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!
Summarise & Save This Recipe
★ Add us as a trusted Google source
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Rinse 1 cup of rice until the water runs clear, toast it in a dry pan over low heat for about 5 minutes, then soak it overnight in water. Drain, blend with 4 cups of fresh filtered water for around 3 minutes, and strain through a clean napkin or nut-milk bag. That gives you plain classic rice milk, ready to sweeten however you like.
Sliminess comes from excess starch. Rinse the rice until the water runs completely clear before blending, use cold or room-temperature water rather than hot, and avoid over-blending (about 3 minutes is enough). Straining through a fine cloth also removes the sediment that makes it gluey.
No, you don’t fully cook it. In this recipe the rice is lightly toasted in a dry pan for about 5 minutes to deepen the flavour, then soaked overnight raw and blended. It’s the soaking and blending, not cooking, that turns the rice into milk.
Yes. This rice milk is made only from rice, water, and plant-based add-ins like vanilla, Medjool dates, strawberries, and maple syrup, so all three variations are fully vegan and dairy-free. It’s a good option if dairy doesn’t agree with you.
Keep it in a sealed glass bottle or jar in the fridge and use it within 3 to 4 days, since it has no preservatives. Always shake it before pouring, as natural separation is normal. The strawberry version, with fresh fruit stirred in, is best enjoyed within a day or two.
For the vanilla version, blend in three Medjool dates and the seeds from a vanilla stick — the dates add a soft caramel sweetness with no refined sugar. For the strawberry version, simmer strawberries with a little maple syrup and stir that into the finished milk. Both keep the sweetness natural and dairy-free.
Very good ! I will be using this forever thank you
Is this rice cooked or just toasted a bit?
Just lightly toasted.
I need a non sweet milk substitute to use in cooking. Will this work.
Sure!
Hi would this work with cooked rice, I don’t have a very powerful blender
I’ve never tried it with cooked rice. Sorry!
Never tried rice milk before, thanks for inspiring me! 🙂 It’s so so good!
Thank you! 😀