How to Use Sour Milk Without Wasting It

Waste is one of the biggest expenses in a grocery budget. Whether it is wasted produce, wasted meat or sour milk that didn’t get drunk in time. Milk sours in every home, but if you’re really wanting to avoid wasting it and to save a little money on groceries this post is for you.

Using the soured milk instead of tossing it is a great idea! You simply need to learn how to use it and you’ll be good to go!

Now when I say sour milk, I am not talking about a jug that has been open for months and already has big chunks. I am talking about milk that is just starting to turn. With that said, if the milk is more than three days past its date, it is probably safer to toss it. Don’t attempt to use it if it has begun to separate and curdle on its own.

If you purchase Ultra-pasteurized milk, it is not safe to use after it begins to go bad. The ultra-pasteurization process has killed off anything that may keep the milk safe for consumption once it begins to spoil. If you buy this type, go ahead and toss it once it hits the expiration date or it starts to smell funny.

Buttermilk Replacement:

Use sour milk as a buttermilk replacement – Have you ever made a buttermilk substitute? To do so, you add vinegar to milk and sour it! If you have milk that has already soured, you already have a handy buttermilk substitute! Add the soured milk to pancakes, biscuits, bread, homemade yogurt and any other recipe that you would normally use buttermilk for.

Marinade Meat:

Use sour milk as a marinade for meat – Sour milk also makes a great marinade for meat; especially chicken! Simply soak your meat in the sour milk for a few hours. When you remove it, you’ll have tender meat with only a hint of the sour flavor. As I said, chicken works extremely well with this since sour milk tastes so much like buttermilk. To make buttermilk fried chicken with sour milk, marinate your chicken, then coat and fry as you normally would. Yum!

Homemade Cottage Cheese:

Make Homemade Cottage Cheese – Cottage cheese is made from sour milk which means that if you have some handy, you can make homemade cottage cheese! It isn’t as hard to make as you might think! Extra Crispy has a fantastic tutorial on how to make homemade cottage cheese that can help walk you through it.

Garden:

Use sour milk to increase calcium in your garden – If you garden and your soil is lacking in calcium, spreading sour milk over your garden area will help to increase the calcium content and give you a rich soil for growing your plants in. Again, make sure that the milk hasn’t started to curdle on its own. By that point, it is good for nothing, not even your garden plants.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese:

Use sour milk to make homemade ricotta cheese – Ricotta is a staple in many recipes, but it can be expensive if you go through a lot of it. Luckily, if you have sour milk on hand, you can make homemade ricotta. To do this, simply bringing milk to a boil, add a little vinegar then strain the sour milk through cheesecloth. The little bits that are left in the cheesecloth is your homemade ricotta! Use it as you would any store-bought ricotta and enjoy!

How to Use Sour Milk Without Wasting It