I haven’t mastered this recipe yet, so I wasn’t going to post it until I had made it again–but when it resulted in something drinkable, I was so excited that I couldn’t help but post it!
Making homemade almond milk is another one of my attempts to stick to our New Year’s resolution of generating less waste (you can read more about our resolution here). Graham and I go through about a half-gallon of store-bought almond milk a week, and while the container that it comes in is recyclable here in Mecklenburg County (you can see if your local recycler takes cartons here), it still represents part of our waste stream (while better than going to a landfill or incinerator, recycling still takes energy). Worried about the impact of the over 50 cartons almond milk containers we go through each year, I started looking online to see how difficult it would be to make our own homemade almond milk. I was happy to see that there are several other people who have posted about their experience making almond milk online, and that the recipes don’t seem that difficult to make.
I found that making the almond milk was pretty straight forward, and I didn’t have any problems until I started blending the almonds and water together. Basically I overfilled our little blender, and when I turned it on, liquid started to spew out the top and spread all over the counter! Next time, I think I’ll try blending the almonds and water in two batches, rather then packing them all into one.
After blending, I strained the almond milk and was left with about a cup of ground almond pieces. I think that with a little salt and some fresh herbs, the leftover almonds could make a nice spread for crackers or bread. Please let me know if you have any other ideas for the leftover almonds though—we may have a lot if I make this milk often!
Homemade Almond Milk
Several different recipes severed as the inspiration for this recipe, so I don’t have one to credit, but I don’t think I can call it my own either. Just google “homemade almond milk” for further ideas.
- 1 cup of raw almonds (not roasted or salted)
- 3 cups of water
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2-3 drops of vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon honey (optional)
Put the almonds into a small bowl and cover them with water. Soak the almonds for about 6 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse the almonds.
Put the soaked almonds into a blender and add 3 cups of fresh water (depending on the size of your blender, you may have to blend in batches). Blend until almonds are finely chopped and liquid is creamy and frothy. Blend in the salt, vanilla, and honey.
Strain almond milk into a bowl through a fine mesh strainer lined with a few layers of cheesecloth. If the cheesecloth gets clogged with almond pieces, carefully pick it up by the corners, squeeze out any remaining liquid, and dump the solids into a container. Continue straining the remaining almond mixture. Transfer strained liquid into a jar or covered container and store in the refrigerator.
Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:
| Recipe Report Card | Notes About Recipe Ratings |
|
Tasty Rating Four Chefs (Delicious!) |
It tasted like real almond milk, and we might even like it better than the stuff we usually buy at the store – not as thick or as sweetened. |
|
Easy Rating
Three Easy Chairs (Average Difficulty) |
The cheesecloth and the almond pieces get a little messy, and I did have some problems blending the milk—but overall almond milk was a lot simpler to make than I thought it would be. With a little more practice, I think it will get even easier. Also, be sure to clean off the strainer quickly before the almond pieces dry and get stuck in it. |
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Healthy Rating
Four Apples (Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise) |
Almond milk has a variety of different vitamins and minerals, and is relatively low in fat, which makes it a good alternative to cows milk. Almonds do have a fair amount of calcium, although not as much as you would probably get by drinking cows milk. |
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Green Rating
Four Leaves (Mother Earth Approved) |
The almonds were organic and from the bulk bins at our grocery store. There also will not be a container to throw away or recycle once we are done with this milk! |
Ooh, homemade almond milk. Sounds tasty!
This is awesome. I was about to buy almond milk the other day at the store and noticed there is not a single brand that doesn’t have “natural flavor.” What the heck? It’s really frustrating how many seemingly whole foods have “natural flavors” these days.
Anyway, I’m excited to see that making almond milk looks pretty darn easy. You read my mind for wanting to learn how to do this!
I love the flavor of almond milk and have been meaning to try it. This looks like a very good recipe. After reading your post, I am reminded of a Vitamix demo that I saw recently at Whole Foods. That machine would be totally handy for a recipe like this one.
Great recipe! I LOVE homemade almond milk :), Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters
Great recipe! I would have never thought to make my own almond milk and you have inspired me! Thanks!
I’ve been wanting to try making my own almond milk so this is awesome! I’ve heard you can use the leftover ground almonds to use in baking like almond meal or almond flour after you’ve dried them out, so maybe that’s an option?
Almond milk? Homemade? This look awesome…I am very impressed with it. Looks beautiful!
Hope you have a great week ahead Sally
What a great resolution! Less waste can only be a good thing for our world.
I didn’t know the almond milk could be homemade….thanks for sharing it.
Had no clue you would make almond milk at home. Thanks for sharing. Sounds pretty doable.
Not gonna lie, I go through an OBSCENE amount of almond milk in a week. Cartons. Plural. Definitely need to try this to save money AND waste!
I have never tried almond milk can you imagine? But indeed the procedure seems very staright forward! I think I should try it and see how it goes! Very thoughtful of you to try to decrease your waste Sally!
This looks really great Sally. I am going to try it. No heating involved? Pretty easy, glad you shared this. Have a great day.
Milk cartons are definitely one of the items that end up in the trash. We could recycle them but here in the desert it’s a toss up – use water that we’re in short supply of to rinse the cartons or throw them away. We save the water. I drink 1/2 gallon of almond milk a week and Bobby drinks 1/2 gallon of 1% milk. So making my own almond milk makes since. Did you do a cost comparison? The process looks a lot easier than I though it would be and with a 4 chefs finish – going to have to give it a try.
Hi MJ! That’s a great question. We haven’t done any sort of formal cost comparison, but I think we should. A big factor in the cost is whether we use organic almonds–at our grocery store organic almonds are a few dollars more per pound than conventional. I’ll let you know if we come to any conclusions on the cost of homemade vs. store-bought almond milk.
Oh how interesting! I’ve always wondered how homemade almond milk was done, and now I know!
A friend just recommended a “nut milk bag” instead of cheesecloth, etc. He says they sell them at Rainbow Coop and I’m sure they’re online.
Hi Marta! I agree–the nut milk bag is probably the way to go. I’ve been looking for one around here, but haven’t found one yet. I did try something else that worked really well though…I picked up a pack of unused women’s shoe liners (those little nylon footsie things that you can wear with slip-on shoes) at Target. The elastic around the edge of the liner keeps it in place around the mouth of a mason jar, so you can just pour the milk through that and it filters out the almond meal/pulp without as much mess. Once most of the milk has gone through, you just squeeze out any excess, dump out the remaining pulp, rinse, and reuse.
Hey Sally,
I just saw this and thought of you… a worthy topic for your blog!
http://grist.org/food/ask-umbra-can-i-escape-the-clutches-of-palm-oil/
Make your own margarine?
I found out where you can order the nut milk bags: http://www.vt-fiddle.com. This is what they stock at Rainbow. $8 at Rainbow.