Making your own homemade sweetened condensed milk is as easy as simmering two ingredients on the stove.

As long as you have an extra hour or so or plan ahead, you’ll no longer need sweetened condensed milk from a can! Not to mention, it can actually be quicker to make than a trip to the store if you’re out, plus no BPA from a can! Overall it’s just a really lovely idea.

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Ingredient Substitutions

Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk

Makes the equivalent to a 14 oz can

Ingredients

3 cups / 711g milk
1 cup / 200g sugar

Directions

In a medium-small sauce pan, combine milk and sugar over lowest heat. Take a toothpick or food-safe wooden rod or dowel, insert into pan until it touches the bottom, then make a mark where the milk reaches. Each time you check the milk you can insert this toothpick to get an idea how far the milk is reduced without having to measure.
Simmer for about an hour, checking occasionally, especially toward the end. Depending on your burner this time can vary. It can go very quickly from the perfect thickness to burnt.
When it's reduced by just more than half (60% is how much a can of sweetened condensed milk is generally condensed) and thick, it's done!

Jenny's Notes:

While whole milk would be the choice closest to the canned version of sweetened condensed milk, you can use whichever you prefer, knowing that the fat content or varying plant-based milks will give slightly different flavors and textures.
Some recipes only call for 1/2 a can of sweetened condensed milk, which would normally leave you with an open half can in the fridge for forever until you find another recipe that calls for just half. With this recipe, you can just make half and simmer for about 30-45 minutes instead of an hour. No waste!
If you're careful, you can slightly over-reduce this, to where the milk solids turn golden. Immediately remove from heat and whisk to keep the milk solids from burning to the bottom of the pan. It gives it a wonderful toasty, nutty flavor. This is to sweetened condensed milk what browned butter is to normal butter. If you followed me on that, you are following me to a very happy place.
Accidentally over-reduced and now your sweetened condensed milk is too thick? No worries, as long as it’s not burnt, just add a dash of milk and whisk, repeat until the desired consistency is reached.

Yield 10 servings

Author Jennyblogs

Prep time

2 Min

Cook time

60 Min

Total time

1 H & 2 M

Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk

Homemade sweetened condensed milk as good as or better than the can!

Cook modePrevent screen from turning off

Ingredients

3 cups / 711g whole milk
1 cup / 200g sugar

Instructions

In a medium-small sauce pan, combine milk and sugar over lowest heat. Take a toothpick or food-safe wooden rod or dowel, insert into pan until it touches the bottom, then make a mark where the milk reaches. Each time you check the milk you can insert this toothpick to get an idea how far the milk is reduced without having to measure.
Simmer for about an hour, checking occasionally, especially toward the end. Depending on your burner this time can vary. It can go very quickly from the perfect thickness to burnt.
When it's reduced by just more than half (60% is how much a can of sweetened condensed milk is generally condensed) and thick, it's done!

Notes

While whole milk would be the choice closest to the canned version of sweetened condensed milk, you can use whichever you prefer, knowing that the fat content or varying plant-based milks will give slightly different flavors and textures.
Some recipes only call for 1/2 a can of sweetened condensed milk, which would normally leave you with an open half can in the fridge for forever until you find another recipe that calls for just half. With this recipe, you can just make half and simmer for about 30-45 minutes instead of an hour. No waste!
If you're careful, you can slightly over-reduce this, to where the milk solids turn golden. Immediately remove from heat and whisk to keep the milk solids from burning to the bottom of the pan. It gives it a wonderful toasty, nutty flavor. This is to sweetened condensed milk what browned butter is to normal butter. The photo on this post are of this golden nutty version!
Accidentally over-reduced and now your sweetened condensed milk is too thick? No worries, as long as it’s not burnt, just add a dash of milk and whisk, repeat until the desired consistency is reached.