What to make from old kefir: 20 recipes

Kefir with an expired shelf life is subject to disposal if there are clear signs of spoilage. Otherwise, the lactic acid product can be used not only in home cooking, but also in cosmetology to maintain the beauty and health of the skin, hair.

How to Watch Kefir Goes Bad

The useful milk product that improves digestion and intestinal microflora remains wholesome until it shows signs of spoilage.

A sour, expired product is characterized by:

• color change to yellow;
• fermentation process (bloated packaging);
• the presence of sludge in the form of flakes;
• bitter taste;
• sour, pungent odor;
• Islets of mold on the surface.

In addition, a dairy beverage is considered tainted when the whey is separated from the clot.

When it can be used for cooking.

To prepare baked goods, sauces, use expired kefir, but it retains a pleasant taste, smell, milky color and homogeneity of structure.

Kefir can be included in a recipe for baked goods, if no more than a week has passed after the expiration date.

When it is better to throw away

The product becomes unsuitable for use in cooking, if the taste is bitter, the smell becomes repulsive, unpleasant, and more than 7 days have passed since the expiration date.

It is not necessary to risk your health by tasting the drink in a large volume, a couple of drops are enough. If rancid taste, stratification of the homogeneous mass, sour smell and yellowish color are present, it is better to get rid of kefir.

Can you drink expired kefir?

The use of stale sour-milk drink at best case threatens a temporary malfunction of the gastrointestinal tract, at worst - serious food poisoning.

How to cook pancakes or pancakes with sour kefir

Pancakes, pancakes from stale product turn out more airy and puffy due to the bright flavor, more carbon dioxide content.

Recipe for pancakes

For puffy pancakes from 500 ml of sour kefir will need:

• 300 g of flour;
• one egg;
• 0.5 tsp. sugar, soda;
• 1 tsp. salt:
• 60 ml of oil for frying.

Preparation steps:

1. Remove the products from the refrigerator. They should warm up to room temperature.
2. Beat the egg in a bowl, add salt, sugar. Mix with a mixer until smooth.
3. Add the kefir to the mixture.
4. Sift wheat flour through a sieve twice to make the pancakes more fluffy.
5. Add the flour in batches to the egg-kefir mixture, beating with a whisk until the lumps disappear.
6. Add the baking soda and stir. Wait until air bubbles form on the surface. The consistency of the dough should be like a thick sour cream.
7. Heat a frying pan with vegetable oil. Spoon out the half-finished product, fry on both sides over medium heat until crispy.

Serve pancakes for tea with sour cream, jam or honey.

Tip! To flavor the fritters add grated apple or cinnamon to the batter.

Pancake Recipe

Prepare to bake lace pancakes:

• 250 ml of stale kefir:
• two eggs;
• One glass of carbonated mineral water;
• 170 grams of flour;
• half a teaspoon of baking powder;
• 80 g sugar;
• 60 ml of sunflower oil;
• pinch of salt.

Cooking algorithm:

1. Place the eggs, granulated sugar, salt in an enamel or glass container, whisk until smooth.
2. Add kefir, water, mix.
3. Gradually add the flour and baking powder to the mixture. Knead the dough well so that there are no lumps.
4. Pour in the oil and mix.
5. Heat a frying pan greased with vegetable oil.
6. Bake the pancakes on both sides until browned. Before baking the second and subsequent pancakes, it is not necessary to grease the pan with oil.

The pancakes will taste even better with melted butter, jam, honey, sour cream or caviar.

15 recipes you can make from old kefir

From sour milk product, in addition to pancakes and pancakes, prepare baked goods with and without sugar, marinade for meat, sauces. From sour kefir turn out delicious buns, ponytails, waffles, scones, pies with different fillings.

Cookies

To create airy homemade cookies you will need a minimum of products:

• 200 ml of sour kefir;
• 350g of wheat flour
• 0,5 tbsp. granulated sugar;
• 1 tsp. baking powder;
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil.

How to prepare:

1. Pour the kefir into a bowl, pour in the sugar and stir until it dissolves.
2. Add the butter. Mix the flour with the baking powder. Add the dry mixture to the fermented liquor.
3. Knead a stiff dough so that it does not stick to your hands.
4. Put the half-finished product in a plastic bag, send it to the refrigerator.
5. After a quarter of an hour, remove the dough and roll out 0.5 cm thick on a lightly floured table.
6. Use molds or an upturned shot glass to cut out the pieces.
7. Dust the tray with flour, lay the cookies, sprinkle with sugar and leave to rise for 15 minutes.
8. The cookies will be ready after 20 minutes of baking in an oven heated to 180 degrees.

Cinnamon can be added to the dough if desired.

Puff pastry

To make delicious Turkish puff pastry you need:

• 650 g of flour;
• 250 ml of kefir;
• 200g butter;
• 150 grams of sugar;
• A pinch of salt, vanilla.

Directions for preparation:

1. Pour the kefir into a bowl, add 100 g of melted butter, a pinch of salt, and baking powder. Stir to combine.
2. Sift 480g of flour into the kefir. Knead with your hands for a dough.
3. Take another container. Combine 170g of flour, sugar and a pinch of vanilla. Cut 100g of butter into small cubes and add to the flour. Grate all ingredients into crumbs.
4. Sprinkle flour on a cutting board or table, spread out the dough. Divide the semi-finished product into 6 equal parts, make balls of them.
5. Roll out the balls into thin layers, trim the edges to obtain rectangles of equal size.
6. Place the first layer on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the crumble over the top, spreading it evenly over the whole surface.
7. Cover with the second layer. Repeat until you have covered the product with the sixth layer.
8. Cut the piece lengthwise and crosswise into 6 equal pieces. Pull them apart from each other.
9. Brush the surface with egg yolk for a ruddy crust.
10. Bake the puff pastry for 40 minutes in an oven at 180°C.

Tip! Before placing the tray in the oven, preheat it to the right temperature, otherwise the layers will stick together, the puffs will be ruined.

Cake

To quickly make and bake porous delicious muffins with prunes, prepare a set of products:

• a glass of kefir (250 ml);
• 400 g of wheat flour;
• 100 grams of prunes;
• 150 g sugar;
• 1 tsp. soda;
• two eggs;
• 100 g of butter;
• powdered sugar;
• 20 ml of cognac.

Method of preparation:

1. Beat the eggs with the sugar. In a separate bowl, pour cognac over finely chopped prunes.
2. Pour the baking soda into the kefir and whisk. Pour the drink into a bowl with the eggs. Add sifted flour, mix.
3. Add melted butter at room temperature.
4. Knead the dough until homogeneous, add prunes and cognac.
5. Fill the silicone molds two-thirds full (they greatly expand in volume).
6. Bake in an oven heated to 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Once cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Check readiness with a toothpick or match. It should be dry.

Waffles

To make 10 servings of homemade waffles from a dough kneaded with 200 ml of stale kefir, you will need:

• 200-230 g of flour;
• 2 tbsp. semolina;
• 0.5 tbsp. vegetable refined oil;
• 2 large eggs;
• 2 tsp. of baking powder;
• A pinch of salt, a pinch of vanilla.

How to prepare:

1. In a bowl, pour sugar, beat eggs. Beat with a whisk until the sweet component has dissolved.
2. Add butter and kefir. Stir in salt, baking powder, semolina, vanilla and a little of the flour. Then add flour in batches.
3. Make dough in a muffin tin pastry consistency.
4. Leave the mass for 20 minutes to swell the semolina.
5. Before baking, grease the waffle iron, put a tablespoon of batter, close with the lid.
6. Cook until browned. Baking time depends on the power of the waffle iron. On average it is 4-5 minutes.

Tip! Ready, cooled waffles can be sprinkled with powdered sugar, pour melted chocolate or covered with jam.

Delicious donuts

Ingredients for donuts made with kefir in a hurry:

• 200 ml of the old fermented milk drink;
• one egg;
• 200 g flour;
• 0.5 liter of frying oil;
• 60g sugar;
• 5 g each of baking soda, vanilla;
• salt.

Cooking algorithm:

1. Mix sugar, salt, vanillin with the egg. Pour in the kefir.
2. Pour in the flour and baking soda. Knead the dough, slowly flowing off the spoon.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan.
4. Drop 0.5 tbsp. of dough into the fryer, using a second spoon to help.
5. Fry the doughnuts until lightly browned.

Remove excess oil and place doughnuts on paper towels to remove. After cooling, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

This is interesting! Did you know that if you remove sugar from the recipe and add garlic, you can make delicious pampushki for borscht.

Puffy Pancakes

American puffy pancakes are made with the following ingredients:

• 0.5 L of kefir;
• 0.5 kg flour;
• 50 ml vegetable oil;
• 60 g of granulated sugar;
• 2 eggs;
• 5 g of baking powder.

Beat with a mixer the eggs and sugar. Pour in the kefir, mix. Add flour sifted through a sieve, baking powder. Knead the dough. Heat a frying pan without oil. Spoon out the dough with a tablespoon and fry both sides until soft.

Crispy Tortillas

In this recipe, a delicious crispy crust is obtained by adding vodka.

The set of products:

• two eggs;
• a glass of kefir;
• 2.5 tbsp. of wheat flour;
• 60 ml of vodka;
• 0.5 tsp. baking soda;
• pinch of vanilla;
• 3 Tbsp. sugar;
• 60 ml of oil for frying.

Cooking steps:

1. Pour the baking soda into the room temperature kefir. Wait for bubbles to appear.
2. Using a whisk, beat the eggs with the sugar, vanilla and salt. Add vodka.
3. Combine all ingredients and stir to combine.
4. Sift flour, add to a bowl with a mixture, knead a stiff dough. Knead until it no longer sticks to your hands.
5. Roll the dough into a ball, cover with a towel, and leave for half an hour.
6. Divide the ball into two equal parts. Roll out with a rolling pin to a thickness of no more than 0.5 cm.
7. Cut out diamond shapes with a knife, make a slit in the middle and form dough pieces.
8. Heat a frying pan with a generous amount of vegetable oil.
9. Fry the churros over medium heat until golden.

Sprinkle powdered sugar on the cooled crispbread.

Cheese Tarts

To make mouthwatering, hearty scones, you will need:

• 3 tbsp. flour;
• 1 tbsp. kefir;
• A teaspoon each of salt, baking soda;
• 300 g of cheese (suluguni is better);
• Greens, garlic, to taste.

Recipe

Combine the kefir with salt, baking soda. Add flour, knead into a stiff dough. Roll into a kolob, place in a bag, leave for half an hour. While the dough is resting, make the filling. Grate cheese, wash, dry and chop dill and parsley greens. Peel the garlic and finely chop or pass it through the press.

Knead the dough, roll it into a sausage. Cut the dough into slices, and roll out each slice into a thin flatpan 5 mm thick. Place cheese in the center and dill and garlic next to it. Bring the edges of the tortilla together, bringing them together in the middle. Gently roll out with a rolling pin, giving a flat shape.

Fry the tortillas on a high heat (5 out of 6) in a little vegetable oil for a minute and a half on each side.

Serve cheese tortillas hot or cold for breakfast with tea or coffee.

Pizza

If you want to cook pizza quickly and deliciously, you can make an Italian pie from liquid dough based on 0.4 liters of sour kefir.

Ingredients:

• two eggs;
• 0.6 kg of flour;
• 40 ml of vegetable oil;
• 1 tsp. salt, sugar;
• 0.5 tsp. soda.

Method of preparation:

1. Rub the eggs with salt, sugar.
2. Pour the baking soda into the old kefir. When small bubbles form on top, pour it into the eggs. Add the butter, pour in the flour.
3. Use a mixer to knead a dough the consistency of thick sour cream.
4. Grease a baking pan with butter. Pour the batter, spread evenly with a spatula.
5. The first layer is ketchup. Then distribute the filling (tomato slices, diced ham, grated cheese).
6. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 180 degrees.

When serving, cut the pizza into portions and sprinkle with herbs.

Lazy meatballs

Nourishing and tasty to feed the family can be meat pancakes.

Ingredients:

• 0.5 kg of homemade minced meat;
• 0.5 l of sour kefir;
• 2 pcs. onions;
• two eggs;
• 1 tbsp. flour;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• vegetable oil;
• salt, pepper.

How to prepare:

1. Put the stuffing in a bowl, make a depression in the middle, beat the eggs into it. Add kefir, stir with a spoon.
2. Add grated onion, garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Add flour and knead the dough like for pancakes. If there is not enough flour, add more.
4. Heat a frying pan with vegetable oil, spoon out the dough, form belyashi.
5. Cover and fry until soft. Turn over and fry the other side in an open frying pan.

Place belyashi on paper towels to get rid of excess oil.

Apple quiche

To make sour kefir-based charlotte in a classic recipe, you'll need:

• 1 tbsp. each of sour kefir, sugar;
• 2 tbsp. flour;
• 3 eggs;
• 5 sweet apples;
• cinnamon;
• 1 tsp. of baking powder.

Peel apples, remove core, cut into slices, sprinkle with cinnamon. Beat the eggs and sugar with a mixer until stiff peaks for five minutes. Pour in the kefir, add the flour and baking powder, mix gently.

Line a baking dish with parchment and grease it with butter. Place apples as the first layer, pour the batter on top. Bake the cake for 40-45 minutes in an oven preheated to 180 degrees.

Khachapuri

Real Georgian flatbreads with cheese are made with matsoni. If it is not available, use old kefir.

Prepare the products:

• a glass of sour milk drink;
• two cups of wheat flour;
• one egg for the dough, the second for the filling;
• 400 grams of cheese;
• 1 tsp. salt, sugar;
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil;
• 1 tsp. of vegetable oil; ½ tsp. of baking powder.

How to prepare:

1. Mix in a bowl the egg, kefir, salt, soda, sugar, butter.
2. Sift the flour and pour it into the kefir with the other ingredients. Knead the dough smooth, not sticking to your hands.
3. While the dough is proofing, prepare the filling. Grate the cheese and mix with the egg.
4. Make a sausage of dough, divide into 6 equal parts. Make balls of them, and roll each of them into a cake.
5. Place the filling in the center of the dough pieces so that the edges are 3 cm wide. Make sacks out of the flatbreads, pinch the dough together. Roll them out with a rolling pin into original sized tortillas.
6. Heat a frying pan with a little oil and fry khachapuri on both sides until crispy.

Tip! When choosing cheese, give preference to suluguni.

Zebra pie

A two-tone pie that resembles the skin of a famous African animal is made not only with sour cream, but also with stale kefir.

Ingredients:

• 250 ml of stale kefir;
• 300 g flour;
• 3 eggs;
• A tablespoon of sugar, a teaspoon of baking soda;
• 3 tbsp. cocoa powder;
• quarter teaspoon of vanilla.

Cooking Algorithm:

1. Put baking soda in kefir. Rub the eggs with the sugar. Combine the contents of the two containers.
2. Add the sifted flour, vanilla, and knead the dough.
3. Divide it into two equal parts.
4. In the first part, add the cocoa.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment and grease it with butter.
6. Place two spoonfuls of white and two spoonfuls of brown biscuits alternately.
7. Bake the cake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 45 minutes. Check readiness with a wooden stick.

The contrasting colors make the cake look spectacular without additional decorations.

Yeast dough

The dough in this recipe turns out lush, soft despite the absence of eggs.

Sift 0.5 kg of flour into a bowl. Add 1.5 tsp. of quick yeast, 1 tsp. of extra salt and two tablespoons of sugar. Mix the dry ingredients. Make a hole in the center of the mixture. Pour into the cavity slightly heated kefir, stir, enter 2 tbsp. sunflower oil.

Intensively knead the dough for at least a quarter of an hour. Grease a bowl with oil, put in it the dough rolled into a ball, cover it with a towel. Leave the dough in a warm place to rise for an hour. When the dough has doubled in volume, lightly knead it, leave it for another 45 minutes.

From the yeast dough on sour kefir make delicious rolls, pies, pies with different fillings, pizza.

Tip! If using pressed yeast, dissolve it in 100 ml of warm sweetened kefir before adding it to the flour.

Chicken in kefir baked in the oven

The secret to juicy, tender chicken baked in the oven lies in the kefir marinade.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of chicken;
• a glass of old kefir;
• 3 tbsp. of ketchup;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• salt, spice mix (paprika, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, mustard).

How to prepare:

1. Take a deep bowl, place the seasonings, salt, and garlic squeezed through a press. Pour ketchup and kefir, stir.
2. Cut the chicken into portions. Put in the marinade so that the meat is completely covered.
3. Cover the container with clingfilm, put it in the fridge for at least two hours. If you have time, you can leave it overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
5. Take a baking dish. On the bottom put parchment or foil. Distribute pieces of meat and marinade evenly.
6. Bake the chicken for one hour.

Flavorful meat is combined with mashed potatoes, boiled rice, pasta, fresh vegetables, herbs.

Recipe for salad dressing

To make kefir sauce for vegetable and potato salads, prepare the following ingredients:

• A glass of stale kefir;
• One avocado;
• 20 ml of liquid honey;
• 2 cloves of garlic.

Method of preparation:

1. Peel the skin off the avocado, remove the pit. Crush the pulp with a spoon.
2. Add minced garlic, a spoonful of honey. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Pour in kefir. Whisk all ingredients with a blender.
4. Put thick mixture in the fridge.

Kefir-based sauce makes the salad spicy and stimulates the appetite.

Recipe for cottage cheese from sour kefir

To make the cottage cheese tender and less sour, cook it from a mixture of kefir and milk.

Seven hundred grams of sour milk product and two liters of milk pour into a pot, leave overnight on the table. In the morning, put the pot on the stove, heat to 50-60 degrees. Toggle over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the milk and kefir mixture separates into whey and curd clots.

After it has cooled completely, pour the contents of the pot into a colander covered with gauze. Leave it to drain off the whey for half an hour.

Tip! Do not boil the milk and kefir mixture, otherwise the consistency of the curd will be rubbery.

How to Make Cheese from Expired Kefir

To make the original soft cheese you will need:

• 1 liter of fat kefir;
• 0.8 l of sour cream with at least 25% fat content;
• 4 cloves of garlic;
• 0.5 tsp. salt;
• bunch of dill.

Recipe

Pour the expired kefir into a bowl. Add sour cream, salt, whisk with a whisk. Cover a colander with four layers of gauze. Place the fermented milk products in it, hang the gauze bag with its contents by the corners over the sink.

When the excess moisture drains off, return the cheese mass to the colander with the gauze, place it in a bowl. Place a 500g or more weight on top. Put the construction in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning take out the product, spread the food film on the table. Place on it and wrap the sausage formed from the cheese mass.

Finely chop the dill, chop the garlic. Spread them on the other clingfilm. Place the cheese sausage on top, wrap tightly in polyethylene so that the herbs and garlic evenly cover the surface of the cheese. After 4 hours of cooling in the refrigerator, the product is ready to eat.

Using old kefir in cosmetology

The expired product is included in recipes for home masks to slow down age changes, moisturize the skin. Kefir in cosmetology:

• stops the centers of inflammation;
• cleanses the epidermis;
• Brightens and evens the complexion;
• Softens dry skin, eliminates sebum;
• Smoothes "duck legs", relieves puffiness, gets rid of black eye;
• Nourishes, protects from negative external factors;
• Improves local blood circulation;
• Improves cellular regeneration.

When using fermented milk drink for hair there is a purification of the scalp, which is useful in the presence of dandruff, seborrhea. Kefir-based masks brighten, moisturize, eliminate split ends, nourish hair follicles, making hair more viable, thick, shiny.

Facial Masks

Effective face masks with stale kefir:

Gelatin
Mix 15 g of gelatin, 20 ml of water. After 20 minutes, dissolve the gelling agent in a water bath. Pour 10 ml of kefir into the solution, stir and quickly apply the mixture with a brush to the face. When the mask is completely frozen, remove the film from the face in one flap.

Gelatin express lifting mask smooths wrinkles, tightens the facial oval.

With honey
Combine 1 tsp of fresh honey, an egg beaten with a fork, a couple of drops of olive oil and 30 ml of kefir. Mix thoroughly. Spread the mixture on your face, after 20 minutes wash your face.

Honey beauty product is useful for all skin types. The mask nourishes, saturates with vitamins and has an antioxidant effect.

Yeast
Pour 30 ml. of expired lactic acid drink over a big spoonful of yeast. After a quarter of an hour, add a teaspoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide. Apply the mixture with a sponge or brush to face, neck and decollete area. Apply it to face, neck and cleavage. Leave for 20 minutes and wash your face.

Yeast remedy relieves inflammation, gets rid of acne.

Hair Masks

Popular hair masks with kefir:

Strengthening the roots
Cosmetic remedy for hair loss involves the use of two components - one percent kefir and high-quality burdock oil, which is better to buy at the drugstore.

Mix 100 ml of kefir with 40 ml of burdock oil until smooth, gently heat it in a water bath. Gently massage the mixture into your scalp to activate dormant follicles. Spread the remainder on the length of the strands. Wrap your head with polyethylene and wrap with a terry towel. After an hour, wash off the mask with warm (not hot) water and shampoo.

Against oily shine and dandruff
Combine the rye pulp with kefir in equal parts. After the bread has swollen, whisk the mass with an immersion blender. Add 30 ml of castor oil, mix. Apply to the hair, starting from the roots. Rinse off after 30 minutes.

Moisturizing
This mask nourishes the scalp, eliminates dryness and brittleness of the strands. Add to a glass of sour milk drink one chicken egg, 1 tbsp. of cocoa powder without additives. Whisk mixture thoroughly. Spread on the scalp, hair. Wash your hair after 40 minutes.

How to Store Kefir So It Doesn't Spoil

Hermetically packed kefir on the top shelf of the refrigerator retains its consumer properties until the date specified by the manufacturer. Usually it lasts 1-7 days. If it is longer, it means that a preservative has been added to the product.

Kefir in an open container begins to sour after 24 hours. At room temperature, the freshness of fermented dairy product in glass preserves 6 hours, in plastic bottles or tetrapacks - no more than four hours. In both cases, exclude the exposure of the beverage to sunlight.

Can it be frozen?

If the product is intended for baking and bought as a reserve, it can be stored in the freezer. Store-bought kefir is frozen in factory packaging, homemade is poured into vacuum bags, which are placed in plastic containers.

Shelf life is up to 4 months. After defrosting, the taste is preserved, but the number of beneficial bacteria decreases sharply.

Expired kefir without obvious signs of spoilage gives baked goods softness, puffiness, a tangy sourness. Recipes with it are simple and accessible even to hostesses without experience.