The Dairy Free Comfort Food Cookbook: 110 Recipes of Familiar Favorites

I received this cookbook specifically to write a review. That said, I try to be honest and open in all my reviews.

(Please see the enclosed pictures.)

Chantal Kirkland (the author) describes 110 recipes that include a variety of gluten free, dairy free, nut free, and soy free recipes. So, this is not just a book for those that are lactose intolerant.

As you can see from the photos included with the review, the first section talks about how to make traditional "dairy sauces" using a variety of clever, non-dairy ingredients. The cauliflower alfredo sauce is a perfect example.

The recipes that follow either use these yummy, "faux dairy" items, or they explicitly have the cook use things like "dairy free cheese" that you can buy in many large, chain grocery stores.

I was impressed with both the breadth of the recipes as well as how tasty they were. Two of the Reasonable Reviewer kids have preferences for either non-dairy or non-gluten food, and this cookbook is a life saver, just in time for the holidays.

I recommend it to anyone interested in how to cook for people with dietary limitations.

My youngest nephew has dairy related food allergies so I got this recipe book with him in mind. I was pleasantly surprised to see that many of the recipes are also egg-free and nut-free too which works out well for my older nephews who have those food allergies. It's also common for the recipes in the book to work for those who are keeping a gluten-free and soy-free diet. If you have a family that deals with a variety of food related allergies this book is definitely worth picking up.

The author includes a brief mention of what exactly being dairy-free means as well as some of the benefits. She includes a section on some essential pantry staples as well as kitchen equipment that comes in handy. Over 100 recipes are included in the book and each one is dairy-free. I didn't do an exact count but my estimate is about half of the recipes might call for an ingredient that is basically a fake out dairy product such as dairy-free mozzarella shreds, dairy free buttery spread, dairy free cheddar shreds, plant based whipped cream, etc.. If you are new to a dairy free diet, I highly recommend tying out the different dairy free products on the market so you have an idea of which is the best tasting ingredient to use in a recipe. One brand's dairy free mozzarella could taste a lot different than another brand. Being familiar with the taste of certain ingredients kinda eliminates a recipe not tasting good due to just one ingredient.

The recipe book is broken up into different chapters including recipes for milks, cheeses, and sauces, breakfast foods, finger foods and snacks, soups, sandwiches, burgers and pizzas, noodles and pasta, comfort foods, and desserts. Each recipe mentions whether it is egg-free, soy-free, etc. It also mentions how many servings as well as the prep and cook time. A helpful hint might be included with each recipe suggesting something like substituting an ingredient or what you could also serve with the food. There aren't many photos included in the book, basically just one per chapter. Just about all of the ingredients in the recipes are easy to find at a regular grocery store. There's a lot more dairy free items on the market now than say 10 years ago so you most likely won't have to seek out much of anything at a specialty store.

Recommend for those people wanting to keep a dairy free diet as there's a decent variety of recipes included in this book. There's also a good amount of recipes for the egg-free, nut-free, and/or soy-free eaters too.

This book has been a great help. My 7 year old son and I have discovered that we need to stay away from lactose. This book help us do that.

Not each recipe has a picture, so if that is what you are looking for, this one isn't for you.

I expected it to be a little bit more in depth about substituting milk products with non-milk products but the recipes a very very good

My 20 yr old is dairy free for health reasons not choice. I bought this book thinking it would be great for her to at least see she has lots of choices without dairy. Some of the recipes are really good. Her complain however is that there are so many that involve cauliflower, which she has no interest in eating. While this book would be great for someone who likes more veggies then she does. For us it is just simply hit or miss and more on the miss side of it.

Got as a gift for my sister in law who is sensitive to dairy, loved it!!!!

I’m excited to work my way through this recipe book, but I’m especially pleased with the recipes for making different milks and cheese substitutes. That is where this cookbook really helps, and I think it will be help us to eliminate dairy from our diet. I do wish that it had pictures of all the dishes, because I really find it helpful, and I know others do, too.

I’m disappointed that some of the recipes call for ready-made cheese substitutes, rather than providing recipes for those. It means I’ll have to find workarounds, since there are no store-bought cheese substitutes that I’ve found that didn’t have some heavy-duty allergens in them. I know not everyone has multiple food allergies, but it’s still a limitation. I do like that the font is easy to read and the pages aren’t crowded. Throw in some pictures and more cheese substitute recipes and I’d be in hog heaven.

As it is, this will be a useful cookbook addition, but not as useful as it could have been.

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If you have to eat dairy free, there is some good recipes in this.
Although I’m not a fan of some of the alternatives here., Some are dairy free cheese which is expensive, but hard to find.
Some alternatives are Nutritional Yeast that is a good choice, that takes some getting use too.
There is a vegan cheese that is easy to make using cashews nuts etc but soaking them in water first, that is healthier.

The recipes are what you probably already eat but just substituting the cheese, and also using Almond milk or those types of alternatives.
I have not seen using dairy free sour cream, and I dont find that alternative butters are healthy..
The food is easy to make, nothing fancy, you will find everything in your local grocery store.

Does not show counts of calories, salt, carbs, protein , Nothing!
There are Very few pictures in this book.

When I got this cookbook, I was dreading something that had daiya cheese in every other recipe. And this delivered. Granted, a lot of the recipes still use the nondairy swap outs of coconut or almond milk, but each recipe has been developed to be dairy-free on its own, and not just the dairy version with substitutes (which you don't need a book to do). Some of these recipes are very interesting, and I haven't had the courage to give zucchini cheese a try just yet.
Nutritional yeast makes several appearances, and for the vegans out there, this often a staple of adding that salt savory taste of cheese. However, I know some people can't stand nutritional yeast, and have even heard that this can be a food sensitivity.
Otherwise, the ingredients are easy to come by, many of them are allergy free (egg, soy, nut-free) and the ingredients are mostly pantry staples or easy to find in the grocery store.

I liked the book. For the most part, the swap outs for non dairy items were mostly 'common sense' if you've been doing dairy free with your own recipes for awhile. I am going to keep because it does act as inspiration to do other swaps and some recipes are original. Nice to know how to make some of the 'milks' at home if needed. But any recipe required cheesecloth was not Successful for me. I ended up using the 'alfredo' recipe without cheesecloth step and added to small jar of bought Alfredo to beef it up. Worked amazing!