We’ve talked about how to make peanut butter from scratch.
It’s easy.
It’s cheap.
And, oh, it’s good.
When 2Chili asked what I was blending now, with that unmistakable “I can’t believe you’re blending again,” tone, I told him quite simply. “Almond milk.”
And there was a pause. And then, a typical 2Chili retort. “Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just buy it?”
Well, as a matter of fact, no. And it wouldn’t be as fun.
Depending on where you live, a quart of almond milk is probably around $3, give or take. For us, it’s $2.79. Making your own requires just a few ingredients and about 2 minutes.
There are lots of formulations for DIY almond milk out there, and this one is an adaption from Ani’s Raw Food Essentials. This formula will work for pretty much any nut milk – almond, pecan, cashew – whatever floats your boat or dunks your Oreo.
For almond milk, you need:
- 1/2 to 1 cup almonds, soaked in water overnight. I made a batch with 1/2 cup, and a separate batch with 1 cup. Both worked and I couldn’t tell a significant difference in taste between the two. The 1 cup version was just a little richer.
- 3 tablespoons honey, agave or even pure maple syrup. This is not essential if you are watching sugar, though it sure makes it good! You could scale it down, too, if you wanted a little sweet but not too much.
- Dash of salt
- 3-5 cups water, depending on how thick you want it. I went with 5 cups, as I am used to drinking skim milk. If you plan ahead and soak your almonds in the amount of water you intend to use, you can use the water you soaked the almonds in, as it will have all the almond “extract” in it.
- A blender (any blender will do)
Add all the ingredients into your blender, and blend on “high” for 1-2 minutes. I blended on level “2” on the Ninja for about a minute.
While you technically don’t have to do this step, I recommend it. Much like my little juicing experiment a while back, I felt it was necessary to strain the almond bits out of the liquid.
After the straining, you’ll be left with nice clean almond milk. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
I am saving the “pulp” to use in oatmeal or recipes that call for almonds (after a quick taste test confirmed it still tastes like almonds). That means there is zero waste, as the plastic bag that the almonds came in went into the recycler.
As a side note, this plastic container holds 8 cups of liquid so you can get a gauge of the volume output.
For 2Chili’s sake, here is the cost breakdown, based on 1 cup of almonds and 5 cups of water.
- Almonds: $1.12 ($4.49 for a 4 cup package from Trader Joe’s)
- Honey: $.42 ($4.49 for a bottle of honey with 32 tablespoons from Trader Joe’s)
- Water: We’ll say this is free, as 3-5 cups in the scheme of your water bill is pretty insignificant
- Total: $1.54
So, take that, 2Chili. Almost half price and more than double the fun!
View Comments (44)
Where did you buy that mesh strainer you have?? I can’t find a paint bag anywhere and they look at me like I am nuts when I ask. Great ideas on site!! Will use many
Hi Teresa,
Believe it or not, I sent my husband out to buy that – was very pleased with him when he came home! ? He bought it at Kohl’s… Good luck!
Angela,
This is FANTASTIC!! I just got a Ninja and am in the process of making the almond milk right now!! I was wondering, since you seem to be a pro at this, if you know how to do this using dates as the sweetener? Thanks
Hi Gina!
Thanks for dropping by. I have never personally used dates as the sweetener, but you certainly could do so. Dates will need to be softened up a bit for this purpose so they blend nicely. I would take 2-3 dates (pitted) and chop them up roughly. Put them in a cup with about 1/4 cup of water (like a coffee mug would work) and heat in the microwave for 45 seconds or so. They should be nice and pliable at this point. Drain the water from them and add them to your mixture as you blend. The remainders will be strained out with the almond pulp.
Give it a shot and let me know if it works for you.
Good luck!
Angela
hmm, dates in almond milk as a sweetener sound sooo yummy. I keep meaning to try making my own nut milk. It’s on my 2012 list!
Almond milk with dates sounds wonderful, think I’ll try it tomorrow.
Just made this milk and it is delicious! My husband just bought me the Ninja Kitchen system 1200 a couple of weeks ago and I havent really decided if i like it enough to justify the expense. I couldnt really find a lot of reviews on it until somehow found your site and I am really excited! I think it may pay for itself after all. Thanks so much! The only thing about the milk is I dont have a really good strainer so there are still some almond bits in the milk but it tastes so good I dont care lol.
Hi Miranda,
Glad you like it! Sounds like you’ve invented almond milk “with pulp!”
Just got my ninja today and started searching for recipes. My lactose intolerant daughter will love tis. Do you think cheesecloth will work for straining?
Hi Laurel,
Yes, I think cheesecloth would
work. Give it a shot and let us know!
Angela
I just got a Ninja and am anxious to get started. I’m an avid almond milk drinker so this will save me tons of money. Does it matter what kind of almonds? Roasted, raw? I usually by them in bulk at Sam’s. I’m a fan of the Cocoa Roast Almonds. Would those work? Thanks!
Hi Alison,
I use raw almonds because there is a school of thought that roasting them makes them harder to digest, but there is no “real” reason why you couldn’t use your preferred Cocoa Roast Almonds. Go with what you like! Good luck and have fun!
Angela
I want to try this but almonds are sooo expensive here
Maybe I’ll get them from Costco next time we go though. Hopefully they will be on sale…