20+ Easy Milk Recipes to Use Up the Leftover Gallon

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Don’t let that milk go to waste! Save food and money with these recipes that use a lot of milk. Enjoy an easy breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert with these fresh milk recipes.

Remember you can always freeze leftover milk for later, but there are delicious ways to use a lot at once. Homemade Mac and Cheese is a great way to use up what’s left, as is making a batch of chocolate milk with our Homemade Chocolate Syrup. Milk is a great addition to this creamy soup you can make in the instant pot, Broccoli Cheese.

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It does a body good. It tastes great with a stack of Oreo cookies. And it’s a key ingredient in my favorite Chocolate Parfaits. Milk is a good thing and for good reason!

They say, “Don’t cry over spilled milk.”I say, “Don’t cry over milk close to its expiration date. Use it up!”

There can be times when you’ve got milk on hand that will expire before you can drink it or stir it into overnight oats. Perhaps you’re about to leave on a trip or your people have been under the weather and not up to their usual milk-drinking prowess. Or maybe you find a great deal at the store and want to snatch it up to reap savings.

Whatever the reason, know that your milk won’t go to waste when you’ve got these easy recipes that use a lot of milk.

Why It’s Important

Milk is one of the main ingredients in so many great recipes, from the classic favorite drinks of hot chocolate and pumpkin spice latte to the uber-trendy boba or bubble tea. It is used in homemade pudding, a big batch of pancakes, and even in fried chicken marinade.

Plenty of ways to enjoy milk, so little time!

Avoid food waste and save money when you make sure you use that gallon of milk. The best way is to keep track of your favorite things to make with it! Our list of recipes that use a lot of milk will get you started.

Whether it’s whole milk, nonfat, almond, or coconut milk, check out these great uses for extra milk and treat the whole family to some yummy new recipes.

20+ Easy Milk Recipes to Use Up the Leftover Gallon - Good Cheap Eats (2)

How to Know Your Milk is Fresh

Believe it or not, the “expiration date” or “best by” is not always the sign that your milk has gone bad. Fresh milk has a fresh, sweet smell. Milk that has started to spoil will have an off odor, flavor, or texture. So, the general rule is that it’s okay to use if it smells good, looks good, and tastes good.

Tips toKeep Milk Fresh

Be sure to keep milk fresh by storing it right away in the fridge, kept below 40 degrees F, in the coldest parts of the fridge. The fridge door is too warm for storing milk, so choose a space farther in.
Try not to open the fridge veryoften so that it can keep its cool.
Sealed cartons stay fresh longer than open ones. So, if you’re going to stock up, try to buy the smallest containers for your money.
Don’t allow the milk carton to sit at room temperature. Return it to the fridge as quickly as possible.
Don’t pour leftover milk back into the carton as this can cause cross-contamination.

20+ Easy Milk Recipes to Use Up the Leftover Gallon - Good Cheap Eats (3)

Freeze Milk if You Can’t Use it Right Away

Remember you can freeze milk that you won’t be using right away. This is a great opportunity to build a freezer pantry so that you have basic ingredients on hand all the time.

Simply remove about an inch’s worth from the container to allow for expansion once frozen.
Secure the lid and place the container in the freezer. You can also pour the milk into ice cube trays so that you have smaller portions to add to soups or
About a day before you want to use the milk, remove it from the freezer and place it on a tray in the refrigerator.
Once thawed, shake the container well. The water and fat in milk separate so you want to mix them back together.
Use the milk as you would normally to drink or in recipes.

Turn Milk into Something Else

Yep, milk is the raw ingredient for so many dairy products that you can make yourself at home. Consider how to culture or churn milk into other milk-based ingredients:

Make sour milk for baking by adding a tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar to 1 cup milk for a buttermilk baking substitute.
Culture real buttermilk from regular milk with a live culture.
Make homemade sour cream with milk and heavy cream.
Add cream and churn a batch of homemade ice cream.
Make homemade ricotta cheese or cottage cheese.
Make homemade mozzarella cheese.

20+ Easy Milk Recipes to Use Up the Leftover Gallon - Good Cheap Eats (4)

Recipes that Use a Lot of Milk

There are so many sweet and savory milk recipes, you might not have enough milk to try all the yummy recipes here!

How to Make a White Sauce

This basic white sauce is the building block of great recipes like homemade mac and cheese or lasagna. It comes together quickly and easily on the stove in 15 minutes!

Learn More

Homemade Cream Of Celery Soup

Homemade Cream of Celery Soup is so much better than the canned variety. Make a bulk batch this week to have your casserole and eat more healthfully, too.

Learn More

Easy Homemade Broccoli Cauliflower Soup

Doesn’t Broccoli Cauliflower Soup sound delicious? This easy homemade version is full of vegetables and cheese for ultimate comfort in a bowl.

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Vegetable Cheddar Cheese Soup

This recipe for Cheddar Cheese Soup is creamy and comforting. Filled with bits of zucchini, broccoli, and carrots, it’s healthy comfort food.

Learn More

Tell us what you think!

We love to hear your experiences with Good Cheap Eats. Click the STARS on the recipe card or leave a STARRED comment to let us know what you think of the recipe.

This post was originally published on October 18, 2014. It has been updated for content and clarity.

20+ Easy Milk Recipes to Use Up the Leftover Gallon - Good Cheap Eats (2024)

FAQs

What can I do with a gallon of expired milk? ›

Substitute spoiled milk for regular milk, buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream in recipes like biscuits, pancakes, scones, and cornbread. Soups and stews. A splash of spoiled milk can help thicken and add richness to soups, stews, and casseroles. Salad dressing.

Get More Info Here ›

What is the gallon of milk rule? ›

Milk chugging, or the gallon challenge or milk challenge, is the "sport" of consuming a large amount of milk within a set period of time. Although procedures vary, the general requirements are that a person is given 60 minutes to drink one US gallon (3.8 L; 0.8 imp gal) of whole milk without vomiting.

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What else can milk be used for? ›

Tips & Ideas to Share

There are many ways to enjoy milk besides as a beverage. Other ideas include blending in milk-based drinks, splashing on oatmeal, serving with WIC authorized cereal, or using in a creamy recipe! Add milk to help complement or boost the nutrients in each meal.

Find Out More ›

Can milk be frozen? ›

Freezing milk is easy, helps avoid waste, allows a backup supply, and saves money. Thawed milk will be most nutritious if people freeze it at its freshest. However, as long as freezing happens on or before the best before date, it is fine to freeze milk and thaw it for later use.

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What can I do with 10 days old milk? ›

While it's always important to inspect your milk before drinking it, most milks are safe to drink several days after the printed date on the label. That said, the flavor may start to decline. To avoid food waste, older milk can be put to use in pancakes, baked goods, or soups.

Can you freeze gallons of whole milk? ›

If you've got space in the freezer for the gallon or half-gallon container you have on hand, you can put it in the freezer. But as with every option here, the container can't be totally full. The best thing to do is open the container and pour out about an inch of liquid to make space for expansion.

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How long does a gallon of whole milk last in the fridge? ›

Milk can be refrigerated seven days; buttermilk, about two weeks. Milk or buttermilk may be frozen for about three months. Sour cream is safe in the refrigerator about one to three weeks but doesn't freeze well. For more information, you may call the FDA toll-free at 888-723-3366 or go to FDA's website.

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How long can a gallon of whole milk sit out? ›

In general, perishable foods like milk should not sit out of the refrigerator or cooler for longer than two hours. Cut that time down to an hour in the summer if the temperature reaches 90 degrees F. After that time frame, bacteria can start to grow.

Keep Reading ›

Is it good to drink a whole gallon of milk? ›

Calcium overload

A gallon of milk a day delivers 4,800 mg, well surpassing the daily recommendation of 1,000 mg for most adults. Such a high daily intake of this mineral could be harmful. Experts caution that men and women between 19 and 50 years old should not consume more than 2,500 mg of calcium a day.

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20+ Easy Milk Recipes to Use Up the Leftover Gallon - Good Cheap Eats (2024)

Why It’s Important

How to Know Your Milk is Fresh

Tips toKeep Milk Fresh

Freeze Milk if You Can’t Use it Right Away

Turn Milk into Something Else

Recipes that Use a Lot of Milk

Tell us what you think!

FAQs

What can I do with a gallon of expired milk? ›

Can you freeze gallons of whole milk? ›