Ridiculously Easy Homemade Almond Milk

I’m kicking myself, guys. For years, I resisted making my own almond milk. Little did I know, I was skipping out on (likely) the easiest homemade anything there is out there.

“Ugh,” I would think, as I threw a carton of commercially made almond milk into my grocery cart,, “I already do so much, I don’t have time to make one more thing from scratch!”

Man, oh man, was I ever wrong! Homemade almond milk is now a kitchen staple for me and the quickest part of my weekly meal prep.

The key piece of equipment needed to make homemade almond milk (or any nut milk) easy breezy is a nut milk bag (yes, I know. That sounds all kinds of wrong). But I’m going to let you guys in on a little secret. I cheat and use a reusable mesh produce bag I bought for my farmer’s market trips. It worked so well that I never bothered to buy anything else. 

I make my almond milk about as au naturale and basic as it comes. Just water and raw almonds. No sweetener. No flavor. Just lovely unsweetened, unflavored almond milk. If you’ve tried commercially prepared unsweetened almond milk, its pretty unimpressive (ie: gross) on it’s own, however I have found that homemade unsweetened almond milk (like pretty much anything homemade when compared to store bought) tastes a wildly better. Plus, when you skip the sugar and flavor, almond milk can be used in the cooking/baking of all sorts of recipes, regardless of if they are savory or sweet. 

As the title indicates, this recipe is ridiculously easy. However, for all you visual learners out there (like myself), I made it extra easy and broke down the process into simple steps with a few pictures. Now you have no excuse to not make this almond milk. Soak some almonds, grab that nut milk bag, and stop giggling. 

Ingredients:

1 cup raw almonds

3 1/2 cups filtered water

Step 1: Soak your almonds. Throw your almonds in a jar, bowl, or any container that you fancy. Cover with a few inches of water, cover, and pop them in the fridge for a nice long soak. Do this the night before you want to make your almond milk, as the almonds do best when they soak for 8ish hours. Soaking helps to soften up the nuts, making them much easier to digest and to process (both in your gut and in your blender). 

Step 2: Rinse your almonds. After your almonds have soaked for 8+ hours, dump them out in a strainer and give them a good rinse. 

Step: 3: Into the blender they go! Throw your soaked almonds into your blender. Pour the 3 1/2 cups of water over them and give them a nice long wwwhhhiiiiiirrrrrrrr. I’d say 45 to 60 seconds should do the trick. The almonds are nice and soft so they will chop up nicely.

  I know many people say you need a high speed fancy blender (like a Vitamix) to make almond milk. But I’m a rebel in the kitchen, guys. I use my nice-but-nothing-fancy blender to make my almond milk and it works just fine. So, give your blender a try at making this milk before dropping a pretty penny on a fancy blender (though Vitamix is awesome and totally on my kitchen gadget bucket list). 

Step 4: Strain. Now that you’ve blended those almonds to a pulp (literally), it’s time to put the nut milk bag to use.  Put it in a large bowl and pour the almond & water mixture through the bag.  If you can find a bowl that will allow you to fold the edge of the nut milk bag over the edge, your life will be infinitely easier. But, if that isn’t a option, acquire the assistance of someone else or give it shot holding the bag with one hand and pouring with the other. 

Step 5: Squeeeezzzeeee that nut milk. Now that you have the (essentially) almond smoothie poured into the mesh bag, its time to separate the solids from the milk. You do this by lifting the mesh bag out of the liquids and squeezing out the remaining milk.  Give it a few squeezes for good measure, as a lot of bonus almond milk can be hiding in that almond meal. 

Note: If you use are a believer in “waste not want not” and also happen to use almond meal in your cooking, guess you just made!? That’s right, almond lovers! The leftovers of your almonds from making almond milk is almond meal. Spread it out on a cookie sheet in a thin layer and let it dry out. Once it’s totally dry, store the almond meal in air tight containers in your freezer for months. Bonus!

Step 6: Store or Enjoy! Pour it into mason jars and either top them with lids or stick a straw in those jars and grab a plate of warm cookies and start dunking!  If storing, the almond milk should last 4-5 days in an air tight container when kept in your fridge. 

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