Easiest Homemade Almond Milk Recipe

by Adrienne 163 Comments Published February 22, 2012 Updated: May 16, 2020

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Today I am sharing with you one of the first things I ever made in my journey to a healthier lifestyle–Homemade Almond Milk.

Making processed food substitutes can help you save a ton of money on your whole foods budget. And it doesn’t have to take a bunch of time either.

I make my own Homemade Chocolate Chips, Cream of Rice Cereal, Pumpkin Spice Creamer, and Homemade Ketchup.

All of those taste great, and are very simple to make.

In that same vein, today I’m sharing How to Make Homemade Almond Milk.

It really is the Easiest Almond Milk Recipe Ever. Seriously.

Moving From Fancy to Easy Recipes

My “cooking philosophy” has evolved over the years. Health-wise, but also “simplicity-wise.”

Maybe you can relate.

I used to, pour over cookbooks (especially the dessert section – cough-cough), dreaming about all of the amazing things that I could make. Then I’d try a fancy recipe like Stuffed Chicken Breasts or Candy Cane Shaped Cookies Dipped in Chocolate.

Well, it’s not that this busy momma doesn’t still like to play in the kitchen, but times have changed.

My life is busier than ever while we homeschool and I work on getting my family to be as healthy as possible.

So now, I’m more looking for recipes and tips that will get good yummy food on my table with as little effort and time as possible. (Cause I already am ~~stressed out to the max~~ way too busy :-).)

So….today’s recipe is an example of one way I’ve managed to save a ton of time in the kitchen, while still making something good.

Why Is Almond Milk Popular?

Dairy allergies are on the increase.
Lactose intolerance is on the increase.
People living a vegan lifestyle want alternatives to dairy for cooking, baking and drinking.

Why Make Your Own Homemade Almond Milk?

The obvious – save money.
Save time and money by not running out the store because you’ve run out of milk (or a dairy-free alternative). (See the price of gas going up – oh, my heart be still. Every trip you can save is money in the bank!)
Life a more sustainable lifestyle – less packaging and less waste. Even if they ever figure out a way to recycle those aseptic cartons, you can bet that it will be a super labor intensive.

Ever since my oldest was diagnosed with a life threatening allergy to dairy (at 3 months of age), I’ve had to find ways to make allergy-free substitutes for drinking and for baking. But this method makes it super easy.

Now, to be fair, this method won’t match the super-creamy store-bought, aseptic packed almond milk you are used to. But it gets the job done lickety split. And it’s pretty good.

Just yesterday both of my sons asked for some. They said it’s not quite as good as my Easiest Coconut Milk, but good nonetheless. \

How Much Can You Save?

Just so you can feel super good about yourself and your new frugal tip to help with your budget, here are the real numbers: Of course, this all depends upon where you buy it and your cost for almonds.

Almond Milk bought in bulk, buying 4 32 oz containers at Amazon, costs $2.43 for 4 cups.

Homemade Almond Milk (using a price of $4 per pound for almonds) costs $1.27 for 4 cups (plus your water cost, of course.) Savings: 48% That’s not as amazing of a savings amount compared to my Homemade Coconut Milk, or Homemade Rice Milk, but saving almost 50% is nothing to sneeze at.

So there you have it – motivated to save time and money (and be environmentally conscious at the same time)? I hope so!

And just so you know, all this doesn’t mean that I’ve given up on that caramel recipe yet either :-).

More “Quick and Easy” Pantry Staples

If you like saving money and easy recipes, you will love these other options.

– Easiest Coconut Milk – we make this literally several times a week
– Powdered Sugar – works with any type of sweetener
– Powdered Egg Replacer – works in almost any recipe
– Homemade Vegetable Broth – doubles as an amazing all-purpose seasoning
– Homemade Coconut Butter – great for so many recipes and saves tons of money

Recipe Notes

1. Appearance: This recipe uses whole almonds. If you want your almond milk to be more uniform in appearance, you can use blanched almonds. Otherwise, you will have specks of the almond skins in the resulting milk.

2. Stir and Serve: If you don’t strain the milk (the way I typically don’t), you can either stir the solids into the mix as you wish, or use the solids for another purpose.

3. Soak First: Some people make almond milk from soaked almonds, but I don’t do that. I know it might sound counter-intuitive to dry the almonds before making milk, but I soak and dry a lot of nuts at a time. Then I store them and keep them on hand for snacking, making almond butter, or making this almond milk, or almond meal…you get the picture. This way I always have soaked nuts at the ready for making milk instead of having to time my soaking and milk making together.

4. If you are doing a food plan like Trim Healthy Mama, a more acceptable proportion is 1/2 cup almonds per 4 cups of water. You can thicken the resultant milk with glucomannan if desired. This recipe is an “S” for THM.

5. Notes on Stevia / other sweeteners. Stevia is very very sweet. You can read here for more information on how to use it. You can omit the sweetener or use another one as desired.

6. Other Milks: You can use this method for making other nut-based milks as well – I personally haven’t made these (mainly since my son is allergic to all nuts except almond and macadamia – and those macadamias are super pricey!) but you could definitely try:

walnut milk
pecan milk
hazelnut milk
cashew milk

7. Sweetener Options: You can substitute any other healthy sweetener for the stevia. If using stevia, see How to Use Stevia.

8. Flavoring Options: For flavorings, chocolate or carob, as well as cinnamon, are great options, but the sky’s the limit!

Ingredients

1 cup almonds
4 cups water
1/32 - 1/16 tsp stevia (optional: see Recipe Notes for sweetener info)
1/2 tsp vanilla (optional; to taste)
dash salt
other flavorings (optional)

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a blender.
Blend 'til smooth. In my Vitamix, I blend for approximately 2-3 minutes. This machine it totally worth it!
Strain milk through a nut milk bag or cheesecloth, if desired. I don't bother - I'm just too busy :-)!
Pour and enjoy.

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About Adrienne

Adrienne Urban is the Founder and Owner of Whole New Mom. She has a background in research, journalism, insurance, employee benefits, financial markets, frugal living, and nutrition. Seeking a better life for herself and her family, she uses research and consults with many physicians and other practitioners to find solutions to the variety of issues they have dealt with including life-threatening food allergies and thyroid and adrenal concerns. WholeNewMom.com is the result of her experiences and knowledge gained throughout the process. Posts are reviewed and verified by the Whole New Mom team.

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