Homemade oat milk is so quick, easy and affordable to make! This zero-waste recipe always comes out smooth, creamy, and has the perfect amount of sweetness. All you need are a few staple ingredients, a blender, and 5 minutes of your time.
Oat milk is a delicious dairy-free, plant-based milk that is suitable for those who need to or like to consume vegan, gluten-free, and/or nut-free products. Unlike other non-dairy milk recipes, you don't need any special equipment, like a nut milk bag.
Oat milk can be used in so many different ways! Add it to your coffee, cereal, baking recipes, creamy vegan sauces, smoothies, chia seed puddings, and so much more.
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Ingredients
You can definitely keep this recipe as a 2 ingredient oat milk recipe by using only water and oats, but what's the fun in that? The additions I've made are totally optional, but highly recommended in order to achieve creamy, flavorful oat milk!
- Old Fashioned Rolled Oats: the star of the show! If you're gluten-free, make sure you're using certified gluten-free oats to ensure this is a gluten-free oat milk.
- Water: to give the oats something to blend into.
- Add-Ins: I chose to add vanilla, maple syrup as a natural sweetener, and sea salt. Again, these are totally optional.
Instructions
Making delicious oat milk at home is incredibly simple! If you've made other plant-based or nut milks before, the technique is only slightly different. Unlike other plant milks, your goal is to squeeze and press the oat milk as little as possible.
- Blend. To a high-speed blender, ad oats, cold water, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. Blend for 30-45 seconds or until the water looks creamy and white.
- Strain. Place a cheesecloth over a large bowl and pour the blended oat milk through it. Carefully pull up the edges of the cheesecloth to create a 'bag' to ensure the milk doesn't run off of it and is going only into your bowl. Because the cheesecloth is very tight knit, you'll need to give one light squeeze at the very end to help push the last bit of liquid through. You should have oat pulp remaining in the cheesecloth. Suggestions on how to use this oat pulp rather than discarding it below!
- Strain one more time (totally optional). You can repeat step 2 for extra-smooth oat milk. Straining it twice will also remove any excess starch.
- Chill and enjoy! Like any plant-based or cow milk, oat milk is best when it's served cold!
How to use homemade oat milk
You can use oat milk just like you'd use cow milk, any plant-based milk, or non-dairy milk! The options are endless. You can drink it by itself, add it coffee, or use it to make a matcha latte. It's also perfect for any cooking or baking recipes that call for milk. For example, you could use it in breakfast recipes like chia seed pudding, acai bowls, or vegan double chocolate muffins. You could also use it for dessert recipes like this vegan chocolate chip banana bread or oat milk ice cream.
I have used also used it when making creamy sauces for vegan pasta recipes but I will say it's not my favorite! I much prefer using soy milk or almond milk in savory dishes. Feel free to give it a try yourself, you might love it!
What to do with leftover oat pulp
In order to keep this recipe zero waste, here's a few ideas on how you can use that leftover oat pulp rather than throwing it out:
- Bake! Sub out ⅓ cup of oats or flour for the same amount of pulp. Oat pulp would work perfectly in these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. You could also use it to replace wet ingredients like mashed banana or oil/vegan butter in vegan brownies, vegan banana bread, and more.
- Add it to your overnight oats or chia pudding.
- Toss it in your smoothies to make them extra creamy!
- Take an oat bath! I have terrible eczema so I try to take an oat bath every few weeks. Tossing in the oat pulp will help soothe your irritated skin.
- Dry it out to make oat flour by spreading it out on a baking sheet and dehydrating it in your oven on the lowest setting for a few hours. Once it's dry and crumbly, add it to a blender or food processor to create flour.
Recipe Substitutions & Variations
- Leave out the extra ingredients! Keep this a 2 ingredient oat milk recipe by not adding the maple syrup, salt, or vanilla.
- Change up the add-ins! For example, you can use dates or agave instead of maple syrup. You could toss in cocoa powder or chocolate syrup to make chocolate oat milk!
- Feel free to use instant/quick oats or steel cut oats instead. It is very important to note these substitutions will not give you the same texture or consistency that rolled oats will.
Expert Tips
- Don't over blend. This could result in a slimy oat milk and we do not want that!
- Don't soak for an extended period, or really at all, before blending. The oats will start sucking up that water and create that 'gel-like' consistency that we see in overnight oats, leading to a slimy milk.
- Strain through a cheesecloth. You want to make sure you're using something that's very tightly knit so that too much pulp isn't let through. A cheesecloth, or even a t-shirt, is perfect.
- Don't squeeze the milk through the cheesecloth, just let it flow through naturally. Only give it a small squeeze at the very end if there's liquid that's getting stuck because of the pulp.
FAQ
Oat milk can easily get slimy. There are several things you can do to avoid this: don't overblend, don't soak, don't heat it, and strain it twice.
Homemade oat milk will stay good in the refrigerator for up to 5 to 7 days. Homemade oat milk should be stored in an airtight container, like a large mason jar or sealable pitcher. You'll know it's gone bad when it starts to smell strange.
Using a blender is definitely the easiest and quickest way but not the only way! You can use a food processor, an immersion blender, or if you really need to, a mortar and pestle. That last one would take forever, so I don't recommend it.
Yes!!! You can spend the same amount of money or less for a bag of oats as you would for a carton of oat milk. If you then used that entire bag of oats for only oat milk, you'd have the equivalent of 4-5 cartons.
Overall, oat milk is one of the healthiest milk options. It is loaded with soluble fiber and nutrients. Like everything, making oat milk at home is healthier than buying it at the grocery store, as you're able to control exactly what's being put into it.
This is completely normal with oat milk and really any plant-based milk. Just shake well before use or pour milk off the top and leave the fallen pulp at the bottom of your container.
If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a pic and tag me on Instagram. If you have any questions or feedback at all, send me an e-mail or leave a comment and review below. I hope you love this dish as much as we do!
📖 Recipe
Homemade Oat Milk
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup (48 g) old fashioned rolled oats
- 3-4 cups (720-960 g) water cold
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tablespoons (22.5 g) maple syrup
- pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- To a high-speed blender, add oats, cold water, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. Blend for 30-45 seconds, the water should look creamy and white. Taste and adjust the flavor to your preference.½ cup old fashioned rolled oats, 3-4 cups water, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup, pinch of sea salt
- Place a cheesecloth over a large bowl and pour the blended oat milk through it. Carefully pull up the edges of the cheesecloth to create a 'bag' to ensure the milk doesn't run off of it and is going only into your bowl. Because the cheesecloth is very tight knit, you'll need to give one light squeeze at the very end to help push the last bit of liquid through. You should have oat pulp remaining in the cheesecloth.
- Optional: Strain one more time. You can repeat step 2 for extra-smooth oat milk. Straining it twice will also remove any excess starch.
- Chill then enjoy!
Lauren
I make this recipe every week! Truly the best homemade oat milk ever it's so creamy
Meghan
I probably make this recipe every other week and use it for everything from smoothies to lattes. I cannot wait to make some hot cocoa with it soooon!! So good and so quick and easy.
Pinch of Parsley
Thank you so much Meghan! Please report back on how it is in your hot chocolate!