Have you ever tried making your own rice milk at home? It’s so simple! Here is how to make rice milk in 3 different and super delicious variations – classic, with vanilla and with strawberries!
Milk – where would we be without it? Given how dependent we are on it since birth, I’d say we wouldn’t exist. There are a lot of things I could say about the role of milk in the development of modern society, from cooking to breastfeeding and everywhere in-between.
Cuisines from all over the world, since ancient times to modern kitchens, have relied on milk for a multitude of purposes, from making the batter for cakes to garnishing a fancy coffee in the morning.
Naturally, as goes with all good things in this world, there are a handful of people who are prohibited by nature from having access to them. In this case, we are talking about all the lactose intolerant people out there. There are people who simply cannot consume lactose-based products, out of health reasons.
There are also those of us who are following a vegan diet and won’t have animal-based products because of moral reasons. Luckily, modern kitchen science has provided solutions for each and every one of them!
Replacements for milk have been around for decades, and they can be made from a variety of different ingredients. One of the most prevalent is almond milk, but the problem is that some people are allergic to almonds and other kinds of nuts. Or maybe you simply don’t like almond milk at all. So what is a common ingredient that can be found in abundance, that few people are allergic to, that you could make milk out of?
Introducing rice milk – the creamy, healthy alternative to the dairy product we all know and love! 🙂
Today I am going to show you how easy it can be for you to make rice milk at home, and then present you some ways to sweeten the recipe. For starters, all you really need is white long grain rice, water, a pinch of salt and optionally – a pitted date, for added sweetness.
Soak the rice in hot water – not boiling – for a couple of hours, until it is moist and soft, but still raw. Drain it and add it to your blender with the other ingredients. You then have to blend the whole mixture for up to one minute.
Blend it more and it might become gooey. The mix doesn’t have to be totally liquid right now, because the next step is taking it and straining it in a large bowl. Before you do this, you might sample a small amount to see if it’s as sweet as you’d like. After straining, refrigerate the mix in order to help it settle.
Rice milk is one of my favorite types of vegan milk because it is simply delicious and it can have so many exciting uses. You can add it in granola bars, to your favorite smoothies, you can use it in baked goods recipes and vegan cheese sauces. And of course, you can add it to coffee in the morning! 🙂
Vanilla Rice Milk
If you’ve mastered this recipe – not that there’s much to master to it anyway – and are prepared to take it to the next level, you could start adding some more ingredients to the original mix. When placing the ingredients together in the blender, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to make delicious vanilla-flavored rice milk (one of my favorite flavors for milk!).
The vanilla extract along with the dates will result in sweet milk that’s also high in nutrients and totally healthy! This type of rice milk will taste even better with coffee if you were used to putting sugar in yours.
Strawberry Rice Milk
Another one you could try is the yummy strawberry rice milk. If you add some frozen strawberries to the ingredients before blending your milk, you will infuse your rice milk with some fresh strawberry tasting goodness, with no artificial sweeteners. Only you know what you put in your rice milk!
This particular recipe is very popular nowadays because of its unique taste and, of course, adorable color! It’s a favorite in coffee shops all over the world. You don’t necessarily have to use strawberries. You can use whatever berries you like, but for this recipe, I went with strawberry because they are my favorite.
Rice milk is a great healthy alternative to dairy milk. It is high in nutrients, lower in fat, and will bring you a healthy energy boost, especially if you serve it sweetened naturally with dates, vanilla extract or fresh fruit. Why not try it out, even if you aren’t lactose intolerant or vegan? You might just love it, especially with your morning coffee, to counter all that bitterness!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this recipe for rice milk and its awesome variations! If you have any suggestions or questions, please don’t hesitate to tell me!
Rice milk | How to make rice milk at home – 3 flavors
Ingredients
Basic rice milk:
- 1 cup rice
- 4 cups water
Vanilla rice milk:
- 1 cup rice
- 4 cups water
- 1 stick vanilla seeds off
- 3 Medjool dates
Strawberry rice milk:
- 1 cup strawberries frozen
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 2 cups rice milk homemade
Instructions
Directions for the classic rice milk:
- Add the rice into a large bowl and cover with water. Wash the rice by changing the water a few times until the water comes clean. Discard the water.
- Transfer the rice to a pan. Roast the rice over low heat, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the rice to a large bowl. Add about 4 cups water. Let the rice soak overnight. Drain the rice and discard the water.
- Transfer the rice to a food processor. Add 4 cups of filtered water. Blend for about 3 minutes.
- Strain the milk through a clean napkin.
Directions for the vanilla rice milk:
- Add the rice into a large bowl and cover with water.
- Wash the rice by changing the water a few times until the water comes clean. Discard the water.
- Transfer the rice to a pan. Roast the rice over low heat, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the rice to a large bowl. Add about 4 cups water. Let the rice soak overnight. Drain the rice and discard the water.
- Transfer the rice to a food processor. Add water, dates and vanilla seeds.
- Strain the milk through a clean napkin.
Directions for the strawberry rice milk:
- Add the strawberries in a small saucepan. Mash with a fork while cooking, for about 3 minutes.
- Add maple syrup and take off from the heat. Let cool.
- Strain through a napkin and a strainer.
- Add the rice milk, mix and serve.
Nutrition
If you make this, please leave a review and rating if you liked this recipe! ★★★★★
Cindy
Wednesday 4th of January 2023
Is this rice cooked or just toasted a bit?
Ruxandra
Friday 3rd of February 2023
Just lightly toasted.
Judy Bura
Thursday 13th of August 2020
I need a non sweet milk substitute to use in cooking. Will this work.
Ruxandra
Thursday 3rd of September 2020
Sure!
Tahira Akhtar
Tuesday 28th of April 2020
Hi would this work with cooked rice, I don't have a very powerful blender
Ruxandra
Friday 12th of February 2021
I've never tried it with cooked rice. Sorry!
Emilia
Sunday 26th of May 2019
Never tried rice milk before, thanks for inspiring me! :) It's so so good!
Ruxandra Micu
Wednesday 29th of May 2019
Thank you! :D