What is whey?
Whey is the leftover liquid after making cheese. It is packed full of proteins, vitamins, enzymes and minerals. When you make dairy products there is usually a lot of whey left over!
There are lots of things you can do with whey. Here is a great list of ideas:
EASY RECIPES WITH WHEY AS A SUBSTITUTE
Yeast Bread. If you’re not ready to make sourdough yet, uses for whey as the liquid in any fresh bread to get that classic sourdough flavor. I suggest starting with No-Knead Overnight Artisan Bread.
Pizza Dough. Use in place of water in my favorite pizza dough recipe.
Rice. Use whey instead of water when making rice. Although the heat will kill some of the live enzymes, you’ll still retain the nutrients since rice absorbs all the liquid.
Pasta. Swap whey for water to cook pasta and like the rice, the pasta will absorb some nutrients from the whey.
Pancakes. Use in place of some of the milk in Protein Pancakes or in recipes.
Waffles. My Blender Oatmeal Waffles calls for water, but you can easily substitute any whey you have.
Quick Bread. Think Pumpkin Breador Chocolate Banana Bread and any other baking recipe.
Sourdough Discard Recipes. Sourdough Pancakes and Sourdough Waffles both use milk, but using a little whey will give an extra bit of tang flavor.
Buttermilk Substitute. Swap whey for buttermilk in Biscuits, Pancakes, Waffles, and even Cornbread.
Milk Substitute. Uses for whey in recipes that call for milk to make sauces, like Homemade Macaroni and Cheese or Chicken Jalapeno Popper Casserole.
Creamy Salad Dressings. Both Ranch Dressing and Caesar Dressing call for lemon juice, but you can substitute whey.
Vinegar Salad Dressings. Swap all or part of the vinegar for whey in recipes like Italian Salad Dressing or Greek Salad Dressing.
Marinades. These 4-ingredient Chicken Marinades all call for some sort of acid. Use whey for some of the acid for a fun twist on flavor.