Quick and Easy Homemade Almond Milk

For those of you who love homemade almond milk, but don’t want to spend hours making it, you’re going to love this quick and easy recipe. You can make this almond milk in 30 minutes from start to finish and it tastes amazing!

The nut milk sold in the grocery stores doesn’t contain a very high percentage of nuts, generally around two per cent. It’s mostly water. Many brands add thickeners like gellan gum to make the nut milk texture creamier. This nut milk recipe is really creamy and has nothing but nuts and water in it.

At the beginning of this year, I was on a low-carb, Whole30 – Keto style diet, which doesn’t allow any dairy milk because it’s high high in carbs and sugar. I was really missing having milk in my coffee, so I starting looking at nut mylk recipes. I soon realized that traditional nut milk recipes require a lot of time and effort. You need to soak the nuts overnight. Then you need to blend the nuts in the blender and squeeze the milk through a nut milk bag. Then you need to discard the nut pulp and clean the nut milk bag.

I really wasn’t enjoying the store-bought nut milk in my morning coffee, but I wasn’t willing to take the time to make my own, so I started going to cafes in search of the best nut milk lattes in Vancouver.

My favourite nut milk latte in Vancouver can be found at Beaucoup Bakery and it’s worth every penny of the $5.75 they charge for them. My next two favourite nut milk lattes are from Lucky’s Doughnuts and Small Victory Bread and Coffee. Imagine being on a Whole30 diet and having to go into a donut shop or a bakery to satisfy your latte craving. It wasn’t easy, but I did it for two months and it paid off. I’m down over 10 pounds and have kept it off, yay! I’m eating dairy again, in moderation, but I prefer nut milk to cow’s milk now. I’m actually addicted to nut milk lattes, so I had to find an easier and less expensive way to enjoy nut milk lattes. I still have nut milk lattes at Vancouver’s finest coffee shops, I just don’t have one out every day anymore.

I am so excited to tell you that I have found a quick and easy way to make almond milk at home. The secret to my recipe is using sliced almonds instead of whole almonds. It’s takes way less time to soften the almond slices because they’re smaller. This is an innovative concept! I’m not sure if I’m the first person to think of this innovation, but I haven’t heard of anyone else doing it.

This recipe tastes just as good as the house made nut milk lattes I enjoy at my favourite cafes in Vancouver. Now I can enjoy healthy and nutritious nut milk at home, not only in my coffee, but also in my cereal and smoothies.

Check out my quick and easy strain-free recipe below. If you make my 30-minute recipe, please let me know if you like it in a comment and/or tag me on Instagram at @west_rosa.

By the way, the gingerbread cookies in the background are vegan and delicious. That recipe is now also up on the blog.

Enjoy!

4 from 1 vote

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Quick and Easy Almond Milk

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Resting time

15 mins

Total Time

35 mins

 

Homemade nut mylk in just 30 minutes.

Course: Drinks

Keyword: almond milk, cashew milk, dairy-free, mylk, nut milk, vegan, vegan milk

Servings: 5 cups

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup raw sliced almonds (without skin)
• 1/4 cup raw cashews
• 1/4 tsp sea salt, for soaking
• 1/2 tsp quality sea salt (Maldon Salt) (reduces separation)
• 1 tbsp quality honey or maple syrup, optional
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract, optional
• 4 cups filtered or purified water, or less for a creamier nut milk (see notes)

Instructions

1. Bring four cups of water to a boil in a pot, that has a lid. Add 1/4 tsp salt when the water comes to a boil.

2. Add the nuts to the boiling water. Allow the nuts to soak in the boiling water for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Turn the burner off. Put the lid on the pot. Allow the nuts to soak for 15 minutes more, or longer if you're not in a rush. (See notes). 

3. Drain the water. Rinse the nuts in fresh water.

4. Add the soaked nuts to the blender along with one cup of filtered water and all of the other ingredients. Blend for two to three minutes on high speed or until really smooth.

5. Add one more cup of water. Blend on high speed for two more minutes.

6. Add the rest of the water. (See notes). Blend for two minutes on high speed, or until really smooth.

7. Pour the almond milk through a fine sieve or a sifter. There should not be much that won't pass through the sieve. For an even smoother texture, cover the sieve with cheesecloth before pouring in the almond milk.

8. Refrigerate in an air tight container for up to three to four days.

Recipe Notes

• You can add more or less water depending on how creamy you want the nut milk to be. For the texture of 1% milk , add four cups of water (approximately 60 cal. per 1/2 cup). For the texture of 2% milk, add 3 cups of water (approximately 75 cal. per 1/2 cup). For the texture of whole milk, add 2 cups of water (approximately 100 cal. per 1/2 cup). For the texture of cream, add one cup of water (approximately 150 cal. per 1/2 cup).
• You can soak the nuts for just 15 minutes, but the final product will be more refined and creamy if you soak them for an hour.
• It's normal for the milk to separate after it's been refrigerated. Just give it a shake or a stir before you use it.
• You can use just almonds in this recipe if you prefer, but I find that the addition of cashews makes a creamier nut milk. You can also add more cashews if you prefer.
• This recipe was tested with a Vitamix blender. If you don't have one, the blending time may be longer.
• You can find sliced almonds at a reasonable price in larger quantities. I bought 300 grams of sliced almonds at Walmart for around $6. That quantity was enough to make 3 batches of nut milk.