Almond milk is an easy dairy-free milk substitute, made with almonds and water. It’s perfect for pouring over cereal, using it in smoothies, or even adding to your coffee! (Try this Healthy Coffee Creamer if you want an almond milk that foams.)
If you ask me, homemade almond milk tastes WAY BETTER than store-bought almond milk. I think you’ll agree once you taste it– homemade is the best! In fact, you probably won’t be able to go back to a store brand after you see how good it tastes, and how easy it is to make.
As an added bonus, you can use the leftover pulp to make a Almond Pulp Hummus or Almond Pulp Brownies. Win win!
How to Make Almond Milk
To make almond milk, you simply blend together almonds and water, until the almonds are completely broken down. The resulting “milk” is creamy, with a mild almond flavor that blends almost seamlessly into any recipe.
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Once blended, all you have to do is strain out the pulp for a smooth and silky milk. I use a nut milk bag (like this one) to make sure I get every piece of pulp, but you could also use a fine mesh strainer if you don’t need it silky-smooth.
Almond Milk without Carrageenen
One of the biggest perks of making your own homemade almond milk is that you can make it without preservatives or additives, like carrageenan– which is found in many store-bought brands. Carrageenan is derived from seaweed, and helps thicken and stabilize foods, but it may also cause inflammation and gastrointestinal discomfort in the body.
For people with autoimmune conditions, or sensitive digestion, it could be a good idea to avoid these additives by making your own almond milk at home.
Is Almond Milk Better than Normal Milk?
Since my family doesn’t drink cow’s milk, a common question I am asked is if we give my toddler or baby almond milk as a substitute for cow’s milk, and we don’t.
I have actually breastfed both of my children well past the age of 2 (the World Health Organization recommends continued breastfeeding up to the age of 2 and beyond), so we have never felt the need to supplement with formula, cow’s milk, or almond milk.
If I weren’t able to breastfeed, I don’t think I’d feel the need to give my kids cow’s milk or formula past the age of one. Instead, I’d focus on getting them plenty of nutrition through nutrient-dense foods, including baby & toddler smoothies, with plenty of fat for brain development, greens for calcium and some plant-based protein, and fruit for extra vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
What are the Health Benefits of Almond Milk?
What are the benefits of drinking almond milk vs. skim milk, or another type? Here are a few:
- Almond milk is dairy-free, so it has no lactose or casein, which can cause digestive distress up to 75% of the world’s population.
- Assuming all of the nutrition from the almonds gets distributed into the homemade milk, almond milk can have up to 6 grams of protein per serving. (About the same as 1 ounce of almonds.)
- Thanks to the nutrient-rich almonds, 1 cup of homemade almond milk may also have up to 8% of your daily recommended calcium needs, and 6% of your daily iron needs.
I hope you’ll enjoy this easy almond milk recipe whenever you need a dairy-free alternative.
How to Make Homemade Almond Milk Cheaper than Store-Bought
The advantage of making your own almond milk at home is that YOU get to determine the ingredients. There are no added sweeteners or fillers in this homemade version! That also means that you can decide how many almonds to use in this recipe.
For the creamiest almond milk, I recommend using the ratio noted in the printable recipe card below, but you can save money by using less almonds to water. I’ll often use only 1/2 cup of almonds in 4 cups of water when I’m making almond milk to use in cereal or in smoothies, which makes this homemade version much more affordable. I also think it tastes better than anything I’ve ever bought at the store! I hope you’ll think so, too.
How to Make Almond Milk (Better than Store-Bought!)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup almonds , soaked in water for 4-6 hours
- 4 cups filtered water
Instructions
- Drain the soaked almonds and rinse them well. (Discard the soaking water.) Combine all of the almonds and fresh water in a blender, and blend the almond have broken down and the milk looks creamy.
- Strain the almond milk through a nut-milk bag or cheese cloth, squeezing well to extract the extra liquid. You can save the remaining almond pulp for another recipe, or discard.
- Store the almond milk in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. (You can freeze leftovers, if needed, for up to 3 months, too!)
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Notes:
- If you don’t care for almonds, you can use any other nut or seed with similar results using this method. Try my Homemade Hemp Milk recipe or Oat Milk for a nut-free & dairy-free milk.
- For a sweetened almond milk, try adding up to 4 dates for the batch, then strain as directed.
- For a flavored almond milk, feel free to add a splash of vanilla extract for a vanilla milk, or 1 to 2 tablespoons of cacao powder for a chocolate milk. (Sweeten with dates or maple syrup, to taste.)
If you’d prefer NOT to strain your almond milk, try my Almond Milk recipe using almond butter instead.
What to Do with the Leftover Almond Pulp?
Try making one of these almond pulp recipes:
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Reader Feedback: Do you make almond milk at home? Any other dairy-free milks that you love? I’ve been trying to perfect oat milk for coffee, but it keeps coming out slimy… so let me know if you have any tricks.
4/5/2022
Can you make pudding or custards with Almond Milk???
Would certainly like to know.
I know you need ads to make $$$ but I wish you’d adjust the setup here. You’re recipe & instructions are interrupted by ads every few lines. I wanted to print the page or even screenshot it but I won’t because it’s too busy & convoluted. It’s also a deterrent from coming back to this site for anything else in the future. If the ads on your page detract so much from the content that it’s unusable, it really defeats the entire point.
Sorry to hear you had a poor user experience, KJ. If you use the “jump to recipe” button at the top, it will take you straight to the recipe card where there is a “print” button– you can screen shot that page, or print it with zero ads. Hope that helps!
Excellent recipe – and thank you for sharing. I add a tablespoon of soy lecithin granules to act as an emulisfier and reduce seperation of the milk when used for hot coffee or tea. We have been on this now for about 6 months and love it. We also dry the left over almond pulp (in a dehydrater) and then blend it for almond flour. That keeps for weeks in the pantry. Its very inexpensive and easy for milk and then the bonus flour has us drinking and eating higher protein. The almond flour is great for making schnitzle crumb and amoretti biscuits as well as your suggested recipes. Also appreciate that you left on the skins – they are apparently rich in fibre and polyphenol antioxidants.
Hi. First time trying this. Can I substitute honey for the sweetener?
Yes, that should be just fine! Hope you enjoy it.
I wanted to try your cracker recipe using the leftover pulp, but although I used the one cup of almonds and the four cups of water you called for, I processed it differently than you do,and I was left with only about two tablespoons of almond paste, and just over 4.5 cups of milk. I thought about putting it in the freezer so I could keep adding to it until I got a cup, but it was so wonderfully creamy, I ended up just adding a smidge of honey and cinnamon and eating it right away. I am not a very good cook, but I do make a lot of applejuice in my Vitamix, and when I first started out I experimented with different techniques to maximize the amount of juice I could harvest from the apples. (I don’t have a juicer, plus I like my apple juice quite dilute, and add a whole lime, skin and all, to my recipe. Total lime addict, so it tastes like a really nice limeade, which is perfect for me.) Anyway, applying my applejuicing experience to my almond juicing attempt seemed like a good idea. Here is what I did: I soaked the almonds overnight in water. The next day I discarded the water and put the one cup of almonds into my vitamix with one cup of water. I let that process a very generous length of time, at a high speed. I don’t have a clock in my kitchen, so I don’t know how long it was. I just touched the bottom of the blender vessel every once in a while. When it felt a bit warm, I stopped. I used a strainer, not a bag, to strain out the liquid, pressing down lightly with a spoon. Then I returned the pulp, which was super creamy, no bits of anything in it, to the blender. I added the remaining three cups of water, washing it down the sides of the blender. I processed this for at most a couple of minutes, then strained it again. So, I guess a win in that I got a bit more milk, but I lost out on the almond paste, which I had really been looking forward to using. After the crackers, I was going to try almond lace cookies with dried, reground paste. But I get so little almond paste will it ever be worth my time? Nuts! I think I will go drown my sorrow in some hot chocolate made with my fresh almond milk. Hmmm. Just had an idea. Since the almond paste was so dreamy creamy, I might save some up and try to make truffles with it, substituting it for some of the whipped cream. A slightly healthier truffle, and I do love truffles!
I find very useful, I never did, I’m going to make my own almond milk.
Thank you
The trick to preventing slimy Oatmilk is to not squeeze it in the nut bag! I tilt the bag around to get all the liquid out and I may gently squeeze the contents but never like squeezing a sponge.
I’ll have to admit that store bought almond milk is so flat and watery as far as taste. Does the coconut oil/vanilla/maple syrup create a richer almond milk here or is it specifically sweet? I’d like a thick, creamy, full-bodied one for cereal and to have with cookies (have been enjoying local, raw, grass-fed cow’s milk lately and love it’s thick creaminess and natural ‘sweetness’ but do not usually do dairy). I’d really like to duplicate the taste and texture of the raw milk with this homemade almond milk so am wondering what version you would recommend making- the one adding coconut oil/vanilla/maple syrup or the one featuring almonds/water alone?
My daughter just told me about your website. I am so happy to have found your recipes. I have been diagnosed with breast cancer and you will help me on my healing journey and lifestyle change. Thank You and Merry Christmas
I love this recipe but have a question about the skins. I have read that almond skins contain toxins. What is you opinion about removing the skins vs leaving them on? I am using high quality almonds.
If you don’t strain the pulp can you drink it as it is? is it good for you?
There is a LOT of pulp left, so the texture isn’t lovely if you leave it in. But, feel free to experiment with it! I use the leftover pulp to make Almond Pulp Hummus as a snack.