Walnut Milk substitute

Best substitute

Pecan milk

Use the same amount as the walnut milk you are replacing

Best for Chinese walnut dessert soup

Close match

Pecan milk is the closest swap at 1:1, since pecans are walnut relatives but sweeter and far less bitter, so the result tastes rounder and softer. Cashew milk is the best match for richness and body, and 2 tablespoons of walnut butter blended into a cup of water is the truest option if you have it. Be aware of what you are giving up: walnut milk's tannic, faintly bitter edge is exactly what makes Chinese walnut dessert soup and Middle Eastern walnut sauces taste like themselves, and no other milk brings it.

Other walnut milk substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Cashew milk
Different taste
Use the same amount
The creamiest and most neutral of the nut milks.
What changes
Best for
Chinese walnut soup, creamy sauces, coffee and hot chocolate, puddings and custards, baking
The best structural match, because walnut milk is a fatty, full-bodied nut milk and cashew is the only widely sold one that matches that weight. A dessert soup or a creamy sauce made with it has the right mouthfeel. What disappears is all the character: cashew milk is mild and faintly sweet with no bitterness at all, so a Middle Eastern walnut sauce made with it tastes plain and needs help from toasted ground walnuts, garlic or pomegranate molasses depending on the dish.
3Walnut butter blended with water
Close match
Use 2 tbsp walnut butter for every 1 cup water
Walnut milk reassembled from ground walnuts, the most faithful option.
What changes
Best for
Chinese walnut dessert soup, walnut sauces, baking, smoothies
The same ingredient in another form, and worth checking for since walnut butter turns up in health-food aisles. Blend for a minute with a pinch of salt. Because nothing is strained out, it is thicker and considerably more bitter than a carton or a strained homemade milk, so taste it before committing and dilute with more water if the astringency is too strong. A teaspoon of sugar or honey per cup tames the bitterness noticeably. Whisk before each use, as it separates quickly.
4Raw walnuts blanched and blended
Close match
Use ¼ cup walnuts for every 1 cup water
Walnut milk from scratch, with a blanching step that controls the bitterness.
What changes
Best for
Chinese walnut soup, desserts where walnut flavour is the point, baking, walnut sauces
The technique is what makes or breaks this. Pour boiling water over the walnuts, leave two minutes, drain and rinse, and if you have the patience rub off what skin will come away; that single step removes a good part of the tannic bitterness, which is why Chinese walnut soup recipes almost always include it. Then soak, blend a full minute and strain through a cloth. Skip the blanching and the milk is harsh and greyish-purple. Toasting the walnuts lightly first deepens the flavour but also intensifies the bitterness.
5Almond milk
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
The most available nut milk, thinner and much milder.
What changes
Best for
baking, cereal and granola, smoothies, everyday use
Perfectly adequate when walnut milk is just the liquid in a recipe, and the easiest thing to buy. It is thinner and lower in fat, so a dessert soup made with it tastes watery and a custard sets more loosely; a tablespoon of neutral oil or nut butter per cup helps. Flavour is sweet and mild with none of walnut's bitterness or depth, which means it is a poor choice in dishes built on walnut flavour and a good one in a plain cake or bowl of muesli.
6Whole dairy milk with ground toasted walnuts
Close match
1 cup whole milk plus 1 tbsp finely ground walnuts, steeped and strained
The non-vegan version, which keeps the walnut flavour and improves the texture.
What changes
Best for
Chinese walnut dessert soup, puddings and custards, ice cream, cakes
Often the best-eating result if dairy is allowed, and close to how many traditional walnut dessert soups are actually made. Whole milk brings protein and fat that walnut milk cannot match, so puddings set properly, and steeping ground walnuts in the warm milk for twenty minutes then straining transfers the flavour without the grit. The dairy roundness also softens walnut's bitterness, which is a genuine advantage. Not an option in a vegan or dairy-free recipe.

What is Walnut Milk?

Walnut Milk is Walnut milk, sometimes labelled walnut drink, is a plant milk made by blending soaked walnuts with water, and it is richer and more bitter than other nut milks because walnut skins are high in tannins, which gives it a distinctive dry, slightly astringent finish.

Cooking tips

Walnut bitterness lives in the skins, and blanching is the fix. Cover the walnuts with boiling water for two minutes, drain, rinse in cold water and rub off what skin comes loose. Every good walnut milk and walnut dessert soup recipe does this, and it is the difference between a rich nutty drink and something dry and astringent.
A pinch of salt and a small amount of sweetness suppress bitterness far better than dilution does. If your walnut milk or its substitute tastes harsh, add salt first, taste again, then add a teaspoon of sugar, honey or a soaked date per cup before you reach for more water.
Do not boil walnut milk hard. Like other nut milks it has no emulsifiers, so a rolling boil splits it into oily flecks and grainy solids. Heat it gently and, in a soup, thicken with a slurry of rice flour or cornflour rather than by reducing the milk.
In Chinese walnut soup the milk is the dish, made from blanched walnuts with rice and sugar, and swapping to a bought nut milk changes it into something looser and sweeter. Grinding a tablespoon or two of blanched walnuts into whatever milk you use restores most of the character even if the base is cashew or dairy.
Black walnuts are not a like-for-like source. They are far more intense, resinous and bitter than English walnuts, so milk made from them is powerful stuff; use half the quantity of nuts and expect a strong, almost medicinal flavour that suits ice cream better than a plain drink.

Frequently asked questions

What is the closest substitute for walnut milk?

Pecan milk, because pecans are close relatives with the same buttery, slightly resinous flavour but far fewer tannins in their skins. The result is sweeter and rounder, without walnut milk's dry astringent finish, which most people find pleasant and which does soften a savoury walnut sauce. Cashew milk is the better choice if you care most about matching walnut milk's richness, and walnut butter blended with water is the most faithful option of all.

Why is my walnut milk bitter, and how do I fix it?

The bitterness comes from tannins in the walnut skins, not from the nuts going off. Blanch the walnuts before blending: pour boiling water over them, wait two minutes, drain, rinse and rub away what skin you can. After blending, a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar or honey per cup suppress what bitterness remains far more effectively than adding water, which just makes it thin as well as bitter. Straining through a cloth rather than a sieve also helps.

Can I use almond milk instead of walnut milk?

Yes, one for one, and it is invisible in granola, porridge or a plain cake. It is much more noticeable in a dish built on walnut flavour, such as a Chinese walnut dessert soup or a Middle Eastern walnut sauce, where almond milk tastes thin, sweet and characterless by comparison. Add a tablespoon of oil or nut butter per cup to replace the missing fat, and stir in a spoonful of finely ground blanched walnuts if you have any.

Can I just leave the walnut milk out?

Not where it is the liquid or the body of the dish, which is most of the time. In a batter you can replace the volume with water plus a tablespoon of oil per cup and accept a drier, plainer result. In a walnut dessert soup or a walnut-based sauce there is nothing to leave out, since the walnut milk is the dish; you would need to make something else instead.

Is black walnut milk the same thing?

No, and it is much stronger. Black walnuts have a bold, resinous, almost musky flavour and considerably more bitterness than the ordinary English walnuts most recipes mean, so milk made from them dominates whatever it goes into. If black walnuts are what you have, use about half as many nuts, blanch them, and sweeten more than you would otherwise. It works well in ice cream and quick breads and is overwhelming in a delicate dessert soup.

Related substitutes

More dairy alternatives substitutes

Walnut Milk substitute

Other walnut milk substitutes

2Cashew milk

3Walnut butter blended with water

4Raw walnuts blanched and blended

5Almond milk

6Whole dairy milk with ground toasted walnuts