Homemade plant milk is nothing more than soaked nuts, oats or seeds blended with water and strained until smooth and pourable. These 10 dairy-free recipes cover almond, cashew, pistachio, hazelnut, oat and hemp, so you can skip the gums, fillers and added sugars hiding in store-bought cartons. A few are Ruxandra’s own recipes and the rest are tried-and-tested favorites from other food blogs. Grab a blender and pick your milk below.
How to Choose the Right Plant Milk to Make
Choose your plant milk based on how you plan to use it. Almond, cashew and pistachio milks are versatile all-rounders for cereal, coffee and baking, and cashew blends stay extra creamy because the soft pulp dissolves instead of being strained away. Hazelnut and pecan milks lean rich and dessert-like, which makes them ideal for chocolate drinks. Oat and hemp milks are the best nut-free picks and froth beautifully for lattes. If you want a little sweetness, blend in a couple of soaked dates rather than refined sugar.
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Classic Almond, Cashew, Hazelnut & Pistachio Milks
Start here with the everyday tree-nut milks you’ll reach for in coffee, cereal and baking.
How to Make Homemade Almond Milk & Cashew Milk
This two-in-one tutorial walks you through both almond and cashew milk in a single session, so you can compare the silky strained almond version against the thicker, pulp-free cashew one. Both come together with just nuts, water and a blender. Keep the leftover almond pulp and dry it low and slow in the oven to make your own almond flour.
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Homemade Almond Milk
This no-fuss almond milk covers all the basics: soak, blend, strain and you have a clean, lightly nutty milk with none of the carton additives. It works everywhere from cereal to baking to your morning latte. Save the leftover almond pulp in the freezer and fold it into pancakes or oatmeal later so nothing goes to waste.
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Homemade Pistachio Milk
Pistachios blend into a gorgeous pale-green milk that tastes delicately sweet and a little floral, a genuine upgrade over ordinary almond. It is creamy enough to sip straight or swirl into coffee. Soak the pistachios until plump, then blend and strain well, since their fine bits can otherwise leave the milk slightly gritty.
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Homemade Almond Pecan Milk
Blending pecans together with almonds gives this milk a warm, buttery depth that plain almond milk lacks, almost like liquid pie in a glass. It stays lightly sweet with no added sugar and pours beautifully over granola. Toast the pecans briefly before soaking to coax out a deeper, toasty flavor that carries into the finished milk.
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Date-Sweetened Hazelnut Milk
Soaked hazelnuts blended with pitted dates create a naturally sweet, faintly nutty milk that tastes indulgent yet contains nothing refined. It is silky enough to sip on its own or stir into your morning coffee. Rub the soaked hazelnuts in a towel to loosen their skins first, which keeps the milk from turning bitter or muddy.
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Chocolate, Nutella & Flavored Milks
When plain won’t do, these lightly sweetened and flavor-packed milks drink like a treat.
Raw Nutella Milk
Picture your favorite chocolate-hazelnut spread turned into a drinkable treat: soaked hazelnuts, raw cacao, vanilla and dates blitzed into a decadent milk. It is rich, deeply chocolatey and completely dairy-free. Serve it well chilled over ice as an after-dinner drink, or freeze the leftovers in molds for fudgy chocolate-hazelnut popsicles.
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Chocolate Ginger Maca Milk
This superfood chocolate milk gets an unexpected kick from fresh ginger and an earthy, malty note from maca powder. Naturally sweetened and deeply cocoa-rich, it drinks like a grown-up hot chocolate. Warm it gently on the stove on a cold evening, whisking as it heats so the maca and cacao stay smooth instead of settling at the bottom.
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Homemade Nut Milk with Flavor Ideas
This flexible base recipe shows you how to turn any raw nuts into smooth milk, then dresses it up with vanilla, cinnamon, cocoa and maple flavor variations. It is the perfect starting point if you like to customize your carton. Blend in a pinch of salt with whatever flavor you choose, which sharpens the sweetness and keeps the milk from tasting flat.
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Nut-Free Oat & Hemp Milks
Nut-free and budget-friendly, these grain and seed milks prove you don’t need nuts to go creamy.
How to Make Oat Milk (3 Flavors, Easy Guide)
Ruxandra’s oat milk is the nut-free, wallet-friendly option, ready in minutes from just oats and water, with three flavor variations to keep it interesting. It froths well for lattes and costs a fraction of store cartons. Use cold water, blend only briefly, and avoid squeezing the pulp hard, which keeps the finished milk from turning slimy.
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Hemp & Macadamia Milk
Buttery macadamias and protein-rich hemp seeds blend into an ultra-creamy milk loaded with Omega-3 fatty acids. Best of all, it needs no straining, so absolutely nothing goes to waste. Add a pinch of salt and a splash of vanilla to round out the flavor and make the natural sweetness of the macadamias really pop.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do you make plant milk at home? Soak raw nuts, oats or seeds, then drain and blend them with fresh water, usually at a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio. Strain the liquid through a nut-milk bag or a fine cloth, and sweeten with dates or vanilla if you like. Store it in a sealed jar in the fridge.
How long does homemade nut milk last? Homemade nut milk keeps for roughly 3 to 5 days in a sealed jar in the refrigerator, since it contains no preservatives. Shake it well before each use because natural separation is completely normal. If it smells sour or tastes off, pour it out and make a fresh batch.
Do you have to strain plant milk? Almond, pistachio, hazelnut and pecan milks are usually strained to remove gritty pulp, while cashew, oat and hemp milks can be left unstrained because they blend perfectly smooth. Skipping the strain gives you a thicker, more filling milk. Save any leftover pulp for baking so nothing goes to waste.
Which homemade plant milk is the creamiest? Cashew and macadamia milks are the creamiest because their soft flesh emulsifies fully into the water with no pulp to strain out. Adding a spoonful of soaked oats or a date boosts the body even more. For coffee, cashew milk froths and blends without curdling.
Is homemade plant milk healthier than store-bought? Homemade plant milk lets you skip the stabilizers, gums and added sugars found in many cartons, and you control the ratio for a richer flavor. It does lack the added calcium and vitamin D of fortified brands, so pair it with a varied, balanced diet.
Can you make plant milk without a special bag? Yes, you can strain plant milk through a clean thin kitchen towel, a double layer of cheesecloth or a fine-mesh sieve. A dedicated nut-milk bag is simply the tidiest option. For unstrained milks like oat or cashew, you need no straining tool at all.
