10 Creative Ways To Use Canned Evaporated Milk

Canned evaporated milk is a gem of an ingredient, for sure, and that's probably why you have a stock of it sitting in your pantry. It can come in handy when you're all out of regular milk and looking for a way to lighten up your morning cup of joe. Additionally, it's a great ingredient for making certain desserts, like tres leches. Some people even enjoy drinking canned evaporated milk straight from the can, which, in case you didn't know, is absolutely safe to do.

Besides these options, you might believe that there's nothing else you can do with this ingredient, and that's possibly why you're still wondering how to use up those cans lying in your pantry. But what if we told you that this canned ingredient is more versatile than you imagined it to be? There are many creative ways to use it. Some of these are a bit obvious, but they are still overlooked.

For instance, since we spoke about desserts, did you know that you can use it to make the fudgiest brownies ever? That's just the tip of the iceberg, because this ingredient works like magic in many savory recipes, like salad dressings, creamed corn, and mac and cheese. If these few creative ways to use this canned ingredient seem intriguing enough to you, what's coming next in this story will surely leave you pleasantly surprised. So, stick around until the end to make good use of your stock of canned evaporated milk.

Generally, mac and cheese is made with whole milk, and there's no denying that it gives the dish a creamy finish. But if you want a truly velvety mac and cheese, you need evaporated milk. Believe us when we say that this canned ingredient will make the sauce a lot more luscious and indulgent than whole milk ever could, thanks to its thick and creamy texture. Plus, canned evaporated milk also has a really concentrated flavor (since all the moisture from the milk has been evaporated), so you'll end up with mac and cheese that tastes richer and also has some caramelized flavor notes.

Luckily, when making this dish with canned ingredients, the process remains the same as usual. The only thing you'll have to do differently is replace whole milk with a mix of evaporated milk and water. Instead of making the sauce separately, transfer the boiled macaroni to a baking dish, then add in the evaporated milk along with sour cream or cream cheese. Top it with grated cheese, then bake. You can toss in a few herbs and spices for a bolder flavor. In case you feel this dish needs something to break through its gooey texture, sprinkle breadcrumbs on it before baking.

If you'd like to try a simpler approach, you can make the entire dish in a single pot. First, boil the macaroni with salt. Add the evaporated milk along with a few seasonings and cheese, then mix it all up, and that's it.

While this may seem like an odd pairing, canned evaporated milk is in fact a simple ingredient that can give scrambled eggs a fluffy upgrade. That's not all, though. The canned ingredient will also make your scrambled eggs extra luscious and give them a rich flavor. So, as weird as it may sound to add evaporated milk to scrambled eggs, it's most definitely worth giving it a go.

You'll also be happy to know that to make this dish, all you have to do is mix the canned evaporated milk with eggs, then go about preparing scrambled eggs as you usually do. Once your eggs are ready, you can season them with the usual salt and pepper, or top them with fresh herbs or bolder spices, like cayenne pepper or smoked paprika, for a lovely flavor contrast. We leave the seasonings up to you, as either way, this dish will taste incredible.

If you like your eggs slightly undercooked and extra creamy, consider making Hong Kong-style scrambled eggs, which, as you might have guessed, also use canned evaporated milk. The process for making this version of scrambled eggs is the same as usual, but instead of adding the canned item directly to the eggs, you'll first have to whip it with tapioca starch or potato starch, both of which are actually the secret ingredients that will make the dish really silky.

Even if you're one of those folks who loves making fresh ice cream at home, you'd have to agree that it can be a bit of a task, especially if you don't have an ice cream maker. Luckily, with canned evaporated milk, you can make no-churn ice cream with minimal effort.

An added bonus when making this frozen sweet treat with canned evaporated milk is that you won't need a whole stock of fancy ingredients. All you need is the canned item, powdered sugar, and any flavoring of your choice. To make vanilla ice cream, use vanilla extract or a fresh vanilla bean. Similarly, to turn it into fruit-flavored ice cream, you'll just need to replace the vanilla with your favorite frozen or fresh fruit puree. Or, you can experiment further by adding in sprinkles, chocolate chunks or chips, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, mint extract, and so much more!

To make this simple, low-effort ice cream, start by freezing the canned evaporated milk, preferably for about an hour. After that, empty it out into a bowl and whip it up with a hand mixer, or use a stand mixer if you have one to make things easier. Once the evaporated milk is all fluffy, toss in the powdered sugar along with the extract or fruit puree. At this point, you can also mix in the add-ins you'd like. Then, whip the mixture again for a few seconds and freeze until you plan to serve the ice cream.

This Southern classic is usually made with heavy cream or milk, both of which undoubtedly give it a luscious creamy texture. That said, if you want to give your creamed corn an upgrade, you need to use canned evaporated milk instead. You can use it by itself to make creamed corn, or add it along with milk or heavy cream for an even better-tasting dish.

There are a few ways to make this dish with canned evaporated milk. Firstly, you can saute garlic in a pan, then add flour, followed by the corn kernels, evaporated milk, and heavy cream. You can also add onions and a few simple seasonings if you'd like. Once the corn kernels are completely cooked, toss in grated cheese, and your dish will be ready. If you'd like to go for an even simpler method, you can add corn kernels to a crockpot along with the canned ingredient, simple seasonings, and cream cheese, then let the appliance do its magic.

Lastly, you can take your creamed corn made with canned evaporated milk up a notch by turning it into a casserole. For this recipe, you'll need to mix cornstarch with the canned ingredient first so that the casserole sets well once it's baked. Then, add corn kernels and some seasonings to that mixture and bake until it's golden brown.

Who doesn't love starting their day with French toast? It's soft, sweet, and just plain delicious. That being said, even though this beloved breakfast treat tastes amazing when made with the usual set of ingredients, like eggs, sugar, milk, and flavorings, there's no rule that you can't switch things up, especially if you want it to taste extra rich. And, if you've been looking for a way to make French toast that tastes really indulgent, you should replace the milk in your usual recipe with canned evaporated milk. Its concentrated flavor, paired with those mild caramelized notes, will make your French toast taste so good that you might never go back to using regular milk again.

When using canned evaporated milk to make the custard base for your French toast, there's no need to thin it out with water to give it a consistency similar to milk. The rest of the process remains as usual. You just need to mix eggs with the evaporated milk, sugar (preferably brown sugar for a malty flavor), and cinnamon (or other spices if that's what you fancy), dip thickly sliced bread in that base, and cook it. You can also make eggless French toast by replacing the eggs with canned evaporated milk, cornstarch, water, sugar, and flavorings. Top this French toast with caramel sauce and whipped cream for a truly decadent meal.

Sure, mayonnaise is a great ingredient for making a creamy salad dressing. However, if you've been wanting to cut it down, or are just looking to try a new type of salad dressing, you need to replace all or at least half of the mayo with canned evaporated milk. Along with giving your salad dressing a creamy texture, it will also elevate its flavor with those mild caramelized undertones.

You can easily replace the mayonnaise with canned evaporated milk in about any salad dressing recipe, if you're looking for some inspiration, we have a few recipes that you could try. Firstly, you can mix a can of evaporated milk with double the amount of mayonnaise, a few dried herbs, and some spices and seasonings like, smoked paprika, black pepper, and salt, to make potato salad, egg salad, or even tuna salad. To give this dressing a sharp flavor and acidity, you can also toss in mustard powder and vinegar.

You can also use the same seasonings and spices and replace all the mayonnaise with canned evaporated milk for a richer taste. For a salad dressing that tastes extra sweet and has the same consistency, mix canned evaporated milk with an equal amount of sugar, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Though this dressing may not work well with every veggie, it's great for making a cucumber or zucchini-based salad.

Did you know that canned evaporated milk is the one-way ticket to creamier soups? Yes, that's indeed true, and the best part is that this canned ingredient can make just about any soup creamy — be it tomato soup, mushroom soup, or chicken soup. Its rich flavor will elevate the dish.

Making any sort of soup with canned evaporated milk will be an absolute breeze, as you'll essentially just have to replace heavy cream with it, along with some stock or broth to thin it out. The process remains the same for any usual soup recipe. For instance, you can make a roux with butter and flour, then add canned evaporated milk, vegetable stock or broth, fresh or frozen veggies, and seasonings to make a creamy vegetable soup. If you replace the veggie broth with chicken broth and add some cooked chicken, you'll get cream of chicken soup. If you'd like to make tomato soup with this canned ingredient, the process is even easier. You'll just have to cook down onions and tomatoes, blend it, then add the canned evaporated milk, and season the soup.

Although canned evaporated milk is used to make a range of desserts, somehow, adding it to brownie batter is often overlooked. That shouldn't be the case anymore, though, as this canned ingredient can give you the fudgiest brownies ever, thanks to its thick texture. When using this ingredient, you can cut down on the amount of butter or oil in the recipe. So, you'll end up with brownies that have a slightly lower fat content than usual.

The best part about making this decadent dessert with canned evaporated milk is that you don't need to add any eggs to the batter. That makes this the perfect recipe for vegetarians. To make brownies with this canned good, start by mixing all the dry ingredients together, which usually include sugar, baking powder, flour, and of course, cocoa powder. After that, toss in butter and canned evaporated milk. At this stage, you can add some vanilla extract, but we'd recommend orange extract for a citrus kick. You can also add chocolate chunks to the batter if you'd like. Then, bake the brownies. Remember to make sure your oven is very hot. That's another way to get chewier brownies.

While this is one way to make brownies with the canned ingredient, you can simply replace the eggs in your usual recipe with an equal amount of evaporated milk. A large egg weighs roughly 2 ounces, so do the math accordingly.

Yes, you can actually use canned evaporated milk to make your breakfast gravy, or any other gravy, for that matter. It essentially works the same way as regular milk does, so it's surely worth trying. A few added bonuses are that it will make your gravy a lot creamier, and also give it a richer and slightly sweet flavor. Though you may feel the sweetness will make your gravy taste odd, it will actually balance out the umami flavor of sausages, mushrooms, or any other similar ingredient.

You really don't need to do anything different when using this canned ingredient to make your gravies. Stick to your regular recipe and replace the milk with a mix of canned evaporated milk and water. Instead of water, you can also mix the canned ingredient with any broth or stock for a sharper and more pronounced flavor.

There are just a couple of things worth keeping in mind when making your gravies with this ingredient. Firstly, consider using meat drippings as the base instead of butter, as that will counter the mild sweetness of the evaporated milk in a good way. Besides that, try not to season your gravies with too many herbs and spices so that the flavor of the canned ingredient doesn't get overpowered by them.

If you're one of those people who loves baking bread, then you definitely shouldn't miss out on this creative way to use canned evaporated milk. This underrated ingredient will give you the softest bread. You don't need to be a professional baker to make bread with canned evaporated milk, as the process is easy.

You can make a regular white or whole wheat loaf with the canned ingredient, or if you'd like something slightly sweeter, you could also make sweet buns. To make either of these options, the first step is always to activate the yeast with sugar and warm water. While that's happening, mix butter, evaporated milk, and a little sugar together with a whisk or a stand mixer with a hook attachment. Once the yeast has activated, add it to the mix along with the flour and knead well. Rest the dough until doubled in size. Shape it into a loaf or buns, and if you're making sweet buns, sprinkle some sugar on top.

The only thing worth noting when using this canned item to make bread is that, unlike other entries on this list, you can't just replace one of the ingredients in any bread recipe with it. This is because baking involves a lot of precision, and if you swap just about any ingredient for canned evaporated milk, your bread won't turn out as it should.