If you’ve ever wanted to make your own dairy-free milk at home, you’ve come to the right place!
Why would you make your own at home? It saves money and allows you to control the flavor, sweetness, and consistency. Plus, fresh always tastes better than store-bought. Not to mention you can custom-blend your favorite nut milks! Think coconut-almond, hemp-macadamia – the options are endless.
Happy dairy-free milk-making!
How to Make Almond Milk – related (Chocolate Almond Milk)
How to Make Cashew Milk (No Straining!)
How to Make Coconut Milk
How to Make Hemp Milk
How to Make Oat Milk
How to Make Rice Milk – related (How to Make Horchata)
How to Make Macadamia Milk
Cashew Coconut Oat Milk (Our Oil-Free Take on Oatly Barista Milk!)
Creamy Coconut Hemp Milk
Creamy Chocolate Hazelnut Milk
Not mentioned but other dairy-free milk options:
Walnut (same quantities as macadamia)
Pecan (same quantities as macadamia)
Flax (similar quantities to hemp, but strain!)
Bruno says
Fantastic guide! A question: what about soy milk?
Thank you for your kind words, Bruno! We haven’t attempted soy milk, but it sounds like it might be worth testing out in the future :)
Bruno says
Thank you :) I have read about soy milk as a non-dairy substitute for milk in several recipes, for example in a modified Indian recipe called “Golden Milk”
Caz says
Tried this and enjoyed .Decided store brought nice but expensive .
We’re glad you enjoyed the homemade version! Thank you for sharing! xo
Nancy Santana says
Can coconut milk or oat milk work well with this cinnamon roll recipe? Which one would be the best flavor wise? Thank you!
Hi Nancy, yes! We would recommend using oat milk if wanting to replace the almond milk in one of our cinnamon roll recipes. Hope that helps!
Lauren S says
Do you have to soak nuts in the fridge or is the counter ok? especially for this soaking overnight. thanks! Experimenting with brazil nut, macadamia, and pistachio soon!
Hi Lauren, soaking in the refrigerator is best to prevent spoiling. We hope you have so much fun experimenting! xo
Andie says
Hi!
Just curious if you’ve ever made an oat flax milk? My daughter is dairy and soy intolerant but I want to make the most nutritious milk I can for her and I think that may be the best combo. Any advice? Also I have ground flax seeds not whole, will that make a difference? Thanks in advance!
Hi Andie, we haven’t, but that’s a great idea as the sweetness of oats should be a nice way to balance the bitterness of flax. Whole flax seeds typically have a better flavor because they go rancid more quickly once ground. We’d recommend brown vs. golden flax seeds for best flavor too. Perhaps try our oat milk recipe as a guide. We’d recommend trying 3/4 cup oats + 1/4 cup flax seeds. Let us know if you try it!
Lizee says
I have similar problems as your daughter, so I just made sesame milk and I must say that was absolutely delicious… I soaked the sesame seeds for about three hours, drained it rinsed it and then put it in my blender with 3 cups of pure water in five minutes a dessert spoon of Light brown sugar, a bit of vanilla, a little bit of black pepper ground and a quarter of a teaspoon of cardamom powder. Apparently that lasts for three days and it’s a real winner. Fi
Ellen L. says
Your sesame milk sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing.
Amanda says
Hi, long time visitor, first time commenter. I love your website and try things from it all the time. I was excited to see this “A Guide to Making Dairy-free Milk” but I was actually disappointed to see that it is just a list of recipes. I feel like it would be very useful to make lists of your recipes for specific purposes. For example: best milks for savory cooking, i.e. cream soups, mashed potatoes, then list the top 3 you would suggest for that application (one coconut based, one nut based and one seed/grain based). For coffee creamer/half and half, for a neutral flavour, for frothing, for making ice cream etc etc. It would help your users find the best milk to use without having to try 12 different recipes. Thanks!!!!
Hi Amanda, sorry to hear it wasn’t what you were looking for and thank you for the suggestion! For the examples you mentioned, we’d suggest this recipe for creamer/half and half and frothing, cashew cream or coconut milk for soups, cashew cream for savory cooking, and canned coconut milk for ice cream. The remaining milks are best for granola, cereal, drinking on their own, or in baking (such as scones). I hope that’s helpful!
Amanda says
This is perfect, thank you so much!!!!
xo!
Yvette says
Hi do you recommend any of the nut milk machines currently on the market? I’m thinking of the Almond Cow.
Hi Yvette, we haven’t experimented with them so don’t have advice, unfortunately!
Katie says
Hi Yvette, I have the Almond Cow and it’s been great for almond milk and any other dairy-free milk where you would normally have to use a nut milk bag. There are loads of other recipes on the almond cow website too that you can try. I love it. But for hemp milk I just use a blender as I don’t bother to strain the seeds.
Amelia says
Lovely recipes…….. Thanks!
When I was trying out all kinds of DF milks I decided to try pumpkin seed milk. That was the best ever, creamy, thick and with lots of protein + more. The only thing was that it only kept 3 days in thw fridge.
Perhaps you can try it and add it to your wonderful list?
💕 from Portugal
We haven’t tried pumpkin seed milk but we’ll add it to our ideas list! Thanks, Amelia! xo
Talah Spillane says
Hello Dana
What ratio would you recommend for hazelnut milk?
Thank you :)
Hi Talah, we’d say 1:3! Let us know how it goes!
Michael Dillon says
Can we make teff milk
We’ve never tried that! Let us know if you do some experimenting!
Kayt says
Can you make milk with rolled barley flakes?
What about a mix of almond & oat? Can they be made together, or do they have to be made separately and then mixed?
You can make almond oat milk! You can use this blend as a loose guide!
layan says
Whenever I make almond milk, it tastes too almondy. idk if im doing smthn wrong because people usually like almond milk for its neutral flavour but i never found it to be so. what’s a good combination or option would you suggest for an everyday milk like for cereal ?
Hi Iayan, store-bought almond milk typically isn’t made with many almonds and instead uses added flavoring. So if that’s what you’re comparing it to, that’s why it tastes stronger. We’d suggest our cashew coconut oat milk. Hope that helps!
Viv says
Yep it’s true its lots of sugar thickener and flavoring so you are just used to a fake, sweet product, it has very few almonds- the store bought.
Laura says
I’m allergic to nuts (including coconut) and need to follow an AIP/Anti-Inflammatory diet so I can’t have rice or oats, etc. What does that leave me for dairy free milk options??!
How about hemp milk?
Erin says
Pea milk! I wonder if you can use this same technique to make pea milk like the brand Ripple?
Georgina Jane Woods says
I’m wanting to learn how to make barley milk….I was sure I could turn to you to know a recipe! 🙏
Sebastian says
What are some dairy-free milks you recommend for cooking in meals like alfredo or such?
We’d suggest cashew or almond. See here and here for reference. Hope that helps!
Tash says
Love all your recipes I’ve tried so far – just perfect thank you!
Just wondering what you do with the leftover pulp… I feel so wasteful throwing them out or even composting each time i make my own milks.. Can you dry it out then blend it to make a ‘flour’ to use in healthy muffins/ cookies ..? Your thoughts..?
Hi Tash, Aw, thanks! Yes, you can! See here and here for more ideas. Hope that helps!
Derek says
Which is best for frothing for coffee?
We find this one works best: https://minimalistbaker.com/cashew-coconut-oat-milk-oil-free/. Hope that helps!
PammyZ says
I love it that you have made these easy recipes available. That is very helpful any day but especially now in middle (I hope) of the covid-19 quarantine, etc. Every store in town including Walmart is out of powdered milk and goats milk. I couldn’t even add baby formula milk to my Walmart cart, they don’t have any. Yikes! Either that or the gods that be just refused to sell me the babies’ food, lol. OK. So I’m no longer looking for it. To save whatever little there is for them I’m glad to do something else.
The something else being nut milks and such, other kinds of non-dairy milk-like beverages. So these are great recipes! The ingredients and directions are not unfamiliar to me, I used to make soy milk the same way. What’s especially great are the details. Both in the recipe and in the comments. It’s nice to know in advance what ratio grains, beans, nuts, etc:milk. 1:3 or 1:4 or small variations of them for most varieties of milk-to-be foods.
I used to make soy milk by soaking the dried, rinsed soybeans in water to cover overnight, then grind and strain the beans. Resulted in soy milk. Of course the biggest problem I had with that was that the milk tasted exactly like what it was made from, raw, uncooked soybeans. Somewhat disappointing, lol. Adding a little honey and vanilla helped. I added small amounts of lemon juice and nutmeg on top of all the rest and it was drinkable and fine in coffee. Not the same as cow’s milk but then beans are not cows.
Thank you again ?
Thanks for sharing, Pammy! We’re so glad you found it helpful!
Pamela says
Thank you for all of these. I’m wondering which milks you most recommend for using as a cow milk alternative in baking, and which you do not recommend for baking? I assume having some fat and protein content is important. Do you bake with any nut/seed milks besides almond?
Hi Pamela, we typically use almond milk in baking as it has a mild flavor. But for recipes where a higher fat content is preferred, coconut milk works well. Hope that helps!
Cindy says
Your recipe looks outstanding would love to learn how to go about making almond/coconut milk???
Hi Cindy, here are the recipes: https://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-almond-milk/, https://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-coconut-milk/
Katie Back says
Hi There,
I love your almond milk recipe. I have been using many of the recipes from the Book that I am loving. Unfortunately, do to what I assume is an overuse of Almond milk over the last year…I became addicted to my morning brew of Herbal Almond Chai Latte…. as well as using almond milk in most any soup that called for cream, and using it to make risotto and other GF pasta sauces….I have developed a terrible allergy to almonds! I was breaking out in Candida like rashes for months, despite my dairy free, GF, low, low sugar, no fruit diet…..
Now I have to figure out what to replace all those yummy recipes with. I am going to try Oat milk.
Any thoughts about developing food allergies to nuts… never had a problem before but I wasnt dependent on them.
Oh it’s totally possible! We can develop allergies to nuts or any food at any time if we’re overexposed. Try this oat milk recipe in the meantime!
Miriyam Glazer says
I just wanted to say how much I love this web site!
Aw, thanks Miriyam!
Aveary Hamilton says
Can’t wait to try all these!! Eliminating preservatives and processed junk from mine and my sons diet.
Alliya says
Oh wow!!! That happened to my sister as well and she is now a total convert to Oatmilk
Anna says
How do you make condensed vegan milk?
Hi Anna, we have never tried it and don’t know for sure! We have heard that it can be cooked down in an oven or crockpot with the lid closed. We would recommend looking for a recipe though.
Melanie says
I’ve heard you can take the almond pulp from almond milk and make it into flour. Is it possible to do this with other kinds of homemade vegan milks as well?
We haven’t tried with other non-dairy milks and can’t say for sure, but we think it would work!
Soumya says
Hi. Can i replace date with sugar, if it’s not handy? What other alternates can i use for a date?
Hi Soumya, a liquid sweetener such as maple syrup would be best as the sugar may not dissolve well. Let us know if you give it a try!
Cora says
I use sucanat in almond milk and blend on high speed – works like a charm.
Kallie says
I do to. But I add a pinch of sugar.
Marie says
This was my first try making coconut milk. Delish. I have made cashew and soy milk, but didn’t much like it. I will be using this in all my recipes! Thank you.
Thanks so much for the lovely review, Marie. We are so glad you enjoyed it! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! xo
carolyn says
Which of these nut milks is the sweetest and creamiest?
We would say coconut milk! Hope that helps!
Anne says
Awesome recipe Dana! Love all of your combinations. I’m struggling to make flax milk though do you have a recipe suggestion? Also where did you get those black labels?
Sandi says
I so appreciate all of these. It really bothers me how many dairy alternatives have palm oil in them. Not sure why this isn’t a bigger thing in the veggie community? Save the cows but kill the orangutans, tigers and elephants instead?
Making alternative milk at home bypasses that horrible industry. I am loving feeling so empowered!
Phyllis says
I didn’t know about the effects of palm oil. I, too, am enjoying ways to prepare tasty food while watching my foot print. My cousin turned me onto the wonderful Minimalist Baker.
Amy Stancuna says
Thank you so much for this recipe. I appreciate that you replied back to me too! I would give this 5 stars for the recipe. I am now making the almond milk regularly and have saved the nut residue for the cheese recipe using probiotics. Thanks again!
Amy says
I was wondering if you peeled the almonds. I did not. I also kept the water that I soaked them in overnight and added it to the blender. It was super tasty and sweet! Do you do that too? I almost wish I had not added the salt. It seems to have changed the sweetness.
Can I make nut cheese from the almond leftovers?
Sydney says
I have just discovered an untapped love for pistachios and have been experimenting with them all over. Thoughts on a pistachio milk or ratios for that?
Allison says
Can peanut milk be made? I have had a hard time finding raw peanuts and was curious if it was even possible to make. I have not seen it in stores anywhere either.
Hi Allison! Yes you can, I would follow this recipe!
Aphroditise says
I’ve been trying to recreate the Reese’s cup coffee creamer but to no success. I never thought to make peanut milk. I’m going to work on this ASAP!!!
Hollie says
I always have cashews on hand so I typically make cashew milk but it always goes bad after 2 days, do you have any advice?
Hi Hollie! Hmm homemade cashew milk should last 3-4 days in a covered container in the refrigerator. I would recommend making it in small batches if you are not getting through it in that timeframe to avoid waste!
Chrysti says
You could also try pouring into an ice tray and freezing until ready for use.
Tecia Black says
I was wondering how would I make “faux buttermilk” with almond milk for a recipe? Vinegar? lemon? I was searching your ” how to” part of the website and so far I couldn’t find a recipe or know what the calculations would be.
Hi! Place 1 tablespoon lemon juice, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar in a measuring cup. Add enough non-dairy milk (of your choosing) until it reaches the 1-cup line; stir with a fork or whisk. Allow mixture to rest for 5-10 minutes. Hope this helps!
Tricia says
I just made almond milk for the first time and loved it! But unfortunately it spoiled in less than 48 hours. Any advice for keeping it fresh longer? I used a Nutribullet, so the milk did heat up quite a bit in blending. Does that matter? How about the length of time the almonds are soaked?
Thanks for the recipe!
Maria says
I love all your recipes. I am not even vegan, and find myself trying them. I have only made almond milk, but will try your other dairy free milk recipes. Can You Please share where you bought that beautiful vintage glass jar?
Hi Maria! It’s from Weck!
S. says
The vintage bottle Is not Weck. It is available on amazon.
Niclas says
Love this soo much. Thank you for all the great content you put up!
Leticia says
Brazil but is poisonous em large quantities (due to selenium)
Sonia says
Thanks for that!! I was thinking the Brazil sounded good, but I didn’t know that!
Hey! Thanks for sharing. I’ve changed it to Walnut just to be safe, but have heard of people making brazil nut milk!
Melissa says
Brazil nut milk I’ve heard and read is super healthy for you. we drink it all the time and bake with it. I’ve read that selenium is good for you.
Edouard says
Selenium is good for you, but only in limited amount. One to two Brazil nuts a day is enough to cover your needs.