How To Make Almond Milk
Who knew that you can make your own almond milk at home?! All you need are almonds, water, and a blender to make a simple homemade dairy-free milk that works in everything from coffee and smoothies to cereal and baking. You can leave it plain, sweeten it a little, or add vanilla or chocolate depending on how you plan to use it throughout the week.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- Fresh, creamy flavor that tastes so much better than many store-bought versions!
- Easy to customize with vanilla, dates, maple syrup, or chocolate
- Made with simple ingredients and no unnecessary fillers or stabilizers
- Works beautifully in coffee, smoothies, cereal, baking, and Ninja Creami recipes
- A great homemade staple to keep in the fridge throughout the week
What You’ll Need
The base recipe keeps things really simple with just raw almonds, water, and a little salt.
From there, you can leave the almond milk plain or customize it depending on what you like. Vanilla adds a warmer coffee-shop style flavor, maple syrup or dates make it lightly sweet, and cocoa powder turns it into a simple homemade chocolate almond milk.
You’ll also need a fine mesh strainer, a cheesecloth, and a blender.
The Process for Homemade Almond Milk
This homemade almond milk is so simple once the almonds have had time to soak! After that, it’s really just a matter of blending everything together until creamy and straining out the almond pulp.
The result is fresh almond milk with a much cleaner flavor and creamier texture than most store-bought versions. You can leave it plain, sweeten it lightly with dates, or stir in a little vanilla at the end depending on how you plan to use it.
Ways To Use Homemade Almond Milk
This almond milk works really well in smoothies, overnight oats, cereal, coffee, and homemade iced lattes.
I also love using it in Ninja Creami recipes, chia pudding, oatmeal, and baking whenever I want a fresher homemade option instead of store-bought almond milk.
The vanilla version is so good poured over granola or blended into smoothies.
Storing & Freezing
Store the almond milk in a sealed jar or container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Since homemade almond milk doesn’t contain stabilizers like store-bought versions, separation is completely normal. Just give it a good shake before using.
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the texture after freezing since it tends to separate quite a bit once thawed. You’re welcome to try it, but I think it’s definitely best fresh from the fridge.
Recipe Notes
- Most homemade almond milk recipes recommend using raw almonds, but I actually tested this with dry roasted almonds too. The key is soaking them much longer – around a week instead of overnight. Surprisingly, this completely removed the bitter flavor and gave me some really creamy almond milk!
- In general, the longer the almonds soak, the creamier the almond milk tends to turn out. I haven’t personally tested beyond a week though.
- If you want homemade almond milk the same day, you can soak the almonds in boiling water for about 2 hours instead. It won’t be quite as creamy as a longer soak, but it still turns out really good.
- Homemade almond milk naturally separates in the fridge since there aren’t any stabilizers added. A quick shake fixes it.
- If you prefer thinner almond milk, simply blend with a little extra water. For creamier almond milk, slightly reduce the water instead.
FAQs
Why does homemade almond milk separate?
Homemade almond milk doesn’t contain stabilizers or gums like store-bought versions, so separation is completely normal. Just give it a shake before using.
Do I need a nut milk bag?
No. A doubled layer of cheesecloth over a fine mesh strainer works really well too.
Can I use roasted almonds?
Yes, although they need a much longer soak time. I found that soaking dry roasted almonds for about a week helped remove the bitter flavor and created really creamy almond milk.
Can I make it sweeter?
Yes. Dates, maple syrup, vanilla, or even a little cinnamon all work well depending on how you plan to use it.
What can I do with the leftover almond pulp?
You can add it to smoothies, oatmeal, granola, muffins, pancakes, or energy bites instead of throwing it away.
Almond Milk
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw almonds
- 6 ½ cups water divided
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Variances:
- Vanilla - Add 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
- Sweetened - Add 1 Tablespoon maple syrup or 2 dates
- Chocolate - 1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder add more based on preferences
Instructions
- Add the almonds to a bowl and cover with water. Let them soak overnight, or for an even creamier almond milk, soak them for a couple of days.
- Drain and rinse the soaked almonds.
- Add the almonds, 4 cups of fresh water, salt, and dates if using to a blender. Blend on high for about 1½–2 minutes until smooth and creamy.
- Place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl and line it with a doubled layer of cheesecloth. Pour the almond mixture through the cloth to strain out the pulp.
- If you prefer smoother almond milk, strain it a second time.
- Stir in the vanilla if using.
- Transfer the almond milk to a sealed jar or container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Shake well before using.
If you’ve tried this, I’d love to hear about it in the comment section below! Do you agree it’s better than the store-bought stuff? And how did you use it? Your comments mean so much to me, and they also help other readers!