Meaning & use
evaporated milk
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Meaning
noununcountable
Thick, unsweetened canned milk made by removing about half of its water through heating.
Grammar: Uncountable; use 'a can of evaporated milk' to count it. Not the same as sweetened condensed milk.
Patterns
- a can of evaporated milk
- mix evaporated milk with water
The recipe calls for a cup of evaporated milk to make the sauce creamy.
You can dilute evaporated milk with an equal amount of water to use it like regular milk.
Evaporated milk has a longer shelf life than fresh milk because it is sterilized in the can.
Common combinations
- a can of evaporated milk
- She opened a can of evaporated milk for the pumpkin pie.
- dilute evaporated milk
- Dilute the evaporated milk with water before adding it to the soup.
- evaporated milk in coffee
- He prefers evaporated milk in his coffee instead of cream.
- substitute evaporated milk for cream
- You can substitute evaporated milk for cream in many dessert recipes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- condensed milk
- Similar product but sweetened; evaporated milk is unsweetened, so they are not interchangeable.
- powdered milk
- Dried milk that must be reconstituted with water; evaporated milk is already liquid and concentrated.
Word family
- evaporate verb
- To change from a liquid into a gas, or to remove water by heating.
- evaporation noun
- The process of a liquid turning into gas or being removed by heating.
Commonly confused: evaporated milk or condensed milk?
evaporated milk vs condensed milk
Condensed milk is thick and sweetened with sugar; evaporated milk is unsweetened. Check the label before substituting.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'evaporated milk' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Evaporated milk is unsweetened and concentrated; option B correctly shows it is different from condensed milk. Option An is wrong because evaporated milk is not usually sweetened at home; C describes powdered milk; D is false because evaporated milk can be diluted.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “evaporated milk”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.