Non dairy milk is all the rage right now and for good reason. More and more people are discovering sensitives to dairy products. While not everyone has severe dairy allergies, we realize how much better we feel when limiting dairy in our diets. Just like all other ‘healthy foods’ sold in grocery stores, not all vegan milk is created equal. I’ve curated the best vegan milk recipe for a variety of non dairy milk. I can make my milk and drink it too!
Why Say No to Dairy?
While we know not everyone has an issue with dairy, what doesn’t kill you doesn’t always make you stronger. Dairy does have some nutritional value, yet it seems to do more harm than good:
- 65% of adults around the world develop a lactose intolerance.
- Dairy increases instances of acne and eczema.
- Daily consumption of milk may increase chances of prostate and ovarian cancers.
Simple Green Smoothies has a manifesto that starts with, “I eat real food to fuel my awesome life.” While we understand dairy milk is real food, we like to fuel our bodies with foods that energize and give us longevity, not food that slows us down.
Vegan Milk Revolution
So now that you’ve decided to give vegan milk a try, how do you know the best option? The great part about this new craze is there are endless plants to ‘milk.’ Depending on the meal, smoothie, or baked good I want to make, there is a plant-based milk for it!
Cashew milk is super creamy and a great addition to cold brew coffee. Almond milk is full of calcium and delicious on a cold night in my incredible spiced almond milk. Hemp milk is chock full of protein and can also provide energy in a post-workout smoothie. The number of options makes me dizzy!
My fav store bought plant milk
I know this post is about a super simple homemade vegan milk recipe, yet not everyone has time for that. So my team's done the legwork to test the 2 most popular types of plant milk to help make your buying decisions easier.
Check out my posts for the best almond milk and the best oat milk. I want you to feel empowered while shopping for plant-based ingredients, and these 2 lists really do help! Plus, they're updated annually, so I've always got the newest brands for you.
Homemade vegan milk
Another great reason to try vegan milk is the ease in making it at home. A variety of nuts and seeds, as well as legumes, can be used in homemade plant-based milk. I personally love: coconut, almond, hemp, oat, and cashew.
Check out the recipe below for the best vegan milk recipe that can be used with any of the above nuts or plants. Don't forget to rate + review this recipe once you've tried it; as well as let me know what kind of milk you made!
Storage for DIY milk
A typical vegan milk recipe makes 4-6 cups, depending on the recipe. I always store my plant milk in a glass container, with a good fitting lid. Since this milk is super fresh, it is also super perishable. I try to use up a batch within 4-5 days. Also, give that milk container a good shake before pouring some out, as the contents will settle (especially with oat milk!).
DIY Non Dairy Milk Recipe
Rate this Recipe Print RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup hemp hearts (or steel-cut oats, cooked brown rice, almonds, or cashews)
- 3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil (optional)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (optional)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- Pinch sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Place the hemp hearts (or soaked steel-cut oats, or cooked brown rice, or nuts) and water in a high speed blender.
- Blend on high speed for about 2 minutes, or until fully liquified.
- Strain through a nut milk bag or cheesecloth into a wide glass bowl.
- Discard the pulp from the bag.
- Rinse the blender and pour the milk back into the blender from the bowl.
- Add the coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. Blend for 10 seconds.
Notes
- Soak steel-cut oats in a covered bowl of water for 20 minutes prior to blending.
- Soak almonds/cashews 8 hours or overnight in 2 inches of water
- To make Coconut Milk, click here
Nutrition (estimated)
Smoothies with vegan milk
If you're looking for some smoothie recipes to make with your fresh batch of homemade milk, then check out this list:
- Mocha coffee smoothie
- Vanilla matcha smoothie
- Strawberry banana smoothie
- Vanilla protein shake
- Chocolate banana smoothie
- Avocado smoothie
- Caramel protein shake
And remember, just because a recipe has one kind of milk doesn't mean you can't swap in what you have on hand!
Grace
Thank you for these great suggestions! I like them all. Cashew milk is the lightest because I use almonds with skins on which makes the milk a bit darker. Hemp and coconut is the thinest since I don't strain any of my milks... I like to keep the fibre, which works great for smoothies, although a little lumpy for coffee, unless I blend the coffee to make it frothy. I would recommend trying each one to find what works best for you. 🙂
Kat
Never have I ever made my own milk! Thanks for the inspiration to give it a try.
Maria
Is there anything you can do with the discarded pulp? I'm wondering if I can use it somewhere else. I hate to throw it away if I don't have to. Thanks for the great recipe!
Simple Green Smoothies
Absolutely Maria! Cool question! We love using the pulp in our baked goods as a sub for some of the flour content. 🙂
Amanda
These recipes knock store-bought out of the park!
Kim
I was a little intimidated to try this recipe but it was a lot of fun to make with my daughter. We'll make this again!
Simple Green Smoothies
Way to try new things, Kim!! 🙂
Laura Miller
This was a great recipe. I was curious about making it sweeter for my kids but I didn't have maple syrup. Would you recommend honey, or maybe even dates? What's the better choice?
Simple Green Smoothies
Dates are a fantastic addition here for sweetness, Laura! We love Natural Delight's organic medjool dates in this case. They are simply the best dates we've tried and are like a dessert all by themselves! 🙂
Erin
I've made almond milk before, yet not any of these kinds! This post pushed me outside my comfort zone and I just made a batch of almond, walnut, hemp milk. It was super tasty, and fun to make! Thanks for all the good tips.
Simple Green Smoothies
Thanks for giving these recipes a spin, Erin! We love it when new things are tried. Kudos to pushing outside the box on this one!
Tim Tattersall
I am wondering were the studies are done talking about milk lessening our bone density. I have never heard that before and would like to know where you received that information from?
Thank you for your time.
Simple Green Smoothies
Hey there Tim - great question! Looks like the backup we had for that study was not the original source, so we've removed it from our post. We've added the original source to the fact about cow's milk and acne, as it's super important to us to cite things correctly and with trusted sources. We're also working to update all of our blog posts to ensure our data is accurate, and even state when there is controversy. We did a bit more digging, and while there are studies to suggest the correlation between cow's milk and lessening bone density, it looks widely divided in the medical community, so we'll not be stating that as a fact at this time. Please def double check us any time about things like this - we want to be accurate!!!
Ka Sa
I made the oat milk with your instructions - is it usually very thick and sticky? Just curious. 🙂
SGS Rawkstar Jess
I haven't made this recipe yet but I don't think it should be either.
Kim
Super easy and great tasting. I used combo of cashews, almonds and hemp seeds! Adding the oil, maple syrup, vanilla and salt gives it that perfect taste. So nice not having to buy more packaged food when it’s so easy to make at home.
SGS Rawkstar Carissa
It really is so great when you don't have to make that extra trip to the grocery store!! YUmmm I love all of that! So glad that it worked so well for you 🙂
El
I am confused why you would make this when you can buy coconut organic milk... Less hassle and so good with smoothies!,,
SGS Rawkstar Carissa
Hey El,
We like to give the option for people who like to make their own version. I like to sometimes make my own because its fun and SO delicious!!
Dani Mitchell
I've followed this recipe from your book using a mix of cashews and almonds and it was amazing! At first I wasn't gonna add the maple syrup, coconut oil and other suggestions, but I'm so glad I did! It was the BEST nut milk I have ever had. I need to make this a priority to make again... this is so much better than anything in the store.
SGS Rawkstar Carissa
That is awesome Dani! I am so glad that even though you weren't sure about some of the ingredients you still went through with it and enjoyed it 🙂