When I mentioned that I was working on a homemade milk post many of you asked for a low-cost and nut-free homemade milk recipe. I decided to put myself to the challenge. Homemade Oat Milk, it is!
First, I’ll show you how I made it with step-by-step photos and at the end of my post I’ll share my thoughts on flavour, price, texture, and overall pros and cons.
You will also need a blender (any blender should work as we don’t need to blend the oats super smooth), a fine sieve, a large bowl, a small bowl, and measuring spoons/cup. I haven’t tried this oat milk with cheesecloth or a nut milk bag yet, but if anyone does please leave a comment and let us know how it goes.
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Homemade Oat Milk
Yield
3 cups
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Total time
Ingredients
- 1 cup steel-cut oats
- 3 cups filtered water
- 1.5-2 tbsp pure maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener or pitted dates), to taste
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- scant 1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt (enhances flavour)
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (optional, but nice)
Directions
- Rinse and drain 1 cup of steel-cut oats. [I’ve heard you can also use oat groats.} Place oats into a bowl and cover with water. Soak for around 20 minutes. You can soak longer (even overnight) if desired.
- After soaking, rinse and drain the oats very well. This step is very important because you want to rinse off any of the oat slime that has occurred from soaking. Yes, oat slime is a thing...it happens.
- Scoop oats into your blender and add 3 cups water. I prefer using 3 cups of water as opposed to 4 cups because it yields a creamier/thicker milk. Feel free to add more water if you wish, just know the more water you add the thinner your milk will be.
- Cover with lid and turn the blender on a low speed, increasing the speed gradually, and blend at the highest speed for about 8-10 seconds only. You don’t need to completely pulverize the oats.
- Place a fine sieve over a large bowl and pour the oat milk very slowly into the sieve. You might have to do this in a couple batches depending on the size of your sieve.
- With a spoon, gently push down on the oat pulp so the milk flows through. This helps push the milk into the bowl, leaving the oat pulp behind in the sieve.
- Scoop the oat pulp into a small bowl and set aside. Clean out your blender and sieve with a good rinse of water until no pulp residue remains.
- Place sieve over top of your blender and pour the milk in once again and strain.
- Rinse out the bowl and sieve once again. Strain the milk through the sieve into the bowl (optional). If you don’t want to strain again, simply add in your mix-ins and blend on low.
- I whisked in 1.5 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt (enhances sweetness), and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. These mix-ins turn your oat milk from bland to hmm-this-could-be-decent-when-cold.
- I strained my milk one last time into a clean blender. Then I poured the milk from the blender into a clean mason jar for storage in the fridge.
Tip:
Notes: This should last in the fridge in a sealed container/jar for 4-5 days. Use it in smoothies, oatmeal, cereal, baking, or drink it straight. If you want to use it in a savoury recipe, you can omit the sweetener, vanilla, and cinnamon. Homemade milk does separate (remember there are no added emulsifiers!), so be sure to give your milk a very good shake (or stir) before using. No biggie. A little non-dairy milkshake never hurt anyone. I just don’t want you to be alarmed when you see the heavier ingredients sitting at the bottom of the jar.
This should last in the fridge in a sealed container/jar for 4-5 days. Use it in smoothies, oatmeal, cereal, baking, or drink it straight. If you want to use it in a savoury recipe, you can omit the sweetener, vanilla, and cinnamon.
Don’t let all the step-by-step photos fool you into thinking this is lengthy to make – it takes just 5 minutes once your oats are soaked.
Step 4:
Step 5:
Step 6:
Step 8:
As you can see in the bottom left photo, straining twice gets even more pulp out yielding a smoother milk. I usually strain it 3 times or so, but it’s not necessary if you are time-crunched.
Step 9:
Step 10:
Step 11: I strained my milk one last time into a clean blender. Then I poured the milk from the blender into a clean mason jar for storage in the fridge.
Taste Report:
The flavour of this oat milk is much like I expected; it tastes like oats. Shocking, I know. The biggest challenge I had when testing this recipe was getting it creamy enough. I tried 1/2 cups steel-cut oats with 4 cups water and then 3/4 cups steel-cut oats with 3 cups water. I found both end results to be too watery. Using 1 cup of steel-cut oats to 3 cups of water was my favourite ratio (so far). If you play around with the recipe, I’d love to hear your versions too.
Keeping in mind that this homemade milk is free of emulsifiers and thickeners, I was fairly impressed with the texture. Is it just like store-bought milk? Of course not, but I do think it’s a decent option with a clean ingredient list. It’s much easier on the wallet too!
PROS:
- Very low cost (a batch using steel-cut oats cost me about 50 cents – or less if you can get a deal on oats)
- Nut-free so good for those with allergies
- Quick to make
- You don’t need a nut milk bag or cheesecloth
- Clean up was easy, even with all the spilling I seem to do…
- Decent, but not mind-blowing, flavour
CONS:
- Not as creamy compared to homemade almond milk
- Slightly watery (although this is improved when using 3 cups water instead of 4)
All in all, I feel that the pros outweigh the cons with this homemade oat milk. It’s so cheap to make and that is a huge plus for me. I personally don’t drink much milk by the glass so I think this will be just fine when added to cereal, smoothies, oatmeal, etc. But so far, I’ve been sipping the jar straight from the fridge, letting out satisfied mmm’s and dribbling milk down the front of my shirt. Eric, as always, is quite confident he married a weirdo.
Update: I tried the milk with some Nature’s Path cereal and it tasted a bit like cinnamon toast crunch, probably thanks to the cinnamon in the milk. yummy!
I also made a trial using cooked steel-cut oats and the milk turned out super slimy. I didn’t rinse the oats after cooking, but maybe I should have? I’m going to stick with the non-cooked method.
Odds are that some of you won’t like this milk at all, but it’s also likely that some of you will really enjoy it and appreciate this as a cheap, at-home alternative to the store-bought stuff. I’m quite anxious to see what you think and I welcome your feedback in the comments!
What can you do with the leftover oat pulp? I suggest saving it and mixing it into oatmeal and smoothies. If you have a dehydrator, I assume you could also dehydrate the pulp and then pulverize it in a blender to make flour. If anyone has any other ideas, leave ‘em below.
Have you ever made homemade oat milk or tried a store-bought version? Do you make your own milks at home? If so, what’s your favourite recipe?
Catching up in this series? See: Vegan How To: Introduction (Why this series?), Part 1: How To Make The Transition, Part 2: Replacing Dairy
Inspired to try these, thanks. We are transitioning to a wholefood plant-based diet so will be visiting your site again- good to know where to come!
Can you dry roast the leftover oat pulp in the oven and grind it into flour? Brewers do this with spent grain after making mash starter for beer.
Hey! That slimy water from the soaking that you dismissed is actually very good for a soothing bath, specially for sensitive dry skin. I used to pour in my kids’ tub! And I figure the remaining pulp could be used to makes soap.
Cheers,
A.
Hello! So i have more of a nutrition question? My son is 13 months old and has a dairy allergy. I end up buying the pacific brand of oat and 7 grain milk. I’m trying to find the best milk replacement that still has a lot of fat in it for his brains. I know that the boxed milks are enriched, but is that really a good thing, or does it not matter. also, do you think making an oat/almond milk would work? Lastly, coconut fat is a great fat! and my little dude likes coconut. but coconut milk is fairly low fat….adding coconut oil to a milk, would it be weird? has anyone tried it? any other suggestions for baby not milks? Thanks!
I think if you added coconut oil you would also need to add a teaspoon of lecithin to emulsify and then blend it (in a Vitamix if you’ve got one); that’s how I do it anyway in all my home made nut milks and they are creamy and delicious.
I know this reply is late, but I thought it might help someone…
My 4 year old son also has a diary allergy. I have heard that hemp milk is a great choice nutritionally for young children, but we also have to be seed free so that isn’t something I know a lot about. After much experimenting, we buy Pacific brand oat milk and mix it 1:1 with full fat, canned coconut milk. Although it took me a while to adjust since I was used to cows milk, the flavor is delicious and now that I’m used to it I’m happy to drink it in my coffee or pour it over cereal, etc. Make sure you choose a brand of coconut milk that comes in a BPA free can (we use the Natural Value brand organic one). In cold weather, you might have to blend the mixture in your blender, since the coconut fat will solidify. In the warmer months, as long as you shake the can of coconut milk before you open it, it’s not too chunky.
Nutritionally, this mixture has more fat than whole milk and about half the protein. I am just trying the oat milk recipe posted here for the first time, but keep in mind if you make your own it will not be enriched like the Pacific brand. Canned coconut milk is also not enriched, but the “coconut beverage” that comes in a box is enriched (but also full of stabilizers and much lower in fat, as you mentioned). So, if you end up with a milk that is not enriched at all, you might want to consider a multivitamin or calcium supplement.
Hope that helps!
I made this plain, then chilled it and made a smoothie with roasted butternut squash, brown rice syrup, a pinch of salt, and some cinnamon. My oatmeal and squash phobic 7-year-old drank two big cups full! Thank you for making it so easy to be healthier!
Quick thought if this isn’t as creamy as almond milk. I always put a tablespoon of raw coconut oil into my home made milks. I wonder if that might do the trick.
Hi, I got here looking for proportions, so thanks for testing and sharing! As a note oats in any form are great for anyone suffering from anxiety, people, including kids, that are emotional, get way to upset way to easily and for sleep issues. Their is some compound in them that has a calming effect. They even sell extracts of the stuff , sometimes called Avena Sativa (biological name) (expensive!). I eat oatmeal at night before bed and it really makes a difference in my sleep quality and how fast and easily I fall asleep. I know-eating before bed isn’t the best so I thought, why not make a milk and and see if that works as good! Take care and Thanks again!
what would the nutritional information for 1 cup (240ml) be?
Hi just found your blog and love it. Sorry for being a little late to the party!
Years ago I switched to soy after realising that dairy caused all kind of problem for me. For the last few years I’ve had terrible skin issues and after going to a nutritionalist a few months ago she told me everything i needed to know about soy, which, as you imagine, meant that I never touched it again. I use Almond milk in my Green smoothies in the morning and experimented last week with making my own in my newly bought vitamix (on another note, if i could breed with my vitamix i really think that it would be a legitimate substitute for finding a man in my life). It was amazing and will not being buying shop bought anymore. Since learning about the dangers of soy (particularly on my hormones which then affected my skin and mood swings) I switched to oat milk in my lattes in the morning. I can’t wait to try making my own oat milk but being from the UK we have different terminology that you do in the states. I just wanted to check that I’m buying the right oats. So i currently have rolled oats in the cupboard, is that what you mean by cooked oats? Are they good to use or not? or should I really be going out and getting some steel cut oats instead? Do they make organic steel cut oats? any brand recommendations?
im abt to make this now. im a sahm and i find that oats give me a lot of breast milk
also when i make milks i add hemp protein powdet it thickens it and is very nourishing and filling w a nice slightly nutty protein taste
and i agree the added vitamins from the store bought things are synthetic. i dont want that espnot in prenatals and you can even trust ones that say pure or organic thiamine mononitritate is the one i try to avoid its so unnatural and they have 1667% daily value in the vitamins :(
research dont believe eerything u hear and trust your gut! i am also a home birth advocate even educated unassisted birth with faith in god and his son the man yahusha of nazareth
I had never made oat milk before,and I came home from college needing something warming,but my soy milk was over.So I tried making oat milk,but I added hot water.At first it was ok,but then I heated it on the micro a littlemore and it turned into pudding!Also,there was less water in it.So I wonder if warm water would be the key for creamy milk.what do you think?Would it last less time?
Hi! Just wondering if this mylk would work in hot drinks (tea/coffee etc)?
I love oat milk and have been looking to make my own to save $
Any idea how long this keeps after its made?
Thanks!
Just made the milk. It came out great! many thanks!
Hi! I am a migraine sufferer who is trying to go off dairy due to it being an inflammatory food, but that’s been hard since all the milk substitutes have things I can’t have: nuts, soy, carrageenan,soy lecithin, and the list goes on…OR I didn’t like the taste AT ALL! But then I hit upon oat milk and it had a relatively simple ingredient list AND it tastes good!! (to me, anyway…) The only thing is it’s EXPENSIVE!! So, I started looking for a recipe to make it..and found yours! I am going to try it! The one thing I don’t understand is that the original flavor that I prefer and buy (the vanilla has more ingredients and I try to avoid that) does not list sugar or any sweetener on its ingredient list however it is quite sweet. But in your recipe, you say you need to add up to 2 tablespoons of sweetener to make it taste good..
I wonder why and how the boxed version is sweet then?
Oh well, anyway, thank you for the recipe!
Just tried it and it’s delicious! I’ll try actually a little thicker and see how it goes. I hope I tolerate it well because I’m running out of options since I’m allergic to nuts and soy, and didn’t tolerate well the rice option. We’ll see how it goes, but your recipe was a real lifesaver! Thank you!
I like this recipe. Yum Universe uses the leftover pulp to make cereal or crackers. I made the cereal and thought it was lovely, especially with the oat milk I just made.
This is the link to the blog post at Yum Universe. The bit about cereal is at the bottom, after all the milks.
http://yumuniverse.com/plant-powerful-dairy-free-milk/
The oat leftovers are great added to granola before it’s baked. It makes the other ingredients hold together in satisfying chunks.
Thanks for this recipe, I’ve just made a batch for my Smoothies and Summer Porridge Breakfasts…really I’m not worried about it being bland or not as I add fruit and choc protein powder to the mix!
Studies by the FDA have shown that all rice products contain organic and
inorganic arsenic, including Rice Dream milk.
So why would one wish to consume such products?