How to Make Almond Milk

Almond milk is a staple in my kitchen. I use it in my morning lattes, my smoothie bowls, and oatmeal. If you’ve followed my blog for a bit, you know that I LOVE smoothie bowls! However, store bought almond milk tends to be highly processed. Because of this, I wanted to try making my own almond milk. It’s something that I have wanted to do for a while and it was seriously so easy! The craziest part? It actually tastes like almonds.

The most basic almond milk is made with only 2 ingredients- almonds and water. You can also add additional ingredients such as dates and cinnamon to sweeten and flavor the almond milk (see recipe for Date Sweetened Almond Milk), but in this post I will share the most basic almond milk recipe. Fresh almond milk lasts about 4-5 days in the refrigerator. For someone like me who uses almond milk everyday, this was no problem at all.

Benefits of Making Your Own Almond Milk:

Below I have listed what I believe are some benefits of making your own almond milk.

First, homemade almond milk is made with whole food ingredients. There is no shortage of diet plans out there- keto, vegan, paleo, pegan, etc. I don’t follow a specific “diet.” However, I believe it’s important to eat a diet rich in whole foods versus highly processed foods for the optimal nutrition benefits. In my opinion, eating whole foods comes first and whatever diet plan followed comes second. Homemade almond milk is made with just two simple, whole food ingredients and contains no other additives. Plus, its easy to make, so why not?

Second, homemade almond milk can be made in a reusable, glass container. Store bought almond milk tends to come in a disposable container that may be lined with plastic. However, when I make homemade almond milk, I place it in a large mason jar. This avoids potentially putting the almond milk in contact with plastic and also generates no waste!

Last, when you make your own almond milk, you can re-purpose the almond pulp to make yummy recipes! You can checkout my nut pulp recipes linked here. I love making spirulina almond pulp bars or gooey nut pulp brownies. It is very easy to re-purpose nut pulp for future recipes!

Drawbacks of Making Your Own Almond Milk:

At the same time, there are certainly drawbacks to making homemade almond milk. Homemade almond milk, of course, requires more effort to make than simply buying store bought almond milk. It also can be more expensive. However, an important difference between homemade and store bought almond milk is its micronutrient content. Many store bought almond milks are fortified with vitamins and minerals. Homemade almond milk will not contains these added vitamins and minerals. If you rely on almond milk for its fortified micronutrients, homemade almond milk may not be the best option for you.

What You’ll Need:

Raw Almonds: You, of course, can’t make almond milk without almonds! I use raw, unsalted almonds.

Filtered Water: You will need filtered water to blend the almonds and make almond milk.

Nut Milk Bag: You will need a nut milk bag to filter out the almond pulp from the almond milk. I used Ellie’s Best Bigger Better Nut Milk Bag that I was gifted by Ellie’s Best. If you’d like to try Ellie’s Best nut milk bags, check my Discount Codes for 10% off Ellie’s Best. This is the only bag that I have ever used to make almond milk and it worked great!

How To Make Almond Milk:

1. Soak almonds in 1 cup of water in the refrigerator overnight.
2. Remove the soaked almonds from the fridge and strain. Rinse the almonds.
3. In a high speed/powered blender, add almonds and 4 cups of filtered water. 4 cups is the starting point, you can add more or less water depending on how watery or creamy you want the almond milk, but 4 cups in my general starting point.
4. Blend the almonds and water for a few minutes until the water turns white (the color of almond milk) and the almonds are fully grinded.
5. Place nut milk bag over a large bowl. Pour the contents of the blender into the nut milk bag. The almond milk will filter through into the bowl and the almond pulp will remain the nut milk bag. Squeeze and twist the nut milk bag repeatedly to remove all of the almond milk.
6. Using a funnel, pour the almond milk into storage container of your choice- I used a large mason jar. Store in the fridge and use within 4-5 days.