If you’ve recently made yogurt or cheese, you probably have a large bowl of whey, and now you’re wondering what to do with it.
Whey is the yellowish byproduct of all kinds of Lacto-fermented and cultured dairy products.
Powdered whey protein is expensive and often not that great for you. Fresh whey is much healthier than its powdered and processed counterpart. Whey has many amino acids, specifically the nine essential amino acids which make up a complete protein.
Rather than dumping that bowl full of yellow gold down the sink, put it to good use, and you’ll reap the benefits in the kitchen and in your beauty regimen.
Depending on what you made you will have either sweet or acid whey.
Generally, sweet whey is what you have left when making cheese that uses rennet – such as this wonderful homemade mozzarella.
Acid whey is the byproduct of processes that use bacteria to ferment the dairy, like when making homemade yogurt or sour cream. (Give our easy homemade yogurt recipe a try, you’ll love it!)
You usually end up with quite a bit of whey when you process dairy yourself.
So, what do you do with whey?
Lots of things!
Drinkable Whey
1. Drink it.
Whey is good for your gut health and has probiotics. If you don’t want to take the time to create a fermented drink like kombucha or switchel, you can drink whey.
Drink it straight if you want a tart and bracing start to your day. Take a ‘shot’ each morning, much like you would Fire Cider.
2. Smoothies
If you don’t like the taste of whey on its own, but you want the benefits, add a ¼ cup of sweet or acid whey in with your morning smoothie and blend away.
3. When life gives you whey, make lemonade.
Add whey to lemonade to make this hot weather drink a microbiome treat that’s good for your gut health. Acid whey works best for lemonade and adds a pleasant pucker.
4. Ginger ale
In the summer, I love making homemade soda, and ginger ale always tops my list for ease and flavor. It’s so enjoyable and easy to make and you can do so much with the ginger ale. Mix up this fantastic ginger ale with your leftover whey. Yes, you can make delicious soda at home without a fancy soda maker.
5. Whiskey and Whey
You can even use whey in cocktails. Try it in a whiskey sour or an old-fashioned instead of egg whites. As the popularity of craft distilleries and cocktails grows, egg whites are returning as an emulsifier in cocktails. Whey is an excellent alternative if you don’t wish to use raw egg in your drinks.
6. Fire Cider
Take your fire cider to a whole other level by adding ½ cup of whey when you make it. Cold and flu season won’t stand a chance when you’re taking this fantastic health tonic! Check out our classic fire cider tonic tutorial.
Be like Little Miss Muffet and Eat Your Curds and Whey
7. Better broth
Whey adds flavor and extra protein to your homemade broth. Add a cup or two or use it as your primary liquid instead of water.
8. Make breakfast better
Skip the water and make grits with whey for a flavor-packed and extra-nourishing start to your day.
9. Fermented pickles
Whey is often used in the starter for all sorts of Lacto-fermented foods: pickled carrots, sauerkraut, pickled radishes. If you can pickle it, you can use whey. Give these awesome Lacto-fermented dill garlic pickles a try. Try these if you want pickles that aren’t as salty as those with a salt-based brine.
10. Stir fry the right whey
Sorry, I can’t help myself when it comes to a good, er bad, pun. Add a splash of whey when you stir-fry veggies to give them extra flavor and depth.
11. Make amazing mayo
Use whey to make some incredible mayonnaise. If you’ve never made mayo yourself, you don’t know what you’re missing. This is yet another example of a food that’s so much better when made from scratch.
12. Rice
Swap out water for whey when you make rice to give plain white rice a flavor makeover and to add extra protein.
13. Pizza Dough
If you want incredible homemade pizza dough, I can let you in on two secrets. 1. Use whey instead of water. 2. Use 00 flour. With these two tips in your pizza making arsenal, pizza night will never be the same.
14. Ricotta Cheese
If you’ve just made a batch of easy mozzarella cheese, save your whey and make ricotta. It only takes a little more time, and you’ll get two kinds of cheese from one gallon of milk!
15. Butter
You can use sweet whey to make butter. Simply let the whey sit until the cream rises to the top. Skim off the cream and easily make butter.
What NOT to do with whey.
One thing you don’t want to use whey for is soaking dry beans. I’ve seen this method suggested a number of times. However, whey is acidic, even sweet whey. Soaking beans in an acid will actually make them tougher, rather than helping them to soften.
Use whey as part of your beauty routine.
16. Facial toner
Use acid whey to tone and balance your face. Dab it on with a cotton ball after you’ve washed your face in the morning and before you moisturize. Don’t forget the sunscreen!
17. Whey hair rinse
Save that liquid gold to use as a hair rinse for beautifully smooth and shiny hair. This is especially important if you are using baking soda to wash your hair. The pH needs to be balanced out and acid whey can help.
Whey in the garden
18. Feed our plants
Use your whey to nourish acid-loving plants like hydrangeas, blueberries, and tomatoes.
19. Compost it
If you don’t use it for anything else, be sure to add your leftover whey to your compost. It’s full of microbes and will help along the health of your compost pile.
Whey is described as a byproduct, but there are so many great uses for it. You may find yourself making cheese or yogurt more often so that you don’t run out of whey. It’s a wonderful kitchen staple to have on hand.
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