How to make almond milk (video)

Posted on by Lesh

Hi guys, this is my first ever video!

The reason for creating a video is to show you how easy it is to make your own nut milk. All you need is a blender, some nuts, filtered water, a muslin cloth or nut milk bag, and about 5 minutes. It’s that simple.

Why enjoy nut milk?

almond milk 1Some people turn to nut milk because they have a problem with dairy, or they choose to live a vegan lifestyle.  But you can still enjoy nut milk even if that doesn’t apply to you.

Nuts are one of nature’s amazing foods, and are loaded with vitamins, minerals and healthy fats. Besides, it’s a good way to reduce the amount of dairy we eat in the western world. Commercially available dairy is heavily processed, and it takes some research and time to find the real stuff.

Why make your own?

There are many reasons why I make nut milk instead of buying it:

  • I get to choose the quality the nuts I’m using (they’re either organic or pesticide free).
  • I get to make it how I want it, with no additives and sweeteners — just nuts and filtered water. (You can add a medjool date or two if you’re like a sweetish milk.)
  • there’s no packaging, which reduces waste and I don’t have to worry about what the packaging is lined with.
  • it’s cheaper.
  • it’s super easy to make, especially with a nut milk bag. And only takes around 5 minutes.

How to use nut milk?

I use nut milk like I would use normal milk and cream. I’ve used nut milk for:

  1. smoothies
  2. baking muffin, cakes, and cookies
  3. curries (especially cashew or coconut milk)
  4. risottos (I’ve used a thick cashew milk instead of cream)
  5. pancakes
  6. eating with muesli
  7. making bircher muesli (soak homemade muesli in nut milk)
  8. pasta sauces (or sauces of any kind)
  9. custard (I make chocolate custard using cashew milk in the Thermomix)

Ready to make some nut milk?

Here’s the video!

While I’ve used almonds in this video, you can make nut milk with any type of nuts you like (my favourites are cashews and almonds). You can make seed milk too. The most common seeds I’ve seen people make milk with are sunflower and hemp seeds.

To make nut milk, use a ratio of one cup nuts to 3–4 cups filtered water:

  • soak nuts overnight, then strain and rinse (discard the soaking water)
  • blend nuts with fresh filtered/spring water on high-speed (60 seconds for a high-powered blender, and up to 2–3 minutes for a standard blender)
  • Strain milk using a nut milk bag or a muslin cloth. If using a muslin cloth, fold it so there are at least 3 layers of the cloth, and use it to line a sieve before straining. (Note: A huge bonus to making cashew milk is that you don’t need to strain it!)
  • Nut milk will keep fresh in the fridge for up to 4 days.

In the video you’ll also notice that I didn’t remove the almond skins. It’s really up to you if you’d like to do that. To me that’s just one extra step, and I don’t find it really affects the taste. Remember, the taste also depends on quality of the nuts you use. So make sure they’re not rancid (they’ll taste very bitter). Nuts should be as fresh as possible and, preferably, organic or pesticide free.

Did you enjoy this recipe? Then you may wish to check out Nourished, my healthy eating ebook with 93 wholefood recipes.

Published by Lesh

Lesh Karan was born in Fiji, has Indian genes and lives in Melbourne. She writes creative non-fiction and poetry. Her work has been published in the Australian Multilingual Writing Project and Cordite Poetry Review.

28 thoughts on “How to make almond milk (video)”

  1. This is great, I was going to ask where I could buy a nut milk bag! I’ve been wanting to make almond milk to try with your delicious coconut granola. I’ve bought it from the shops a few times but some of the ingredients sound a bit dodgy. Hard to believe it’s so easy to make!

  2. Great video well done! We adore and use almonds heaps the nutbag sure made making the almond milk clean and effecient.Easier than milking the cow and much healthier, more almonds/less cow! Anne

  3. Thanks for this informative post!

    The best part for me is knowing a little more about why nut milks are beneficial.

    I take workshops with all my clients who attend my holistic gym and teach people how to make there own nut butters and milks. I’ve gone though 4 blenders in 13 months! It gets expensive teaching this simple process haha

    Thanks for helping make people more aware of healthy options and simple hands-on practices.

    Together we all can change the world and make everyone healthy and happy!

    In health and happiness,

    Shane

      1. thanks! We are located in penrith in NSW. Doing out part to help educate the masses on healthy food. Will be sending the memberss over to your site. I hope that we can continue showing them how to mke healthy foods and get connected with thheir foods and back in th kitchen!!

  4. That was wonderful!!
    I live in the US. I have a VitaMix & a source for quality nuts. Is there anywhere here that would carry the nut bags? Is it possible to make any other milks at home, such as Rice Milk?

    1. Hi JoAnn, being in the US I’m sure you’ll find many places that sell nut milk bags. Have you tried Wholefood stores? I’m sure you could order them online too. Re rice milk, you can definitely make it but you need to cook it first. Raw rice, even though it’s soaked is not good. If you do Google search I’m sure you’ll find someone who’s made it before. I found this one that you may find useful, but note that I haven’t tried it myself: http://www.floradawn.com/cooking/2010/05/09/homemade-rice-milk/

  5. This is great Lesh. I’m always looking for informative videos and information to share with my Nutrition students. They are always asking me how to do this. Now I can just share your video 🙂 Thanks!

  7. What great timing! I was just about to look for a recipe using the thermomix for either nut or rice milk! Your posts are always so informative and this is certainly going on my list of things to do this weekend 🙂 Thanks..

  8. Thanks, Lesh, this is great. I am a bit of a newcomer to this way of eating and am loving your informative posts. Making my own nut milk is going to seriously reduce the amount of packaging coming into my house!!

  9. Fab video Lesh! We use shop bought almond milk, and I have been wanting to make my own for ages – but was a little scared to take the leap! Now all I need is a decent blender! My poor old blender has seen better days….YAY! Shopping here I come!

  10. I attempted to make almond milk a few weeks ago, Loved the taste, but my strainer wasn’t fine enough and the milk had lots of bits of pulp in it! I didn’t even know nut milk bags existed, what a fabulous idea 🙂

  11. Thank you so much! I am going to try this – I find the almond milks from the supermarket rather bitter so hopefully fresh will be yummier in my coffee and smoothies – I’m dairy, soy and gluten free so I’m always looking for new ways to mix up my diet – thank you!

  15. Hi, I’m located on the Central Coast NSW and like many people today, my daughter is dairy free. I had been always buying the long life almond milk as I hadn’t realised how easy it was to make it yourself. Thanks for the video and I think I need to update my blender. I just need to remember to soak the almonds each night. Is it imperative that you use filtered water? Thanks again. Jodie

    1. Hi Jodie, filtered water removes the chlorine, which kills good bacteria, that’s why it’s recommended. You can still make nut milk with tap water if you wish.

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