Creamy Homemade Almond Milk

Until I tried homemade almond milk, I was never a fan of the stuff. Store-bought boxed almond milk tasted chalky and artificial. To add to that, the list of mystery ingredients and long shelf life added to the ‘ew’ factor, which made me avoid this milk and recipes that included it completely. Once I went through my Paleo phase a few years ago, I gave it another shot. I figured if I am to drink it, may as well make my own, and at least avoid the unnecessary ingredients, even if I don’t enjoy the taste. To my surprise, once I tried it – freshly made and still bubbly – I couldn’t stop drinking it straight out of the jar. It was creamy and silky, and tasted like everything I love about almonds but better.

Experiment with almond/water ratio and flavorings to find your sweet spot

Since then, I have been making it regularly and tried different versions and ratios. One thing I learned is that I enjoy drinking it plain the most, without addition of salt, vanilla or dates. Most recipes call for 3.5 – 4 cups of water per 1 cup of almonds. America’s Test Kitchen Paleo Perfected recommends 1.25 cups of almonds, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 4 cups water, and says that homemade almond milk can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks). I don’t add salt to my milk, and feel it shouldn’t be stored for longer than 5 days.

You can leave homemade almond milk unstrained

If you plan on using almond milk for making porridges (like this one) or smoothie bowls, you can leave it unstrained. It might taste a bit grainy, so if you prefer smooth texture, you do want to take time and strain.

HOW TO PREPARE HOMEMADE ALMOND MILK

Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds
4 cups water (I use boiled and still fairly warm)

Equipment
Any glass jar for soaking
Blender (preferably high-powered)
2 1-quart Mason jars
Funnel
Medium mesh strainer

Instructions
Soak 1 cup raw almonds in 2 cups of filtered water for 6-12 hours.

Remove the soaking water and rinse almonds well (no need to remove skins).
Place in a blender (preferably high-powered), add 4 cups warm water, and process until smooth and creamy (I run a ‘smoothie’ cycle on Blendtec twice).

Strain through a medium mesh strainer scraping and pressing the pulp.

Discard the pulp (or dehydrate and use as almond meal), rinse the strainer; add coffee filter (or high quality paper towel) to the strainer, and strain again, squeezing the pulp as much as you can. It’s a fairly slow process, and to save labor you can leave almond milk to strain on its own.

After straining, squeeze the filter gently. I do it in two batches, so use two filters.

Once you are done, you should have three cups, or just under, of homemade almond milk.
Store in refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Print Recipe

Creamy Homemade Almond Milk

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time1 minute min

Total Time16 minutes mins

Course: Drinks

Servings: 3 cups

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 4 cups water I use boiled and still fairly warm

Instructions

• Soak 1 cup raw almonds in 2 cups of filtered water for 6-12 hours.
• Remove the soaking water and rinse almonds well (no need to remove skins).
• Place in a blender (preferably high-powered), add 4 cups warm water, and process until smooth and creamy (I run a 'smoothie' cycle on Blendtec twice).
• Strain through a medium mesh strainer scraping and pressing the pulp.
• Discard the pulp (or dehydrate and use as almond meal), rinse the strainer; add coffee filter (or high quality paper towel) to the strainer, and strain again, squeezing the pulp as much as you can. It's a fairly slow process, and to save labor you can leave almond milk to strain on its own.
• After straining, squeeze the filter gently. I do it in two batches, so use two filters.
• Once you are done, you should have three cups, or just under, of homemade almond milk.
• Store in refrigerator for up to 5 days.