Dairy free milk options are everywhere today. I love going to the store and seeing the ever-growing selection of plant-based milk brands. Did you know that you can easily make this kind of milk at home? I've got five stellar homemade vegan milk recipes that will wow your tastebuds and have your wallet thanking you too.
Depending on your preference, you can turn almost any nut, seed or grain into milk in minutes. So click on the recipe you want and get blending!
Dairy Free Milk Options
All you need to make milk at home is a blender, cheesecloth (or a tea towel) and the ingredient of choice. Depending on the type of milk, I might recommend soaking the nut or seed to soften it up before 'milking it.' There is no need to do that for hemp or coconut.
Which one are you going to try first? I can't wait to see your results. Once I started making my own plant-based beverages it was hard to buy anything from the store again.
Vegan Milk Revolution
Now that you’ve decided to give dairy free 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 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 full of protein and also provides energy in a post-workout smoothie. The number of options makes me dizzy!
Dairy Free Milk Questions Answered
Yes! Try any plant-based milk option if you want to ditch the dairy. I've got recipes to easily make almond, oat, cashew, coconut or hemp milk. You can also find rice and soy milk (along with the other types mentioned) in the milk section of the grocery store. The possibilities are endless!
Depending on what kind of vegan milk you're looking for, my favorite brands include Elmhurst, So Delicious, 365 and Simply.
There are many options for vegans in the milk department. Almond is the most popular, yet you can find a variety of nut-free versions as well including hemp, pea, soy, rice and oat. If you try one kind and aren't in love, keep searching! There is vegan milk out there for you.
Store-Bought Plant Milk Bands
If making milk at home won't work for you then that's okay! My team has done the work to bring you the best of the best in almond, oat and coconut milk from a variety of grocery stores. Shop informed so you can easily get the best vegan milk out there.
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 lactose intolerance.
- Dairy increases instances of acne and eczema.
- Daily consumption of milk may increase the chance 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.
Using Plant-Based Milk in Smoothies
If you want a smoothie recipe for that fresh batch of homemade, dairy free 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
- Almond Smoothie
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie
- Butternut Squash Smoothie
- Hot Chocolate Smoothie
- Flaxseed Smoothie
- Red Velvet Smoothie
- Almond Butter Smoothie
- Acid Reflux Smoothie
- Banana Smoothie
- PCOS Smoothie
- Strawberry Smoothie
- Chocolate Protein Shake
- Shamrock 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!
Vegan Milk in Hot Drinks
I also love using dairy free milk in my lattes, teas and more. Here are a few of my favorite recipes to help you make the switch:
What's your favorite dairy free milk? Do you make your own or buy it at the store? Drop and comment and let me know!
Kimutai Ken
Good morning dairy milk.
A P
Is the nutrition data only for the hemp milk? Can you add other ingredients to boost the calcium, vitamins A, and vitamin D?
Simple Green Smoothies
Hi AP! Yes, the nutritional info is for the hemp milk recipe, as-is. We like adding this hemp milk to smoothie recipes to increase the intake of other nutrients like vitamins A + D and calcium.
Tanya
This almond milk is absolutely incredible! By far the tastiest that I’ve ever tried! I almost swallowed my tongue with it haha!
Thank you so much! Amazing recipe, so simple and yet so delicious!
Simple Green Smoothies
Oh mercy Tanya! Be careful! LOL So glad you're enjoying this recipe - we love it too!
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. 🙂
Tanya
Use it in the same way you would use almonds! Mix it into your morning porridge for example. Or what I did is blend that almond milk with chia seeds, 1 banana and cacao powder to make chia pudding and stirred the pulp of almonds in it. Delicious and healthy breakfast is sorted!
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. 🙂
Simple Green Smoothies
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.
Simple Green Smoothies
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!,,
Simple Green Smoothies
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.
Simple Green Smoothies
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 🙂