Dairy-Free Mexican Horchata
Prep time
Total time
This recipe was adapted slightly from Gale Gand. Please note that the Prep time does not include soaking. This is a great make ahead recipe.
Author: Alisa Fleming
Recipe type: Drinks
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: about 4½ cups
Ingredients
- ½ cup long grain white rice
- 1 cup blanched or peeled almonds (see Almond Note below)
- 1 cinnamon stick or ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 cups water, divided
- ¼ to ⅓ cup sugar, honey, or agave nectar, to taste
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 lime wedges
Instructions
- Place the rice in your spice grinder or food processor and grind it as finely as possible.
- Add the ground rice, almonds, and cinnamon to a large bowl. Heat 2 cups water until hot and pour over the rice mixture. Cover and let soak for several hours or overnight (room temperature is fine).
- Place the soaked rice mixture with liquid in your blender, and blend on high until the mixture is as smooth as possible. Add the remaining 2 cups water, sweetener, and vanilla. Blend for about 1 minute.
- Strain the horchata through a nut milk bag or a fine mesh strainer lined with a double layer of cheesecloth. Squeeze to extract as much of the liquid as possible. If the horchata is too thick for your taste, stir or blend in a bit more water.
- Serve the horchata over ice and garnish each glass with a lime wedge.
- Store any leftovers in the refrigerator. The horchata will settle as it sits, so stir or blend it before serving.
Notes
Almond Note: If you only have whole almonds with the skins on, you can peel them after they soak, before you blend the rice mixture. The skins come off fairly easily, but there are a lot of them.
Recipe by Go Dairy Free at https://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/dairy-free-mexican-horchata