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Almond milk is a healthy and inexpensive alternative to conventional dairy that you can easily make at home! Statistics show that many people are choosing dairy-free milks and other products due to allergies, concerns about sourcing, or just taste preference.
Why Make Almond Milk?
Like virtually every other food or drink, almond milk is both less expensive and healthier when you make it yourself. While there are decent store bought brands available now, many brands contain additives like carrageenan to remain shelf stable and a keep a consistent texture.
Almond milk is a low glycemic alternative to rice milk, and doesn’t cause problems with hormone levels like soy milk does. It can be used in place of regular milk in recipes and baking. It is easy to make and has a light taste.
We used almond milk when we were working on reversing our son’s dairy intolerance and I still often use it (or homemade coconut milk) in recipes, coffee, or to drink simply because it is so inexpensive and easy to make.
If you are dairy free, making your own almond milk is a great way to save money and avoid additives. As a bonus, you can use the leftover almond pulp to make almond flour for use in recipes! If you are nut free as well, coconut milk is another good alternative.
How to Store Homemade Almond Milk
This recipe lasts approximately 4 days in the refrigerator. Our family easily consumes this much almond milk in a few days, but if you won’t use this, it is best to reduce the recipe and make less to use as you need it.
Homemade Almond Milk Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw almonds
- 4 cups filtered water (plus more for soaking)
- 1 pinch sea salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (or ½ vanilla bean, scraped, optional)
- sweetener (such as 2 dates, 2 TBSP maple syrup, or a few drops of stevia, optional)
Instructions
- If desired, soak almonds for at least 12 hours in pure water with 1/2 tsp sea salt. This is an important step as it breaks down the phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors and cultures beneficial enzymes in the almonds. The longer the almonds soak, the creamier the finished milk will be. (Side note: soaking nuts should be done before eating them as well. Soak nuts in salt water for 12 hours, rinse them, and dry in oven on lowest heat. See tutorial here.)
- Drain the soaking water and rinse the almonds well. Do not keep this water to re-use as it contains phytic acid and is best to discard it.
- In blender or Vitamix combine almonds and pure water along with vanilla, sweeteners, or any other optional ingredients. See the notes below for some flavor suggestions.
- Blend 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Mixture will expand some, so make sure your blender is not full before starting it.
- Strain mixture into a large bowl through a sprout bag, cheesecloth, or thin kitchen towel.
- Pour into glass jar or pitcher and store in refrigerator for up to four days.
Notes
Nutrition
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Do you eat almonds? Ever used almond or coconut milk in place of regular milk? Tell me below!
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I agree with Bernadette. Any ideas how to fortify it with calcium, protein, or fats? My daughter (20 months old, gets constipated with dairy). I’ve been looking for an alternative, but haven’t found one that compares.
Any suggestions? Possibly getting these nutrients from additional food sources?
Katie, any insights? Thanks!
My granddaughter has the same issue. Vanilla Flax Seed Milk is working for her! She can even have bananas now….her all time favorite. 🙂
How do you make flaxseed milk? 🙂
it’s super simple, similar to this recipe. i use 1/3 c of flaxseeds to 4 c water. blend the mixture, strain out the pulp, and sweeten/flavor if you like (i use 2-3 dates and 2 tsp vanilla). it’s really yummy.
Hi Katie, thanks for all your information. I have been making almond milk for a while and love it but I have a friend who says if the almonds aren’t peeled they can be bad for you. I have never peeled them before but I notice in your picture they are peeled. Would like your thoughts please.
I usually used peeled and soaked to reduce the phytates
I’ve just made my first batch of almond milk today! May I just ask you if you ever blanch the almonds first to get the skin off? Do they come off just as easily after a 12hr soak? And is there an easier way to take the skins off than having to squeeze each one individually? Many thanks.
There isn’t a substantial calcium content in this homemade version. The commercial almond milks all have added calcium in them to qualify as a milk substitute. I don’t know if anyone has tried fortifying this, but it sounds like it might be a good idea.
Calcium supplements are not necessarily good. There is controversy on this subject. You may want to Google “calcium supplements good?”
Would this be a good alternative for a baby who is no longer nursing? I would be concerned about the high omega-6, so would walnut milk be a better option? Or maybe alternating between several? My first two weaned to store bought milk, my next two weaned to raw milk, this one I’ve nursed the longest but she’s kind of self weaning and I’m having a hard time figuring out the best option. Right now I just try to give her yogurt every day.
Coconut milk is amazing. It has a very healthy profile. However, have you thought about pumping your own milk for a while? You can freeze it, and then begin to mix it with coconut milk as a transitional drink.
Hi,
Great recipe Katie.
This article has some really good information on nuts in general and phytic acids for those who are concerned. Mercola is a much trusted website for health.
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/11/eating-nuts.aspx
Chris Kresser’s article seems a bit too harsh and to start counting mg of phytic acids just seems a but too much.
Macadamia nuts seem to be the best option and don’t need to be soaked and I’m sure the almond milk is fine too because it the almonds are soaked.
Cheers!
Roberta
I have a question….any way to make this chocolate almond milk? I introduced my 3 year old to almond milk and she prefers it over cows milk. She’ll drink the vanilla I buy but she would rather have the chocolate and the store doesn’t always have it…..
You should be able to add cocoa powder or dark chocolate to the blender when you blend and then strain as usual.
Awesome! Thanks.
I am so confused about dairy! Some people say drink raw milk, some say it’s very dangerous. Some say drink almond or coconut milk. I am trying to take one step at a time towards a more natural lifestyle. What kind of milk does your family drink? Thank you!
We don’t, but in the past we have consumed raw milk and raw dairy cheeses. Right now, I’m working on reversing a thyroid problem so we are off all dairy
I have also been told that almonds are goitrogenic foods are foods that interfere with iodine absorption and therefore are not great for restoring Thyroid health? Do you know anything about that?
I started having thyroid issues and realized it was a candida problem. Maybe check that out if you havent (im sure there a good chance you know your issue well) Just mentioning in case. My assumptions of having a candida problem were confirmed when I started a candida diet I got the die off reactions before that I learned I had almost all symptoms of systemic candida(the list is long) many of them are the same symptoms of hypothyroidism
Hi Cory,
Would you mind sending the link or info about the candida program that you chose? Thank you.
Hi Katie
I love your website and refer to it often. I am getting a lot of mixed information about drinking almond milk. Some say (on Paleohacks q and a) not to drink it because it is high in Omega 6s. Others (Chris Kresser) talk about the phytic acid levels in nuts. I am concerned because my daughter cannot drink a lot of dairy with out skin irritations so we drink almond milk. I can not find information on how much phytic acid is in 1 glass of almond milk. Any ideas? If 3 oz of almonds = 1200-1400mg of phytic acid then 1 cup of almonds = 8 oz = 3600+mg phytic acid…So would 1/2 cup serving of almond milk have 450mg of phytic acid? Chris Kresser recommends 100-400mg/day of phytic acid or less is tolerable. Any thoughts?
soaking the almonds before processing reduces the phytic acid.
I accidentally used the same water that I soaked the almonds with to blend. Is this okay?
Yes.
Soaking them is to help remove the digestive enzyme inhibitors so if you used the same water you just put the same inhibitor back into what you consumed. In the future replace with different water.
Hi Katie, Do you remove the skins after soaking? Is this where remaining phytic acid will be found in the almonds after soaking? I just did this and the almond milk became much smoother and sweeter than when I keep the skin. Thanks for any insight you might have on this. Best!
I pop the skins off before I blend the almonds. The milk is then a bit less grainy, and a brighter white. However, keeping skins on hurts nothing at all!