Using just oats and water you can make and enjoy this cheap and delicious Homemade Oat Milk! Pour it over cereal, use it for baking or drink it straight!
We love non-dairy milk in our house. Whether it's homemade almond milk, homemade soy milk, walnut milk or today's recipe for homemade oat milk, we are down for a chilly glass anytime of day! Oat milk and chocolate oat milk are probably our favorite milks to make at home as they are super tasty, nutritious and incredibly inexpensive! Pour this oat milk over some homemade bran flakes and you'll have a delicious, all homemade breakfast!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe!
- Non-dairy milk is getting pretty expensive when purchased at the grocery store, but this homemade oat milk is incredibly inexpensive! It's probably the cheapest non-dairy milk you can make at home!
- This milk works perfectly in baking. It's my go-to milk to use whenever I'm making vegan pancakes or muffins as it saves me lots of money to use a couple cups of homemade oat milk instead of a store-bought non-dairy milk.
- Making oat milk at home takes about 5 minutes from start to finish! There have been times when I didn't realize I was out of non-dairy milk and I was able to whip up this oat milk in minutes.
Ingredients
- Rolled Oats - I personally like to use rolled oats when making oat milk at home, but quick oats could also work. Don't use steal cut oats!
- Cold water - If you've ever made oatmeal, then you how oats thicken as they heat up. For this reason I like to use super cold water whenever I'm making this recipe. If you use water water and let your blender blend too long, your oat milk will start to thicken and become slimy!
- Pinch of salt - While it's not necessary, I always like to add a pinch of salt to my homemade non-dairy milks. Especially if you're adding some kind of sweetener, the salt helps to bring out the sweetness.
Variations
- Sweetened Oat Milk - You can blend in some dates, maple syrup, coconut sugar, etc. to make sweetened homemade oat milk.
- Flavors - I love to add in a touch of vanilla extract whenever I have it on hand to make vanilla oat milk. Yum!
- Chocolate Oat Milk - Add in 1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to make Chocolate Oat Milk...yum! You could even add in some peppermint extract to make a festive peppermint chocolate milk.
Homemade Oat Milk vs. Homemade Almond Milk
Both oat milk and almond milk are delicious, but there are some pros and cons to both, especially if you make them at home.
Homemade Oat Milk
- Pros - Making oat milk at home is super affordable and can be made in just about 5 minutes because you don't have to soak the oats ahead of time.
- Cons - You can't warm up homemade oat milk or use it in things like coffee or hot chocolate.
Homemade Almond Milk
- Pros - Homemade almond milk can be warmed up and therefore can be used to make almond milk hot chocolate or can be poured into hot coffee without it thickening.
- Cons - If you have access to a store that sells nuts in bulk and if you turn your almond pulp into almond flour, then you might find that Homemade Almond Milk is economical and worth your time, but otherwise almond milk is a lot more expensive to make than oat milk. Homemade almond milk also takes a lot more time to make as you need to soak your almonds for at least a few hours or overnight before making almond milk.
How to Make Oat Milk
Step 1: Pour the oats, cold water, and any optional ingredients into your blender.
Step 2: Blend all of the ingredients on high until smooth, only about 10-30 seconds. Be careful not to blend too long as you don't want the oat milk to get warm.
Step 3: Strain the oat milk by pouring it through a nut milk bag (or cheese cloth) into a pitcher or bowl.
Step 4: Use your hands to squeeze the milk out of your nut milk bag. Once no more milk is coming out, you can discard the oat pulp or save it for another use.
Expert Tips
- Use cold water to make homemade oat milk. The colder your oat milk stays, the less slimy it will be.
- Don't blend the oats and water too long. To be honest, using a Vitamix, I only blend the milk for about 10-20 seconds. If you don't have a high speed blender, you may need to blend a little bit longer, but not much. If you blend the oats too long, the mixture will start to warm up and thicken.
- Always shake your oat milk before using it as the oats will separate from the water and settle on the bottom of the container.
- Don't heat up homemade oat milk! Because there are still lots of oat particles in this homemade milk, if you heat it up it will thicken and get slimy and goopy. I only recommend enjoying this oat milk cold or using it for baking.
Storage
Because homemade oat milk doesn't have any strange thickeners or preservatives, it won't last as long as store-bought oat milk. However, this oat milk is so tasty that I'm sure it won't last long in your fridge anyways! To store homemade oat milk, place it an a sealed jar or container and store it in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Shake the oat milk thoroughly before using it as the oats and water will separate as they sit.
Recipe FAQs
One downside to homemade oat milk is that it will thicken up when you heat it. Even though you can strain the oat milk to remove the excess oat pulp, there are still super-fine oat particles in the oat milk. Heating the milk causes those fine particles to thicken, as if you were cooking oatmeal on the stove.
I haven't tried this with oat milk, but I have made barista almond and cashew milk by adding ¼ teaspoon of xanthum gum and 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to the blender with the raw nuts and water. The xanthum gum and oil help to emulsify all of the ingredients and produce a thicker non-dairy milk that doesn't separate when poured into hot drinks such as coffee or tea.
While homemade oat milk will thicken when warmed up over the stove top, I have found that the heat from baking doesn't affect it. I don't know how many times I've started baking something only to realized that I don't have enough non-dairy milk to complete the recipe. That's when I quickly whiz up some oat milk!
While I don't think homemade oat milk is great heated in large quantities (remember the oatmeal reference??), I have had readers comment that it works great in small quantities in their coffee or tea. Instead of heating it, just add a splash to your hot coffee or tea and enjoy!
If you're looking for an oat milk that tastes good in coffee and can get frothy for lattes, I highly recommend Oatly. However, if you just need a cheap, non-dairy milk for baking or smoothies, try making homemade oat milk!
Homemade oat milk is already really inexpensive, but you can make even more bang for your buck by saving the oat pulp and using it in other recipes.
I haven't experimented a ton with oat pulp, but you can always cook it similarly to oatmeal or add it to smoothies for some added whole grains and fiber. You can even make Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pulp Cookies!
More Homemade Milk Recipes
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
📖 Recipe
Homemade Oat Milk
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3 cups cold filtered water
OPTIONAL
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 Medjool dates
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Pour the oats, water and any optional ingredients into your blender and blend on high until smooth.*
- Strain the oat milk by pouring it through a nut milk bag (or cheese cloth) into a pitcher or bowl. Use your hands to squeeze the milk out of your nut milk bag. Once no more milk is coming out, you can discard the oat pulp. Refrigerate your oat milk until chilled.
- Store your oat milk in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Shake thoroughly before using.
Rani says
Thank you so much for this! Cheaper, and dare I say, better than the supermarket alternatives.
Faith says
Ah so happy to hear that Rani! Thanks so much for sharing!
Sayema says
I've just made it and it's so much more creamer and delicious than the shop bought uht cartons. Where I live, all uht type milk, whether it's goat's, almond, soy or oats milk, seem to be the same price, but a box of oats costs pittance! So making mine makes so much sense! I made a face mask with a bit of the pulp, honey and Kefir and hoping to salvage the rest to put in my homemade soaps. If I had a bath tub, I'd have dumped it in the bath since I don't like wasting anything. Thank you faith for the recipe ☺
Faith says
Ah, this is music to my ears Sayema!! So glad you like it and that you have so many awesome ideas for the pulp. Love how resourceful you are! Thanks so much for sharing!
Chris says
I just made this at lunch time. It tastes great. My daughter loved it and so did my thirteen year old son.
Really creamy. I have always made almond milk, but this beats it no problem. Cheaper too.
After I strained the milk, I took the pulp and put it into a pot, I then added one cup of water and some dried cranberries. Cooked it for about five minutes on medium heat. Thickened up real nice and was so tasty. Mmmmmm.
Have a great day!
Chris Turner (Edmonton. Canada).
Faith says
Hey Chris! That's great news! I'm so glad you liked it, and your daughter too. Also, I'm definitely going to do the same thing you did with the pulp. Brilliant!
Chris says
Thanks Faith for the recipe. I would never have thought of Oatmeal milk. Tastes so rich and creamy too.
Considering that I always have oatmeal for breakfast anyway. This morning I did the same thing. This time, though, I added some diced apple. Maybe tomorrow I'll add some pineapple, with a wee bit of the pineapple juice in place of half the water. Now, instead of just having oatmeal for breakfast, I now have an oatmeal drink for during the day. It's great on such a snowy day here in Edmonton. All it costs me extra is, 3-cups of water, vanilla, salt and a wee drop of cinnamon. Wonderful!
Have a wonderful day!
Chris says
Sorry, I forgot to mention. In the past, when I've made bread, from time to time I've added a cup of oatmeal to the flour, just to get the kids to eat oatmeal. I was thinking when making bread with the pulp left over from the milk. You could always add the pulp to the liquid part of your recipe. You know, with the water and yeast. Mix it around real good before you add it to the flour.No wastage.
Faith says
Such a great idea Chris! I love oatmeal bread too. Adding the pulp would probably produce such an amazing texture and oat-y flavor! Let me know if you try it out and if it works for you!
Faith says
Yum! All those combination sound amazing and you're exactly right. It's getting chillier and chillier so it's always nice to have a creamy drink or warm oats to eat!
Mateja Nosan says
Hello,
This really is a great, quick, cheap and simple recipe, turned out delicious! Especially good for overnight oats and smoothies. Thank you!
After some trial and error, I find the best combination that works for our family is to add a pinch of salt, use maple syrup instead of dates and also add a tablespoon of sunflower seed oil - the oil really enhances the taste.
Faith says
Hi Mateja! Ah, that's great news! I'm so glad you like this recipe and have found was to make it more your own and that works for your family. Thanks for letting me know!!
Lia de Ruiter says
Thanks so much for this recipe. I just made it and love it. I love the taste of oats, so that is not a problem for me.
I would add a pinch of salt to enhance the taste. Next time I will do that.
Faith says
Ah, so good to hear! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and let me know! Great idea on the salt!
Steve Clement says
Hi, Faith, thanks for the recipe and the whole idea. We use this primarily in smoothies we make with kale, bananas, watermelon, and numerous other greens. It forms the liquid base of the drink. We had used the pricey boxed almond and oat milk previously and had to find a cheaper alternative. But because it is all from scratch, your milk is of course so much better for us, too. We don't strain it, for like you said, the Vitamix really leaves almost nothing to strain. It would not matter in such a smoothie, anyway, and oat fiber is so great for you. Thanks again. Have you published your version of bran flakes yet?
Faith says
I'm so glad you're enjoying this recipe/concept Steve! I got a soy milk maker recently so haven't been using it as much, but it really is such a cheap and easy way to get milk in a pinch! Thanks for sharing your success! And I do have my bran flakes recipe up on the blog. Just search "bran flakes" and you'll be sure to find it! Others that have made them have really like them so I hope you can try them out as well! Thanks again for commenting!
Suzy says
I've been drinking oat milk on my home made granola for years and love it! But I've always made it with steel cut oats that have been soaked overnight. I stumbled in here because I want to use the milk to make yogurt but your "don't heat" warnings have me worried. Do you think using steel oats makes a difference? Or should I ditch the yogurt idea all together. Thanks!!
Faith says
Hey Suzy!! That's a good question that I don't fully know the answer to. Since it's so cheap to make, if you have the time you might as well give it a try! I've only heated it up trying to make hot chocolate and it turned thick on me, so I thought I would leave a little warning:)
Deyra says
Wow!! Amazing!! I wanted mine more creamier so I only used 1 1/2 cup of water (plus I need a bigger blender) and After the blender I used a hand food processor and then I strained it! And then I added the stevia (had only in powder) and mixed it again! Ufff amazing! Thanks for the recipe! Next time I will make a whole batch!!
Faith says
Ah yay Deyra! This is great news! So glad you like it and that you found a ratio that works well for you!
Dina says
Thanks! I think I like this for drinking on its own and cold cereal better than any of the other plant milks. This is going to be *much* nicer than having almond milk in shelf stable cartons in my pantry.
Faith says
Hi Dina! That's so great to hear! I'm glad you enjoy this Oat Milk. Thanks for sharing!
Sarah says
Hi, I LOVE this recipe! I have made it many times. I'm a blogging newbie and thought I'd let you know I linked to your recipe 🙂 It really helped me to cut out dairy at the start as non-dairy milks were not very cheap here. Didn't know you could make milk from oats before I saw this. Thanks!
Faith says
Sarah that's awesome!! So glad it helped and glad you're spreading the word!
Sarah says
Didn't actually manage to add the right link did I. I'm too new at this haha. Hope it works now..in case you want to check it out 🙂
Faith says
Ah I do stuff like that too! I will! Thanks Sarah:)
Zélie says
I love oat milk! This is my favourite kind of milk. But I will stick to the store-bought one because it is fortified with calcium and vitamins. Nice recipe, though. 🙂
Why cannot it be heated up? Does it transform into a kind of smooth porridge?
Faith says
Oat milk is so great isn't it?! And yes, when you hear it up it gets thick and goopy...not a pretty site!
Ashley says
JUST made this! I have never tried Oat Milk in my life and have always wanted to make it, now, I finally did it 🙂 Thanks so much for your recipe! It is currently chilling in the fridge, cant wait to have a glass! SO MUCH cheaper than anything else! I do however prefer Almond Milk, but this is a nice add!
Have an amazing day <3
Faith says
Awesome Ashley!! I hope t works for you! I too love almond milk, but this is such a good, cheap alternative!
RoseMarie says
Why not add oat milk to the almond milk a little at a time and add more each time you make it? You'll slowly end up all oat milk. In the meantime, you're cutting the cost of your almond milk and developing a taste for all oat milk. That's what I'm going to do with cow's milk to quit drinking it. I tried almond milk and soy milk and both seems to have sweet undertones and vanilla. I don't like them. I want something that tastes like real milk. I'm going to slowly add oat milk (with salt, no sweetener nor vanilla) to cow's milk to quit drinking cow's milk.
Because of trying to go vegan or vegetarian--whichever it is that still uses eggs and milk--I quit meat, poultry, and fish but, haven't been 100% successful YET. I occasionally buy milk or eggs but, would like to quit milk totally, too. The oat milk reduction should help me with that. (I used that method when I quit sugar for sweetener in my gallon of tea, then reversed that when the horror stories came out about sweeteners). The slow exchange of one for the other works great for me.
Anyway, that's what I'm going to try. Maybe it will help others, too.
Faith says
Thanks for sharing RoseMarie!!
Laura says
Yummm!!! I just made oat milk earlier today! So creamy and delicious and a nice change up from almond milk. I add a bit of cinnamon to mine and it's quite nice!
Faith says
Cinnamon is a great idea Laura! Thanks for sharing!
Nora says
Do you strain your oat milk? The photo looks so creamy, I would like to prepare it the way you do.
Faith says
Yes! But I've heard that you can enjoy it unstrained as well. It kind of depends on the power of your blender and how you like your milk. My vitamix blends it up pretty well so that there isn't much to strain. My old blender though definitely let me get a lot of pulp out to make is smoother. I hope that help! You can always try both ways and see what you like since it's so cheap to make!
Nancy says
Delicious! I tried your recipe last week. It turned out great. I use it to make my oatmeal in the morning. It tastes so good with that bit of vanilla. I'm making it again today, but with honey instead of the dates this time. Thanks!
Faith says
That's awesome Nancy! Thanks for sharing!!
ilana says
Hey, I've been trying all sorts of non-dairy milks and this looks great! Does it go well with coffee? That's my main concern... I mean, will it clog or separate or something?
Faith says
Hey Iliana! That's awesome you've been experimenting with non-dairy milks. There are so many variations! I find that oat milk should be heated up, other wise it gets thick, and we don't want that. I'm not sure what adding it to hot coffee would do, but I think cashew milk or soy milk would be better. I have recipes for those on my blog so check them out!
Jerica says
I just added mine to somehow tea and it was fine 🙂
Faith says
Good to know! Yeah, adding it to things already warmed up and removed from heat doesn't seem to thicken it which is great! Thanks Jerica!
Michelle R says
Beautiful photos indeed! Do you not soak your oats prior to blending? Perhaps this will save me time.
Faith says
Thank you so much Michelle! I don't soak them because oats are naturally soft, but I'm sure it wouldn't hurt! As long as you don't soak them too long:)
Anthony says
In really excited to try this! Is there a specific brand of nut bag you might recommend from Amazon for making this? Also, why do you do with the left over pulp from the blended oats? I'd imagine that, once dry, you might use it as oat flour!
Faith says
Cool Anthony! It's so easy to make and a really cheap version of non-dairy milk. Just don't heat it up! It will get gelatinous:) This bag (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00KLT6X9W/ref=pd_aw_sbs_79_1?refRID=1KYRZ0FCX6AYKCJQYGDM) from Amazon has great reviews as do others. I don't think you can go too wrong! I usually don't do much with the pulp, but I'm sure you can dehydrate it on the lowest setting in your oven for a few hours and then blend it in a processor to make flour. Or you can add a few tablespoons into your smoothies for extra fiber! This milk is awesome for baking too, especially when you're in a pinch. Hope it works for you!
Sherri says
Can you really use the oatmeal milk to bake with? Does it change the texture of the food in a negative way?
Faith says
I use it all the time to bake Sherri! If I'm in the middle of baking and realize I don't have milk, I just whip up some oat milk in my blender and use it!
Anne says
Oat milk is much better for our bee population almond plantations are cruel to bees as they offer no diversity and call for large population of bee to carted round and not a lot of thought is given to there well being
Faith says
I didn't know that Anne! Thanks for commenting!
Annie says
Looks so creamy and fabulous!
Faith says
Oh it is Annie! We love it with the vanilla and dates too:)
Leigha @ The Yooper Girl says
Girl! Your pictures are fantastic! Did you say you got a new camera? If so, which one?? I've been wanting to try making almond milk but I don't want to spend so much on almonds... can't wait to give oat milk a try! I think I would like the subtle taste of the oats 🙂
Faith says
Thanks Leigha! Yeah, Brett and I took the plug and got one...so fun! We got a Canon EOS Rebel SL1. It's super light weight and I'm slooooowly learning how to use it:) Yeah, almond milk is cheaper for me to buy in the store so I'm so glad I discovered oat milk! We love making it with the vanilla and dates (or any sweetener). Soon I'll be posting a chocolate oat milk recipe that we also can't get enough of. Let me know if you try it!