8 Uses for Goat Milk

Eight delicious uses for goat milk

Spring means an overabundance of fresh eggs and lots of milk. Sometimes I'm challenged to find ways to use it all and not let it go to waste, although the homestead dogs don't ever think it's a waste when I give them milk and eggs.

I'm a "seasonal cook" which means that over the winter when eggs and milk are scarce, I don't make cheese or angel food cakes. But during the spring and summer when I have plenty of both, I can splash out on some luxury dishes. I've shared before some of the dishes I make when I have plenty of eggs. This post lists some of the ways we use a surplus of goat milk on our homestead.

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Dairy goats

A dairy goat can produce up to a gallon of milk or more per day, depending on her breed, how long ago she kidded, and whether you've weaned her kids or you're milking once a day. Multiply that by the number of goats you're milking and you can see why spring can be a bit overwhelming for a goatkeeper. Some years - before I lost my first herd in the barn fire - I was milking as many as six goats, all by hand.

8 Uses for  Goat Milk

1. The obvious way to use goat milk is, of course, to drink it. For the best-tasting milk, be careful what your does eat, keep the milk super-clean right from the udder, and chill it very quickly. We always drink the freshest milk, fresh out of the goat that morning.

Related Post: How I Store Goat Milk

2. I use yesterday's milk for cooking. Mashed potatoes, baking, and macaroni and cheese are some of my favorite dishes that use milk.

The easy way to make yogurt

3. Next I make yogurt, using a half gallon or a gallon of milk at a time. I've found a super simple way to make yogurt that you might want to try.

4. If I still have plenty of yogurt in the refrigerator, I use milk to make cheese. Farmers or lemon cheese and mozzarella are what I make most often, and then I make ricotta from the whey that is a byproduct of cheesemaking.

Dairy goat in milk stand

5. Although I haven't made it often, I love goat milk ice cream. We've made vanilla, strawberry, peanut butter, peach, and even peppermint chocolate chip ice cream (that one was absolutely my favorite). Just follow a from-scratch recipe that uses milk rather than cream, or make some from goat milk and purchased cream like I do.

Goat milk soapmaking

6. Another of my favorite uses for goat milk is to make goat milk soap. In order to keep the milk sugar from burning in the soapmaking process, I use frozen milk when I make soap. If I'm not ready to make soap right now, I go ahead and freeze the milk anyway; when I'm ready to use it, it's already frozen. Win/win, right? I've written a series of posts about making goat milk soap.

7. Our dogs love goat milk; I give them some every day during milking season. In years when we raise pigs for the freezer, goat milk is a part of their daily feed too.

Dairy goat and kid

8. Goat milk is naturally homogenized, so it's harder to separate the cream from goat milk than it is from cow's milk. I've done it by skimming the cream off the top of milk that is a couple of days old, but to me it tastes like old goat milk and personally I'm not fond of the flavor. If it doesn't bother you, you can make butter with it, stir it into your coffee, or freeze it for ice cream when you have collected enough.

What is your favorite way to use goat milk?

You might also enjoy:
How Does Goat Milk Taste?
Why You Should Have Goats on Your Homestead
6 Must-Have Items to Milk a Goat

The images below are affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure here.




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8 ways to use goat milk


  1. Great ideas! We just bought two nubian babies--a buck and a doeling. I'm hoping that eventually we can start enjoying goat milk too! I'm wondering...can you freeze the milk and use it later for cooking or drinking? Or is it only good for making soap after being frozen?

    1. Hi Heidi! I've cooked with frozen/thawed goat milk, but didn't try drinking it. I've also fed frozen milk as well as frozen colostrum to goat kids.

    2. Our family freezes all of our extra goat milk and use it through the winter months when the goats dry up. Some of it gets little flakes in it when thawed but we put it in a blender on low and it is just fine. Saves $ and get to enjoy the better health from the better quality goat milk ( which is more alkaline than cows and better for your health).

    3. What a great suggestion to put it in the blender! I've had it separate in the freezer, but had only tried shaking the bag of thawed milk. I like this idea much better. Thank you for sharing!

    4. Anonymous3:14 PM

      Can you make lotion from the frozen milk or does it have to be fresh? That is a project I really want to try.

    5. I haven't made lotion but it's on my to-do-soon list. I would think that it would work just fine (especially if you blend it as someone suggested above). Give it a try and see.

  2. Great suggestions! I would love to try making goat milk soap again.

    1. I hope you have the opportunity to make soap again. Isn't it luxurious and wonderful to use?

  3. I never tried goat milk before..to be honest, the thought of drinking goat milk give me that throw up feeling. But I love goat milk lotion. Thanks for the ideas, anyway. Visiting from #SITS

    1. Old goat milk does taste nasty, but if you keep your goats clean, milk in a clean manner, and drink the freshest milk in your fridge, it is delicious. Thank you so much for visiting!

  4. Do you know if slightly clabbered milk would make good yogurt? Thanks for this article!

    1. I don't know, Mary, I haven't tried it. But if you have some clambered milk, why not give it a try? If it fails you'll only be out your time. Let me know if you do.

  5. Kathi, another delicious use of goat’s milk is leche quemada, aka cajeta, aka dulce de leche. It’s a Mexican caramel that can be made as a spoonable sauce or as a candy.

    1. That sounds delicious, Liz! I'll look it up, thank you!

