Introducing Light & Healthy Eggnog – this homemade, delicious, non-alcoholic eggnog can be enjoyed all season long without the guilt. Plus it's non-dairy!
Five years ago, the notion I could make eggnog at home completely changed my life.
This meant no more waiting for the holidays to come around to enjoy a glass of eggnog.
This meant I could tweak the recipe and make my own favorite version.
This meant I could actually understand what the heck was in eggnog. It was such a mystery!
I didn’t realize then, but this also meant Dustin and the kiddos would always refer to the holidays as the time when “mom makes her eggnog.”
So, that's why I wanted to share this non-alcoholic eggnog recipe.
And, to be honest, it’s pretty dang amazing.
BUT my original eggnog recipe was created before my clean eating days.
So, three years ago at Thanksgiving, I decided to try out a clean version of our family’s favorite eggnog and it was very good. Like shockingly good…and clean!
As Dustin would say, it was still “noggy.”
Wanna hear a really cool story?
So, on a super cool side note, since posting this eggnog recipe originally, I have received tons of emails and comments thanking me for sharing an eggnog recipe that can be enjoyed year round.
To my surprise, many people who no longer live in the United States have used my recipe to enjoy a eggnog, a nostalgic treat, since their current location doesn’t even know what eggnog is. They thought they’d never have it again and my recipe helped them enjoy an old favorite.
I mean. How flipping cool is that?
So, for those of you who do have access to eggnog, but who want to also enjoy a healthy, clean eating lifestyle and avoid any struggle with weight, I give you Light Eggnog.
- It’s creamy.
- It’s smooth.
- It’s thick.
- It’s cinnamony and nutmegy.
- It’s freaking eggnog. Light.
- And without the alcohol.
Yes, you can rejoice now.
HOW TO MAKE EGGNOG
This healthy non-alcoholic eggnog recipe is very easy and it involves just a few simple steps. To make the healthy homemade eggnog:
- add almond milk, honey, egg yolks, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a blender and blend for approximately 1 minute or until smooth;
- pour the mixture from the blender into a saucepan and add cloves;
- cook the eggnog on medium heat for 10-15 minutes;
- once the eggnog thickened, add vanilla extract;
- use a fine mesh strainer to remove cloves;
- transfer the eggnog into an airtight container and place it in the fridge to chill for at least 6-8 hours or overnight.
- to make the eggnog even more cinnamony and nutmegy, sprinkle a little cinnamon and a little nutmeg before serving.
OMG! This is eggnog bliss!
WHAT IS EGGNOG MADE OF?
Wondering what is eggnog made of, traditionally (i.e. NOT how I make it)?
Well, egg yolks and milk are used to get the thick texture and egg whites are used to make it airy and frothy. Some like to add some heavy cream to get a creamy and rich texture. Traditionally, eggnog is made with raw eggs and alcohol and it's aged for weeks. The alcohol serves as a preservative but also as a sterilizer since it kills any bacteria from the raw eggs.
Now, don't get me wrong -- I still like my eggnog creamy. That’s why I make this almond milk eggnog. Also, I prefer to cook the eggs for eggnog on the stove for safety reasons and because I make a non-alcoholic eggnog that my kids can enjoy as well.
IS EGGNOG HEALTHY?
Eggnog is pretty loaded with refined sugar and heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk. Delicious? Yes. Clean? Not so much.
Is eggnog good for you? Not if you follow the traditional recipe.
But this light eggnog recipe is a different story.
How to make healthy eggnog:
- replace full-fat milk with almond milk;
- add more almond milk and skip the sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream;
- use raw honey instead of sugar.
Making almond milk eggnog is the easiest way to make healthy eggnog. And a delicious way too.
For another healthier hot drink, check out my hot apple cider recipe.
HOW TO MAKE EGGNOG ON THE STOVE
I already mentioned that I prefer to cook the eggs for the eggnog so that means I make eggnog on the stove. You already know the steps but here are some extra tips to make sure that our eggnog will turn out perfect:
- Cook the eggs slowly until they start to thicken.
- At first, the mixture will be frothy but then it will start to thicken so don't worry.
- You want the mixture to get hot but you don’t want it to boil or simmer. If the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat temporarily. Then continue cooking until the eggnog thickened.
WHAT LIQUOR GOES IN EGGNOG
If you want to transform this non-alcoholic eggnog into an alcoholic eggnog, you’re probably wondering what liquor goes in eggnog.
Brown liquors are the best for eggnog so try:
- bourbon;
- brandy;
- rum.
If you choose to make an alcoholic version, add the alcohol in the egg yolk mixture and continue with the steps as listed in the recipe.
HOW LONG DOES EGGNOG LAST?
This non-alcoholic eggnog lasts for 3-4 days in the fridge if stored properly in an airtight container.
You can also freeze eggnog and store it in the freezer for up to 6 months, though this will cause a little change in the creamy texture.
Told you this eggnog can be enjoyed all year round! <--- LOVE
MORE HEALTHY HOLIDAY DRINK RECIPES
When creating a healthy holiday menu, people often tend to forget about their drinks. But drinks mean many extra calories and tons of ingredients that are not clean and healthy if you do not pay attention to them. So you most definitely have to make your drinks healthier too if you want to maintain your clean lifestyle. I want to help you so, besides this yummy eggnog, I have two other healthy holiday drink recipes for you.
HOW TO MAKE HOT CHOCOLATE MIX
There’s no Fall or Winter without hot chocolate in my house. Not to worry though, my hot chocolate is always healthy. And I can teach you How to Make Hot Chocolate Mix from scratch. Your kids will love the hot chocolate and so will you.
This homemade hot chocolate mix is paleo, gluten-free, clean eating, and it can be easily made vegan. Besides milk, my hot chocolate mix contains unsweetened cocoa powder, cinnamon, coconut sugar, sea salt, and vanilla powder. Sounds yum, right?
HOMEMADE HEALTHY PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE RECIPE
Another drink I love during this time of the year is pumpkin spice latte. But you guessed it, I make it at home and it’s healthy. Homemade Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe? Yes, please!
This pumpkin spice latte is very easy to make. Plus you can adjust the spices to fit your taste and make your taste buds dance from joy.
Light Non-Alcoholic Eggnog
Equipment
- blender
- Stock Pot or Large Deep Skillet
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
- 4 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 6 egg yolks
- ⅔ cup raw honey
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, plus more for topping
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for topping
- 1 tablespoon whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a kitchen blender, add the unsweetened almond milk, egg yolks, raw honey, ground nutmeg, and ground cinnamon, and then blend for a minute or so until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into a sauce pan or deep pot, add the whole cloves, and heat over medium heat.
- Cook the eggnog for about 10-15 minutes until it starts to thicken and slowly cook the eggs. It will be frothy at first.
- We want the mixture to get hot, but not simmer or boil. If it gets close to boiling, you can whisk vigorously and temporarily remove from the heat.
- Once the eggnog has thickened, turn off the heat, and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Strain the mixture using a fine mesh strainer to remove the cloves, then pour into an airtight container and place in the fridge to chill for 6-8 hours, or overnight.
- When ready to serve, we love to sprinkle with a little nutmeg and cinnamon.
Nutrition
This post contains affiliate links for products I use regularly and highly recommend.
Lia
Tried this recipe. It's easy and I love it! Thank you for sharing... I also linked this recipe in my blog post
Naomi
Hi! I live in Japan and I don't know if there is any nutmeg soled around were I live, do you know what I can use instead of it?
Naomi
Ho, and cloves too.
Lacey Baier
Maybe add in some allspice as well?
Lacey Baier
You could just use cinnamon - won't be exactly the same, but will still be tasty 🙂
Naomi
Thank you!!
Nothando
Hi! This recipe sounds really good, I was wondering, could you use ground cloves instead of whole ones?
Lacey Baier
Yes, you could but then it wouldn't get filtered out when you strain it. Not that it's the end of the world, though - will still be tasty! 🙂
Diane
Hi would you please post the original recipe? I made it a few years ago and my family loved it!
Jason Teale
This looks great and way simpler than I thought. Also I have to say that the photos are amazing as well. The lighting is perfect! I will be attempting this recipe this weekend as there is no egg nog in South Korea and I have a craving.
Lacey Baier
Thanks so much, Jason! Yes, it's actually quite simple to make and is sooooooo much better than store-bought (especially if you an't even buy it where you are!) Enjoy 🙂
kayla
My 4 year old had to take medication over the holidays and the only way we could get her to take it was to chase it with eggnog which we bought from the store (with all the yucky artificial ingredients that go with store bought eggnog). Fast forward past the holidays, she has to take medication for the flu now and was only willing to take it if she could chase it with eggnog again. Of course there is no eggnog anywhere to be found. So happy I found this recipe! No artificial ingredients and it's DELICIOUS! So easy to make-- the video helped a ton. It was the perfect "spoonful of sugar" to help the medicine go down. Thank you!
Lacey Baier
YES! I LOVE that your girl takes meds with eggnog chasers lol. I totally wish I had done that when I was a kid! I'm so glad this recipe and video helped you guys out. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
B Ellison
Can you use grated clove and produce similar results? I have been unable to locate whole cloves locally.
Lacey Baier
Hmmm...I've actually never heard of grated cloves and I couldn't find any helpful information online. My inclination would be yes, but to use about 2/3 of what my recipe calls for.
Brandon Stucki
I think you mean "ground cloves" and generally should be used sparingly as it imparts a much stronger clove flavor than the whole clove leaf. I would use 1/4 tsp of ground cloves for this recipe.
Crowder family
Greetings from Nairobi Kenya! We love the recipe and we reduced the cloves a bit. Thanks very much!
Lacey Baier
Greetings! You're very welcome 🙂
Scott Stevens
Do you still have your old recipe? It’s my wife’s favorite and I wanted to make it for our anniversary. Thanks so much for all the amazing work you do.
Gina Rawson
I'm in the same boat as many, living oversees and in need of eggnog 🙂 thanks for the recipe and the video was super helpful because I didn't know what tempering meant 😉
Gina
Lacey Baier
Yay! You're very welcome, Gina. I can't tell you how cool it is for us to be able to bring eggnog to y'all out there overseas 🙂
Ben
Awesome blog! I love home made eggnog and it's very easy to make. Kudos to your incredible photos and video. They are food art.
Lacey Baier
Wow, thanks so much for the kind words, Ben. You made our day 🙂
Alex
First off, it looks really good and I plan on making a batch for a Christmas Eve party. However, some of my friends still want a little cognac and/or whiskey with their eggnog.
I might just bring a bottle and let them serve their desired portion. But will the alcohol mess up it's sweet taste (sweetened condensed milk)? This may be a dumb question but I thought I should ask. I don't wanna mess up a good thing.
Alex
By the way, Happy Christmas from London!
Lacey Baier
Thanks! To you as well!
Lacey Baier
Thanks, Alex. Well, it'll definitely mess with the flavor, but should still be good. I think your friends will still be happy with it 🙂
Veronika
Your eggnog recipe is amazing!!!
Since there's no way of getting eggnog in a German grocery store, I've been trying different recipes the last couple of years but they either didn't taste right or were watery... But this topped everything and went straight to my personal collection!
Thank you for making this years Christmas season extra noggy!
Greetings from Germany!
Lacey Baier
That's so awesome, Veronika! I'm so happy to help your Christmas be extra noggy 🙂
maxwell
this eggnog was the firs thing I ever made by my self and it was so good
Lacey Baier
That's awesome, Maxwell! Well done 🙂
Barbara
can someone please tell me how long it will last
Lacey Baier
It lasts a good 4-5 days as far as I've tested, though it's hard not to drink in one sitting 😉
Kaye
I wanted to know if you have this eggnog recipe for a Christmas party of 40? I suppose I can multiply by 20 but didn't know if it would be practical that way. Thanks.
Lacey Baier
Hi Kaye, I do not, actually. Wow, that's a lot of eggnog. lol. Tempering it would be difficult in that large of a quantity. I've multiplied it by 4 before and it went well so I'd bet you could probably do it best in 4 different batches and still have it be good to go. Please share how it goes!! 🙂
swt1221
Hi Lacey,
I like your website, I've been checking it out and learning a lot about cooking and such.
I haven't tried eggnog before and came across this recipe. Thought I would give it a try.
Question about an ingredient list from the recipe:
It says "5 whole cloves" and I'm not sure of what.
Thanks.
Lacey Baier
Hi there! I'm referring to actual cloves spice, as opposed to ground cloves. I hope that helps!
Naomi Sirmans
This is amazing! I am Canadian, lived in the States my entire adult life and now live in Ireland - where eggnog doesn't exist! It isn't sold in stores and nobody has even heard of it. I have tried homemade eggnog recipes for years, but came to the conclusion eggnog might just be the only thing on the planet that tastes better store bought.... until now! I can't even express how happy I am to have found this recipe; especially being so far from 'home' at Christmas. My kids were so excited, "It tastes JUST like it!" "We're the only ones in Ireland with eggnog!" haha Thanks so much <3
Lacey Baier
Naomi, you made our night. We're so glad you and your kids enjoyed the eggnog. Now, you can make it ANY time you want! 🙂
Naomi Sirmans
This could be dangerous 😉
Lacey Baier
Oh, so dangerous 😉