I've compiled everything you need to know about alternative milks in one easy place
Why?
Although I’m not fully vegan, a huge proportion of people focused on sustainability avoid animal products. It’s really hard to find any vegan milks, or “mylk” as they’re often called, in anything but plastic-lined cartons. Because of the plastic lining, these cartons are not easily recyclable despite their cardboard appearance.
Before we get started, here are two things to consider:
Decide if you want to add any sweeteners, and if so, what kind.
Whether to sweeten or not is an entirely individual decision based on personal preference and also intended use of the milk. I tend to sweeten if I know the milk will be used for drinking, but avoid sweetening if it is to be used as an ingredient in another recipe. I prefer using liquid sweeteners as opposed to adding sugar, which doesn’t always dissolve easily. I go for one to two teaspoons of honey per batch. Another great option is to blend in one or two Medjool dates, which are commonly found in bulk stores.
Get your strainers handy.
For these recipes you’ll need some sort of straining device. Cheesecloth is a great option for straining. There are also nut milk bags, but these are essentially just cheesecloth that has been shaped into a bag as opposed to a sheet.
Classic Nut Milk
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup almonds, cashews, or pistachios
- Sweetener (optional)
Instructions
- Soak nuts of choice overnight.
- Drain and rinse nuts.
- Blend nuts with water until smooth, several minutes.
- Strain through cheesecloth or nut milk bag.
- Add sweetener of choice.
Chocolate Hazelnut Milk
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- 2 tbsp. cocoa powder
- Sweetener (optional)
Instructions
- Soak hazelnuts overnight.
- Drain and rinse hazelnuts.
- Blend hazelnuts with water until smooth.
- Strain through cheesecloth or nut milk bag,
- Blend with cocoa powder.
- Add sweetener of choice.
Shredded Coconut Milk
Soy Milk
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- Sweetener (optional)
Instructions
- Heat water to nearly boiling.
- Blend hot water and shredded coconut until thick.
- Strain through cheesecloth or nut milk bag.
- Sweetener to taste.
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup soybeans
- Sweetener (optional)
Instructions
- Soak soybeans overnight.
- Drain and rinse the soybeans.
- Remove the skins from the soybeans.
- Blend soybeans with water for several minutes until smooth.
- Strain through cheesecloth or nut milk bag.
- Pour liquid into a large pot and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Cool and add sweetener of choice.
Vanilla Oat Milk
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup oats
- 1-2 tsp. vanilla extract
- Sweetener (optional)
Instructions
- Soak oats for about 20 minutes.
- Drain and rinse oats.
- Blend oats with water for about 30 seconds to one minute.
- Strain through cheesecloth or nut milk bag.
- Add vanilla extract.
- Add sweetener of choice.
Horchata and Rice Milk
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup cooked white rice
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. cinnamon powder
- 1 cup almond milk
- Sweetener (optional).
Instructions
- Soak the rice and cinnamon stick in the 4 cups of water overnight.
- Pour the liquid into blender and mix for several minutes.
- Strain through cheesecloth or nut milk bag.
- Pour liquid back into blender.
- Add vanilla extract, cinnamon powder, and almond milk. Mix.
- Add sweetener of choice.
If you prefer simple rice milk, stick to the 4:1 water:rice guideline but skip the extra flavor ingredients.
Easiest Almond Milk for People with No Time
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 1 tbsp. smooth almond butter
- Sweetener (optional)
Instructions
- Blend smooth almond butter into water for about a minute.
- Add sweetener if desired.
This recipe only takes a couple of minutes!
For a thicker consistency similar to whole milk add more almond butter.
What do I do with the nut and oat pulp?
This might be the most fun part of the process, because now you have great pulp to do something with!
If you made a nut-based milk, you can dry out the pulp and turn it into nut meal or flour. This is done by drying at a low heat in the oven for several hours. This works great for almond pulp, which can then be used to make macarons or almond cookies.
If you made soy milk, use the excess soybean material to make tofu!
Oat milk remnants are great to be used for muffins or cookies.
Lastly, all of these pulps can be composted.
2 Comments
Long time supporter, and thought I’d drop a comment.
Your wordpress site is very sleek – hope you don’t mind me asking what theme you’re using?
(and don’t mind if I steal it? :P)
I just launched my site –also built in wordpress like
yours– but the theme slows (!) the site down quite
a bit.
In case you have a minute, you can find it by searching for “royal cbd” on Google (would appreciate any feedback) – it’s still in the works.
Keep up the good work– and hope you all take care of yourself during the coronavirus scare!
Hi there! Thank you so much for your kind words! Of course – I am using the WordPress theme Olson, which is a free theme unless you want to pay for additional support. I also use a web editor called Elementor, which has free and paid versions as well, but I’ve found everything I need on the free version. Also, just checked it out and your site looks great! Hope you take care of yourself and stay healthy as well! Best, Alanna