Rice milk | How to make rice milk at home – 3 flavors

Homemade rice milk is one of the easiest plant-based milks you can make: you soak rice, blend it with water, and strain it. That’s the whole idea. This recipe shows you how to make rice milk at home in three variations — a plain classic, a sweet vanilla version, and a fresh strawberry one — all dairy-free, naturally sweetened, and ready with just a blender and a strainer.

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. Rice milk is one of my favorite types of plant-based milk because it is simply delicious and it can have so many exciting uses. Today I am going to show you how easy it can be to make it at home, and then present you some ways to sweeten the recipe.

What you need to make rice milk

The base is almost nothing: one cup of rice and four cups of water. That’s it for the classic version. I use regular white rice here because it blends smooth and gives a mild, slightly sweet milk, but brown rice works too if you want a nuttier, earthier flavour and don’t mind a bit more sediment.

For the vanilla version, add the seeds from one vanilla stick and three Medjool dates when you blend. Medjool dates are soft and caramel-sweet, so they dissolve into the milk and sweeten it without any refined sugar. For the strawberry version, you’ll simmer a cup of strawberries (frozen is fine) with a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup, then stir that into the finished rice milk. I went with strawberry because they are my favorite, but you can use whatever berries you like.

The three variations, step by step

All three start the same way. Rinse the rice in a bowl, changing the water a few times until it runs clear, then drain it. Toast the rinsed rice in a dry pan over low heat for about five minutes, stirring often — this light roasting deepens the flavour so the milk doesn’t taste flat. Then soak the rice in about four cups of water overnight, drain, and blend with four cups of fresh filtered water for roughly three minutes.

For the classic milk, strain the blended mixture through a clean napkin and you’re done. For the vanilla version, blend the soaked rice together with water, the dates, and the vanilla seeds before straining — when the ingredients go into the blender, that’s the moment to add the sweetness so it’s evenly distributed. For the strawberry version, mash the strawberries in a small saucepan over heat for about three minutes, stir in the maple syrup, take it off the heat and let it cool, strain it, then mix it into a couple of cups of your finished rice milk.

Tips for smooth, non-slimy rice milk

A few small things make the difference between silky rice milk and a gritty, gluey one:

• Rinse until the water runs clear. That cloudy starch is what turns rice milk slimy, so keep changing the water until it looks clean.
• Don’t over-blend. Around three minutes is enough. Blending too long or with hot water releases even more starch and can give the milk a thick, slippery texture.
• Use cold or room-temperature water for the blend, not hot — heat cooks the starch and makes it gummy.
• Strain through a clean napkin or nut-milk bag. A fine cloth catches the fine sediment that a regular sieve lets through. Give it a gentle squeeze to get all the liquid out.
• Shake before every pour. Rice milk naturally separates as it sits, and a good shake brings it right back together.

How to use it and what to pair it with

Rice milk is light and naturally a little sweet, which makes it lovely poured over cereal or granola, stirred into porridge, or splashed into your morning coffee. The vanilla and strawberry versions are perfect on their own over ice, and they shine in blended drinks — try the strawberry milk as the base for a frozen milkshake or a smoothie bowl. It also works beautifully in sweet rice dishes like a vegan rice pudding, keeping everything comfortingly dairy-free. If you enjoy making your own, take a look at my other nut and plant milk recipes too.

Storing your homemade rice milk

Because there are no preservatives, homemade rice milk is best kept in a sealed glass bottle or jar in the fridge and used within three to four days. Always give it a shake before pouring, since separation is normal. The plain classic version keeps best; the strawberry one, with fresh fruit stirred in, is best enjoyed within a day or two. If you’re making rice milk because dairy doesn’t sit well with you, it fits right into a plant-based way of eating, and my food intolerance guide is a handy read if you’re navigating what works for your body.

I hope you’ll love this homemade rice milk as much as I do — especially that vanilla version. If you give it a go, please rate the recipe below and leave a comment telling me which variation won you over, or which berry you swapped in for the strawberry. I’d love to hear how yours turned out!

Rice milk | How to make rice milk at home – 3 flavors

Creamy homemade rice milk made from just rice and water, in three delicious variations – classic, vanilla-date and strawberry. Naturally dairy-free, vegan and far cheaper than store-bought.

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Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Choose Serving Size 4

Ingredients 

Basic rice milk:

• 1 cup rice
• 4 cups water

Vanilla rice milk:

• 1 cup rice
• 4 cups water
• 1 stick vanilla seeds scraped out
• 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 to a large bowl and cover it with water. Wash the rice by changing the water a few times, until the water runs clear. Discard the water.
• Transfer the rice to a pan and roast it over low heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes.
• Transfer the rice to a large bowl and add about 4 cups of water. Let the rice soak overnight, then drain it and discard the soaking water.
• Transfer the rice to a food processor. Add 4 cups of filtered water and blend for about 3 minutes.
• Strain the milk through a clean napkin or nut milk bag, then pour it into a bottle.

Directions for the vanilla rice milk:

• Add the rice to a large bowl and cover it with water.
• Wash the rice by changing the water a few times, until the water runs clear. Discard the water.
• Transfer the rice to a pan and roast it over low heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes.
• Transfer the rice to a large bowl and add about 4 cups of water. Let the rice soak overnight, then drain it and discard the soaking water.
• Transfer the rice to a food processor. Add 4 cups of filtered water, the dates and the vanilla seeds, then blend for about 3 minutes.
• Strain the milk through a clean napkin or nut milk bag, then pour it into a bottle.

Directions for the strawberry rice milk:

• Add the strawberries to a small saucepan and cook over low heat, mashing them with a fork, for about 3 minutes.
• Stir in the maple syrup, take the pan off the heat and let the mixture cool.
• Strain the strawberry mixture through a strainer lined with a clean napkin.
• Add the rice milk, stir well and serve chilled.

Notes

Shake well before serving – homemade rice milk separates naturally. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear to avoid a slimy texture. Store in a sealed bottle in the fridge and use within 3-4 days.

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