Making oat milk at home is much easier than you might think. Just a few simple ingredients, and you’ve got an earthy-tasting milk alternative that works in recipes or with breakfast cereal!
Like most non-dairy milks, you can customize oat milk to meet your personal tastes and nutritional needs. For recipes, I leave it unsweetened, but for shakes and cereal, a touch of stevia goes over well. You could add your sweetener of choice (agave, honey, maple syrup, or even blend in a date or two!), and even add some cocoa powder (about 1 tablespoon per cup) for chocolate oat milk, if desired.
I like to “spike” the milk with probiotic powder (since it’s chilled, the probiotics stay lively), but you could also add a little vegan protein powder or even calcium to the mix. This is a great way to sneak in calcium for those who hesitate swallowing pills.
Also, you can use certified gluten-free oats to keep the oat milk gluten-free. It’s naturally vegan, dairy-free, soy-free, and nut-free too!
- 1 cup rolled or whole oats (use certified gluten-free oats for gluten-free)
- 5 cups water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Sweetener, optional
- Combine the oats, water, and vanilla in a saucepan, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Strain, reserving the oatmeal pulp for another use.
- If desired, sweeten to taste.
- Store in the refrigerator.
10 Comments
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When I saw this recipe my first question was why would you boil the oats at all, never mind for an hour? I am glad I read the comments before trying this recipe (I usually do not) and did not waste my time, oats, energy, etc. You Ms. Fleming said that you prefer the “raw” method, so why didn’t you post that method to begin with? Anyway I have been making “raw” cold oatmeal for a few years, until I discovered that method I could not stand oatmeal or any hot cereal at all, think it was the consistency that always bothered me. Now I have oatmeal (raw and cold) most days of the week all year long.
I did post it “anonymous”. There are several options for making oat milk and some prefer the cooked method.
I realize this is old, but I just wanted to add my 2 cents – I just heat some water, add rolled oats, cover and let it sit for 5 minutes, blend and then strain.
I don’t see any benefit of cooking it for long periods of time. AND it’s good with a bit of real maple syrup, too! :o)
Hello Alisa – great to find yr site as I am vegan and have been developing Plant Strong wholefood recipes for a while hoping to get a cookbook together. I had tried a couple of oat milk and hemp milk experiments. I want to create a milk that goes well in hot drinks, other than soy, whihc is currently the best. My raw oat milk was easy and lovely but can’t be heated without effectively adding ‘porridge’ to hot drinks. With cooked oat milk after I strain it, I find I have to add a little oil to emulsify the starchy, set ‘glug-ness’ that Amy mentioned above. When it is cooked for a long time much of the liquid evaporates, so I add it back. What is the reason for cooking it so long, by the way?
Hi Radha, the one I personally use and rely on is a raw version also.
Yes, I strained it. I’ll try the raw method and see how that works. I’ll thin out the stuff I made today and see how that works so that I don’t waste it. Thanks for your help!
Sorry it didn’t work out well for you Amy, but it can be used in baking if nothing else!
I tried this and I must have done something wrong. I got a little less than a cup of very syrupy sludge and a big bowl of oatmeal. Am I using the wrong kind of oats?
Hi Amy, did you strain it? I prefer the “raw” method, which is simply to let the oats soak overnight in cold water in the refrigerator, and strain.