Learn how to make oat milk at home! With this easy recipe, it always comes out smooth & creamy - perfect for adding to coffee, baking recipes & more!
Have you tried oat milk yet? Lately, it seems to be popping up everywhere. You can add it to your coffee at Starbucks, buy a carton of it at the store, or even pick up a pint of oat milk ice cream! I had to see what all the fuss was about, so I tried making my own homemade oat milk. I have to say, I’m hooked! It’s super easy to make, it’s smooth and creamy, and it has a yummy oat-y flavor that tastes great in coffee or tea.
Unlike other non-dairy milk recipes, this one doesn’t require any special equipment (looking at you, nut milk bags). And because you don’t need to soak the oats beforehand, it takes minutes to make. All you need is 5 minutes, a handful of whole rolled oats, filtered water, a fine mesh strainer, and a powerful blender! What are you waiting for?
How to Make Oat Milk
Making delicious oat milk is easy! But if you have made other plant-based milks in the past, a word to the wise: it is NOT like making almond milk, where you wring as much liquid as you can out of a nut milk bag. In this recipe, your goal is to squeeze and press the mixture as little as possible. Otherwise, it will end up slimy and grainy. Here’s my method:
- Blend. First, I add the oats and filtered water to a powerful blender (I use a Vitamix) and blend for 30 seconds, until the water looks creamy and white. For the best texture, be careful not to over-blend!
- Strain. Next, place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl and pour the oat milk through it. Some liquid may pool at the bottom of the strainer. That’s ok! Discard this liquid and any oat pulp below it. DO NOT try to press the pulp to get more liquid through the strainer, as it will make the milk slimy and gritty.
- Strain again (optional). For extra-smooth oat milk, strain the liquid twice, discarding the leftover pulp both times. This step is optional, but it will yield the smoothest final texture.
- Chill, and enjoy! I like my oat milk best when it’s cold from the fridge. Unlike other dairy-free milks, don’t shake it when you go to use it. Instead, allow any leftover oat pulp to settle at the bottom of the container, and pour the creamy milk off the top.
How to Use Oat Milk
Once you’ve made oat milk, use it as you would dairy milk, cashew milk, or any other type of milk you like. I like to chill it and drink it with ice, add it to coffee, or use it to make a matcha latte. It would also be great in breakfast/brunch oat-y recipes like oatmeal, baked oatmeal, overnight oats, or no bake cookies. Alternatively, use it in any brunch baking recipe that calls for milk, like my vegan chocolate cake, blueberry muffins, banana bread, or cinnamon rolls.
Because it has a strong oat-y flavor, I don’t recommend using it in savory recipes. You’ll find my favorite way to enjoy it in the recipe below. I like to add a pinch of salt and a splash of vanilla and maple syrup to sweeten it up!
Next, try these plant based basics: tofu, tempeh, quinoa, chickpeas, or lentils.
How to Make Oat Milk
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup whole rolled oats
- 3 cups water
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Combine the oats, water, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt in a blender and blend for 30 seconds.
- Place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl and strain the milk without pushing any excess pulp through the strainer. This will create a creamier texture that’s not gritty or gummy.
- Add more maple syrup, to taste, if desired. Chill overnight. If you want to drink your oat milk right away, I recommend adding ice - it's flavor is best when well chilled.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Detoxinista’s method
What a completely normal reaction to have to a recipe. Your feedback was invaluable.
I make this without the sweeteners solely for the purpose of making my protein shakes. I love that this is such a clean recipe!!
I don’t discard the pulp, either. I save it in the fridge and add back into my shakes. Makes them super creamy! Really good!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hello! I made this a few times before making my comment. I love it with my coffee, smoothies and cereal. It’s even good by itself over ice like you mentioned in your post. I love that I can save so much money this way and still have a great oat milk on hand. I make two batches back to back to fill my glass jar. Seems like this will be healthier too since the ingredients are simple and it doesn’t have added things like the ones in stores. Thank you for sharing this recipe and all your others with us!
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed it so much!
made this today. used 2 tsp raw honey instead of maple syrup. My son always drinks almond milk but Palmitate is very bad for you an dits in almost all of them unless you pay high dollar. This is a great alternative. I told my son (teen) that he can add cinnamon to his cup of milk, or our dehydrated apple powder, or strawberry powder (dehydrated) to have special flavors. he’s very excited. I happened to have a nut bag, worked great, we used our Ninja blender, worked perfect. Wasn’t watery, was perfect!
I’m glad you both loved it!
I have an instant pot ace plus blender and set the blender on the nut/oat milk setting and it came out perfectly! Did use ice cold water (I used a little less water and added crushed ice to the blender). I didn’t have 100% pure maple syrup on hand and wanted to use an all natural sweeter (beware of pancake syrup! It’s not a natural sweetener) so I used honey instead and it was great!
I’m so glad you loved it!
I made this and it was so watery. Followed the recipe exactly. Wondering what I’m missing here.
Same. I did not like this at all. Also didn’t taste like oat milk, either. Just water with some oat flavor.
That’s oat milk! I was traveling in Hawaii recently and our family said the Oat milk tasted like cotton candy with all the added sugar and favour…it should taste like oat milk aka oat water
SO easy and SO good! Even my dairy loving son enjoyed it! Thanks for the tip about chilling it. Tasted the difference when I threw ice cubes in for my first taste after making it.
I’m so glad you both enjoyed it!
Hello! Made this for my 2 year who’s allergic to dairy! He loved it! Just wondering the nutrition facts? Thanks!
I’m so glad! I’m not sure (since much of the pulp gets strained out, but I think it would be similar to the nutrition content of store bought unsweetened oat milks, just without the preservatives.
What number speed on the Vitamix? You said to avoid over blending does that translate to blending for too much time?
Hi Trina, you can blend on high, you just don’t need to blend for long.
Can you use the regular oats that you use to make oatmeal?
yes, regular whole rolled oats.
Instant oats okay or no?
i wouldn’t reccomend instant oats, it’ll be a more slimy texture since they’re more processed
Hi Ariel, I haven’t tried it with instant oats, but some other readers have found it makes slimier milk.
Oh man. My world has just changed. As John said, it IS really that easy!! And NO nut milk bag or cheese cloth necessary!
I’m so glad you loved it!
It’s literally that easy… I’m blown away!
I’m so glad you loved it!
What is its shelf life ?
Hi Tatiana, we keep it up to 1 week.
what is the expected yield for this recipe? 2 cups?
Hi Rachel, about 3 cups.
So, so easy. Never ever buying oat milk again. This is just too easy. I only wished I had thought to make my own oat milk sooner.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Hi, how can the pulp be used so it isn’t wasted?
Why not use the pulp and eat it like a cold oatmeal? You could add berries, nuts, or even a little of the oat milk to it!
I nuked the pulp with mixins and used the milk to think it 😉
Delicious with brown sugar,butter, & water microwaved. Similar to grits/cream of wheat but way better!!
Could perhaps use it in a baked oat recipe since they usually require a blended oat.
Mine completely separated! What did I do wrong? Looked like all of the pulp settled to the bottom and I had oat-flavored water on top
Hi Ken, it should separate (unlike store bought milk which has stabilizers). Just give it a shake before using.
Hi! Thanks for this recipe. How long does this recipe last in the fridge?
Hi Lydia – about a week.
Great recipe! And just FYI, all oats, regardless of the marketing scheme, are gluten free. They always have been. There’s no need to seek out a certification of this because Science has you covered. Lol.
Oat’s are often produced along with other grains, so if someone is Celiac, they should seek out certified gluten free oats where they’re manufactured on separate equipment.
So easy, thank you! I live in Israel so I used 3 teaspoons of date syrup instead of the maple syrup and it is delicious.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
For oat milk would you ever use oat groats?
Hi Tanya, I haven’t tried but you probably could.
My vitamix pitcher recently broke so I was stuck using my wimpy magic bullet. It only holds 2 cups of water so I blended that first with all ingredients, strained, and then blended another cup with the strained parts. It’s so low powered the oatmeal was still a bit chunky. It might actually be an advantage for once because it doesn’t liquify the oats so quickly and may minimize the sliminess. Full disclosure, we were using organic sprouted whole oats from Costco. They’re chunky so that may affect how well the flavor can get out.
It’s a bit thin for us so next time I’m going to try 2.5 cups water. Also, I’m picky about my salt balance with oats and I think it needed a dash more salt…I’ll try a little less than 1/4 tsp salt next time. The sweetness/vanilla balance is really nice. For us, this recipe hit that part dead on.