastes green and unpleasant, and over-blending cooked potato releases so much starch that the milk turns gluey rather than creamy, which is the same reason you do not put boiled potatoes in a food processor for mash. Blend in short pulses for about fifteen seconds, then strain through a fine sieve. The result is thinner and blander than Dug, which is fortified and commercially emulsified, so it works better in cooking than in a glass. Use within two days.
5Carton coconut drink (not tinned coconut milk)
Different taste
Use the same amount
The thin, drinkable coconut milk sold in cartons in the chiller, quite different from the tinned kind.
What changes
Best for
cereal and porridge, smoothies, baking, nut-free and soy-free kitchens
A workable allergen-friendly option, since it is free of nuts, soy and gluten, and closer to potato milk in body than rice milk is. The obvious difference is flavour: it carries a clear coconut note that vanishes in a spiced dish and stands out sharply in mashed potato, a white sauce or a cup of tea. Make sure you are buying the carton drink and not a tin of coconut milk, which is four or five times as fatty and will turn a recipe rich and heavy.
6Whole dairy milk
Different taste
Use the same amount
Ordinary cow's milk, the answer when potato milk was a sustainability or curiosity choice rather than a dietary one.
What changes
Best for
every use, baking, coffee, sauces and custards
Swaps directly and generally performs better, because it brings both fat and protein: sauces thicken more reliably, custards set, and coffee foams. It is richer and slightly sweeter than potato milk, so a bake browns a little more and a sauce tastes fuller. Not an option for a vegan, lactose-intolerant or dairy-allergic cook, which covers most people searching for this swap, but worth naming for anyone who simply ran out of a carton they bought to try.

What is Potato Milk?

Potato Milk is Potato milk, sold as a potato drink and best known through the Swedish brand Dug, is a plant milk made from cooked potato emulsified with a little rapeseed oil, which gives it a neutral, faintly starchy taste, a creamy body and none of the common allergens found in nut, soy or oat milks.

Cooking tips

Potato milk gets its body from starch, so it thickens as it heats and can turn slightly gluey if it boils hard in a sauce. Bring it up gently and take the pan off the heat as soon as the sauce coats a spoon. Oat milk behaves the same way; soy and dairy milk do not, so a sauce made with those needs a little more flour or cornflour to reach the same thickness.
Check what you are actually avoiding before you pick a swap. Potato milk clears nuts, soy, gluten, dairy and usually coconut all at once, which is why it appears in allergy-friendly recipes, and no other single plant milk clears that whole list except rice. Standard oat milk fails on gluten unless the carton is certified gluten-free.
For homemade potato milk, cook the potato and pulse the blender briefly. Long blending shears the starch granules and gives you wallpaper paste; short pulses followed by straining give you milk. This is the single mistake that makes people give up on the homemade version.
Unsweetened is the assumption in recipes. Potato milk is only lightly sweet, so swapping in sweetened oat or rice milk adds sugar you did not plan for, which is invisible in cereal and very obvious in mashed potato, a gravy or a bechamel. Taste and add a pinch more salt to balance it.
If you are using it in mashed potato or a potato soup, which people often are, the neutrality is the whole point. Coconut drink will fight the dish, oat milk will sweeten it, and soy will make it beany, so for those recipes plain dairy milk or unsweetened rice milk with a knob of vegan butter is the closest in character.

Frequently asked questions

What is the closest substitute for potato milk?

Oat milk, because both are starch-based, mildly sweet and creamy in the same way, and both foam reasonably in coffee and thicken slightly when heated. Oat milk tastes more clearly of cereal and is sweeter, so add a little extra salt in savoury cooking. The one thing to watch is that ordinary oat milk contains gluten unless the carton is labelled certified gluten-free, and if you chose potato milk to avoid gluten then rice milk or soy milk is the safer swap.

Can I make potato milk at home?

Yes, and the ingredient list is short: one small boiled potato, two cups of water, a teaspoon of neutral oil and a pinch of salt. The technique matters more than the recipe. Use cooked potato, never raw, and pulse the blender for about fifteen seconds rather than running it, because over-blending releases so much starch that the milk turns gluey. Strain through a fine sieve and use within two days. It is thinner and plainer than the commercial version, so it suits cooking better than drinking.

Is potato milk gluten-free, and are its substitutes?

Potato milk is naturally gluten-free, which is one of its selling points. Among the swaps, rice milk, soy milk, coconut drink, hemp milk and dairy milk are all gluten-free, while standard oat milk is not, because oats are usually processed alongside wheat; only cartons labelled certified gluten-free are safe for coeliac cooking. Always read the specific carton rather than assuming, since plant milks are frequently made on shared production lines.

Can I just leave the potato milk out?

No, in almost every case, because it is the liquid in the recipe rather than a flavouring, and taking out the liquid changes what you are making. The nearest thing to leaving it out is replacing it with water plus a tablespoon of neutral oil per cup, which gives you the volume and some of the richness, and works acceptably in muffins and pancakes. In a sauce, a custard or a bowl of cereal you need an actual milk.

Does potato milk taste like potato?

Barely. Commercial potato milk is emulsified and often fortified, and it comes out neutral with a faint starchy sweetness rather than tasting like boiled potato, which is exactly why it works as a general-purpose milk. Homemade versions taste more of potato, especially if you skip the salt and oil. That neutrality is worth remembering when you substitute, because sweet oat milk or coconut drink will be much more noticeable in a savoury dish than the potato milk ever was.

Related substitutes

More dairy alternatives substitutes

Potato Milk substitute

Other potato milk substitutes

2Rice milk

3Soy milk

4Homemade potato milk

5Carton coconut drink (not tinned coconut milk)

6Whole dairy milk