Love and Olive Oil

Kitchen Basics: Homemade Almond Milk

Homemade Almond Milk

I adore almond milk. It’s my preferred milk of choice for my daily bowl of cereal.

One time I accidentally grabbed the whole milk (that I usually have on hand for baking, mostly) and poured it into my cereal without even realizing. I’ve become so accustomed to almond milk that it was truly shocking, to say the least, and I could barely finish the bowl.

Recently I set out to make a homemade almond milk, as I wanted something richer and creamer than you can buy in the store. Turns out making it is surprisingly easy. I’m talking two ingredients. And one of those is water so it doesn’t even really count.

And, get this, IT ACTUALLY TASTES LIKE ALMONDS. Shocker, I know. But once you taste fresh homemade almond milk, the store-bought stuff is basically water in comparison. Sure, you could add sugar, honey (or other sweeteners) or even vanilla extract if you like, but I found the flavor of the homemade version subtly sweet and perfectly flavorful on its own, and didn’t feel any other additions were necessary.

Creamy Homemade Almond Milk

The total amount of water you use in the recipe will determine the thickness and creaminess of your milk. If you plan to use it more like heavy cream or creamer (as in the Passion Fruit Bubble Tea I posted earlier this week) use about 6 cups of water. If you want to extend your yield a little bit and are ok with a thinner milk (more akin to store-bought or 2% milk), then use the full 8 cups of water.

How to Make Homemade Almond Milk

The process of making almond milk is very similar to our homemade horchata recipe, just with entirely almonds instead of an almond/rice mix. And in fact, you could use this exact same process to make any kind of nut milk, including cashew, pecan, or pistachio (doesn’t that sound amazing?)

How to Make Homemade Almond Milk

If you plan to make homemade almond milk on any semblance of a regular basis, I’d highly recommend purchasing something called a nut milk bag (yes, yes, I know, snicker if you must, but that’s really what it’s called). While you can use a cheesecloth-lined sieve to strain the almond milk, a nut milk bag is so much easier: you can literally squeeze every last drop of milk out of the almond pulp.

This is one of those recipes that is worthwhile to make homemade for sheer flavor alone. And if you are one to be wary of all those weird additives that come in store-bought almond milk, you’ll definitely love this. I will say, however, that you definitely won’t save any money making homemade, unless you have some super secret source of cheap almonds that I don’t know about (and if you do, please share!) The best price I’ve found is at Trader Joe’s, where you can get a 16oz bag of almonds for $5.99. Elsewhere they typically run about $7-$8 per pound, moreso if you buy whole blanched almonds. So it’s easily twice the cost of store-bought almond milk, but I will say that this is one situation where it is entirely worth it.

Homemade Almond Milk

All you need for homemade almond milk is 2 ingredients: almonds and filtered water. The ‘double blended’ method I use ensures the maximum yield for every pound of almonds you use.

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Ingredients:

  • 3 cups (16 ounces) whole blanched almonds*
  • 6-8 cups filtered water

Directions:

  1. Place blanched almonds in a bowl or large jar and fill with filtered water until almonds are entirely submerged. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
  2. The next day, drain and rinse almonds. Place in a blender along with 4 cups of filtered water.
  3. Blend on high speed for 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth and frothy.
  4. Pour into a nut milk bag or a fine mesh seive lined with multiple layers of cheese-cloth and place over a large bowl. Squeezing firmly, force out as much liquid as you can. Once you can no longer squeeze any liquid out, put pulp back in blender along with an additional 2-4 cups of filtered water (use less water for a thicker, creamier milk, and more water for a thinner milk more akin to store-bought). At this point you can also add any sugar, honey, vanilla, or other sweeteners/flavorings as desired. Blend on high speed for another 1-2 minutes, then pour into nut milk bag and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Discard leftover pulp.
  5. Pour milk into glass jars or other container. Cover and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week. Slight separation is normal, simply shake or stir before using.

*If using whole almonds with skins, you’ll first want to blanch the almonds in a pot of boiling water for 20-30 seconds. Drain and rinse with cold water, then squeeze the almonds out of their skins. Spread out on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for about 5 minutes or until dried, then proceed with the recipe as instructed. To skip this step you can also buy whole blanched almonds online, although they do tend to be a bit more pricey.

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20 Comments

  1. Most recipes say to use the almond milk for 2-3 days. I see you suggest a week. What are your thoughts
    I have also seen people add a little salt for longer use ….
    What is the best and safest way!
    Thanks

    • That’s been my experience. It depends on a lot of factors, the freshness of your almonds, how quickly you chill the milk down, etc. In the end, use your nose. If it smells a bit off, toss it.

  2. Pretty photos!  Love your almond milk jug.  Just gorgeous.   I hadn’t thought of blanching almonds for almond milk.  I’ve always soaked them for 8-24 hours and from there you can peel the skins – or just leave the skins on.  I think the only difference is the color of the milk.  If you peel the skins it’s much whiter which tends to be prettier in color.  

    I’m starting my food blog this month and my first post will be homemade almond milk.  Really love your gorgeous photography here.  Thanks for sharing!

    • I’ve actually made batches more recently with whole, skin-on almonds, and it works just fine as well. It’s a bit harder on my blender with the skins on, requires more water to process smoothly, but with a good strain you wouldn’t know the difference. :)

  3. Save the pulp and dry it out. You can use it to make almond flour, which you have a couple of good uses for!!!

  4. I think I snickered like a 12-year-old too when I first heard of nut milk bags. That aside, I like how easy your instructions are on making homemade almond milk. Homemade is always better than store-bought.

  5. Amazing! Really amazing—-never even entered my head I could make this. I thought it came from almond cows. To have it actually taste like almonds, wow that is icing on the cake.

  6. With the lefties you just add salt, chopped  scallions, pepper and lime juice… You get an amazing almond cheese, or almond treat you can use as a dip or something. 

  7. I love how honest you are about the cost! I wish I could try this but sadly I don’t have a whizzy new blender so I’ll have to stick with store-bought for a while longer!

  8. Homemade almond milk is the BEST! And that pour shot…omg you have TALENT. I cannot believe how amazing it looks. Like the milk is suspended in thin air. Gorgeous! Pinned :)

  9. I really like your instructions for making almond milk.  I have a nut bag but have never tried making almond milk.  I guess it’s time.

    I normally buy my almonds from Costco.  Don’t remember the price, but I know it’s good.

    Also, one can save the almond meal and use it for other things like ‘breading’ for fried chicken or any other place you would use breadcrumbs.  Not sure what you have to do with it other than dry it out, but that way you get double the bang for your buck.

  10. I love the idea of homemade almond milk! Thank you for the recipe. How long do you think a batch would keep if refrigerated?

  11. Love thi s post and these pictures! Homemade almond milk is a million times better than store-bought. So creamy and the flavor is so much better. You need to try hazelnut milk next (so ridiculously expensive, but GOOD). 

  12. The real revelation occurs when you have a chance to make this from fresh almonds. Fresh almonds have the full flavour of marzipan because the aromatic oils haven’t yet surrendered to a long life on a supermarket shelf.

  13. Love this idea. I noticed the almond milk I bought recently had some questionable ingredients and actually started wondering how hard it would be to make my own. Beautiful pictures too! 

  14. Question…. Recipe calls for 3 cups of almonds… That’s 24 ounces, not 16 ounces right? 

    • Solid and liquid measurements are not the same, and whole almonds are definitely more bulky. 1 cup of almonds is approximately 4-5 ounces. However if you simply buy a 1 pound bag of almonds then just use the whole thing. :)

  15. Love it too:-) Can be used in so many ways ….

  16. I love home made nut milk. It’s fun and easy and you can add any flavors you want. I use vanilla but hazelnut chocolate milk is also good. Last time, I made cashew milk and I wonder if maybe macadamia milk would be a good idea…

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