Creamy Homemade Oat Milk

Learn how to make your own creamy homemade oat milk at home with this easy recipe. It only takes 5 minutes and just 4 ingredients! Add it to your morning coffee or matcha latte, breakfast cereal, and desserts like my strawberry banana milkshake or custard-filled bee sting cake.

About this Recipe

If you have a dairy allergy or sensitivity (like me) then oat milk is a great option. In fact, I watched a Ted Talk recently that explains how oat milk is the best for our personal health, as well as the health and sustainability of the planet.

And oat milk is a nut free milk alternative to cashew milk or almond milk. Plus if you use gluten free certified oats, this recipe is gluten free too. 

Best of all, unlike store bought options, this homemade version contains zero additives, fillers and preservatives. 
I have definitely caught myself standing in the grocery store reading the nutrition labels on cartons of commercial oat milk wondering, "why the heck are there so many extra ingredients in this?!" Well friends, there's no need to worry about that anymore! 🙂

Seriously, this recipe takes just five minutes to make! And once you learn how to make your own creamy oat milk at home, you won't go back to buying it from the store. Plus this recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.

But oat milk is nothing new. During World War 2, dairy was rationed, so some folks turned to making oat milk instead.

Ingredients

• Rolled Oats - Quick cooking oats could make your oat milk slimy and steel cut oats don't make it creamy enough. Rolled oats are like Goldie Locks - just right!
• Cold Water - Use filtered water if your tap water doesn't taste great or isn't safe to drink.
• Salt - A little salt brings out the natural flavor of oats. The measurement is for fine sea salt or table salt, not kosher salt.
• Brown Sugar - This adds an optional sweetness to your oat milk. You can omit the sweetener, or substitute a different sweetener like maple syrup or honey.

How to Make Oat Milk

1. Blend: Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend for about 30 seconds, until the mixture is smooth.
   
2. Strain: Pour the mixture into a large bowl through a clean thin cotton kitchen towel or cheesecloth. You can then pour the strained oat milk into smaller jars for storing.
   
3. Refrigerate: Chill the oat milk in the fridge for at least a couple hours. Shake well when you're ready to use.

Recipe Tips

• Don't squeeze the towel or cheesecloth too hard while straining it. Squeezing while straining could cause your oat milk to be grainy.
• Separation of homemade oat milk is natural when it's stored in the fridge. Just give your jar a shake for a couple seconds.
• Don't use a fine mesh sieve, as some oat particles will be able to get though and you could end up with oatmeal in your oat milk… A clean thin cotton kitchen towel is the best for straining.

How Do You Make Oat Milk Not Slimy?

• Don't soak the oats. Soaking the oats activates an enzyme that binds oats together, like in overnight oats.
• Use cold water. Room temperature or warm water can also activate the enzyme in the oats that makes them bind together, like a hot bowl of creamy oatmeal.

How to Use Oat Milk

Oat milk can be used in many recipes in place of dairy milk. It's my go-to substitute in baking recipes such as in quick breads and cupcakes.

I also use it all the time to replace milk or even buttermilk in recipes like my lavender chocolate cake, since it curdles after about ten minutes when combine with lemon juice or vinegar.

How to Make Flavored Oat Milk

You could get fancy with flavor additions, like pumpkin spice, berries, or chocolate.

Add any flavor additions to the blender with the other ingredients and blend until it's creamy.

The best flavors I've found come from syrups like blueberry lavender syrup, or fine powders like cocoa powder or pumpkin pie spice. These incorporate best into homemade oat milk to maintain its creamy texture.

Recipe FAQ's

Can you freeze oat milk?

You can freeze oat milk in airtight containers for up to three months in the freezer. Oat milk will separate in the freezer, so it may have a slightly grainy texture once it thaws.

How long does oat milk last?

Store homemade oat milk in the fridge for up to 5 days in airtight jars like mason jars.

What type of oats are best for oat milk?

Rolled oats are the best when you make your own oat milk. Other types of oats like steel cut or quick cooking oats won't produce the same creamy, non-slimy texture.

What can you do with oat milk pulp?

The oat pulp or blended oats that get strained out from the milk can still be consumed. You can mix it into cookie dough or pancake batter.