Rice Milk substitute

Best substitute

Oat milk

Use the same amount as the rice milk you are replacing

Best for baking of every kind

Different taste

Oat milk is the closest widely sold swap at one to one and it keeps the recipe nut free and soy free, though it is creamier and less sweet. Carton coconut milk and hemp milk are the other two allergen-friendly routes, hemp being thin like rice milk but grassy rather than sweet, so add a teaspoon of sugar per cup to match. And because rice milk is so lean, plain water plus one or two teaspoons of sugar per cup is a genuinely reasonable substitute in most baking, with a teaspoon of oil added if the recipe was relying on the milk for softness. That is not a trick, it is a reflection of how little rice milk actually contains.

Other rice milk substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Carton coconut milk beverage
Different taste
Use the same amount or 1 part tinned coconut milk to 3 parts water
The carton drink rather than the tin.
What changes
Free of dairy, soy, gluten and tree nuts in the sense that matters to most allergy sufferers, since coconut is rarely a problem for people with tree nut allergies.
Best for
curries and Southeast Asian cooking, smoothies, chocolate and tropical baking, multi-allergy households, cereal
Richer than rice milk and unmistakably coconut, so it is either exactly right or clearly wrong depending on the dish, with nothing in between. Very good in a curry, a chocolate cake or a rice pudding; noticeably out of place in a bechamel or a cup of tea. Its extra fat is an advantage where rice milk was leaving things thin, since it will actually enrich a sauce. Do not use tinned coconut milk neat, as it is far too rich.
3Hemp milk plus a little sugar
Different taste
Use the same amount plus 1 teaspoon sugar per cup
Made from hemp seeds, free of dairy, soy, gluten and tree nuts, and the closest to rice milk in thinness.
What changes
Best for
allergy-safe baking, smoothies, cereal, savoury sauces, where its lack of sweetness helps
Thin in a similar way to rice milk but with a distinctly grassy, seedy, slightly green flavour and none of the sweetness, which is why the spoon of sugar matters if you are matching a recipe written for rice milk. That grassiness disappears in a smoothie or a spiced bake and stands out in a plain glass or a delicate custard. It has more fat and protein than rice milk, so it browns and thickens a little better.
4Water plus sugar, and a little oil
Different taste
1 cup water plus 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar, plus 1 teaspoon neutral oil for baking
A serious answer rather than a joke, because rice milk is roughly ninety per cent water with a little sugar and almost nothing else.
What changes
Best for
cakes, muffins and quick breads, pancake batter, an emergency mid-recipe, any recipe where the milk is only moisture
In a cake this comes out remarkably close: very slightly less tender and slightly paler, which the teaspoon of oil largely fixes. It will not do anything rice milk was not doing anyway, which is to say it will not thicken, will not brown much and will not set. As a drink or on cereal it is obviously no substitute at all. Given how lean rice milk is, this is closer to it than it would be to dairy, oat or soy.
5Dairy or soy milk
Different taste
Use the same amount and reduce the sugar slightly
If the reason for the rice milk was convenience rather than allergy, either is a straightforward swap with a couple of predictable differences.
What changes
Best for
baking and custards, sauces that need to thicken, browning in pancakes and French toast, coffee
Both have far more protein and fat than rice milk, so pancakes brown considerably faster, custards set firmer, and a white sauce actually behaves like a white sauce. Both are also much less sweet, so reduce the recipe's sugar slightly only if it was written around rice milk's sweetness, and otherwise leave it alone. Neither helps at all if the point was avoiding dairy, soy and nuts together.
6Homemade rice milk
Taste and texture differ
1 cup cooked white rice to 4 cups water
Blend cooked rice with water, strain through a fine cloth, sweeten to taste.
What changes
Cheap and made from something already in the cupboard.
Best for
an emergency when the carton has run out, cooking liquid, horchata, which is essentially this plus cinnamon and sugar
Be honest with your expectations: homemade rice milk is thin, faintly gritty and separates within minutes, and it lacks the sweetness of the commercial kind because commercial producers use enzymes to convert the starch, which you cannot do at home. It works as a cooking liquid and disappoints as a drink. The exception is horchata, where cinnamon, vanilla and sugar transform the same base into something excellent.

What is Rice Milk?

Rice Milk is Rice milk is made by blending or enzyme-treating cooked rice with water, and it is the thinnest and sweetest of the common plant milks, naturally sweet because the enzymes break rice starch down into sugar, with almost no fat and almost no protein.

Cooking tips

Rice milk tastes sweet even when the carton says unsweetened, because the enzyme process turns rice starch into sugar before any sweetener is added. That is why a bechamel, a leek soup or a mashed potato made with rice milk can taste oddly and unplaceably sweet. A pinch of salt and a scrape of nutmeg help, and using oat or soy milk instead helps more.
With almost no protein and almost no fat, rice milk will not thicken a sauce and will not brown a pancake. For a white sauce, either add a teaspoon of cornstarch per cup or increase the butter and flour in the roux by about a quarter, and expect a paler result than you would get with dairy.
It looks thin and washed out in hot coffee and can separate into faint specks. If coffee is the main use, a barista-blend oat or soy milk is a much better buy. In tea it is less noticeable, and in iced coffee it is fine.
Do not reduce it hard. Rice milk boiled down does not concentrate into something creamy, it goes watery-sweet and can turn faintly gluey from the residual starch. Add it late, off a hard boil.
It separates in the carton more than any other plant milk, with a visible layer of starch settling at the bottom. Shake it thoroughly before every use or the first glass is watery and the last is chalky.
Rice milk is not a like-for-like nutritional replacement for dairy milk, being very low in protein, and health agencies in several countries publish specific guidance about rice drinks for young children. Follow that official guidance rather than anything a recipe site tells you.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best rice milk substitute if I cannot have nuts, soy or dairy?

Oat milk first, as long as gluten is not also a problem, since it is the closest in behaviour and the easiest to find. If gluten is an issue, look for oat milk explicitly labelled gluten free, or move to carton coconut milk or hemp milk, both of which are free of dairy, soy, gluten and tree nuts. Hemp is the closest to rice milk in thinness, coconut is the richest and the most useful in sauces. Water plus a couple of teaspoons of sugar also works in baking.

Can I use water instead of rice milk?

In baking, more successfully than you would expect. Rice milk is around ninety per cent water with a little sugar and very little fat or protein, so a cup of water plus one or two teaspoons of sugar and a teaspoon of neutral oil gets you close in a cake or a batch of pancakes, with a slightly paler and marginally less tender result. It is not a substitute in a drink, on cereal or in anything meant to taste creamy.

Is rice milk gluten free?

Rice itself contains no gluten, but not every rice milk is gluten free, which surprises people. Some brands use barley-derived enzymes to convert the rice starch, and some add barley malt as a sweetener, both of which introduce gluten. If it matters, look for a gluten-free label rather than assuming, and check the ingredients for barley malt or malt extract.

Can I make rice milk at home?

You can, and it is cheap, but manage your expectations. Blend one cup of cooked white rice with four cups of water and strain it through a fine cloth. What you get is thin, slightly gritty and separates within minutes, and it is nowhere near as sweet as the commercial kind, because producers use enzymes to convert the starch into sugar and there is no home equivalent. It works well as a cooking liquid. As a drink it is much better turned into horchata with cinnamon, vanilla and sugar.

Is horchata the same as rice milk?

They share a base but they are not the same drink. Mexican horchata is soaked, blended, strained rice that has been sweetened and flavoured with cinnamon and usually vanilla, and it carries more suspended starch so it has real body. Rice milk is unsweetened or lightly sweetened, unspiced and filtered fine. Rice milk plus a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon or two of sugar and a drop of vanilla per cup makes a good horchata stand-in, and plain rice milk on its own does not.

Can I just leave the rice milk out?

In a soup or a braise where it is one liquid among several, water or stock takes over and the dish is barely different, since rice milk contributes very little beyond liquid and a little sweetness. In baking it is most of the moisture, so it cannot simply be removed, but water plus sugar covers it. The place it genuinely matters is a recipe built on its sweetness, such as a rice pudding or a horchata-style drink, where you need to replace both the liquid and the sugar.

Related substitutes

More dairy alternatives substitutes

Rice Milk substitute

Other rice milk substitutes

2Carton coconut milk beverage

3Hemp milk plus a little sugar

4Water plus sugar, and a little oil

5Dairy or soy milk

6Homemade rice milk