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!
Easiest Homemade Almond Milk Recipe
Ingredients
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.
What’s your favorite way to use almond milk?
Hi Adrienne,
I love your recipes and how you give so many options on things!
Have you ever tried making this with slivered or sliced almonds? I bought a huge bag of sliced almonds at Costco and thought of making my own almond milk or flour. Do you think soaking and dehydrating would be beneficial with either of these?
On a separate note, I help open minded people clear their allergies for good, whether they are food, airborne, or seasonal allergies. I won’t list my website here as I wouldn’t want to seem promotional. I just love helping people live allergy free lives! 🙂
Hello there. Yes, that would work but if there is no skin I don’t see how the soaking would help.
Feel free to email me about the success you have had with the things that you do. Thank you. adrienne {at} wholenewmom {dot} com.
Even easier: No need to soak the almonds! For a richer consistency, 1 cup raw nuts to 3 cups water. Nutribullet works just as well as VitaMix for this. Even a regular blender will work. For a sweet “whipped cream” style:: 20 dates, 1 cup raw nuts (cashew and macadamia give smoother result than almonds) and 1 1/2 – 2 C water depending on size and dryness of dates. Vanilla Extract optional. Fresh nutmeg creates a “nog” flavor. I would leave out the salt.
You’re right. But the soaking does take care of the phytates. Love the whipped cream idea!!!
I’m happy to consume the phytates after viewing the related videos on NutritionFacts.org. But for the smoothest possible, creamiest consistency, soaking does make a difference. Thanks for the nice blog!
Oh interesting. What are you referring to re: the videos? Thanks for the kind words!
where do you get almonds for $4 a pound? The cheapest I can find is $10
Prices have increased since that post but you can shop at the place I recommend in this post and get 10% off – they’re less than $10 / lb. https://wholenewmom.com/reaching-out/almonds-health-salmonella-food-pasteurizatio/
You say: “I don’t use organic almonds b/c I think they are low down on the totem pole of contamination, but I hear your concern.” Is that a fact or your opinion? If it’s a fact, where did you get your information? I’ve been researching for months and I can’t find out if I should buy organic nuts and seeds and if not then where can I find ones that have the least amount of pesticides? I’m really only trying to find out about almonds, pecans, sunflower kernels and black walnuts. I can’t find any sunflower kernels grown in the United States and the others I don’t know what the best growing conditions should be.
I’m also interested in finding an organic fair trade coffee and I can’t even find a place to start my research. The one site that I’ve found has a list of about 50 different brands of organic fair trade coffee, but I don’t know how to start narrowing that list down because I’ve never bought fair trade coffee.
Hi there. It’s my opinion. I buy the “dirty dozen” in organic form as much as possible and I don’t bother w/ organic nuts typically.
Check out EWG’s site and that’s where I get some of my information. I don’t know how to research what would have the least or the most pesticides.
Maybe I should look more :).
As for organic fair trade coffee, I don’t drink coffee anymore due to adrenal issues (though I do drink decaf occasionally). What are you hoping to figure out? I have seen it available all over the place so I would think that you should be able to find a good option fairly easily.
Does that help?
If organic is about 1.5 times conventional I might buy it.
I’ve been to the EWG site, the only thing they cover is fruits and vegetables.
With the coffee, the site I found with the big list (it’s at least 50 different ones, probably closer to 100), the price range is sooo far apart and it doesn’t say (of course) in the name of the coffee if they carry “middle of the road” coffee, which is what I want. I’m relying on coffee for my antioxidants and I just want a medium roast, no bells and whistles. I thought, (after I searched and searched) that I would just go to amazon and get some ideas there with the reviews but amazon has a slim slim selection of fair trade organic coffees.
I’m sorry – I forgot about that. I don’t know how to evaluate coffee–maybe ask your friends or call a few companies and go w/ the one you feel the best about?
Deans Beans!!! Best Organic Coffee and best for the people and planet. Reasonable prices for the best quality on the planet.
I have always heard that the skins of the almonds are not good because of the lectins. (Lectins are what plants use to protect themselves from predators. Lectins in plants can cause some people major problems). I drop my almonds in boiling water for just a few seconds and the skins pop right off. Does this affect the almond? What is your opinion about the skins?
Here is some info on that: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/soaking-nuts-seeds/
Your almonds wouldn’t be raw, however, so you would lose some beneficial enzymes.
I may have missed this in glancing over the comments, but how long does this keep in the refrigerator?
I can’t really make shelf life claims but I would think about 4 days at least – similar to store bought milks.
Hi…love your blog. Thank you so much for all the info you give us. Have you ever bought the broken & whole almonds from “Just Almonds?” They are considerably cheaper…doesn’t say what type they are. If I’m adding a sweetener to my milk, almond butter, etc. the sweeter almonds might not be needed. What do you think? I haven’t checked with GPDB yet. We are moving towards dairy free, & buy Silk milk now, but I don’t like the extra thickeners in it. I want to try the almond butter way of making the milk.Thanks for your help.
Thanks! I haven’t but that’s a good idea. Are they the non pareil variety for better taste?
I would think JA would be cheaper than GPDB but you can check. GPDB only has small containers of nuts.
Where do you get almonds at $4/pound?
I just got a discounted price but they have skyrocketed this month due to the drought.
Ah, was so excited to place an order and use my coupon code, but then the SHIPPING PRICES were out of this world. Oh well. So much for saving.
I am sorry you feel that way. I bought a larger amount to make it even out – maybe try that? Price are apparently going to skyrocket soon so it’s a good time to stock up.
An even easier almond milk – just the almonds and water! I like to use almond milk in smoothies anyway, so I don’t need to add flavoring. Another cool thing I have done when not pressed for time – I pour the almond milk through a fine mesh bag (sometimes sold as nut milk bags or as re-usable produce shopping bags) and let the solids just hang for a day or so over a drip bowl (I wrap the string around an upper cabinet knob to keep it in place. Others wrap a chunk of the bag around a wooden spoon that is long enough to rest on two sides of the drip bowl). The resulting, lightly fermented product is a lot like cream cheese!
I’ve heard about that as well!
I love homemade almond milk! I haven’t decided on the perfect sweetener, bc maple and agave are just so delicious and easy and I hate the stevia taste… But I want to try dates at some point, but do they change the consistency?
Unfortunately bc of the cost of organic almonds its much more cost effective to get whole foods organic almond milk, but I still love doing a batch of my own now and again.
I soak mine overnight, drain out the water (using it to water our plants), blend them with 3 cups of water (in my ninja bullet which works fantastically for this and was way cheaper than the vitamix which was well outside my budget!), strain, mix the pulp with another cup or two of water, strain again, sweeten, and then try not to drink it all at once! I’ve also tried pistachios and oh my gosh was that delicious too! I froze the pulp and when I have enough ill turn it into almond flour which is WAY expensive to buy in the store!
Can’t wait to make it again now, and try out some of your other recipes too!
I think you would use so few dates that the consistency change would be minimal.
I don’t use organic almonds b/c I think they are low down on the totem pole of contamination, but I hear your concern.
Pistachio milk–yum!!!!!
I have an almond flour idea coming up soon as well – stay tuned :).
You are vague on the “flavoring”. What do you use for chocolate flavoring? Actual cocoa powder? Something else?
Whatever you like :). I would lean towards plain cocoa or cacao.
Hi!
This sounds so simple and great!
I only have one question: where do you buy almonds $4/lbs????
Check out http://www.justalmonds.com and use my coupon code – WNM to get 10% off :).
why on earth would you dehydrate the almonds after soaking? i’ve made almond milk for years. that just seems crazy. you should definitely change that! 🙂
Hey Alexis. I do it w/ all of my nuts so that I have them on hand for whatever I need them for. Then I grab them for snacking, making butter, making milk or making meal or flour. That way I don’t have to time my soaking around when I need milk – make sense :)?
I looked up the Just Almonds site and saw that there are several types of almonds to choose from. Which one do you recommend for making almond milk?
Thanks!
I use non pareil for everything. They are the sweetest.
This is a GREAT THM S drink. Thanks for linking at Trim Healthy Tuesday!
Hi Adrienne!
Do you peel your almonds? That is one thing that has always kept me from making my own almond milk. With 3 kids 4 and under, peeling seems like it would just be one.more.thing to do. Ha! Thanks!
Hi there! No, I never do. Not time for that. But my youngest sometimes likes to pull the skins off and eat them that way. There are some places where I’ve seen it written that it doesn’t take much time, but it sure does in my opinion. Try it and see what you think!
Our naturopath stated that store-bought almond milk uses almonds that were first washed in Benzine. We never bought almond milk again, but have made it since then.
Amazing how much damage we can do to our food before injesting it. 🙁
Gross.
I’ve found that I love my almond milk simple – almonds & water (though if I go with store-bought it has to be chocolate – I can’t stand the plain store-bought!). I do strain mine (twice, once through a fine mesh reusable produce bag and the second time through a metal coffee filter- I just don’t like a pulpy texture!). I then spread the pulp onto a stone or cookie sheet and put in the oven (lowest setting) to dry out – I’ll use my dehydrator next time – didn’t have it last time I made almond milk. I grind it up once it’s dry for ‘flour’. I made a really delicious cookie (adapted the classic Tollhouse recipe) using part almond flour and part all-purpose and subbing some of the butter with coconut oil – not a fluffy cookie, but very tasty!
I’d love to get that recipe – yum! If you’d be so kind to email it to me at wholenewmom at gmail I would be so grateful. Do you find it to be hard to wash the produce bag?
I would love to figure out the nutritional info, but, not sure how. I do use a nut bag so I can dehydrate the solids for almond meal flour. I’m using it for my strawberry smoothies and chocolate smoothies. Doing low carb and have to figure out the calories, carbs, etc. any suggestions anyone??
I don’t know…..I’ve thought about adding nutritional info….I’ll see if there’s a way to do that. Thanks. But not sure what I would do about taking out the solids…
I love the almond milk recipe! I now make it regularly in my vitamix. I read somewhere that you can dry the pulp in the oven and then make almond butter out of it. I tried last night, but it was just almond flour flying around in the vitamix! That’s fine…I’ll use it…but just wondering if anyone has had success making almond butter from the pulp. Or, maybe I should try it the other way around…grind almonds into butter, then make some milk from a little of that? Has anyone used the vitamix for nut butters? Any tips? Thanks!
I think you could for sure make milk from the butter. I do it all the time – you must have missed that post :). I’ve seen the pulp used for other things, but not for making butter. Here’s my recipe for Almond Butter.
You may have a problem making the almond butter from the pulp because in the process you have already extracted a good portion of the fat to make the milk. You can however use almond butter to make milk.
As the almonds get ground in either a high speed blender, or food processor, it releases the oils. This is what turns it from meal to butter. Even though I do have a Vitamix, that I use everyday, I use my Cuisinart food processor for making my almond butter. Because the Almonds need to be processed (blended) more than other nuts or legumes (ie peanuts, walnuts, even coconut,) I have found that the Vitamix heats it up so much that it is smoking before it is done. I dont get that with the food processor, but after using several different brands, the Cuisinart one was the only brand that I could go from whole dried (must be dehydrated) almonds to butter without having to grind it first.
Your vitamix is smoking or is it steam? I have thought about using the food processor just to keep the butter raw. Not sure if it technically would be in the food processor.
I followed the link to buy almonds you have posted on your site. The price per pound is good, but shipping is huge! Paying $20 for shipping raises the price too much. Do you know of any other places to buy almonds? So far the best price I have found is $8 per pound. For now, it is much less expensive to buy almond milk. Thanks for your help!
20 for shipping? how much were you buying?
Thanks for the fast reply! $20 was just for the smallest amount I could buy, 1 pound. If I entered more the shipping went up. It could be because I live in Missouri. I had to enter my zip code for it to calculate shipping to me.
So far I’m still using soy milk because it’s all I can find without carrageenan or fillers. I’ve been looking for a good price for almonds for months. So far the lowest price I’ve found will make homemade milk 3 times as expensive as store bought. I’m still looking…
I’m thinking if you order a decent amount the shipping will be more reasonable. I know shipping has gone up a TON. Try maybe ordering about 15-20 pounds and see what happens. I just ordered a lot from them and shipping was reasonable for a large amount.
Thanks for your help. I tried buying more and the shipping just kept going up. I’ll just keep looking for someplace.
Sure- you could call them. i was very pleased w/ the shipping rate I got. 🙂
Hello Adrienne
I am just wanting you to know that I absolutely love your FB updates and website!!! I am city girl born and bred and never have grown/made anything from scratch. However after reading your articles you have made me really motivated to be more frugal and healthy.
The reasons for this is that I have been advised I get Candida and need to eatch my wheat, dairy and sugar and because I became a mummy 6 monts ago and am pregnant with my next bubba – and so want my family and I to be super healthy and of course happy!!!
I love the fact that it is time saving – because if the ingredients are too hard to buy and it takes too long to make – my sleep deprived self would just pop it into the “too hard – later” basket, that I never get to empty.
So thanks again – now I just need to allocate some time to going through your site and knowing which ingredients to buy and which products I would like to make.
Keep up the fantastic work and thank you!!!!
This comment really warms my heart. Thank you so much! All starches can be an issue w/ candida and I am learning more and more than heavy metals are an issue as well. Did you see my post on Heavy Metal Toxicity?
Take care and hope to see you around again!