I haven’t seen anyone in this thread mention Oatly so I feel like I should definitely recommend them to anyone that randomly became lactose intolerant at some point in their lives.

I have tried just about every milk substitute from soy, almond, cashew, rice, coconut, and oat.

Soy//

The consistency is what gets me with soy milk, it’s very silky but leaves a weird almost film in your mouth after drinking it, the flavor is also usually subpar at best when actively comparing it to regular dairy whole milk.

Almond//

My second to oat milk, the almond milk market is saturated with all these different companies so there are a bunch of options to choose from, but unfortunately I found most of them to be a little flat flavor wise.

My personal favorite is the Almond Breeze Vanilla, the original is great consistency-wise but has no flavor at all, the vanilla one is my second favorite milk substitute period.

(Pro-tip, Califia Farms is one of the more expensive almond milk brands but it is in no way superior to lower cost options at Aldi or Walmart.)

Cashew//

Again when trying to substitute for actual milk the flavor gets in the way, it’s consistency is buttery and smooth however the flavor is always too intense to be used like dairy milk would be used (cereal, dipping cookies, as a beverage with desserts).

Rice//

The mouth feel can range from watery to a little grainy/ chalky depending on the brand, also a good amount of options when looking for rice milk. The downfall with rice milk, as is with many dairy substitutes, is the flavor; always flat and off putting, almost like drinking cardboard. Definitely not as rich and creamy as dairy milk.

Coconut//

I honestly just don’t like coconuts.

Oat//

Oat milk is by far the best substitute imo because it’s neutral without being bland, it’s smooth and creamy, and it can be used in many applications successfully like ice cream or the full fat versions can be used when baking.

Vanilla Oatly is my go-to for everything, they also make non-dairy oat milk ice cream you can get from Whole Foods that is now the only ice cream that I’ll eat because I won’t suffer dearly for it the next morning.

I personally won’t use any other oat milk than Oatly though because it is so much better than a similar brand like Oat Yeah that it’s truly a day and night difference.