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!
Jump To
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.
Om says
This is phenemenol. Love the story leading into the recipe. One of my favorite sweetners is made out of apples called "Dolcedi." Thought to offer that info.
Faith says
Thanks so much for sharing!
Jeanette Schandelmeier says
Please, please, use organic oats. Most non-gmo grains (oats, wheat and barley in particular) are sprayed with glyphosate (Roundup) 7-10 days before harvest - to "dessicate" them.
Faith says
Thanks for sharing Jeanette!
lekawa says
Just had this random idea to make a nut/seed/grain milk for ultra-complete vegan protein combo. Thought of, possibly, almond-sunflower-oat milk. My Google search for a recipe is what brought me here. I am soooo gonna try this as soon as I finish commenting. I make my own almond milk and have just gotten used to throwing 1 1/4 cup of almonds into some water as soon as my last bottle of almond milk is down to it's last cup. Because they have to soak for 8 hrs, I can either do this before bed or before work. Once you get used to it, it's really nothing...and it takes fewer almonds than you might think. I can get two litres of AM from 1/4 cup of dry almonds.
I LOVE the idea of a "quick milk", and I just know I'm going to find a million uses for it. I heard it's somewhat high in phosphorus, so maybe another good reason to mix it with something else. (Rice/Oat milk?..."oh the possibilities" 🙂
Thank you Rob Lewis for your experiment. I'm always wondering about such things myself, but that takes TIIIMMMMEEE... If you ever feel like testing how much nutrients are left in almond pulp after making almond milk (I'm not sure how one would test this)... I for one have always wondered about this as I find it to be basically devoid of any flavor whatsoever and have assumed it's basically nothing but cellulose fiber... Tastes like cardboard (I wonder how I know this?) If anyone ever settles this "question of waste" for me once and for all, I will personally crown them "King (or Queen) of the"Inquisitive Nerds" (I hold the Queen title presently, but I'd gladly pass it on;)
10 minutes later.....
Just made it....Yes, tastes "oaty" without vanilla a sweetener. I can imagine it would be perfect along with some foods, and would need something sweet for others (I used a few drops of stevia)
I just remembered I did try and make oat milk one other time, but I was making it for cooking with and that doesn't work with oat milk without weird results! lol This may be what that mystery blob at the bottom of your tea cup is.. (slightly cooked, pulverized oats?)
5 stars for oat milk as a beverage or with cereal! Thank you Faith!
Faith says
He Lekawa! Thanks so much for commenting and sharing! It's so helpful to hear what others are doing/trying and where they have found success. Yes, this milk isn't the greatest for cooking, but I have found it's great for baking...or at least I use it often when in a pinch. I hope you enjoy it with your cereal!! Thanks again!
sarah says
No matter what I do No matter how hard i strain or try My oat milk tea still has a slimy urgh in the bottom of the cup making the last mouthful or tea awful. I ahev strained muktiple times, soaked before whizzing and makingbut still it is there no matter how I try to avoid this Do you have any ideas please
Faith says
I found that I too couldn't use the very last part of my homemade oat milk due to this issue, unless I used the whole batch quickly and stirred it often! Would love to hear if anyone else has had any luck in this area!
kim says
hi, love your post. You might try adding lecithin to thicken it up.
Faith says
Great idea Kim! Thanks!
Larissa says
Could it be you are blending for too long? 30 seconds max, otherwise it can heat up and become more gelatinous.
Faith VanderMolen says
Yes, sometimes over-blending or using warm water can make the oat milk heat up quickly and then become thick and gelatinous! Thanks Larissa!
Rob Lewis says
Are there any food scientists in the crowd who can tell us what the pulp consists of? I assume that most of the soluble fiber is gone, but what else? I may try drying it out and weighing it to compare it with the weight of the unprocessed oats.
Rob Lewis says
I did the experiment, using a cup of dry oats weighing 85g. After straining the milk through a fine mesh strainer, I had 80g of wet pulp. I dehydrated this in a low oven, which left me with 15g of dried pulp. So about 82% of the oats went into the milk. The residue I suspect is mostly insoluble fiber.
Faith says
This is great to know Rob! Thanks so much!
Faith says
I'd love to know the results of your experiment Rob!
Lia says
Hi Faith,
Just made a small batch of oat milk, but this time I roasted the oats in a dry pan before putting them in the blender with a pinch of salt.
Turned out great, with a nutty flavour to it (I am fond of nuts and nutty flavours).
Thanks again for the recipe! Love from the Netherlands.
Faith says
That sounds absolutely delicious Lia! I'll have to try that soon. Thanks so much for sharing!
Edward Kowalski says
If I double the amount of oats, but keep the water the same, will it create a cream that I can use in my coffee?
Faith says
Hi Edward! Good question. I've never tried that before so I can't say for sure. Let me know if you try it and if it works out for you!
Jenna says
Hey just wondering if you’re you can reuse the oats made with the oat milk like for granola or something
Faith says
Sometimes I'll keep the oats and make a bowl of oats for breakfast with them. I just add in more milk and heat on the stove. I'm sure you could spread them flat on a baking dish and "dehydrate in the oven" to make granola, but I've never tried it. If you have success, let us know!
Jood says
I added the pulp to an oatmeal muffin recipe, which turned out terrific. I also used some of the pulp, mixed with a touch of honey, as a super moisturizing face mask. I blended it in one of those bullet microblenders to make it really smooth and it brushed on like a hundred dollar spa treatment. My skin was gorgeous after, and it calmed my rosacea a bit.
Faith says
Such great ideas for the extra pulp Jenna! Thanks so much for sharing with us what worked for you!
Edward Kowalski says
If you miss almond milk, why not mix a few handfuls of raw almonds in with the oats before processing?
Get the best of both worlds. 🙂
Faith says
Great idea!
Marilyn Z says
One of my friends uses almond butter in hers.
Faith says
Great idea! Thanks for sharing Marilyn!
Ilonka Guenther says
Thanks for the blog. Quick question: will any form/kind of oats do? I recently bought a bag of instant oats.
Any idea if there is any difference between the instant oats versus normal oats?
TIA
Faith says
Hi! Both quick and regular oats would work. You just won't have to blend as long with the instant/quick oats because they've already been broken down into smaller pieces. I hope it works out for you!
Bec says
I tried this with a mini seive and it was so hard to strain and turned into a thick pulpy milk. Following another lady she said you can do it this way but I didn’t hav luck. I don’t have any nut milk or cheese bags. I will still drink it just prefer a watery substance. I added more water to it and it helped a lot.
Faith says
Sorry you ran into some troubles Becky! If you want thinner milk, you could try blending for less amount of time so that all of the oats don't completely dissolve in the water, making them hard to strain. But that may change the texture of the final product! Everyone's blenders and straining products are different so you may need to make a couple batches to find what works for you!
Hannah says
I just made it using a new sock ?
Faith says
Haha so inventive!!
robin says
Well, I made it with a used sock and it hand a nice nutty flavor.
Faith says
That's awesome a sock works to strain the milk! Thanks for sharing Robin!
Deb says
Thanks, Robin, your comment made me laugh out loud =:D Nutty flavor... too funny!
Jo says
I sieved mine through my coffee filter sieve. It worked ok. Just has to stir it around a bit.
Jo says
First time making and I love it. Nice with a teaspoon of honey if you like a bit of sweetness too 😉
Faith says
That sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Faith says
Glad you found a method that works! Thanks for sharing!
Nadine says
Omg when you mentioned Flintstone vitamins I could remember the taste! That chalky chalky taste. I’m going to try this recipe.
Faith says
Ah I hated those! I hope you like this recipe Nadine!
michelle Psaila says
Thank you?
Rey says
Hi Faith and oat milk lovers,
I just have a question, I hope you guys can help me out.
I wonder why Oatly's plain milk has this sweet taste since the only ingredient they put is 10% oats, water and salt.
I've been experimenting on my oat milk. Thanks in advance.
Faith says
Hi Rey! That's a good question. I'm not sure why, but I do find that certain non-dairy milks like cashew and Almond have sweet undertones unlike soy milk made with just soy beans that tastes fairly bean-y. Maybe oats are the same? I hope you have success with all your experiments!
Katy says
Hi, i have also wondered about the flavor of this brands milk. So good! We also are trying to find a milk recipe for a creamer in coffee. Have you tried this recipe in coffee? We want to steam it and are hoping it doesn’t separate in the hot coffee too bad...
Faith says
I haven't tried this as a creamer yet! I found it can sometimes separate when placed in hot drinks, but it depends. Let me know if you have any success!
Cathie says
I went to a latte art completion at Counter Culture in Oakland last week that used Oatly brand oatmilk. Baristas raved about how great it was to use.
Faith says
I've heard it's an amazing non-dairy milk! Thanks for sharing!
Dyanna Tolman says
I am also trying to make my oat milk mimic the taste and creaminess of Oatly's. I have tried and failed a few times. Plus I have tried to heat up homemade oat milk to add to my matcha latte but it is not working. I can do so with Oatly and it taste delicious! If anyone can advise it will be so helpful!
Tiffany says
Oatly uses an enzyming process that breaks down the oat starch, making the end result naturally sweeter.
Faith says
Thanks for sharing Tiffany!
Paul says
Thanks for this recipe, I just made it. This is good, but not quite as good as the brand I normally buy (Alpro in the UK). It doesn't lighten tea as well, and tends to settle out. I wonder if adding some diastatic malt powder to the oats might break down some of the starches and make it more like commercial oat milks - diastatic malt contains enzymes that digest starches. I may try this, and I may also try adding some xanthan gum - I have some somewhere 🙂
Faith VanderMolen says
Hi Paul! Yes, you are right. The base recipe for this homemade oat milk is really simple and not great for coffee/tea. I love to use this milk in baking and smoothies as it's super affordable.
I've been trying to make barista-like non-dairy milk at home and have had success with cashews. I blend 1 cup of raw, soaked cashews with 4 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and 1/4 teaspoon of xanthum gum and it results in a barista cashew milk that doesn't separate when added to warm tea or coffee. You could try this method with oats as well. Let us know how it goes!
Michelle says
Hello- if you make this how long will it last in the fridge? Thanks!
Faith says
I would guess about 2-3 days! The longer it sits, the more it will start to separate and the oats will sink to the bottom. Hope you like it Michelle!
Aquarius says
Hi, so if it separates, can I just give it a shake and drink it?
Faith says
It depends on how long it's been in the fridge! If it's only been a day or two and still smells good, yes. Separation is normal!
Liliya says
Hi
Thanks for sharing!
I've read a recommendation to wash the oatmeal after soaking it for half an hour and then blend it with water.
Do u think it will make it suitable to warm it up?
Thank you
Faith says
Hi Liliya! I actually have still never tried to heat up oat milk so I can't give you a definite answer. Since oats are fairly cheap I say it's worth a try! Sorry I'm not much more help. Good luck!
Chrissy says
Hi Liliya and Faith!
The only time I was successful with heating up oat milk without getting the thick gelatinous texture is when I colander strain after the first blend, followed by a double strain with a cheese cloth. I'm too impatient for all that, and luckily do not mind the thickness of milk when heated. 🙂
Faith says
That's great advice Chrissy! Yes, I think double straining the milk using cheese cloth would definitely help remove any of the excess oats in the milk. Thanks Chrissy!
Joe says
Why?
"*If you are using a liquid sweetener to sweeten your milk, first make and strain your milk using only the oats and water. After you've strained your milk, then pour the oat milk back into your blender and blend in your liquid sweetener."
Faith says
Thanks for the tips Joe!
maria medel says
Hi Faith,
Can I use any drinking water or just filtered water? Thanks.
Maria
Faith says
Hi Maria! Any drinkable water would work. I hope that helps and that you like this easy milk!
Jumana says
Hi faith
Thanx a lot for this post, my 1 year old daughter is highly allergic to dairy, nuts, eggs and soybean, therfore i cant give her any off the shelf milk.
However she can eat oats and im planning to try ur recipe asap !
If it works then ull be my favorite blogger
Its hard having a baby with many allergies and feeling like shes not getting the nutrients she needs
Thanks againg
Faith says
Hey Jumana! I'm so glad you found this recipe and I hope it works well for you and your daughter. That must be so hard to maneuver around so many allergies, but hopefully this oat milk will make things a little bit easier!
alyr says
Oat milk is NOT a suitable replacement for a one year old. I hope you discussed this extremely bad dietary decision with her pediatrician.
Marilyn Z says
What would you suggest if the child can't have dairy or nuts?
Deb says
Alyr, you should do some research about your opinions. See below:
Here are 9 evidence-based health benefits of eating oats and oatmeal.
What Are Oats and Oatmeal? ...
Oats Are Incredibly Nutritious. ...
Whole Oats Are Rich in Antioxidants, Including Avenanthramides. ...
Oats Contain a Powerful Soluble Fiber Called Beta-Glucan. ...
They Can Lower Cholesterol Levels and Protect LDL Cholesterol From Damage.
What vitamins are in oats?
Nutritional Profile. Oats are an excellent source of manganese and molybdenum. They are also a very good source of phosphorus as well as a good source of copper, biotin, vitamin B1, magnesium, dietary fiber, chromium, zinc and protein.
More items...
9 Health Benefits of Eating Oats and Oatmeal - Healthline
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/9-benefits-oats-oatmeal
Life With Teens & Other Wild Things says
Just wanted to give a fellow allergy-Mama some love! My adult stepdaughter is highly allergic to about 5 different things, and it can be terrifying. In the two years her dad and I have been together, I've sat with her in the ER at least 4x with reactions when she didn't realize a tortilla had a touch of rice flour in it, or was accidentally exposed to dairy.
Hang in there, Mama, and be sure to talk to your pediatrician. They should be able to refer you to a pediatric nutritionist who can help you create a safe and healthy diet for your baby. <3
Tameka says
Thanks for this recipe! It turned out great.
Just a heads up to fellow readers, since I saw it mentioned a lot in the comments--I soaked the oats for about 20 minutes before starting the recipe. Per the instructions, I only blended for a few seconds in my Vitamix. I do not have a mesh strainer large enough, so I used a nutmilk bag which worked fine with some squeezing of the bag.
The results were very tasty (I added the 2tsp of vanilla, a dash of salt, and cinammon) and I do NOT experience any thickening when added to my very hot coffee, likely because of the soaking and quick processing time. The flavor goes quite nicely with coffee and I am so happy to find this recipe. I just made a gallon of fresh, tasty raw oatmilk for $2 and have the strained oats in the fridge to make porridge or add to muffins later. A kitchen (and budget) breakthrough!
Thanks Again!!!
Faith says
This is great news Tameka! Thanks so much for sharing your tips and tricks as well!
Marianne says
I will try your tips first, I was looking for something to put in my coffee. Thanks.
Donna says
Hi Faith:
Can I make the oat milk using oat flour? If yes, then how?
Thanks a lot!
Donna
Faith says
Hi Donna! I've never tried that before. You could definitely give it a try. You just might get thicker milk because you won't be able to strain out as much of the oats since they'll already be so fine. You could try blending for a lot less time or just blend extra well and then not strain the milk and leave it thick. Sorry I can't speak from experience but let me know if it works for you!