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You wont believe how easy and DELICIOUS homemade Eggnog is, and this recipe really is the best! Thick and creamy with the perfect mild flavor and hint of nutmeg. You'll never buy store-bought eggnog again!
Eggnog
I absolutely love eggnog! I have nothing against store-bought eggnog–we have it all the time in our fridge this time of year–but this homemade eggnog recipe is truly what dreams are made of! If you've ever thought you didn't like it, you just have to try it made from scratch.
Several years ago I sought out to make homemade eggnog. My first attempt was not a success and left my husband cringing. Let's just say that the completely “raw egg” method of making eggnog is just not for me.
I pressed forward, determined to succeed, and ended up loving this recipe from Cuisine at Home. I used ground nutmeg instead of fresh, because I always have ground on hand. I also ignored their ice-water bath suggestion and just refrigerated it instead.
The end result was liquid gold, and it's become our family's favorite eggnog recipe ever since! Seriously, this homemade recipe will “WOW” even the biggest eggnog snob! For a fun flavor twist, try my Pumpkin Spice Eggnog recipe!
This eggnog recipe is thick, sweet, creamy and smooth, with the perfect flavor. It doesn't contain alcohol (if you'd like to add some, read on for my suggestions), but we are non-alcohol drinkers at my house, and I wanted an eggnog recipe my kids can enjoy too.
How to make eggnog:
Start by whisking the egg yolk and sugar together in a small bowl. Then, in a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine cream, milk, salt, and nutmeg and stir the mixture until it just reaches a simmer. Next temper the eggs by adding small spoonfuls of the hot mixture to the egg mixture.
Stir each spoonful and once most of the hot mixture has been added, add the entire mixture back to the saucepan. Continue cooking and whisking for just another minute or two until it barely thickens. It will continue to thicken as it cools. Then remove it from the heat and add the vanilla. Refrigerate the eggnog mixture until chilled.
We like to serve it with a some whipped cream and an extra little dash of cinnamon and nutmeg on top.
What type of alcohol goes in eggnog?
If you would like to add alcohol to your eggnog, choose a drink with a high alcohol concentration to help counterbalance the sweetness of the eggnog. Common choices of alcohol to add to eggnog include brandy, rum, bourbon or whisky.
Don't miss my Eggnog French Toast!
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Homemade Eggnog
Ingredients
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ground cinnamon, , for topping
- alcohol, optional, see note
Instructions
- Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a medium bowl until light and creamy.
- In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cream, milk, nutmeg and salt. Stir often until mixture reaches a bare simmer.
- Add a big spoonful of the hot milk to the egg mixture, whisking vigorously. Repeat, adding a big spoonful at a time, to temper the eggs.
- Once most of the hot milk has been added to the eggs, pour the mixture back into the saucepan on the stove.
- Whisk constantly for a minute or so, until the mixture is just slightly thickened (or until it reaches about 160 degrees F on a thermometer). It will thicken more as it cools.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, and alcohol*, if using.
- Pour the eggnog through a fine mesh strainer into a pitcher or other container and cover with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate until chilled. It will thicken as it cools. If you want a thinner, completely smooth consistency, you can add the entire mixture to a blender with 1 or 2 tablespoons of milk and blend until smooth.
- Serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg, and fresh whipped cream, if desired.
- Store homemade eggnog in the fridge for up to one week.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
This is my second time making this and it is so good! I made homemade whip cream with it and it literally tastes like ice cream!!
Can I ask how you made whipped cream from
This? Wouldn’t the added milk and ingredients to the cream make the eggnog not able to whip up into a fluffy whip cream? Ty! 🙂 I’d love to learn
She made whipped cream to accompany the drink.
You add the whipped cream to top it off at the end when your put it in your glass.
If you’d like eggnog flavored whipped cream you can add eggnog syrup or extract instead of vanilla to your whipping cream
Ummm, it’s exactly the same recipe for an ice cream base that NYT Cooking uses. Unfrozen nutmeg ice cream.
That’s because the custard for homemade ice cream is the same as the custard for egg nog, pudding, custard pie.
I made this eggnog for Christmas Eve. It is out of this world delicious!
Oh. My. Word. So delicious and so easy! As others have said…I’ll never buy eggnog again! Thank you so much for sharing!
Oh wow!!!! This is awesome!!!! My husband loved it!!
Tasted good, but way too sweet for me. I would half the sugar next time. Also added a bit more milk to thin it. Again to my taste.
HEAVENLY!
I made this spot on per directions using an instant read thermometer and chilled overnight. It barely thickened at all. Had to made fresh whipped heavy cream and fold it in however it was delicious.
Love this! Worked very well, and tastes amazing!!! Just need to cut the sweetness – we don’t eat alot of sugar, so the amount in this recipe makes it too sweet for us. But this is an easy fix 🙂
Mine separated in the fridge. Is this normal? I see you mention in several comments to cook until is coats the back of a spoon. I didn’t see that anywhere in the recipe or video. I did cook until it reached 160°, but it doesn’t seem have gotten as thick as yours. I used whole milk and heavy cream. Any suggestions?
That can happen if it didn’t thicken quite enough while cooking. Next time, keep it on low heat a bit longer, even after it reaches 160°, until it lightly coats the back of a spoon. A quick whisk before serving should help this batch too.
Your “total” time is misleading, possibly even an outright fabrication and quite frankly bullsh*t. If it has to cool, then the time from conception to consumption should include that. I had an itinerary! U may have ruined christmas for some kids that really needed me to be drunk on SCHEDULE!!
Bahahahaha good to know! I’m making this today and I’ll add a few extra minutes to prepare for my drunk schedule!
Eggnog is consumed cold. Cooking it makes it warm. It’s kind of one of those obvious things that really shouldn’t need to be written in terms of instructions.
Maybe you’re just a miserable person from the sound of your post 🤷♀️
Eggnog is not a big thing in South Africa, and we usually can’t find it in stores, so we decided to make our own and I thankfully found your recipe in 2023, this is the third Christmas I’m using your recipe,my family absolutely loves it. We add Klipdrift Gold Brandy. I just wanted to say thank you, don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t find your recipe because there’s some scary ones out there (raw). Merry Christmas 🎄
Fantastic recipe! I love this! It’s delicious!
I have made it multiple times and i can’t seem to get it thick, what am I doing wrong?
Same issue here. I whipped 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and folded it after chilling overnight. Worked for me that way.
Are you making sure it gets to 160°F at the and of the recipe?
*end* of the recipe
I just made this, and I haven’t tried it yet, but mine came out thick and lumpy, and I’m not sure why. I added the egg-milk mixture back to the remaining milk mixture on the stove and stirred until it was SLIGHTLY thickened, and pulled it off, but it was very thick on the bottom of the sauce pan even though I was stirring constantly.
Sounds like the pan got too hot and cooked the eggs too fast, even with stirring. Next time, lower the heat and pull it off as soon as it just starts to thicken — it’ll firm up more as it cools. You can blend this batch with a splash of milk to smooth it out!
Mine was that way and I just poured it in the Vitamix to smooth it out and it tasted great.
Love the eggnog! I use egg nog to pair with my macaroons – as in, I make them the same day. Macaroons requires egg whites, egg nog gets the yolks!
Thanks! I love egg nog & hubby is gluten intolerant an macaroons typically have no wheat. Great idea to make both! Frugal and tasty!