Science can now brew up real milk without the cow. We tested it 6 ways.

From baked goods to breakfast cereal to lattes, we put this planet-friendly dairy through the ringer

Hey team, welcome back to Cool Beans! Dairy is usually a no-no around here, but this week we’re making an exception (sort of). Most dairy in the U.S. comes from factory farms that are nasty places for animals, humans, and the environment. A new take on milk, Bored Cow from the company Tomorrow Farms, has hit the grocery shelves and delivers dairy without the cows. I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but stay with me: Bored Cow is part of a new wave of dairy products—from ice creams to protein powders—that are totally bovine-free. What is this sorcery? Science! All these goods use a process called precision fermentation to produce the same whey protein naturally found in cow’s milk. 

Before you write it off as Frankenfood, remember that fermentation has been part of the human diet for centuries. You’re plenty familiar with naturally fermented foods, like sourdough, miso, kimchi, apple cider vinegar, and beer. Just like natural fermentation converts the sugars in barley into beer, precision fermentation feeds modified microorganisms plant sugars that they ferment into whey protein that’s identical to what’s in dairy. It’s a microbrewery for milk. Making dairy this way is a fairly recent phenomenon, but the process has actually been used for decades for vitamins, vanilla flavoring, and lifesaving medications like insulin. 

Back to the milk! Bored Cow is technically part dairy milk and part plant milk. Once they have the whey, they mix in other ingredients to replicate the taste, texture, and nutritional profile of cow’s milk. Bored Cow uses sunflower oil as a stand-in for milk fat, cane sugar in place of lactose, and citrus fiber to boost creaminess. The result: a tall glass of something that looks and tastes like milk but is gentler on the planet. Compared with conventional dairy milk, Bored Cow uses 96% less land and 67% less water and produces 44% fewer greenhouse emissions. 

Bored Cow first entered the market in 2022 with a trio of flavored milks (vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry), but their unflavored “original” hit stores last year. While I tried them all—the strawberry, in particular, was delightful in my overnight oats—today I’m focusing on testing how the original stands up to cereal eating, baking, and latte-making.

The review: Bored Cow animal-free dairy milk

She’s shelf-stable, too. Credit: Gabriella Vigoreaux

If you take one thing away from today’s edition, let it be this: Original, unflavored Bored Cow is pretty spot on as regular milk. Creamy and not too sweet, it hits close to 2% cow’s milk in texture and viscosity. When I added it to my bowl of cereal, it tasted mild and nostalgic: I wouldn’t have known it wasn't real cow’s milk, right down to when I slurped the Raisin Bran-tinged dregs out of the bowl. When I sipped it by the glass, it reminded me of a shelf-stable lactose-free milk like Lactaid, which is slightly sweet but doesn’t actually contain extra sugar. 

Where Bored Cow really stands out is the protein content, which helps it outperform many plant milks in a couple ways. First up: coffee. Because Bored Cow contains real milk protein—8 grams per cup, which is on par with 2% milk—it steamed and foamed nicely in a latte. Most plant milks lack sufficient protein to hold the structure of the foam, which is why the art in your almond milk latte tends to fall flat. When I poured it into an iced coffee, it didn’t curdle or separate over time the way many plant milks do.

The fat content in Bored Cow is similar to dairy milk too (5 grams per cup versus 6 in 2%), which makes it a standout for baking. The fattiness provides moisture and a soft-crumb texture, but that’s more or less true of any plant milk. That precious whey protein plays a big role here, though, because it helps hold batter together and rise better. All this bore out in a batch of buttermilk blueberry muffins; they came out fluffy and moist without getting crumbly. (To make a buttermilk sub, I stirred a tablespoon of white vinegar into a cup of Bored Cow and let it hang out and curdle for a few minutes.)  

Now the bad news: This faux moo-juice is pricey. It retails for $5.49 to $6.49 per quart, which is a premium of at least a couple bucks over popular alt-milks like Oatly and Silk. It’s definitely a lot if you’ve got a houseful of milk-drinkers and are used to buying cow’s milk at $4 a gallon. It’s also not widely available yet in the big chain grocery stores, but you can get it shipped (more $$) or find it at some national outfits like Sprouts or Fairway. 

Sure froth’s a lot. Credit: Gabriella Vigoreaux

Bottom line: Bored Cow probably isn’t for everyone, but if you can find it and afford it, it can replicate the taste and feel of cow’s milk for planet-minded eaters who aren’t getting what they want out of alt-milks. If you prefer a sweeter or creamier plant-milk or are happy with your current nondairy go-to, it might not be worth the extra bucks. 

Fancy coffee drinkers, folks who want a little extra bounce in their biscuits, anyone who ditched dairy due to lactose intolerance, or people who like the flavor of dairy milk, however, will lap it up. Perhaps the best way to showcase Bored Cow is via a luxurious dessert that your dairy- and nondairy-eating friends will both devour. And I’ve got just the treat for the job. Don’t worry, it works with whatever alt-milk you’ve got in the fridge and is customizable to the max. 

The recipe: It’s dessert. It’s breakfast. It’s rice pudding!

Pudding is a recipe champion when it comes to using up large quantities of milk. But rice pudding is the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure dessert (or is it breakfast?), because once you master the technique, you can dress it up however you want. Sometimes I like to add cardamom pods or cinnamon sticks to the simmering milk and then fish them out in the end. You can add dried fruit, like raisins or chopped apricots, halfway through the cooking process, so they plump up by the time the pudding is done. This recipe is for the rice pudding purists out there, but I’ll be topping mine with some juicy roasted in-season strawberries for added decadence and a hit of acidity.

Milk is our main event today, and though it’s an absolutely essential component of a good pud’, it shares top billing with rice. The trick to getting the creamy consistency just-so comes down to the grains: medium-grain rice is starchy enough to thicken the pudding without completely breaking down or becoming gummy. The size of the pot also matters. Too wide and the liquid will evaporate before the rice is cooked enough. A 2-quart saucepan is the sweet spot here, but if you only have bigger pots you might just need to add extra liquid. 

Yes, I ate this for breakfast. Credit: Gabriella Vigoreaux

Classic Creamy Rice Pudding 

Yield: 6 servings