Powdered milk is made by removing the water from milk and spray-drying it into a powder. It’s a highly technical process and can’t easily be done at home. This process results in a product that has a very long shelf life and is easy to transport.
Whether you want powdered milk for everyday use or to stockpile in bulk for emergencies, there are a lot of brands to choose from.
I’ve compiled a list of the best powdered milk brands based on taste, shelf life, and value. They are broken down into nonfat, whole, and whey milk powders.
Let us know if you have a favorite powdered milk that didn’t make the list!
Quick Picks:
- Best Overall: Valley Food Storage nonfat milk powder. Buy | Read Review
- Best Whole Milk Powder: Peak whole milk powder. Buy | Read Review
- Healthiest Option: Meyenberg Goat whole milk powder. Buy | Read Review
- Best Budget Option: Nido Fortificado. Buy | Read Review
Tips for Choosing Powdered Milk
1. Expect it to be clumpy
Almost all powdered milk will clump when you mix it with water. (See dry milk to water ratios.)
To prevent clumping:
- Mix the milk powder with a small amount of warm water. Wait for it to dissolve before adding the remaining (cold) water.
- Use a high-speed blender to mix up larger quantities of milk, or
- Let the milk powder and water sit for a few hours in the fridge. This will give it time to reconstitute and dissolve.
2. Whole milk powder tastes better but has a shorter shelf life
Whole-fat milk powder is much creamier and generally has a better taste. The downside is that the shelf life is much shorter. Make sure you keep it in a cool place, or it will go rancid.
3. Read the ingredients
You’d be surprised how many brands add sugar or weird additives to their powdered milk. Make sure you read the ingredients first!
4. Decide whether you want fortified milk
Some powdered milk isn’t fortified at all. And then there are products like Nestle Nido that have tons of vitamins and minerals added to them.
For long-term disaster prepping or if you have picky eaters, fortified is a good option.
Best Nonfat Powdered Milk
Nonfat milk powder has a much longer shelf life than whole milk powder. The reason is that fats can’t be dehydrated and start to go rancid fairly quickly.
If you want to stockpile milk powder long-term, then nonfat milk powder is the way to go. It won’t taste as creamy as whole milk powder.
Tip: When using nonfat milk powder when baking, add 1 Tbsp. Of oil per cup of milk.
Valley Food Storage Milk Powder
Verdict: Best overall for taste, shelf life, and convenience
Valley Food Storage is one of my favorite emergency food brands. They make a lot of freeze-dried products, including this milk.
It only contains milk and vitamins A and D. There are no preservatives, yet, thanks to the freeze-drying process and Mylar packaging, it has a shelf life of 25 years unopened!
The long shelf life makes this powdered milk one of the best for emergency prepping. The cost and taste are also good. On top of that, the 16oz size is convenient. You won’t have to worry about it going bad after opening like you would with larger package sizes.
Check Prices on Valley Food Storage
Ingredients: Nonfat milk solids, vitamin A and vitamin D
- To make: 4 Tbsp. powder per 1 cup milk
- Calories per cup: 100
- Protein: 10g
- Fat: 0g
- Vitamin D: 16% RDA
- Calcium: 30% RDA
- Shelf life: 25 years
- Packaging: 16oz resealable bags
Augason Farm’s Country Fresh Nonfat Milk Powder
Verdict: Good option for stockpiling bulk milk
While not as good of a deal as their Morning Moos milk powder, the Country Fresh milk powder is still a good deal – so long as you buy it in bulk instead of the cans.
Its ingredients are mostly “real,” and the shelf life is up to 20 years. The combo of affordability plus shelf life makes it a good pick if you want to stockpile powdered milk for prepping and don’t want to worry about constantly rotating through your supply.
Ingredients: Nonfat dry milk, vitamin A palmitrate, and vitamin D3
- To make: 5 Tbsp. powder per 1 cup milk
- Calories per cup: 70
- Protein: 8g
- Fat: 0g
- Vitamin D: 10% RDA
- Calcium: 20% RDA
- Shelf life: 20 years
- Packaging: 1lb 13oz cans and Cans and 10lb bulk buckets containing pouches
Legacy Nonfat Milk Powder
Verdict: Good if you want non-fortified milk powder
If you are looking for non-fortified powdered milk for everyday use, this is one of the best options. It contains only milk and nothing else. Because it is packaged with oxygen absorbers and nitrogen-flushed, the shelf life is 3-5 years (though it could probably last much longer unopened).
Ingredients: Nonfat dried milk powder
- To make: 3 Tbsp. powder per 1 cup milk
- Calories per cup: 100
- Protein: 10g
- Fat: 0g
- Vitamin D: 0% RDA
- Calcium: 30% RDA
- Shelf life: 3-5 years
- Packaging: 2.55lb resealable bag
NOW Foods Organic Nonfat Milk Powder
Verdict: Great if you don’t mind paying more for organic milk powder
If you are looking for organic milk powder, NOW Foods is one of the most affordable brands you can buy. The taste is better than most other brands too.
This milk isn’t packaged for long-term storage, though the shelf life is only about 1 year, thus making it better for everyday use than stockpiling.
Ingredients: Organic nonfat dried milk
- To make: 3 Tbsp. powder per 1 cup milk
- Calories per cup: 90
- Protein: 9g
- Fat: 0g
- Vitamin D: 0% RDA
- Calcium: 30% RDA
- Shelf life: 1 year
- Packaging: 12oz resealable bag
It’s Just Nonfat Milk Powder
Verdict: An affordable hormone-free milk powder, albeit a bit clumpy
This is a hormone-free milk powder that isn’t fortified. It is very affordable and has a good taste.
The downside is that it is clumpier than other brands of powdered milk I’ve tried. The amount of calcium is also less than comparable products.
Ingredients: Hormone-free nonfat milk powder
- To make: 3 Tbsp. powder per 1 cup milk
- Calories per cup: 80
- Protein: 8g
- Fat: 0g
- Vitamin D: 0%
- Calcium: 20%
- Shelf life: 2 years from date of manufacture
- Packaging: 32oz resealable bags
Best Whole Milk Powder
Whole milk powder generally tastes much better than nonfat milk powder. You must keep it in a cool place, though, or the fats in the milk powder will start to go rancid and get clumpy.
You can dissolve whole milk powder in cold water but, because of the fats, you’ll get better results if you mix it with a bit of warm water first and then add the cold water to this.
Nestle NIDO Fortified Dried Milk
Verdict: Choose if you want something cheap and highly-fortified
Compared to virtually all other brands of instant milk, Nido dried milk is loaded with the most nutrients. It even has vitamin C, iron, and magnesium added to it and the standard vitamin D and calcium.
Note that your body probably won’t absorb all of these nutrients since some use the same absorption pathways, but it’s still a lot of nutrients (albeit artificial) packed into one cup of milk.
Nido powdered milk is also insanely cheap. Depending on the size of the can, the price can end up costing less than $0.25 per cup of reconstituted milk. Compare this to other brands that cost upwards of $1 per cup, which is a big saving.
Ingredients: Whole Milk, Soy Lecithin, Sodium Ascorbate (vitamin C), Ferric Pyrophosphate (Iron), Zinc sulfate, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3
- To make: 4 Tbsp. powder per 1 cup milk
- Calories per cup: 160
- Protein: 7g
- Fat: 9g
- Vitamin D: 25% RDA
- Calcium: 30% RDA
- Shelf life: 1 year
- Packaging: Cans (various sizes available)
Horizon Organic Whole Milk Powder
Verdict: Choose if you don’t mind paying more for fortified organic milk powder
This milk powder is definitely pricey. Despite that, it is still one of the most popular brands of whole milk powder because it is organic (and thus also hormone-free), tastes good, and doesn’t clump too much.
It is also fortified – something that other organic whole milk powders usually aren’t. It’s got vitamins A, D, B12, and riboflavin as well as lots of calcium.
The packaging is great, so the shelf life is up to 2 years or even longer if you keep it somewhere cool.
Ingredients: Organic whole Milk, Calcium Carbonate, Organic Sunflower Lecithin, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D3
- To make: 4 Tbsp. powder per 1 cup milk
- Calories per cup: 140
- Protein: 8g
- Fat: 8g
- Vitamin D: 15% RDA
- Calcium: 35% RDA
- Shelf life: 1-2 years
- Packaging: 30.6oz cans
Judee’s Whole Milk Powder
Verdict: Great for travel or using in your coffee
The milk powder tastes very good and even reconstitutes without much clumping. Unfortunately, the price per cup ends up very high (though not as high as the Horizon brand milk powder). If you use powdered milk often, the costs will add up quickly.
It’s better as a powdered milk to take with you on trips or for use in coffee.
Ingredients: Hormone-free whole milk powder
- To make: 4 Tbsp. powder per 1 cup milk
- Calories per cup: 170
- Protein: 9g
- Fat: 9g
- Vitamin D: 0%
- Calcium: 25%
- Shelf life: 1 to 2 years
- Packaging: 2.5lb resealable bag
Peak Whole Milk Powder
Verdict: Affordable whole milk powder without lots of artificial additives
Peak whole milk powder is very affordable per serving, and it tastes really good too. It’s fortified with several vitamins, including B vitamins and vitamin A.
While Peak milk powder isn’t the cheapest option (Nido breaks down to be cheaper), it doesn’t have lots of additives or added sugar.
Ingredients: Whole milk powder, lecithin, vitamins A, B1, B6, C and D3
- To make: 3 Tbsp. powder per 1 cup milk
- Calories per cup: 120
- Protein: 6g
- Fat: 7g
- Vitamin D: 24%
- Calcium: 20%
- Shelf life: 2 years
- Packaging: 14.1oz cans
Meyenberg Whole Goat Milk
Verdict: Choose if you prefer goat milk
Even though it’s a bit pricey, this powdered goat milk is incredibly popular. The taste is great, it mixes up easily, and it doesn’t have artificial ingredients.
For a whole milk powder, the shelf life is surprisingly long – up to 4 years – so you can buy this product in bulk to have on hand. The brand also makes a nonfat version, but the whole milk version tastes better.
Ingredients: Full cream goat milk, lecithin, vitamins A and D3
- To make: 4 Tbsp. powder per 1 cup milk
- Calories per cup: 140
- Protein: 8g
- Fat: 7g
- Vitamin D: 25%
- Calcium: 30%
- Shelf life: 4 years
- Packaging: 12 and 16oz cans
Whey Milk Powder
Whey milk powder isn’t the same as dried milk powder. The two main proteins in milk are whey and casein. Milk powder is made by removing the moisture from milk and thus will contain both whey and casein. By contrast, whey milk powder is made with just whey (though whey milk powder will usually have some casein too).
Because casein can take longer to break down, whey milk powder might be a better choice if you are very active. Whey is also less likely to cause upset stomach than casein.
ReadyWise Whey Milk Alternative
Verdict: Great for quickly getting prepped for emergencies
ReadyWise specializes in emergency food, and most of their food – including this powdered milk – comes in bulk buckets. The shelf life of the milk unopened is 20 years. They are great if you want to get prepped quickly without having to think about it.
When it comes to taste and nutrition, though, ReadyWise is far from the best milk powder. The product has a lot of artificial ingredients and sugars.
The price is okay considering the packaging, but there are cheaper brands if shelf life isn’t important to you.
Ingredients: Sweet whey, creamer (coconut oil, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, mono and diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate, silicon dioxide), nonfat dry milk, sugar, cellulose gum
- To make: 2 Tbsp. powder per 1 cup milk
- Calories per cup: 70
- Protein: 2g
- Fat: 2g
- Vitamin D: 2% RDA
- Calcium: 6% RDA
- Shelf life: 20 years
- Packaging: 4lb bucket containing individual Mylar pouches
Augason Farms Morning Moos Low Fat Milk Alternative
Verdict: An affordable way to get prepped
When it comes to price, Morning Moos is one of the cheaper brands of powdered whey milk. The cans are a good deal, and it gets even cheaper if you buy one of their bulk milk powder buckets. A lot of people also say that they like the taste of this milk better than other brands.
The milk powder is actually made from whey and is fortified with vitamins D, A, and riboflavin. It is low-fat instead of nonfat, so is slightly creamier compared to most other milk powders.
The only annoying thing is that Augason Farms is often out of Morning Moos, so you might have to choose another brand or wait months for it to come back in stock.
Ingredients: Sweet whey, creamer (coconut oil, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate [a milk derivative], dipotassium phosphate, sugar, mono and diglycerides, polysorbate 80, sodium silicoaluminate, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, soy lecithin), nonfat milk, sugar, guar gum, vitamin A, vitamin D.
- To make: 2 Tbsp. powder per 1 cup milk
- Calories per cup: 70
- Protein: 3g
- Fat:5g
- Vitamin D: 25% RDA
- Calcium: 10% RDA
- Shelf life: 20 years
- Packaging: 3.5lb cans or 30lb bucket containing pouches
