Homemade almond milk is a great substitute for those who are going dairy free. It's free from lactose, plant based and you only need 4 ingredients along with a blender or food processor to yield this milk.
Here is another 'nut milk' to add to the collection. This time I went ahead with whipping up a batch of almond milk.
What can I say about this? It's vegan friendly and a great lactose free alternative for the dairy free crowd and it has certainly exceeded my expectations by a long stretch of the imagination.
My first encounter with making my own plant based milk was several years ago. Before it was trendy and still in its infancy stages. At the time I was adjusting to using my vitamix which was given to me as a gift. My first attempt was a catastrophic failure for a lack of a better word.
I sucked at making something SO simple - the ratio of water to almonds was unbalanced and silly me forgot to soak the darn things which resulted in a coarse nut milk.
Needless to say I wrote almond milk off as a bad omen and avoided it like the plague, not knowing I was at fault, not the actual milk.
A few months later while I was catching up on some YouTube videos I came across a vegan almond milk recipe. I immediately saw where I went wrong with my method and literally dived into my kitchen to make a batch and haven't looked back since.
Homemade vs storebrought
When referencing homemade nut milk the first thing people query is the cost. The cost of homemade versus store brought milk is going to vary, depending on your location and the cost of living. For example I buy a small bag of almond for £1 ($1.30) which makes roughly 4 cups of milk.
The price of almond milk in the UK varies, depending on the brand and whether or not it's organic. Anything from 85p-£2.50 is what I've seen it for.
I think ultimately it's all about the experience, try it at least once. You also have the ability to flavour your milk, tweak the strength (weaker/creamier) along with having complete control of the ingredients used to make your milk
So rather then question the price, focus more on your needs and from there decide whether making homemade milk is for you.
Ingredients you will need
The steps
- Soak the almonds in a bowl with water overnight. The longer they soak the creamier the nut milk.
- Drain off and rinse off the water from the almonds.
- Place the almonds along with the 4 cups of water and any additional add ins and blend into a smooth consistency.
- Use a cheese/muslin cloth or nut bag to strain the milk into a large bowl, squeezing out all excess liquid. Use the excess pulp (see recipe post)
- Store the milk in a jug or mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
How long does homemade almond milk last?
Due to the milk not having any stabilisers etc.. it has a relatively short shelf life of up to 4 days maximum.
What recipes can you make with almond milk?
- Lattes
- Coffee
- Smoothie and drinks
What can you do with the leftover almond pulp?
- Freeze it
- Make almond meal/flour
- Add/use in any of these cakes i.e Jamaican Toto, Orange and Almond Cake
- Brittle
Notes and tips
- In order to yield creaminess it's important to soak the almonds overnight. The longer you soak the nuts for then the more creamier the texture of your milk will be.
- You can speed up the soaking process by using lukewarm water instead for a few hours.
- You can make this recipe using a high speed blender or food processor BUT a blender i.e Vitamix, Blendtec is favourable and will create smoother results.
- Due to no emulsifier being used it's normal for the milk to separate, just stir it up prior to using it.
- If you want to add sweetener, dates, cacao powder or anything else then do so.
- Remember to store your milk in the refrigerator and be mindful of using it within 3-4 days.
- Only make what you need as this will lessen the chances of waste and/or doing unnecessary labour.
More plant based milk recipes
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Vegan Almond Milk Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup of almonds
- 4 cups of filtered water can use non filtered
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon of Himalayan pink salt
- water for soaking
Instructions
- Soak the almonds in a bowl with water overnight. The longer they soak the creamier the nut milk.
- Drain off and rinse off the water from the almonds.
- Place the almonds along with the 4 cups of water and any additional add ins and blend into a smooth consistency.
- Use a cheese/muslin cloth or nut bag to strain the milk into a large bowl, squeezing out all excess liquid. Use the excess pulp (see recipe post)
- Store the milk in a jug or mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Notes
- In order to yield creaminess it's important to soak the almonds overnight. The longer you soak the nuts for then the more creamier the texture of your milk will be.
- You can speed up the soaking process by using lukewarm water instead for a few hours.
- You can make this recipe using a high speed blender or food processor BUT a blender i.e Vitamix, Blendtec is favourable and will create smoother results.
- Due to no emulsifier being used it's normal for the milk to separate, just stir it up prior to using it.
- If you want to add sweetener, dates, cacao powder or anything else then do so.
- Remember to store your milk in the refrigerator and be mindful of using it within 3-4 days.
- Only make what you need as this will lessen the chances of waste and/or doing unnecessary labour.
I think I am going to give this a try and see if it is less expensive to make my own. I had no idea it was so easy to do!
Yes, it is Alisa!!
I'm sitting here have almond milk in my coffee, thinking why have I never tried this? Thanks for showing how easy it can be!
No problem Sue.
Thank you for sharing. I've always wondered how to make almond milk
You are welcome Janelle
I got big into making my own almond milk this past year also. It's really such a simple process and the money saved is amazing. Not to mention the control over the ingredients and not needing any of those stabilizers and gums! Can't wait to check out some of your other nut milk recipes now!
Thanks Gina. Yes making your own nut milk is such a game changer.
I love almond milk but have never thought about making my own before. Will definitely give this a go!
Thanks Beth and enjoy!
Do you have a breakdown of how many calories this almond milk would end up being?
A batch would be roughly 327 calories.
I was so excited about using the sunflower lecithin to keep my almond milk from separating. I used honey as sweetener, no salt and I think 3:1 ratio water/ almonds. I removed the skins from the almonds . These are the only differences that I know of. I wished that I had a Vitamix bit I used the Ninja blender ; oh! 2 T of lecithin powder. Do you know why it separated? 2- 3 hrs.
Hi Kim.
I'm sorry to hear that. How long did you blend the almonds with the water for? I'm guessing if you stopped the machine quickly then the almonds wouldn't have had the opportunity to break down in full. You can also try using warm or hot water instead for the water/almond ratio, that should make a difference. Anymore problems let me know and I will assist you further.
Almond milk one of my favourite milk..What do you suggest I do with the left over Almond meal?
You can do a number of things; make the pulp into energy balls, dehydrate it into flour, use the meal to add extra protein to your smoothies, whip into nut butter or simply add to baked goods.
This looks beautiful Charla! It's interesting that you need to add the lecithin to emulisfy it. I did a bit of googling and found that almonds are already high in lecithin so I would've thought that might do the trick. In any case, it looks like the lecithin you've recommended is not harmful at all to good health!
Thanks Jolie, just to clarify the lecithin is not a requirement to emulsify, as the almond milk doesn't separate from the water. On this occasion, I found when experimenting with the nut milk that the sunflower lecithin boosts the creaminess. It's totally optional and it won't collapse on itself without it.
Pls show what’s is coconut nectar
Hi Kim. Coconut nectar is the sap extracted from the coconut tree. I recommend it because it is a low GI index sweetener. You can buy it from Amazon from or from maple syrup or agave nectar as an alternative.