Evaporated milk
A handy canned milk for creamy sauces and bakes. For cooking from 1, never as formula.
Checked against official guidance on October 18, 2026 · How we review
Quick answer
Children can have evaporated milk from around 12 months. Prepare it as shown below.
How to serve evaporated milk by age
12 months+
Cooked into food
Use plain, unsweetened evaporated milk in family cooking: in a cheese sauce for pasta, stirred into mashed potato or soup, or in oatmeal as it cooks. It's milk with much of its water removed, so it's richer than ordinary milk: a little goes a long way. Keep plain whole milk as your child's milk drink. Light or fat-free evaporated milk is fine in cooking too: the NHS says lower-fat milks can be used in cooking from 1.
- Size
- As part of a dish, with pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch), or stirred into mashed food.
- Check before serving
- Check the label says evaporated milk, not sweetened condensed milk, and that sugar isn't in the ingredients. Squash a piece of the finished food between your thumb and finger: it should flatten easily.
18 months+
In family dishes
Use evaporated milk the way your family does, in sauces, soups, mashed vegetables and bakes. Take your child's portion out before adding salt. It still isn't a drink: offer water and plain milk in a cup.
- Size
- Bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch), or as part of a dish.
2 years+
In family dishes
Keep using it in cooking. Sweet recipes that use sweetened condensed milk, such as fudge or some desserts, wait until after age 4.
- Size
- Bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch), or as part of a dish.
3 years+
In family dishes
Offer dishes made with evaporated milk as part of family meals. Water and plain milk stay the drinks.
- Size
- Bite-sized pieces, or as part of a dish.
Always have your child sit upright in a high chair or at the table, and stay with them the whole time they eat. Keep to the size and texture for their stage. Every baby develops on their own timeline.
How to prepare evaporated milk
- 1
Check the can: plain evaporated milk, not sweetened condensed milk, with no added sugar. Don't use cans that are bulging, leaking, badly dented or heavily rusted.
- 2
Shake the can, open it, and measure out what the recipe needs.
- 3
Cook it into the dish, then let the food cool and test the temperature before serving. Don't add salt.
- 4
First time? Pick a day your child is well, at home, when you can watch them for a couple of hours afterward.
How much to offer
Use it as an ingredient, in the amount the recipe needs, rather than as a food on its own. If your child hasn't had dairy before, start with a small serving of a dish made with it. Your child decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth.
Common mistakes
Making baby formula with it
Never make homemade formula from evaporated milk or anything else. The AAP says homemade formula may not be safe or give your baby the right balance of nutrients, and some babies fed it have been hospitalized with low calcium and rickets. The NHS lists evaporated milk among the milks never to give a baby under 1.
Using it in your baby's food before 12 months
The NHS says cows' milk is fine in cooking from around 6 months, but it lists evaporated milk among the milks never to give a baby under 1, without that cooking exception. The CDC says no cow's milk before 12 months. So we start evaporated milk at 12 months: see the US vs. UK note below for what to use instead.
Mixing it up with sweetened condensed milk
The cans look alike, but sweetened condensed milk has added sugar: about 54 g of sugars per 100 g, against about 10 g in evaporated milk. US and UK advice is to avoid added sugar up to age 4, so condensed milk waits until after 4.
Giving it as a drink
No official source covers evaporated milk as a drink for young children. We suggest plain pasteurized whole milk as your toddler's milk drink, and evaporated milk only in cooking.
Where US and UK guidance differ on evaporated milk
United States(AAP and CDC)Your setting
The CDC says to introduce whole cow's milk at 12 months, but not before, and doesn't name evaporated milk. The AAP and FDA say never to make homemade formula. If you follow US advice, use breast milk or formula in your baby's food until 12 months, then evaporated milk in cooking.
United Kingdom(NHS)Your setting
The NHS says cows' milk can be used in cooking or mixed with food from around 6 months, but lists condensed, evaporated and dried milk among the milks never to give a baby under 1, without a cooking exception. So we start evaporated milk at 12 months for everyone. Before then, UK families can use ordinary pasteurised whole cows' milk in cooking instead. The NHS says lower-fat milks can be used in cooking from 1.
We cover US and UK guidance in detail. Elsewhere, check your national health service's advice too.
Questions parents ask
Can evaporated milk be a choking hazard for babies?
Evaporated milk is a low choking risk. Cut the foods it's cooked into to a safe size for your child's age, and stay with your child during meals.
Can babies be allergic to evaporated milk?
Evaporated milk is cow's milk, one of the most common food allergens. If your child has a diagnosed milk allergy, don't offer it unless their doctor says it's OK. Otherwise, dairy can be introduced from around 6 months, a small amount at a time, and kept in your child's usual diet once they've had it without a reaction. Most reactions start within minutes to 2 hours, but with cow's milk allergy, symptoms can take up to 3 days to appear. If your child has eczema or another food allergy, or there's a family history of food allergies, eczema, asthma or hay fever, the NHS says to talk to your GP or health visitor first.
Is evaporated milk healthy for babies?
A source of protein and calcium: 100 g of evaporated milk has about 6.8 g of protein, 261 mg of calcium and 7.6 g of fat. It has about 106 mg of sodium per 100 g (about 0.27 g of salt). Plain evaporated milk isn't sweetened: its 10 g of sugars per 100 g are the milk's own sugar. It has almost no iron.
Can babies have evaporated milk?
Not before 12 months, in our advice. The NHS lists evaporated milk among the milks never to give a baby under 1, and the CDC says no cow's milk before 12 months. From 12 months, it's fine cooked into family food. It's never a replacement for breast milk or formula.
Can I make baby formula with evaporated milk?
No. Homemade formula made with evaporated milk isn't safe. The AAP says homemade formula may not give your baby the right balance of nutrients, and babies fed it have been hospitalized with low calcium and rickets. The FDA advises never making or feeding homemade formula, and to contact your healthcare provider if your baby has had some. If you're struggling to get formula, talk to your pediatrician, GP or health visitor.
Is evaporated milk the same as condensed milk?
No. Evaporated milk is unsweetened. Sweetened condensed milk has added sugar, about 54 g of sugars per 100 g, and US and UK advice is to avoid added sugar up to age 4. Condensed milk waits until after 4.
Can toddlers drink evaporated milk?
We suggest not. No official source covers it as a drink for young children, and it's richer than ordinary milk. Plain whole milk in a cup is the milk drink from 12 months; use evaporated milk in cooking.
If your baby refuses evaporated milk
- Evaporated milk is usually part of another food, so try a different dish or texture rather than more of it.
- Many children need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
- Try another form: in a cheese sauce, mashed potato or a creamy soup.
- Eat some yourself at the same meal. Children copy what they see.
Never force or pressure your baby to eat. Some days they'll eat more, some days less, and that's normal.
Buying and storing evaporated milk
- Keep unopened cans in a cool, dry cupboard and use them by the date on the can. Don't use cans that are bulging, leaking, badly dented or heavily rusted.
- Once opened, move any you don't use into a clean, covered container in the fridge, at 40°F (4°C) or below, and follow the label's advice on how many days it keeps.
- Dishes made with evaporated milk keep for 3 to 4 days in a covered container in the fridge. Reheat them only once, to 165°F (74°C), until steaming hot, then let them cool before serving.
- Throw away any food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if it's hotter than 90°F / 32°C).
When to talk to your doctor
Contact your pediatrician, GP or health visitor if:
- Your baby under 12 months has been fed evaporated milk or homemade formula in place of breast milk or formula. Call your pediatrician or GP and tell them what your baby has had. If your baby has a seizure, or is floppy or hard to wake, call your emergency number.
- Your child has had any reaction to dairy, even a mild one. Stop offering it until you've talked to your pediatrician.
- Your child vomits a few hours after eating dairy. This can be FPIES, a delayed type of food allergy that milk can trigger. If they vomited once or twice and seem alert and like themselves, call your pediatrician or GP. If they vomit again and again, or are pale, floppy, very sleepy or hard to wake, call your emergency number.
- You notice mild signs of an allergic reaction after eating, such as a few hives or a little vomiting. See signs of a reaction.
- You're worried about how much your baby eats, their growth, or they refuse most solid food for weeks.
Call 911999your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia) now if your baby has trouble breathing, wheezing, can't cough or cry, has lips, mouth, tongue or throat that suddenly swell, or becomes pale, bluish, floppy or unresponsive. Also call if hives come with repeated vomiting.
Offered evaporated milk?
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Last offered today. Once evaporated milk is in your baby's diet, keep offering it regularly.
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Helpful guides
Sources
- NHS: Types of formula
- NHS: Drinks and cups for babies and young children
- CDC: Cow's milk and milk alternatives
- AAP: Is homemade baby formula safe?
- FDA: Do not make or feed homemade infant formula to infants
- NHS: Foods to avoid giving babies and young children
- HHS: Fact sheet on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030
- NHS: Food allergies in babies and young children
- ACAAI: Food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES)
- USDA FoodData Central: Milk, canned, evaporated, with added vitamin D and without added vitamin A
- USDA FoodData Central: Milk, canned, condensed, sweetened
- USDA FSIS: Shelf-stable food safety
- USDA FSIS: Leftovers and food safety
- NHS Best Start in Life: Storing and reheating food
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