Are you dumping money down the drain? If you’re letting milk spoil and then pouring it out, that’s exactly what you’re doing! Let’s talk about ways to use up that almost expired milk.
Most people would love to lower their grocery budget but have a tough time figuring out what to cut.
Food waste is a great place to start!
If you want to learn all of my money-saving grocery strategies, you’ll definitely want to check out my course Grocery Budget Hero.
Cutting out food waste means you won’t have to buy as much because you’ll actually use what you buy. When it comes to milk, there’s a tighter deadline to use it compared to most other foods.
Before I tell you my top 7 ways to use milk that’s about to expire, I’ll start with some milk expiration FAQ (okay maybe not-so-F AQ):
What does the date on the milk carton mean?
We often refer to the date on milk (or any other food product) as the “expiration date,” but that’s not necessarily the case. In fact it’s usually not!
The meaning of the date on the milk jug or carton depends on the state you live in. Dates on food packages (aside from baby formula) aren’t regulated or required by the federal government at all. Dates on food packages are voluntarily put there by the manufacturers, though dates on dairy are regulated in nearly half of the states.
In some states, the date is a “sell by” date (a date that gives consumers about a week to use it), in others it is a “best by” date (a date that tells consumers when the peak flavor is reached, still good for another 5-7 days) and in yet others it is a “use by” date (which sounds the most like “expiration”). What’s worse is that the definition of each of these terms varies, which further confuses and concerns consumers.
How can I tell if my milk is still good?
Generally milk is good for 5-7 days past the date on the carton, even longer if the milk is unopened. However, depending on how the milk is stored, the milk could even spoil before the date (speaking from experience here).
Thankfully, recognizing spoiled milk is simple as long as your nose and eyes are working. If you don’t smell a sour, “off” smell when you remove the lid and take a whiff, then you are fine. If the milk is bad, you will know it! Other clues that your milk is done are lumps in it or a change in color.
If you are unsure, you can err on the safe side by using it in one of the ways listed below rather than drinking it cold with a slightly questionable flavor. You will be perfectly fine using it in a recipe where it is heated and mixed with other things. When milk is really bad, there will be no question.
How can I make my milk last longer?
The difference between milk that spoils fast and milk that lasts well past the date is mostly a matter of how it is stored. You want to keep your milk cold– the colder the better. Instead of in the door of the fridge (which gets a waft of warm air every time the fridge opens) or the top of the fridge (the warmest part), keep it in the bottom of the fridge.
On to the tips!
Here are my top 7 ways to use milk that’s about to expire!
Homemade Yogurt
We make yogurt pretty regularly at our house. Making yogurt in your crock pot is easy and very cost effective. You’ll need a small amount of yogurt to act as the starter, but other than that, the only ingredient is milk. Heating the milk up changes the milk and “resets” its expiration clock, if you will. In other words, even if your milk is about to expire, the yogurt you make from it will still last its normal up-to-two-weeks in the fridge.
So what do I do with a gallon of yogurt? There are so many things you can do! Eat it with fruit or granola, put it in smoothies, use it as a substitute for sour cream, make frozen yogurt, and use it in other recipes.
Pancakes or Waffles
Homemade pancakes are a staple around here. We make our own whole wheat pancake mix so that it’s all ready whenever we want pancakes (sometimes for breakfast and sometimes for dinner). Since you need eggs and milk to make the pancake batter, it’s a great way to use up that milk that’s about to go bad!
We also love Mike’s grandma’s homemade sourdough waffles. You prep them the night before so they’re super easy in the morning. They are fool-proof. You seriously can’t mess them up. And there’s absolutely no waste. If you have a sourdough start (or want to make your own), you’ll want to give these waffles a try!
Pudding
Pudding is a great way to use milk! If you are going to eat the pudding right away, then you can make the instant kind. The instant kind will be good as long as the milk would be good, so instant pudding doesn’t really stretch the expiration deadline on your milk. It does, however, make your milk very yummy and edible, so you might eat it up faster than you’d drink it up.
If you want to stretch the lifespan of your milk, make the “cook and serve” pudding or make pudding from scratch. Getting the milk up to boiling “resets” the milk’s internal expiration clock. We have started making tapioca pudding from scratch and love it for a snack. Here’s the recipe that I use. I use skim milk (no cream) and it works wonderfully.
Potato Soup
I recently shared my potato soup tutorial and showed how I make a roux with milk to make the soup creamy (instead of using cream or another expensive alternative). If you have extra milk on your hands, making a creamy potato soup (or other creamy soup) is a great way to prevent wasting that milk!
Yummy Hot Chocolate
Hot chocolate is a special fall and winter treat around here. While making hot chocolate with milk is always an option, we usually make the frugal choice to use water. Most hot chocolate mixes have powdered milk in them so you aren’t drinking chocolate water. However, when I’m feeling fancy or we have a gallon of milk getting close to expiring, I make it with milk. It’s yummier and creamier with milk, so it’s a special treat.
White Sauce
Making your own pasta sauce from scratch is easier than you think. I make a simple white sauce that is very versatile (similar to this one). Melt in some cheese and you’ve got cheese sauce! And you know what the main ingredient is? You guessed it–milk! If your milk is about to expire go make some white sauce and have pasta for dinner!
Freeze It
I freeze milk all the time. It works like a charm. Milk expands when it freezes, so you’ll want to pour a little out before putting the entire gallon in the freezer. To make thawing milk even easier, freeze it in a gallon ziploc bag. I double them up just in case. Instead of filling the bag absolutely full, just fill it part-way then lay it flat to freeze.
And just so you aren’t alarmed, the color of milk changes to a yellow-ish color when you freeze it. This is totally normal and nothing to be concerned about.
When you thaw the milk, stick it in a sink of cold water or put it in your fridge. Honestly, I just leave it on the counter sometimes too, as long as you shake it periodically to make sure the outer, thawed milk stays cold. Wait to drink it until all of the milk has thawed, as the creamy part and the watery part thaw at different rates.
You might notice a difference in milk that has been frozen and thawed (I don’t, but I’ve met others who do), but it is perfectly safe to use. If you notice a difference in taste of consistency with milk that has been frozen, you can use it in cooking and you’ll never know the difference?
There you have it! I bet you want to go out and buy extra milk just so you’ll have the chance to try these out!
How do you make farmers cheese? I’m constantly looking for it to make my perogis at Christmas time
I love these ideas! There’s many of these ideas that I use but making yogurt & ricotta cheese is genius! Thank you!!!
Farmers cheese is what i make for pierogi. Yum. Ps love the tips and comments.
When I have extra milk about expire, I boil it and make a big batch of instant mashed potatoes. Just cool it off, pack into freezer bags, place in the freezer and you’re all set. Individual portions that are ready to go, very convenient and easy to reheat in the microwave. Topped with a pat of butter reminds me of the tv dinner mashed potatoes I ate as a kid.
Nostalgic and Delicious!
fun article thanks. I have a full gallon of sour milk on the tabe. I feel I must save this poor guy from the drain. Thanks again!
Crazy but I use instant large box chocolate pudding, add three cups milk, 3 egg yokes, 1cup sugar, beat very well, put in microwave for 18 minutes and pour in gram cracker crust. Let set in fridge about three hours. Make mirangue from left over egg whites. Can put dream whip on top and delicious. Enjoyed this website. Much wisdom.
Binnie Ruth
Spicewood, Texas
Wow. This sounds yummy and I will try it. Thanks for sharing.
Milk on the use by date and a couple days after makes excellent lip smacking good dried beef,bacon,sausage,chicken or pork chop gravy or meat flavored gravies with your meat drippings or pepper gravy is good to pour on your mashed potatoes,fried potatoes,bisquit or over toast and the gravy not used can be frozen and reused a few weeks or a couple months later to serve some SOS as they call it in the military.
Oh yea and pudding pies or custard i recommend buying the pudding you have to cook, never use instant.
Sourdoesour doe bread
how to prevent expired skimmed milk from becoming hard when exposed in air
Sour milk (not lumpy) can still be used in biscuits, cornbread, pizza doughs I do this often and no one has noticed.
Great tip Patrice! Some recipes even call for sour milk!
Stephanie I just love reading all you ideas, to bad all my kids are gone now so we’re not spending as much on things as when they were all home, but it’s fun to read you e-mails. Love ya girl
Thank you sweet Coleen! 🙂
I have sometimes made chocolate pudding with nearly-expired milk and then frozen them in popsicle molds to make fudgesicles. And, of course, once they’re frozen, they last for a while so you have plenty of time to eat them. I love home-made fudgesicles. I think they’re much better than store-bought.
Ditto the fudgsicles! I also make pudding cake. Put some pudding in the batter and when done pour the rest of the pudding over the top in a poke hole cake style. My family’s favorite is lemon pudding poke hole cake.
Oh fudgesicles! That is genius! Yum!
There is a photo of a giant keyboard across most of this article. I can only read up to the second suggested use.
I love reading your entries! Can you make the giant background photo go away?
Ahh! That’s crazy! My sidebar has been misbehaving lately. I think I just fixed it, but please let me know if it happens again. Are you on a PC? Sometimes things look different on other people’s computers when they look normal on mine, so I really appreciate when people let me know. Thanks for the heads-up Libby! 🙂
It is all better now! I’m on a laptop PC.
The concept of expired milk isn’t on my radar. At our family’s peak (meaning 4 sons as teenagers!) we were opening another gallon every 36 hours. However, curiosity has me intrigued: I’ve never made ricotta cheese. I think I’m going to look into that! And I think I’ll make hot chocolate tonight – it’s been too long.
I’m with you– I think ricotta cheese sounds great. Now I’m craving lasagna! 🙂
Ricotta mixed with some Kailua, chocolate chips and (pecans, optional) make a great holiday dip for apple and pear slices.
I have frozen milk for years. I never pour any out. The circle on the side always take care of the expansion that occurs with freezing. I have 6 children. We used to go through 4 gallons of milk a week. I would wait for a milk sale and buy 20 gallons. We have a hugh chest freezer. I worked great.
I went years and years without pouring any out (though my grandma always did and I insisted she didn’t need to). Then last year, I had a jug where the seam busted in the freezer. It must have accidentally been filled too much or the jug was weak or something. 🙂 20 gallons at a time is awesome! 🙂
If you are getting milk in the typical plastic jugs, you shouldn’t have to pour some out when you freeze it. The round circle on the side of the jug is meant to pop out so the jugs can be frozen.
I never used to pour any out, but about a year ago, I had one of the seams burst, so I take the extra precaution now. It was probably a fluke though because I went years and years without doing it and only had a problem once.
I freeze milk too! It such a money saver. I love that’s it’s in my freezer and I’m not a slave to the expiration date. I just learned to do this a year or so ago and never went back. I get a lot of half gallons that are reduced which work perfect for my family. I too just sit mine on the counter to thaw and it’s perfect by the evening. Also, I buy anything that is reduced. Fat free, 1%, 2%, it doesn’t matter to my family and me. I have found when I let go of being picky I can save a lot more money.
That’s awesome if you find it at a reduced price! Major win!
I love these tips. I have always wondered how far past the due date you could go with milk.
I have never tried to freeze milk, mainly because we don’t have space in our freezer. But then again, we don’t really have the problem of expired milk in our house – we go through 3 gallons a week fairly easily :).
We go through lots of milk too, but since I shop infrequently, I buy a lot at the same time. 🙂
I make ricotta cheese with mine and have lasagna on the menu a few days after. It’s easy with just milk and lemon juice needed. In fact, I am at the beginning processes of making some now so lasagna will be Sunday’s dinner. I will probably make a vegetarian type this time.
That sounds delicious Sandy!