With just a couple of pantry-friendly ingredients, you can make your own delicious homemade oat milk with creamy, rich results every time.
Making oat milk isn’t as daunting as it might sound it’s surprisingly easy! Being one of the most popular dairy-free milk varieties, my DIY oat milk gets a little sweetness from maple syrup and vanilla extract and makes a perfect substitution for dairy milk in baking, for breakfast, or even just in your cup of coffee.
I’ve spent a long time perfecting my oat milk recipe so it doesn’t turn out slimy, has a deliciously creamy taste, and is quick and easy to make.
Oat Milk Ingredients
- Rolled Oats: I prefer to use organic oats, but you can use any you have to hand, including steel-cut oats and certified gluten-free oats.
- Cold Water: It should be ice cold.
- Salt: Just a pinch of salt will bring out the sweetness in the milk.
- Maple Syrup (Optional): I like to add this as a sweetener, though you can substitute it with honey (either ordinary or vegan) or agave nectar.
- Vanilla Extract (Optional): I also use this for flavor, though you can adjust the amounts based on your taste.
Flavored oat milk
You can flavor your oat milk – just add your desired flavoring either when blending or when ready to drink. These are some of my favorite options:
- Vanilla
- Maple Syrup – or your favorite sweetener. Medjool dates can also work great here if you prefer.
- Cocoa – cocoa powder will make a delicious chocolate oat milk – great for kids!
- Strawberry or your favorite berries.
- Coffee.
How to make oat milk
Add your rolled oats, water, salt, vanilla extract, and maple syrup (if using) to a high-speed blender and blend for 10 seconds (15-20 seconds if you’re not using a high-speed blender).
Once the oats have been fully blended, pour the mixture into a nut milk bag or a fine mesh strainer lined with a few layers of cheesecloth. I recommend having the bag in a bowl already before you pour the oat mix in.
Using your hands, strain the milk through. You should have a thin liquid with no lumps or extra mix in it and the pulp still in the bag. For super-smooth milk, strain the oat milk twice.
Top tips to avoid slimy oat milk
If you want to make your own oat milk – you don’t want a slimy result! These are my top tips for getting perfect oat milk every time:
- Use Dry Oats: Your oats should be completely dry when you add them to the blender. If they’re wet, they won’t soak up as much of the liquid and will give the milk an unpleasant texture.
- Don’t Over Blend: High-speed blenders work quickly, so you don’t need more than 10 seconds to get the right texture. Over-blending causes heat and friction, which changes the overall composition of the oat milk – making it slimy.
- Don’t Over-Squeeze: The trick when straining is to handle the oat milk as little as possible. Too much squeezing causes more of the starch compounds from the oats to end up in your milk, which results in a slimy thick texture.
- Double-Straining: Straining the oat milk mix twice in the bag will remove any extra pulp and starch that could make the milk slimy.
How to use oat milk
- Use as an alternative to creamer or milk in coffee – try it in a matcha green latte or TikTok favorite, a Dalgona latte.
- Substitute in vegan baking and add to my favorite chocolate chip cookies or my healthier chocolate digestives.
- Use for breakfast favorites – this milk is great for chia seed pudding, overnight oats, and smoothie bowls.
What to do with the leftover oat pulp
The leftover pulp can also be used in a variety of ways – and it’s easy to make this recipe completely no waste. Use the pulp for:
- Breakfast dishes, especially overnight oats, muesli, oatmeal, and chia seed pudding.
- Use in baking for extra fiber – it works great for cookies, brownies, and muffins.
- Add to smoothies for fiber and protein.
- Use around the house – you can use it to make face masks, body masks, and compost.
Can you heat oat milk?
Yes – but it’s best to do it slowly. Heat it gently over low to medium heat and stir it until it’s reached your desired temperature. Just be careful to not overheat, as it can thicken and get a strange taste if it’s heated too fast.
How long does homemade oat milk last
Once it is ready, transfer it into pre-sterilized containers or glass jars. Stored in the refrigerator, the homemade milk should be kept for up to 4-5 days. If you decide to use extra flavorings in your oat milk, this can affect the shelf life, so keep an eye on it after a few days.
More homemade plant-based milk recipes
If you try this oat milk recipe, let me know how it goes in the comments below. I’d appreciate a recipe card rating and would love to see your recipe recreations – tag me on Instagram @Alphafoodie!
How To Make Oat Milk
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup rolled oats use organic and/or gluten-free if needed
- 4 cups water ice cold
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup optional, or sweetener of choice
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
Suggested Equipment
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend for 10 seconds (15-20 seconds if you're not using a high-speed blender).
- Pour the mixture through a nut milk bag or a fine-mesh strainer lined with several layers of cheesecloth (don't over squeeze!).Optional: Strain twice for super-smooth milk.
- Enjoy immediately or transfer to a sterilized bottle.
How To Store
- Fridge: Once bottled, store it in the fridge for 4-5 days, shaking it well between each use. When it's bad, it will start to smell and taste sour/off.Freezer: It will freeze for up to 3 months. However, upon thawing, it may be a little gritty and require re-blending for a few seconds and/or re-straining.
Video
Notes
- Use Dry Oats: Your oats should be completely dry when you add them to the blender. If they’re wet, they won’t soak up as much of the liquid and will give the milk an unpleasant texture.
- Don’t Over Blend: High-speed blenders work quickly, so you don’t need more than 10 seconds to get the right texture. Over-blending causes heat and friction, which changes the overall composition of the oat milk – making it slimy.
- Don’t Over-Squeeze: The trick when straining is to handle the oat milk as little as possible. Too much squeezing causes more of the starch compounds from the oats to end up in your milk, which results in a slimy thick texture.
- Double-Straining: Straining the oat mix twice in the bag will remove any extra pulp and starch that could make the milk slimy.
- Flavor Options: Add your desired flavoring when blending or when ready to drink. Here are some of my favorite options:
- Vanilla
- Maple Syrup or your favorite sweetener. Medjool dates can also work great here if you prefer.
- Cocoa to make chocolate milk.
- Strawberries or other berries.
Poopak
can I make it in a food processor instead of blender? I don’t have a high teck blender.
AlphaFoodie
Hi, of course you can! just the one thing to remember is not to over process!
Brenda
What kind of oats ? Quick oats? Rolled oats? Steel ?
AlphaFoodie
Rolled oats are what I use 🙂
Gaby Rabinovich
How long does this last without perishing in a fridge?
AlphaFoodie
usually 4-5 days in the fridge
Lika
Can you use steel cut oats for this recipe?
Support @ Alphafoodie
Hi Lika,
Yes, you can use steel-cut oats. The texture may differ slightly but it should still work.
Kiera
Tried your recipe this morning because I was desperate for a creamy cup of coffee without the crazy ingredients list that non-dairy creamers have. I added the cashews for extra creaminess and I was thrilled with the outcome. No slime like I was experiencing with prior oat milk trials.
AlphaFoodie
Perfect! It took me quite a few tries to eliminate the slime but now it is definitely one of my absolute favourite dairy-free milk options to make 🙂
Sonia
Hi can I use almonds instead of cashews.
AlphaFoodie
yes, of course! I love to use cashews just because of how creamy they are but you can combine oats with most nuts I would think. Let me know how it goes if you try it 🙂
Urwa Chughtai
I read all recipe and try it today and loooovve it
AlphaFoodie
Yay – I’m glad to hear that! It’s one of my favourite dairy-free milk option to be honest.
Yasna
Can I use OAT BRAN instead of Rolled Oat?
AlphaFoodie
I have to admit, I’ve never tried it so I can’t guarantee how that would affect the flavour and texture of the oat milk. If you try it, let me know how it goes 🙂
C.M.
I’d give this five stars, but I can’t see how to do that. Very good. SO easy! Took less than 5min total. Thank you, Samira!
Smoothie Queen
Thanks for the tips! You seem to be the only one That recommends a half cup of oats and not a full cup of oats to 4 cups of water. That might explain why you said yours wasn’t very creamy. I love your cashew idea however and will try that. I also go 4 to 1 on all of my nut milk recipes.
AlphaFoodie
I’ve tried adding more oats and unfortunately, it quickly becomes slimy. Glad you love cashew idea though – I love the flavor of the oat and cashew combination 🙂
Nelli
Thank you for all the amazing and easy to follow recipes darling!
For some reason this turned out to be very mild with a water-like taste. Any idea why? Also I feel like the oats didn’t break down enough in that 10sec.
AlphaFoodie
It may be that the machine you used didn’t break them down enough. Try again at 15-20 seconds. The main thing is just to avoid over-blending as that’s when you run into issues with sliminess. You can also add the cashews/cashew butter to the milk for it to become richer and creamier 🙂
NaEshia
Hi,
Maybe I over looked it, but I don’t see how long I can store it in my fridge.
AlphaFoodie
Hi, It can be stored in the fridge for 4-5 days 🙂
Selene
Thank you so much. Recently we discover that cow milk was making my 10 years old produce mucus so I stop making the banana smothie that he loved so much. Tonigh he had his very first oat banana/straberry smothie and he loved it.
AlphaFoodie
So glad to hear that you’ve been able to find a new favorite for him 🙂
Tanya
Hi,
I have the same problem with sliminess and still couldn’t nailed it. I will try ur recipe. Though couple of questions:
1) how many times did u strain?
2) do u squeeze the nut milk bag when Strain? I am not sure if squeeze it with make it more slimy or not
AlphaFoodie
I only strained it once and made sure not to squeeze the nut milk bag too much, to reduce sliminess 🙂
Tess
What can we do with leftover oats
AlphaFoodie
There are so many options, it’s amazing! – You can use them as part of homemade granola/breakfast topping, wait until dry and blend into a flour for baked goods or even use chunky for oat cookies or flapjacks. Or even use it as part of fruit crumble topping.
Carrie DeSera
Does heating this up make it thick and gloopy?
AlphaFoodie
I’ve not found that to be the case 🙂 I’ve used it in hot drinks before with no issues. Otherwise, I’ll often use it in recipes like porridge or sauces etc – where the results are meant to be thick and/or gloopy but don’t notice a texture difference between using oat milk and another variety.
Hinks Brent
Thanks! Finally a recipe that works!
AlphaFoodie
I’m so glad that you’re enjoying the recipe! 🙂
AlphaFoodie
Whoops – sorry, just noticed you meant the leftover oats. I’ve always dried them out , to use as a ‘flour’ in things – so I couldn’t day for sure. As they’ve been blended so minimally, I would imagine that they would though.
soha
try it today and loooove it
Alpha Foodie
Thanks so much Soha for letting me know :-). So great to hear you liked it 🙂
Gemma
Hello,
I read all your post and at the beginning you said 1 cup of oaks, but in the list of the ingredients you put 1/2 cup of oaks. Which is correct?
Thank you for the recipe, I can’t wait to try it!
Alpha Foodie
Hi Gemma, thanks so much for pointing that out. It’s certainly 1/2 a cup not 1 cup. It was a typo and I just edited it. I hope you’re going to like the recipe :-).
Linda
Thank you for the tip about 10 seconds to keep it from getting slimy.
The only thing I changed was to mix the oat milk first then strain and re mix with the cashews. 10 seconds was not long enough to grind the nuts. But straining it Twice was perfect.
AlphaFoodie
That’s great! I’m glad you’re enjoying the recipe 🙂