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Here’s how to make cashew milk, almond milk, and other nut milks at home. It’s easy and inexpensive, and it gives you complete control of both the process and the results.
Why we love this recipe
The first time I made cashew milk in my Vitamix, I felt positively omnipotent. One minute I stood in front of a cup of raw cashews and three cups of water. The next minute, I had four cups of the whitest, creamiest milk I’d ever seen. Who was I? A cow? A goddess?
Homemade nut milk:
- Tastes way better than most purchased varieties
- Doesn’t contain stabilizers (which can be good or bad depending on your needs, but I’d argue it’s mostly good)
- Can be used plain, in both sweet and savory applications
- Or you can flavor it exactly as you like
I first published this post here in 2011. I’ve since updated it for clarity, but the basic recipe remains the same.
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe. It’s not much!
- Look for nuts labeled as raw cashews in the grocery store. They aren’t actually raw — they’ve been steamed or roasted to remove their shells and any residual urushiol, a resin that can cause a poison ivy-like skin reaction and be toxic when ingested. They are, however, different from nuts sold as roasted cashews, which have been roasted a second time after shelling. “Raw” cashews are pale and soft, and they work best for making milk. If using other nuts, such as almonds or pistachios, follow the same guidelines for buying. You can use whole cashews or pieces — pieces are often more economical.
- I like to use filtered tap water for an eco-friendly and great-tasting option.
Optional additions
That’s all you need to make a basic nut milk that works for a wide variety of sweet and savory uses. If you’d like to flavor it for drinking, I’d recommend adding:
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
Other nuts you can use
- Almonds
- Pistachios (green-hued, great for ice cream)
- Macadamias (very creamy and flavorful)
- Walnuts
- Hazelnuts (especially good with chocolate and coffee)
How to make it
Here’s an overview of how to make cashew milk, almond milk, and other nut milks at home. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- Place one cup of cashews into a medium bowl and cover with water by two inches. Let soak for at least two hours, up to overnight. (Harder nuts like almonds and pistachios should be soaked overnight. Pop the bowl into the fridge if it’ll be more that a few hours.) Drain the soaking water and place the cashews into a high-speed blender.
- Add three cups water.
- Blend on high speed for about 90 seconds, until perfectly smooth and creamy.
- Cashew milk is ready to use. If you’ve made almond, pistachio, or another nut milk, it needs to be strained through cheesecloth or a nut milk or paint strainer bag before using. That’s it!
Expert tips and FAQs
Sure can. You’ve got two options: You can the pulp as-is in recipes that call for it. Or you can make the pulp into meal by spreading it on a parchment-lined baking sheet and drying in a low oven (about 250°F) and then grinding it in a food processor. There are some great vegan blogs out there with recipes for both options.
Homemade nut milks keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for a week.
Yes! You can freeze it for up to a year. For use in smoothies, freeze it in ice cube trays and pop a few cubes directly into your high-speed blender. Or you defrost it for regular use — just give it a quick whiz in the blender again before using.
A few favorite ways to use cashew milk
Use cashew milk in virtually any way you would use dairy milk, from drinking to cooking and baking. Here are a few favorites:
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How to Make Cashew Milk and other Nut Milks
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120 grams) raw cashews
- 3 cups (710 ml) water, plus more for soaking
Instructions
- Place the nuts in a medium bowl and cover completely with water. Soak nuts for at least two hours, up to overnight. If you'll be soaking for more than a couple of hours, place the bowl into the refrigerator.
- Drain and discard soaking liquid and rinse nuts thoroughly.
- Add nuts to blender and pour three cups of fresh water.
- Cover and blend for about 90 seconds, until very white and smooth. For cashews, there should be no remaining nut pulp and no need to strain. (See note 5 about soaking and straining milk made with other nuts.)
Notes
- Look for nuts labeled as raw cashews in the grocery store. They aren't actually raw — they've been steamed or roasted to remove their shells and any residual urushiol, a resin that can cause a poison ivy-like skin reaction and be toxic when ingested. They are, however, different from nuts sold as roasted cashews, which have been roasted a second time after shelling. "Raw" cashews are pale and soft, and they work best for making milk. You can use whole cashews or pieces — pieces are often more economical.
- To flavor milk for drinking, you can add 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt if you like.
- Here's how to make cashew cream.
- You can use other nuts to make homemade nondairy milk, too. Other fabulous choices include: almonds, pistachios (green-hued, great for ice cream), macadamias (very creamy and flavorful), walnuts, and hazelnuts (especially good with chocolate and coffee).
- Harder nuts like almonds, pistachios, and hazelnuts need to be soaked for a minimum of eight hours before blending, and most nut milks other than cashew need to be strained. Pour the milk through a fine-mesh strainer lined with two layers of cheesecloth, or through a nut milk or paint strainer bag. Press until no more liquid drains out. Strained milk is ready to use, and it's worth doing a search about how to use the pulp, too. There are some great vegan blogs out there with excellent ideas.
- Homemade nut milks keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for a week. Or you can freeze it for up to a year. For use in smoothies, freeze it in ice cube trays and pop a few cubes directly into your high-speed blender. Or you defrost it for regular use — just give it a quick whiz in the blender again before using.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I doubled the recipe, blending with one portion of the water until smooth, then adding the second portion of water with the flavor suggestion to mix in. I didn’t really measure those but it is soooo dang good. I used 1 cup of it to make a coffee creamer with extra maple and vanilla.
Oh, I’m going to have to try this! I saw your delicious looking pumpkin spice smoothie and ended up here.
I just stumbled across this post from a series of other posts and you are too funny. “Who was I? A cow?”
I always buy almond milk at the store, but your writing is enough to make me curious to try making it at home!
Thank you! I just made almond milk for the first time and it was wonderful. 🙂 We have long loved nut milks and this is a much more cost-effective, healthy, and easy way to satisfy our craving. Thanks for this recipe.
I am curious as to why you discard the soaking water instead of using it to blend. Also, as a side note, I ended up using the solids that were left over after straining and incorporated them into some pancake mix for the kids. They turned out great.
Why do you discard the soaking water and use fresh water to blend with? Just curious.
This is very timely, Carolyn, as I’ve just taken on a new cookbook project and will likely need to use some nutmilks in the recipes! Up until now, it was a mysterious prospect, but you’ve given me confidence. Thanks!
Can this be done in a food processor just as easily?
I love love love my Vitamix and use it to make nut milks and rice milks often. It has made my SoyMilk Maker defunct in my house! And it’s less expensive to make nut milks this way–so it’s win win!
When my #2 turns 2, and he’s officially allowed to have nuts, there are so many things with nuts on my list. He would be VERY angry to be left out!